Ribble existing bus depots

[TheSel]

The listing evidently didn't prevent the canopies being removed between the 2010 and 2019 photos.

Good point - hadn't noticed that.

 

[S&CLER]

Bolton Street was the lower of the two, with the passenger and vehicle entrances to the bus station. The spartan coach shed upstairs was on Hilbre Street.

TGW's picture shows the exit route via Copperas Hill, with the glazed coach shed on the right. The maintenance area must have behind the big blue door.

I stand corrected. Thanks. I spent more of my life than I care to remember in Skelhorne Street bus station in the 1960s.

 

[Springs Branch]

Not a depot as such, but a quick mention that Ribble's imposing 1930s-era HQ in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston still seems to be standing.
Now occupied by Virgin Media according to this Google Street View image

 

[David Verity]

Not a depot as such, but a quick mention that Ribble's imposing 1930s-era HQ in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston still seems to be standing.
Now occupied by Virgin Media according to this Google Street View image

Whilst on the subject of Preston, it might be worth adding two former garages which disappeared under the ring road scheme that incorporated the new bus station: Park Road (Ribble's first garage) and Starchhouse Square (ex Scout) both of which were used for storage of surplus vehicles after their operating days were over.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Not a depot as such, but a quick mention that Ribble's imposing 1930s-era HQ in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston still seems to be standing.
Now occupied by Virgin Media according to this Google Street View image

Was the Ribble central works opposite where the new housing exists?

 

[David Verity]

Was the Ribble central works opposite where the new housing exists?

Yes - the opposite side of Frenchwood Knoll was occupied by Central Workshops except for the new body and paint shop which was built in 1961 alongside the Head Office so as to make more room for parking of vehicles from Selborne Street garage after Scout was absorbed.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Yes - the opposite side of Frenchwood Knoll was occupied by Central Workshops except for the new body and paint shop which was built in 1961 alongside the Head Office so as to make more room for parking of vehicles from Selborne Street garage after Scout was absorbed.

I thought it was - thanks for confirming. I think I checked it out probably 20+ years ago and I think it was still standing but didn't appreciate the building across the road was the old Ribble Head Office. Fine looking building.

Bit of a question. Stagecoach did have an outstation in Fleetwood. When did that disappear?

 

[TheSel]

Fleetwood (Birch Street) acquired with the business of Lawrence Motor Services in 1931. Extended 1932 and again 1938 when an extension was built. Closed 27 April 1991. Brought back into use December 1993.

Info from 'Ribble Volume 2 - An anthology' by TB Maund and AA Townsin (ISBN 1 898432 08 2), 1994.

 

[David Verity]

Fleetwood Dock Road ran as an outstation of Preston operating Lancashire County Council tendered services. LCC withdrew the funding and Stagecoach closed the operation down - 2016 comes to mind but I'm happy to be put right on that one.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Fleetwood (Birch Street) acquired with the business of Lawrence Motor Services in 1931. Extended 1932 and again 1938 when an extension was built. Closed 27 April 1991. Brought back into use December 1993.

Info from 'Ribble Volume 2 - An anthology' by TB Maund and AA Townsin (ISBN 1 898432 08 2), 1994.

Fleetwood Dock Road ran as an outstation of Preston operating Lancashire County Council tendered services. LCC withdrew the funding and Stagecoach closed the operation down - 2016 comes to mind but I'm happy to be put right on that one.

I recall Fleetwood in the mid 1990s having a tightly marshalled compound on Siding Road (? - was that the Dock Road site), full of Alexander bodied B10Ms and B6s. Assume that replaced the Birch Street depot.

 

[David Verity]

I recall Fleetwood in the mid 1990s having a tightly marshalled compound on Siding Road (? - was that the Dock Road site), full of Alexander bodied B10Ms and B6s. Assume that replaced the Birch Street depot.

Yes and yes - on reflection I recall the address was quoted as Siding Road - thanks for straightening me out!

 

[Whisky Papa]

Not a depot as such, but a quick mention that Ribble's imposing 1930s-era HQ in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston still seems to be standing.
Now occupied by Virgin Media according to this Google Street View image

I had an interview there for a Traffic Trainee post just as I was taking my A-levels. It's a pity my interest in architecture wasn't as keen then as it is now, I really can't remember much about what was undoubtedly a very impressive interior.

And no, I didn't get the job.

 

[David Verity]

I had an interview there for a Traffic Trainee post just as I was taking my A-levels. It's a pity my interest in architecture wasn't as keen then as it is now, I really can't remember much about what was undoubtedly a very impressive interior.

And no, I didn't get the job.

Entrance hall and first floor might be described as impressive - ground floor was distinctly average.

 

[Bovverboy]

Does anyone know which original Ribble bus depots are now still in use within Merseyside, Lancs, Cheshire and Greater Manchester? Thanks

Ribble didn't have a depot in Cheshire,, think only routes Ribble operated in Cheshire was the Southport-Warrington route, Cheshire was Crosville plus the municipals, & LUT.

Presumably meaning that Ribble only operated into Cheshire after the boundary was moved to include Warrington. I don't recall Ribble ever operating stage services south of the Mersey. Same applied to LUT, they ran into Warrington, but no further south, I don't think.

North Western was a significant company operator in Cheshire, in addition to Crosville. The only municipals based in Cheshire were Birkenhead, Wallasey, Chester, Stockport, and SHMD, but Ashton and Manchester, at least, also ran in.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Yes and yes - on reflection I recall the address was quoted as Siding Road - thanks for straightening me out!

No problem - I've really appreciated the information that you've provided.

Entrance hall and first floor might be described as impressive - ground floor was distinctly average.

I've been to a few head offices like that and not in the bus industry. I remember going to a customers' offices in the West Midlands (c.2001/2) and the reception was barely unchanged since the mid 1970s. Felt like I was visiting Sunshine Desserts!

 

[Bovverboy]

I believe that Bury depot was similarly acquired with Auty's Tours (?) and was also used as a coach depot primarily.

I'm sure that Bury depot was never used as anything other than a coach depot. In the years during which it was used by Ribble I don't think the latter had any stage services into Bury at all. Later it ran in on the 473 from Rawtenstall. (And, possibly, Burnley).

 

[Bovverboy]

Centenary Way Burnley garage opened in 1958 replacing Trafalgar Street (AK-buses) and Olympia (CA-coaches) It had a working life of 30 years, by which time the Pendleside stage carriage operations had been decimated by deregulation and the former Ribble/Standerwick coach operations had been sold to Amberline. By the time Stagecoach took over only the vehicles for the 743 were based in Burnley at Queensgate. For all other purposes Burnley had become an out staion of Clitheroe.

I had it in my head that Olympia had been the bus depot, and Trafalgar Street the coach depot, but I only lived in Burnley myself many years later and this information came from someone who had worked for Ribble, at Trafalgar Street I think.
At one time Ribble had a third depot in Burnley, a small one in Turf Street, but I don't know if it still existed when Centenary Way opened.

What services are meant by the Pendleside stage carriage operations?

At the time of the Stagecoach takeover I think Ribble Burnley depot still operated on 227/237 Burnley - Clitheroe, 152 Burnley - Preston, and provided two vehicles for services 10/11 Burnley to Higherford (Burnley & Pendle provided a third), as well as running some school services.

 

[Bovverboy]

Another little shed, albeit inherited from United, was Henderson's Garage in Alston

Because it was ex-United I have never known much about the Alston depot. I knew it had an complement of one bus and two drivers, that's about all.

The above seems to imply that Alston operations were acquired from Henderson's, but the latter did continue as a coach operator. Did the two operators share the premises afterwards?

 

[David Verity]

Because it was ex-United I have never known much about the Alston depot. I knew it had an complement of one bus and two drivers, that's about all.

The above seems to imply that Alston operations were acquired from Henderson's, but the latter did continue as a coach operator. Did the two operators share the premises afterwards?

Hendersons was (and still is) a garage/filling station and Spar supermarket, still quoted in Wrights timetable as a timing point on their Newcastle - Keswick service. In "The Hub" transport museum at Alston's South Tynedale railway station there are photographs which confirm the existence of Hendersons as a coach proprietor but no evidence of any bus service. Unless anyone knows differently I imagine the service was a purely United operation connecting into their Carlisle-Newcastle service at Haltwhistle. Nigel Watson's "United - a short history" gives a list of operators acquired down the years which shows the Newcastle-Carlisle service as acquired from Farrer and Farrer in 1930 but no reference to any operators taken over in or around Alston. From that I would deduce that it was no more than a convenient arrangement to rent parking space by United.

 

[David Verity]

I had it in my head that Olympia had been the bus depot, and Trafalgar Street the coach depot, but I only lived in Burnley myself many years later and this information came from someone who had worked for Ribble, at Trafalgar Street I think.
At one time Ribble had a third depot in Burnley, a small one in Turf Street, but I don't know if it still existed when Centenary Way opened.

What services are meant by the Pendleside stage carriage operations?

At the time of the Stagecoach takeover I think Ribble Burnley depot still operated on 227/237 Burnley - Clitheroe, 152 Burnley - Preston, and provided two vehicles for services 10/11 Burnley to Higherford (Burnley & Pendle provided a third), as well as running some school services.

Turf Street still existed as a repair shop, it didn't have any operational duties. By "Pendleside" I was referring to the services which embraced Wheatley Lane, Blacko, Newchurch, Barley and further afield Barnoldswick, Earby and Gisburn. Not very lucrative (apart from Sunday afternoons when services to Barley had been heavily duplicated) and all conceded on tendering to other parties.

 

[David Verity]

I'm sure that Bury depot was never used as anything other than a coach depot. In the years during which it was used by Ribble I don't think the latter had any stage services into Bury at all. Later it ran in on the 473 from Rawtenstall. (And, possibly, Burnley).

Correct - Bury depot was first and foremost a coach operation with excursions,extended tours and an input to the Yelloway Blackpool pool. After the excursion licences were sold to Yelloway there was nothing left which couldn't have been operated from Manchester or Bolton depots and along with the booking office on the Rock it was considered surplus to requirements. The X3/13/23/43/53 semi-express services also passed through Bury but were operated from Clitheroe, Blackburn, Burnley and Skipton depots

 

[Bovverboy]

One site thats been overlooked: when Lancaster City Transport closed, Stagecoach took over the former Morecambe Corporation bus and horsetram depot on Heysham Rd before moving to White Lund. Its now housing. Ribble also had a piece of land at The Battery which was used as a turning circle and occasional bus park, thats now a GP surgery

The plot of land at the Battery was very much Morecambe & Heysham Corporation property, but Ribble used it for services terminating there, e.g. the University services. So it would have only become unequivocally 'Ribble' well into Stagecoach days.

Ribble did use a small plot of land in the area - it may have been in Cavendish Street - to park a caravan which ostensibly functioned as a booking office for excursions. I never actually saw it in use, though.

 

[Bovverboy]

To the best of my knowledge it was, the new regulations regarding joint operations as anti-competitive unless they were specifically sanctioned; there are scores of cases where joint operation came to an abrupt end. Ribble and Pennine had always enjoyed an especially close relationship but all that was put to one side after October 1986.

There were plenty of joint operations that continued well after deregulation and indeed, some continue today (Newcastle to Carlisle or Andover to Salisbury).

They continued to a point, but on a different footing. There was no longer such a thing as joint licences (by that time, registrations) but operators could still operate to co-ordinated timetables, as long as the powers that be approved of the arrangement.

 

[daodao]

Ribble didn't have a depot in Cheshire,, think only routes Ribble operated in Cheshire was the Southport-Warrington route, Cheshire was Crosville plus the municipals, & LUT.

Anyway, Hawthorn Road Bootle is still in use for Arriva North West, Preston, & Chorley, Stagecoach Lancashire, Ribble's Aintree depot has long gone, however the offices for the former Aintree depot are used for Arriva North West HQ.

Ribble never operated into Cheshire, nor did LUT. The main operators were NWRCC and Crosville, with a few routes run by PMT, together with the following municipal operators: Wallasey, Birkenhead, Chester, Halton (in its latter days but not the original Widnes based operation), Warrington, Manchester, Stockport, SHMD, and to a certain degree Ashton. Of the municipal operators, only Warrington is extant.

 

[Bovverboy]

There were two depots in Grange over Sands reflecting the fact that Ribble acquired the bus and coach operating arms of Grange Motor and Cycle Company in two stages - buses at Hampsfell Road and coaches at Albert Road which became the main garage seven years later. It ran as two distinct operations under the care of an Inspector in Charge. The buses were rotated on a maintenance basis with Kendal whereas the coaches (including the two famous ex Michelin Leopards) were a specific allocation with dedicated coach drivers. All sadly long gone and no doubt sold for redevelopment. The excursions and tours booking office with its off-road stance in Kents Bank Road later became a Co op Travel Office.

All the BBF16s I have owned, and other sources, have given the address of the Grange depot as Kents Bank Road. However as Kents Bank Road and Albert Road are adjacent I'm sure the depot never actually moved. Depots could easily change their address without moving - witness Burnley depot moving from Grimshaw Street to Centenary Way, and Blackburn George Street moving to Manner Sutton Street.
Grange was always listed as a full depot, implying that it was head of a 'District' with a 'District Traffic Superintendent' (later District Superintendent) in charge. However, it's likely that these definitions weren't always rigidly applied.

These depots without a permanent allocation (in the case of Grange, of service buses) often had an unofficial one. I remember, in my bus-spotting days, that the last Ribble Olympic I 'needed' (and for a long time) was 251 (DRN115), which was officially allocated to Kendal. On one occasion when myself and a school friend were visiting Kendal (which we did at least once a year) I asked a driver if he knew where we might find 251. We received the response that that particular vehicle 'was often at Grange'. Years later, when working for Ribble myself, I discovered that Ingleton depot had its own unofficial allocation. The two service buses were 36' Leopards 469 and 562. The third vehicle was scheduled to be a DP, but I don't know which one was nominated as the regular Ingleton one - Lancaster's allocation at the time was 826/8/9.

 

[Bovverboy]

I assume Keswick was a Cumberland depot, although they may have looked after the Ribble coaches overnight.

It's my recollection that the Ribble and Cumberland depots at Keswick were quite separate, although they were both on the same site as the bus station. I don't know whether or not there were any shared facilities.
The Ribble depot had a permanent allocation of two coaches, I think. In addition a double-decker would be outstationed from Ambleside (to work the first 555 of the day), and I imagine the Standerwick vehicle operating the London service would have overnighted there too.

 

[Bovverboy]

Not a depot as such, but a quick mention that Ribble's imposing 1930s-era HQ in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston still seems to be standing.
Now occupied by Virgin Media according to this Google Street View image

I had an interview there for a Traffic Trainee post just as I was taking my A-levels. It's a pity my interest in architecture wasn't as keen then as it is now, I really can't remember much about what was undoubtedly a very impressive interior.

And no, I didn't get the job.

I also had an interview at Frenchwood for a traffic trainee post, as I was taking my A-levels. I did get the job, but then one of my teachers at school insisted on making a mess of it.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It's my recollection that the Ribble and Cumberland depots at Keswick were quite separate, although they were both on the same site as the bus station. I don't know whether or not there were any shared facilities.
The Ribble depot had a permanent allocation of two coaches, I think. In addition a double-decker would be outstationed from Ambleside (to work the first 555 of the day), and I imagine the Standerwick vehicle operating the London service would have overnighted there too.

There were two separate sheds at Keswick IIRC. However, both were certainly in the ownership of Cumberland at disposal by Stagecoach (and before Ribble was bought by Stagecoach) and the blockade.

 

[David Verity]

It's my recollection that the Ribble and Cumberland depots at Keswick were quite separate, although they were both on the same site as the bus station. I don't know whether or not there were any shared facilities.
The Ribble depot had a permanent allocation of two coaches, I think. In addition a double-decker would be outstationed from Ambleside (to work the first 555 of the day), and I imagine the Standerwick vehicle operating the London service would have overnighted there too.

Not sure about that - Ribble and Cumberland originally had separate offices but Ribble later moved into the same space as Cumberland although they continued to have separate phone numbers. The garage was pure Cumberland property. Ribble had a designated allocation of four coaches although they were shown on the Ambleside strength. No stage carriage vehicles were officially allocated although as you say there would be an Ambleside bus outstationed if required for the 68/555. Standerwick's Keswick-London vehicle was cleaned - but not serviced or fuelled - by Cumberland staff until latterly in National days when the service was extended to Whitehaven with a Cumberland driver taking over.

 

[Bovverboy]

Hendersons was (and still is) a garage/filling station and Spar supermarket, still quoted in Wrights timetable as a timing point on their Newcastle - Keswick service. In "The Hub" transport museum at Alston's South Tynedale railway station there are photographs which confirm the existence of Hendersons as a coach proprietor but no evidence of any bus service. Unless anyone knows differently I imagine the service was a purely United operation connecting into their Carlisle-Newcastle service at Haltwhistle. Nigel Watson's "United - a short history" gives a list of operators acquired down the years which shows the Newcastle-Carlisle service as acquired from Farrer and Farrer in 1930 but no reference to any operators taken over in or around Alston. From that I would deduce that it was no more than a convenient arrangement to rent parking space by United.

By the time of the Alston depot passing from United to Ribble in 1969 the sole operation was of the service from Alston to Carlisle. Don't forget that at that time the Alston to Haltwhistle railway line was still operative. Carlisle depot may also have had a presence on the route, I'm not sure.
After the railway line to Alston closed in 1976 (after having been under threat for years) Ribble fought off competition from Wright's of Nenthead for the right to operate the replacement bus service. The service to Carlisle was at that point curtailed to operate between Carlisle and Halton-lea-Gate (connecting thereat with the Haltwhistle-Alston bus), operated by Carlisle depot. There may have been some variation on this arrangement, if only to get the Alston vehicle back to Carlisle for maintenance.