Bus and coach timetables/literature

Pages 54 and 55 of the Summer 1932 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' showing timetables of Fallowfield and Knight, Farnham Blue Coaches, Fawdon Bus Company, Fingland's and Fleetways.

In 1928 the Fawdon Bus Company commenced a service between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Coventry. Whilst there had been a number of different pioneering operators with similar services it was only Fawdon Bus Company and Hall Brothers of South Shields that obtained road service licences in 1931 under the then new Road Traffic Act. The Fawdon service had competed with the big company operators working the ‘Limited Stop’ pool between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Leeds and the ‘Yorkshire Services’ pool between Leeds and Birmingham. In 1933 Fawdon was acquired by the West Yorkshire Road Car Company on behalf of the pool operators. Following the acquisition revenue north of Leeds was shared by Northern General Transport, North Western Road Car, West Yorkshire Road Car and Yorkshire Woollen District. South of Leeds it was shared by East Yorkshire Motor Services, West Yorkshire Road Car Company, Yorkshire Traction Company and Yorkshire Woollen District. Due to there being so many different companies involved, the road service licence for the service was held in the name of the Fawdon Omnibus Company registered at the offices of Northern General in Bensham. Since no vehicles were owned by Fawdon a hiring permit was granted by the Traffic Commissioners with Northern General Transport, West Yorkshire Road Car and Yorkshire Woollen District being the prominent operators. The Fawdon Company was wound up in 1962 and the different pool members then held separate licences. It was at this time the service became marketed as the ‘Ten Cities Express’.

Hall Brothers of South Shields was an early operator of an express service from Tyneside to Coventry. In later years the original service from South Shields via Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Chester-le-Street and Durham was supplemented with a service from South Shields via Sunderland, West Hartlepool, Billingham and Stockton-on-Tees the two services merging at Darlington and sharing a common route to Coventry via Doncaster, Nottingham, Leicester etc. In the late 1960s the company sold the business to Barton Transport of Nottingham who continued to operate the service using service numbers X81 and X82. The timetable remained very much the same for many years with a journey time of 10 hours 30 minutes in 1932 and 10 hours 25 minutes in 1951. By 1982 this had been reduced to 8 hours 55 minutes. Overnight services were added later operating on Friday and Sunday nights.

Extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 - Page 100 shows the Fylde Coast services operated from various South Lancashire towns by Lancashire United Transport. Page 101 shows the timetables of the Leeds-Newcastle Omnibus Company (Leeds to Newcastle and Leeds to Middlesbrough) and the Leicester and District Bus Company (Leicester to Great Yarmouth).

Extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 - Page 116 shows the timetables between London and Southend operated by New Carrimore Motor Service and New Empress City Saloons. Page 117 is the first of seven pages of timetables under the heading of the North Western Road Car Company which contains the northbound timetable for the 'Tyne-Tees-Mersey' 'Limited Stop' Pool services at the time worked jointly with Lancashire United Transport, Northern General Transport, West Yorkshire Road Car Company and Yorkshire Woollen District. The timetable also includes the Hull service which was jointly operated with East Yorkshire Motor Services. United Automobile Services joined the pool later.

Extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 - Page 118 is the second of seven pages of timetables under the heading of the North Western Road Car Company which contains the southbound timetable for the 'Tyne-Tees-Mersey' 'Limited Stop' Pool services at the time worked jointly with Lancashire United Transport, Northern General Transport, West Yorkshire Road Car Company and Yorkshire Woollen District. The timetable also includes the Hull service which was jointly operated with East Yorkshire Motor Services. United Automobile Services joined the pool later.

Extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 - Page 120 is the last of seven pages of timetables under the heading of the North Western Road Car Company. At the bottom is the timetable for the Portsmouth-Bristol services of Olympic Motor Services. Page 120 contains the timetable for the Orange Brothers London-North East-Edinburgh service together with three timetables for the services of Orange Luxury Coaches between London and the Coastal resorts.

Extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 - Page 122 is the second page of timetables for the services of Orange Luxury Coaches between London and the Coastal resorts. Page 123 contains timetables for the Tyne and Mersey Motor Services 'Overland Service' (Liverpool to the North East) together with the timetable for the Liverpool-London service of Pearsons 'Happy Days Motorways'.

This page is taken from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' for the Summer of 1932 and includes the Manchester-Rochdale-Todmorden-Burnley on table 63L at the time numbered service 38X. This later became the X4 and X14 services extended to Blackpool and Morecambe respectively. Table 63F at the top of the page covering the Burnley-Morecambe service may probably have been the latter extension.

Varsity Express Motors timetables for services from London to Cambridge and from London to Oxford

Pages showing the services of Westminster Coaching Services from London to Cambridge and other East Anglian towns. Note that arrival times are not shown but the lack of an arrival time at a certain location doesn't necessarily mean that point is not served.

An extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 showing the London-Yorkshire services of the 'Yorkshire Services' pool operators. The pool was created in 1930 by the West Yorkshire Road Car Company, Yorkshire Traction Company and Yorkshire Woollen District Electric Tramways (which later became Yorkshire Woollen District Transport). East Yorkshire Motor Services joined in 1931 followed by East Midland Motor Services in 1934. Barnsley featured as a key interchange point for the Yorkshire-London and Yorkshire-Birmingham services that formed the pool.

An extract from the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932 showing the Birmingham-Yorkshire services of the 'Yorkshire Services' pool operators. The pool was created in 1930 by the West Yorkshire Road Car Company, Yorkshire Traction Company and Yorkshire Woollen District Electric Tramways (which later became Yorkshire Woollen District Transport). East Yorkshire Motor Services joined in 1931 (followed by East Midland Motor Services on the London services in 1934). Barnsley featured as a key interchange point for the Yorkshire-London and Yorkshire-Birmingham services that formed the pool.

The timetable for the Yelloway Lancashire-London service as shown in the 'Roadway Motor Coach Timetable' 1932. Day and night services operated from Blackpool but the feeder service from Rochdale was for the day service only.

The ABC Coach Guide (later Coach and Bus Guide) was the bible used by booking and enquiry office staff all over Britain. Containing timetables for coach services operated by the both the independent and the nationalised sectors along with abridged details of the longer distance type bus services. Published twice a year and was the forerunner of the National Express Coach Guide.

Hall Brothers of South Shields was an early operator of an express service from Tyneside to Coventry. In later years the original service from South Shields via Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Chester-le-Street and Durham was supplemented with a service from South Shields via Sunderland, West Hartlepool, Billingham and Stockton-on-Tees the two services merging at Darlington and sharing a common route to Coventry via Doncaster, Nottingham, Leicester etc. In the late 1960s the company sold the business to Barton Transport of Nottingham who continued to operate the service using service numbers X81 and X82. The timetable remained very much the same for many years with a journey time of 10 hours 30 minutes in 1932 and 10 hours 25 minutes in 1951. By 1982 this had been reduced to 8 hours 55 minutes. Overnight services were added later operating on Friday and Sunday nights.

An extract from the Summer 1951 ABC Coach and Bus Guide showing the Yorkshire-London and Yorkshire-Birmingham services of the 'Yorkshire Services' pool operators (East Midland Motor Services, East Yorkshire Motor Services, West Yorkshire Road Car Company, Yorkshire Traction Company and Yorkshire Woollen District Transport). Barnsley featured as a key interchange point for the different services. The page also contains the timetable for the related Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Coventry service, the 'Fawdon Service' which received the name 'Ten Cities Express' in the 1960s.

Extract from the 'ABC Coach Guide' Summer 1951 showing the Tyne-Tees-Mersey 'Limited Stop' Pool services. The pool operators were Lancashire United Transport, Northern General Transport, United Automobile Services, West Yorkshire Road Car Company and Yorkshire Woollen District.