The proposed ending of the number 46 bus evening service - see several previous blogs for my correspondence with County and others - has led to much discussion. Several comments have been left on the previous blog entries but here is one useful comment:"Subsidies are never easy - £60,000 could provide a lot of services in other areas of need. Assuming 3 people per journey and 4 journeys each way per night and operating for 300 days this comes to 7,200 individual journeys at a subsidy of £8.33 per journey. As Philip suggests in a later email there could be a case for leaving at least one of the buses operating in the evening rather than cutting the whole service."
The whole issue of public transport - particularly buses - is one that the Transition Stroud Transport group is trying to get its teeth into but it will take time to come up with a coherent response. The Green party have also done work on this in the past - many of the issues are made much harder by Government regulations as discussed previously - and by the current County Council shifting monies away from public transport.
Anyhow one Transition Stroud member, John Meadley circulated a summary made of a book (available in Stroud library) called "Stroud's Buses" by N P Daniels - looking at the history of the buses in Stroud since 1905. It is interesting to see that the No 46 (Stroud to Cheltenham) was taken out of service completely in 1985 when the subsidy was withdrawn. It seems that there is nothing new!
The summary by John Meadley was extremely useful and interesting - made we want to buy the book - I reproduce here:
STROUD’S BUSES
The first “bus” in the Stroud Valleys was a GWR “Rail motor” service that ran from Chalford to Stonehouse along the railway line – operating more frequently and stopping more frequently than the regular trains. In 1905 the first motor bus (also GWR) started service between Stroud and Painswick, in competition with a horse bus owned by Mr Ireland (which continued to operate until 1919 so must have been competitively priced). What ultimately stopped the horse bus was concern for the horses on the hills.
The motor buses had solid tyres and the roads were still gravelled, resulting in a lot of dust – for which water carts were used. They were also pretty unreliable. The GWR HQ at Painswick was The Falcon Inn. Bus stops were “tablets” mounted on the gas lamps. 1906 the buses started from Painswick to Cheltenham; in 1908 the first bus to Eastington; 1910 the first bus to Nailsworth (previously it involved the train to Dudbridge and then a small train (the Dudbridge Donkey) to Stroud Station. Framilode had buses (2 per week) in 1919. By 1911 there were already complaints about buses racing. During 1914-18 the buses were converted to run on gas.
During the 1914-18 war people saved money, such that after the war they wanted to travel and the era of the bus began. “Industrial”, urban, expanding Stroud was a key centre for the development of bus routes. The National Bus Company (NBC) started expanding from London to Stroud. The key routes were from Chalford to Stonehouse with spurs to Painswick and Nailsworth. The arrival of the buses significantly changed the social landscape of the Valleys (as the bicycle had done beforehand).
Great Western Railway (GWR) led the way (providing feeders to the railways) but was shadowed by NBC (which generally charged a penny less). Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company (BTC) moved into Stroud and in 1921 started an hourly service from Nailsworth to Painswick (then as now Number 46). All the companies started expanding – to Dursley, Wotton, Tetbury, Avening and Malmsbury – but NBC lacked the buses and had to withdraw into the Stroud area.
In 1920 a local courier called John Merrett set up a bus service to Minchinhampton and revolutionised life up in what had previously been known as the “Stroud Highlands”! The Bear at Rodborough also ran its own bus between Stroud station and Minch for those staying at the Bear. In 1926 a late night bus was introduced for those going to the cinema. Merrett was joined by Reyne to set up the Red Buses, and they became fierce competitors with the large companies because they were local people. They focused on minor roads, linking villages to the mills – even offering people credit until pay day. Their routes included Bussage, France Lynch, Eastington and Ruscombe. NBC responded with new routes – e.g. to Horsley. There was intense competition. On Saturdays in 1927, 270 buses left Stroud.
In 1926 there was a national rail strike and the buses moved in to move people around. Pneumatic tyres started to be seen in 1925-30 and weekend bus tours became popular (e.g. to Stratford and to Western super Mare).
In 1928 Reyne started an express bus service from Gloucester to London via Stroud taking 4 hours 40 minutes and costing 15 shillings. A heating apparatus was introduced into these buses. By 1930 there were 6 companies competing on the Gloucester to London route. Around this time the Road and Rail Transport Act allowed regional rail operators to invest in bus operations. GWR merged with NBC to form the Western National Omnibus Service (which operated until recently). The arrival of the buses completely changed village life.
1930-9. Competition between the companies became a problem and there were ugly scenes, addressed by the Road Traffic Act, which licensed operators and routes and regulated timetables. Many mergers took place. There was still concern about buses speeding to keep to timetables on steep hills. There were many interesting routes – e.g. Stroud to Summer Street via Horns Road! There was further rationalisation in 1934 when passenger numbers levelled off and the Depression took effect. Working conditions for drivers and conductors were harsh. There were many memories of buses breaking down and passengers being left in the pub whilst spare parts arrived. The buses’ engines were Leyland, Guy, Dennis and Albion. By the end of the decade buses were an essential part of the social fabric of the valleys – Western National (green), Red and White (red) and Bristol Tramways (blue).
1940-49 – Conflict and Climax. During the Second World War services were curtailed to save fuel and duplicate services were removed. But there was at least some service to all the small villages (such as Oakridge). Because of the war effort the mills and factories in Stroud were involved in munitions and in making uniforms – hence there was increased pressure on the reduced bus services – overcrowding was a problem, with buses grounding on some of the hilly bends, and punctuality suffered. Pressure was increased as people gave up their cars and as evacuees arrived. Barriers were installed at key boarding points (e.g. the Sub Rooms) to control the crowds boarding the buses. Staffing the buses was a problem as many men were called up – resulting in an increased number of conductresses. Buses aged as fewer buses were being manufactured and petrol engines were replaced with diesel ones, which required up to three people to crank start them! There was some bombing around Stroud in 1941, with Bisley steeple being used as the bombers’ navigation mark. It was difficult driving at night – since no lights were allowed either for the driver to see or the passengers or conductor to pay their fares.
After the war, when once again people had saved up, there was increased demand for buses for leisure and excursions and for going to the cinema. This was to be the golden age of the bus, before TV arrived and mass production of cars. Many new buses were brought into service in 1948 and many rural services were reintroduced.
1950-59 – Rise and fall. In 1953 41% of journeys were by bus, 29% by car and 17% by train. Subsequently bus use fell as car ownership increased. This was also the start of the process of nationalisation of the buses – as a prelude to which there were many mergers. A new breed of Lodekka buses was introduced in 1955, a radical design that was able to go under low bridges. Stroud drivers and conductors were highly respected at the time for their courtesy and reliability. The Suez crisis in 1957 brought further fuel shortages resulting in a 10% reduction in service. Following a dispute over a driver there was the first all-out strike on 9 February 1957. In July there was the first national bus strike for two weeks, which coincided with Stroud Show. Factories and schools closed – but it forced people to find other ways of getting round – by bike and by car share and this was the beginning of the decline. Passenger numbers started declining from 1959.
1960-69 – Easier to get to the moon. The buses had facilitated people getting to work and to the shops – since there were few cars. As car numbers increased so the bus companies responded by introducing one-man buses, cross-subsidising urban and rural buses and also increasing fares above inflation. 95% of services were retained. The first proper bus station was opened in 1960 at Merrywalks, which was then little more than a lane. The bus station was mainly the result of pressure from the traders who disliked the buses on the streets, although passengers felt that they were dropped too far from the town centre!
The focus was on using higher capacity (45 seats) single decker (SD) one-man-operated buses with Gardiner 5 cylinder engines. However, these heavy buses struggled on the steep hills in first gear and had to be replaced by 6 cylinder engines for the steeper hills. Two crew double deckers (6 cylinder engines) continued, using FLFs (flat floor, long and forward entrance). There follows several pages of technical information about which type of bus suited which routes!
The hourly Chalford to Stonehouse rail—motor service closed only in 1964. It had been running since 1903 and called at 11 halts, with every second service extended to Gloucester. One advantage was that it took prams and bicycles. However, with buses running every 10-20 minutes and with 26 bus stops it could not compete. BR then destroyed all the halt platforms – as happened at Coaley, but that was reinstated in 1995. In 1967, the first 36 ft SD arrived – with 53 seats, and a Leyland 6 cylinder 11 litre engine (which incidentally exceeded the length of the bus wash by 0.5m and so had to be washed by hand!). Agreement was reached with the TGWU on one man buses in 1969. An unaccompanied parcels service was introduced during the 1960s, which also took the newspapers to outlying villages. With the increased number of cars, Sunday services became less frequent and deeply rural services suffered.
1970-79 – Blame the buses. Bristol Omnibus Co (BOC) found it difficult to maintain rural services on the escarpment and became increasingly dependent upon grants from the County Council (GCC). Despite increasing fuel prices, and increased traffic congestion, car numbers increased. BOC was nationalised. Its response to increased costs was to move entirely to one man buses, mainly SDs, to reduce frequencies and to raise fares. Losses increased and services declined further – particularly at weekends. On the positive side, a Stroud to Bristol service (using the motorway) was introduced – some going on to Weston super Mare. In 1972 Merrywalks Shopping Centre was opened – with Fine Fare being opened by Ronnie Corbett. The bus station was then considered to be one of the most modern in the country. Bus tours remained popular, whilst the DDs used for the school run were available during holidays for tours.
By 1975 the number of buses serving Stroud had been cut by 19% since 1960. GCC was cash strapped and further cuts to services were made and losses mounted at BOC. Only 4 bus services covered their costs. These were Chalford to Stonehouse (421), Whiteshill (435), Foxmoor (442) and Nailsworth to Gloucester (556). More one-man services and shorter buses were introduced. The downward spiral of demand continued and some minibuses were introduced. Other services – such as Nailsworth to Horsley – became “hail and ride”.
1980-89 – Demand, deregulation and denationalisation. A “market analysis project” was introduced based on customer surveys. This led to a complete redesign of the services and buses based on demand. The Stroud-Bristol link was dropped and services cut back between Stroud and Cirencester. There was a move to smaller and more localised timetables. Integrated rail and bus timetables were distributed to every house – but bus services were now half what they were 30 years previously. There had been no compulsory redundancies in the whole process. New long distance services were introduced.
In 1985 the Tram Act led to deregulation and removal of the stage carriage licensing system. The management took over control of the local company and renamed it Bristol and Gloucester. Without GCC support 33 villages would have been without a bus service. The Stroud-Painswick-Cheltenham service was withdrawn until GCC put in a subsidy of £100,000. The Chalford to Stonehouse service now became two separate services for the first time since 1919. GCC also offered contracts to smaller bus companies to supply specific villages – such as Minchinhampton and Tetbury. GCC support was (and remains) vital. Stroud Valley buses re-branded themselves green with a yellow stripe. With deregulation owners could change routes at a whim so knowing timetables was difficult. In 1989 NO SMOKING was introduced.
1990 – 2003. The new decade dawned with much optimism amongst the yellow and green livery – but there were only 35 buses in the fleet. The management merged their interests with Cheltenham and Swindon. 6 minibuses were introduced. The urban services were re-branded as METRO – painted red, silver and blue - with increased frequencies on popular routes of up to 10 minutes. The bus stops moved back to the town centre because Merrywalks needed a new tarmac apron. Shoppers, traders and taxi drivers did not like the move. The bus station was purchased by SDC in 1997 and the buses returned to the bus station. The London Road garage was sold in 1992 and moved to Bowbridge, whilst Waitrose later built a supermarket on the site.
At the end of 1993 Western Travel sold its interests to Stagecoach and the re-branding was completed by 1996. By 1998 half of the fleet were mini-buses – with 30 minute services between Stroud and France Lynch and between Stroud and Gloucester. In 1997 Stagecoach relinquished the Bulk Scholars’ Agreement through which it provided school bus services – not least because of problems of maintaining discipline with the pupils – and this was taken over by smaller operators. The grant from GCC remained vital and was the major determinant of where buses went to – outside the major routes. Smaller operators continued to take minor routes.
In January 2001 Stagecoach reorganised itself as Stagecoach Wales and West with its HQ in Cheltenham. The 20-minute service (Number 20) Stroud to Stonehouse was introduced, resulting in increased business. In 2000 there were severe driver shortages and drivers were drafted from Scotland and the North of England – drivers being billeted at the Imperial. In 2001 it re-branded as Stagecoach in the Cotswolds and closed its Stroud office on Saturdays. In 2003 the bus station closed to make way for the cinema. GCC proposed an interchange at Stroud railway station but ………..watch this space. Stagecoach aimed to timetable services at the same time each hour. The book ends in January 2003, when there were 39 buses in Stroud, 60 staff and 2 million passenger miles per annum. Other local bus companies employed 7 drivers.
POSTSCRIPT – perhaps we will shortly see a renaissance of bus services in the valleys as fuel prices continue their inexorable rise. Summarised by John Meadley March 2008
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