Oldest bus garage in the UK?

[jp4712]

There'll be an open day at Queens Road garage in Manchester on Saturday 6 June according to the website of the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, celebrating 125 years since the garage opened in 1901.

It got me thinking, what is the UK's oldest operational bus garage?

I suppose you'd have to split the definition into three: the oldest actual building still being used as a bus garage, the oldest site being used as a bus garage although the building has been replaced, or the oldest bus garage building now in alternative use?

Please let's not have the 'ah yes, but when Queens Road opened it wasn't a bus garage, it was a tram shed' - let's say, as I think most people would, that a tram depot that evolved into a bus depot in continuous use is what counts.

So, anywhere older than Queens Road as an operational bus garage?

 

[mangad]

Thornton Heath depot in London was originally a horse tram depot, opened in 1879. Rebuilt as an electric tram depot in 1901, then converted for buses in the 1950s. No idea how much of the original 1879 depot is still there, but it's the oldest operational site in London that I know of.

 

[JKP]

The Milehouse depot in Plymouth used today by Go Ahead dates back to at least 1901 and the start of electric trams in the then separate borough of Devonport. Built by the Devonport and District Tramway Company it then passed to Plymouth Corporation in 1914 when Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse merged as one local authority.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Milehouse and Thornton Heath have little if any of the original structures.

Southport in Canning Road is 1900 and is fairly complete. Clapton (Hackney) dates from the late 19th century is also quite recognisably from that era.

Brixton is 1892 but has had two substantial rebuilds so is like Triggers Broom! Halifax was being demolished (done now?) and that was 1898 allegedly.

 

[DunsBus]

Lothian's Central Garage in Annandale Street, Edinburgh has been in use as a bus garage since 1928. It was originally built six years earlier, in 1922, as an exhibition hall.

 

[robertclark125]

Stagecoach east Scotland dunfermline depot, on St Leonards street, opened in 1909 as a tram depot, buses moving in later.

 

[CN12 AWU]

Would Laird Street Birkenhead and Rock Ferry in Birkenhead come in

guess both sites are well old enough as Laird Street was Birkenhead Corperation Tramways depot origionally and Crosville had Rock Ferry

Same point Green Lane in Liverpool was origionally a tram depot if I'm not mistaken for Liverpool Corperation

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Mar 2026 ==

Also both depots in Preston especially Deepdale Road must fit in the categories

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Would Laird Street Birkenhead and Rock Ferry in Birkenhead come in

guess both sites are well old enough as Laird Street was Birkenhead Corperation Tramways depot origionally and Crosville had Rock Ferry

Same point Green Lane in Liverpool was origionally a tram depot if I'm not mistaken for Liverpool Corperation

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Mar 2026 ==

Also both depots in Preston especially Deepdale Road must fit in the categories

Aside from the offices, I'm not sure how much of Laird Street is from the tramway days, being largely demolished and new facilities built.

Green Lane is more complex. I think the current depot is much more recent and was just a parking area (but with some 1930s offices just as you go in) whilst the depot itself was further along Green Lane and is now a Asian Cash and Carry.

Deepdale is 1904 but with a slightly later frontage. Frenchwood is late 1930s whilst Rock Ferry is 1932, and were purpose built.

Essentially, you're looking at former tram depots which haven't been totally rebuilt a la Laird Street, Thornton Heath. Of course, there are some which are former tram depots but they've had a new front grafted onto them like Wood Green (1904) or Brixton. There are also others that are pleasingly still quite original like Southport, Stamford Hill, Acocks Green, and Bow.

 

[Whisky Papa]

With the proposed tram system not having materialised, Todmorden's Millwood garage was opened for buses in 1908. It is still in use by First, but the notoriously cramped, low-height garage is now just an open yard. The front wall along the A646 remains in situ though, the original bit is at the east end, the rest is a later extension.

 

[SteveHFC]

Not the oldest - but probably one of the oldest - Hoeford Depot (depot for First Solent, and previously Provincial) dates back to 1904.

 

[Man of Kent]

West Coast Motors depot at Rothesay? The site dates back to 1882 when it was opened for a horse tramway, but I think it is the 1901 rebuild for electric trams that survives today. The depot was allegedly a carbon copy of the one British Electric Traction built in Gravesend in the same year.

 

[Wawanesa]

A lesser known garage but with a very long history is 215 - 217, High Street, Kelvedon, Essex. In 1879 Charles & Edward Moore built the Temperance Hotel there and announced that they were the "Proprietors of the Coggeshall Omnibus" and also that they had (horse) omnibuses available for private hire. In 2026, Konnectbus Limited are licenced to operate 26 buses from the rear of the premises.

The late David Domin produced a series of Depot directories. I only have the East of England issue but they make for an interesting read. , A few examples are-

Caister Road, Great Yarmouth - opened as a tram depot on June 19th 1902. Currently used by First Eastern Counties Buses Limited.

Constantine Road, Ipswich - opened as a tram depot November 23rd 1903. Currently used by Ipswich Buses Limited.

351, Lincoln Road, Peterborough - opened as a tram depot January 24th 1903. Currently used by Cambus Limited

Spalding Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire. Premises acquired by William Smith in 1902. Used as a bus garage from 1919 by his son Thomas A. Smith who traded as "The Delaine". Now greatly extended and rebuilt, it is currently used by Thomas's grandsons and great granddaughters who continue to trade as "The Delaine" over a century later.

 

[EYFanatic]

I suppose you'd have to split the definition into three: the oldest actual building still being used as a bus garage, the oldest site being used as a bus garage although the building has been replaced, or the oldest bus garage building now in alternative use?

A oldest purpose built depot still in use as a bus depot...? The EYMS depot on Anlaby Road in Hull must be in with a shout

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

For the "now in alternative use" category, the former Bradford Corporation tram/trolleybus/bus depot at Saltaire, built in 1904, is currently a pub!

 

[Bristol LHS]

Stagecoach Dean Road in South Shields is pretty old, I think I’m right in saying it opened alongside the Corporation electric tram system in 1906. It housed trolley buses later, passed to the PTE, then via Busways to Stagecoach.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Ashton (Lancs) Corporation depot (1902) on Mossley Road is still standing - now used by several businesses. It housed trams , trolleybuses and buses during its operational life. The 1881 horse tram depot, also in Ashton (on Tramway Road!) is still standing and in use by other businesses, but it ceased operations in 1903 and never had electric trams or buses.

Hyde Road Depot in Ardwick, Manchester still has some 1902/05 buildings, but the operational bus garage is 1960s.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

A oldest purpose built depot still in use as a bus depot...? The EYMS depot on Anlaby Road in Hull must be in with a shout

C.1926/7. The books "East Yorkshire" and "Twixt Wold, Carr and Coast" record that the purchase of the land was authorised in October 1926... but not when the depot actually opened!
Withernsea depot is a similar age, but that is on the site of a bus station previously owned by Lee and Beaulah (one of East Yorkshire's constituents).

Also in the area, but now in alternative use, I believe the car garage/exhaust centre on Albert Avenue in Hull is the former Grey-De-Luxe bus depot, built in 1926.

And one we can't quite be sure of is what is now Savoy Tyres in Main Street, Willerby.
My father was told by someone who had lived in the village in the early years of the twentieth century that the building used to be a bus garage, owned by Binnington's, who were bought by East Yorkshire in 1932.
The origins of the firm were in the 19th century as a horse bus operator, and they began running motor buses in 1912.
When exactly the building was constructed- and whether the village elder was correct- I don't know.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Stamford Brook (First, ex London United) dates back to at least 1896.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

A oldest purpose built depot still in use as a bus depot...? The EYMS depot on Anlaby Road in Hull must be in with a shout

Both Bromley and Sutton date from 1924. There’s possibly others older but again heavily rebuilt.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

A candidate for the earliest purpose built bus 'garage' is the corrugated iron 'shed' behind Redruth Station which was was built in 1907 to house a pioneering GWR road motor.It ceased to be used by WW1 for that purpose.

 

[Statto]

Aside from the offices, I'm not sure how much of Laird Street is from the tramway days, being largely demolished and new facilities built.

Green Lane is more complex. I think the current depot is much more recent and was just a parking area (but with some 1930s offices just as you go in) whilst the depot itself was further along Green Lane and is now a Asian Cash and Carry.

Laird Street was rebuilt early 2000s just after Arriva bought MTL, not sure when Laird Street was built & first used, although Birkenhead Transport itself dates back to 1919, Horse Drawn buses were running from 1848, with the first Street trams from 1860.

Yeah, the current Green Lane depot was originally a parking area, the other depot (which was called Stanley then Carnegie Road) further up Green Lane was the main workshop, that as said is now a cash & carry.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

A candidate for the earliest purpose built bus 'garage' is the corrugated iron 'shed' behind Redruth Station which was was built in 1907 to house a pioneering GWR road motor.It ceased to be used by WW1 for that purpose.

It was always stated Braemar was the first purpose built bus depot/station in 1904 apparently.

The shed has now gone but the office remains AFAIK; stopped being used mid 1990s?

 

[Mark L]

It was always stated Braemar was the first purpose built bus depot/station in 1904 apparently.

The shed has now gone but the office remains AFAIK; stopped being used mid 1990s?

The buildings at Stamford Brook and Fulwell date back to the early 1880s and 1903 respectively - the latter was constructed when London United electrified its tramways. Stamford Brook was used as a horse tram shed before that.

 

[Eyersey468]

C.1926/7. The books "East Yorkshire" and "Twixt Wold, Carr and Coast" record that the purchase of the land was authorised in October 1926... but not when the depot actually opened!
Withernsea depot is a similar age, but that is on the site of a bus station previously owned by Lee and Beaulah (one of East Yorkshire's constituents).

Also in the area, but now in alternative use, I believe the car garage/exhaust centre on Albert Avenue in Hull is the former Grey-De-Luxe bus depot, built in 1926.

And one we can't quite be sure of is what is now Savoy Tyres in Main Street, Willerby.
My father was told by someone who had lived in the village in the early years of the twentieth century that the building used to be a bus garage, owned by Binnington's, who were bought by East Yorkshire in 1932.
The origins of the firm were in the 19th century as a horse bus operator, and they began running motor buses in 1912.
When exactly the building was constructed- and whether the village elder was correct- I don't know.

Anlaby Road depot opened 1929

 

[GusB]

First Aberdeen's depot at 395 King Street has been a transport depot for over 100 years. It was originally a barracks but was purchased by Aberdeen Corporation Tramways in 1914.

https://archive.ph/20080725052708/http://www.firstgroup.com/corporate/our_company/hq_history.php

Aberdeen Corporation Tramways purchases the barracks in King Street with the intention of providing a central depot and repair shop to replace the existing one at Dee Village Road, which was becoming too small to cope with the work of the Transport Department. However, with the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the barracks were again taken over by the military authorities, which put building schemes on hold until it was vacated in November 1918 at the end of the war.

 

[Metal Mickey]

Larbert Depot is still in operation today with McGill’s Midland Bluebird subsidiary.

It was opened by Falkirk & District Tramways as a tram depot in 1905 with bus operations commencing under Walter Alexander & Sons in 1913.

 

[alphabravo43]

Larbert Depot is still in operation today with McGill’s Midland Bluebird subsidiary.

It was opened by Falkirk & District Tramways as a tram depot in 1905 with bus operations commencing under Walter Alexander & Sons in 1913.

With possibly Balfron being their oldest continuous depot as bus only, as it was opened in 1921 with the Rankin Brothers before being taken over by Alexanders as well.

 

[GusB]

I'm not sure if the current building is the original, but Stagecoach's Elgin depot is just shy of 100 years old. The depot was originally built in 1929/30* but it's a bit muddy as to whether it was built by R Mullen and W Thomson (t/a Northern Motor/Omnibus** Services) whose business was acquired in October 1929 by the Scottish General (Northern) Omnibus Company, a subsidiary of the Scottish General Omnibus Co.

* Sammy Fraser, Our Buses Past and Present, p14

The firm's garage, at the outset, was situated at 253 High Street but later, in 1929/30, they built the depot at Pinefield.

** https://www.lthlibrary.org.uk/library/PDF-234-1.pdf - The business is named as both Northern Motor Services and Northern Omnibus Services

In December 1927 the Comfort Motor Service was acquired from Messrs Mullen
and Thomson who then moved to Elgin and re-commenced in business under
the name of Northern Motor Services. This business was subsequently
acquired by Scottish General in 10/29 and a new subsidiary company,
Scottish General (Northern) Ltd, was established to operate the vehicles.

SGOC was then acquired by W. Alexander & Sons in 1930.

 

[IanMac]

Stamford Brook (First, ex London United) dates back to at least 1896.

I had always thought Stamford Brook was newer when it replaced Turnham Green which certainly was pre-WW2, and took its traditional V code.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I had always thought Stamford Brook was newer when it replaced Turnham Green which certainly was pre-WW2, and took its traditional V code.

It was a tram depot, used for storage, then the BEA/BOAC airport services, and finally converted to replace Turnham Green and Mortlake (I think).

Another great survivor of a pre WW2 depot is Tamworth; the only in-use survivor of that BMMO era