Former West Yorkshire Road Car Company building at Westmoreland Street/Mowbray Square, Harrogate

[Hassocks5489]

Hi all,

A question of local interest and nostalgia for anybody familiar with the Harrogate area and/or the WYRCC, if I may. I'm trying to find out more about the history of the building on Westmoreland Street, Harrogate, which since 2012 has been used by the Mowbray Community Church, but which (according to the planning application for conversion) was "used from the mid-1970s onwards by the WYRCC as a bus depot". It is further stated that planning permission was granted in 1991 to convert it into a car showroom (Nidd Vale Motors), and that they vacated it in 2000. So, a few questions really:

• When was it built (I can see from old maps from the mid-1950s that the site was vacant then);
• Was it actually a bus depot or was it in fact some other facility (perhaps offices; or I have seen a comment online that it may have been a body shop);
• Between which dates was it in use by the WYRCC;
• Any other interesting information about the building and its bus-related activities.

Grateful for any responses. Any information received will feed in to the research I am doing about the building and its current use, and will be acknowledged when published at some point in the future.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It was part of West Yorkshire’s central works. Might have been the paint and body shop. Shot here from flickr (Creweboy)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/73091173@N03/33736219412/

The rest of the works was on Myrtle Road and demolished a good few years back. EDIT: if you look on streetview for 2008, you can see it being demolished. Photo here, also from Creweboy Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73091173@N03/32360610946/

The Head Office was also nearby on East Parade. Not certain exactly where but there's a nice office block from the 1930s on the corner of Myrtle Road that is now flats that I suspect was the place.

As for dates.... I suspect probably closed c.1988/9. Unlike some National Bus Co firms, their engineering wasn't hived off and sold to Frontsource. Therefore, it would've been there until the business was sold to the asset strippers that were AJS/Parkdale in 1987. Wouldn't have been needed after half the business was sold to Yorkshire Rider in early 1990 in any case.

 

[SCH117X]

Yes the offices are now those flats having been the Poll Tax office. In 'Twopenny Single to Starbeck' by Trevor M Leach (West Yorkshire Information Service 2000) it is noted the site was bought in 1925 by Harrogate & District. Across the road to its rear were workshops with the original depot beyond them and it is stated with the rapid expansion from 1924

the function of day to day maintenance was overhauls were split and the subsequent move of vehicle garaging and day to day maintenance to Grove Park depot enabled the Central Works...to be expanded.

Construction work started on Grove Park depot in 1927 but it did not come into use until 1928 by which time Harrogate & District and Blythe & Berrick of Bradford had combined as West Yorkshire.

The following notes are taken from 'Small is Beautiful' by Keith A Jenkinson (Autobus Review Publications 1999):

The Central Works came under the control of WY Engineeering Ltd, which became Premier Engineering of Harrogate Ltd, in the late 1980s with outside work being actively sought although Parkdale Holdings plc disposed of parts of the workshops and the offices. Separately the Grove Park depot was under the control of the AJS Group who disposed of it in 1990 (offices now occupy that site); all vehicle maintance having previously been transferred back to the Central Works.

Central Works was disposed of in early 1991 to a car dealers although it was agreed the body shop fronting East Parade would continue to be used by the AJS Group until mid-August.

 

[John HG1]

The "Harrogate Past Present & Future" Facebook page has "before & after" photos of the central works
The link is here

Facebook

www.facebook.com

(not sure whether it will work without joining the group).

Out of personal interest my paternal grandmother lived in Mowbray Square, the street surrounding the present building, in 1910 so I was interested to see a shot of the area before West Yorkshire put the building up

 

[GusB]

The "Harrogate Past Present & Future" Facebook page has "before & after" photos of the central works
The link is here

Facebook

www.facebook.com

(not sure whether it will work without joining the group).

Out of personal interest my paternal grandmother lived in Mowbray Square, the street surrounding the present building, in 1910 so I was interested to see a shot of the area before West Yorkshire put the building up

Unfortunately that link doesn't work, presumably because it's a private group.

The link to the main group page is here:

Facebook

www.facebook.com

Anyone who wishes to access it will need to have a Facebook account and join the group in order to see these photos.