Stephen Ford – Old bus photos

Midland General AEC Regent II/Weymann

Until I was about 5 we lived in Nottingham. At that time (the early 1950s) Nottingham City Transport was dominated by pre-selector AEC Regents (including quite a lot of pre-war ones). These were fine in their way – but the transmission music of a pre-selector was quite different from the Mark II crash gearbox.

We only made occasional out of town journeys, and these were usually by the Midland General routes that left the city via Nuthall Road. The available routes were B1 (Ripley), B3/C5 Alfreton and B4 South Normanton. The B1 was usually operated with Mark III pre-selectors (until displaced by the Bristol KSW6Gs), but all of the other routes were crash gearbox Mark IIs. While waiting I always watched anxiously willing “our” bus not to be a B1 which would deprive me of the lovely crash gearbox sound.

In the mid 60s, I often went by train to Pye Bridge on a Saturday morning, to experience the few remaining Regent IIs with which the Nottingham-Alfreton route was enhanced to 10 minute frequency. I recall one suffering a total breakdown near Jacksdale, and feeling depressed at the likelihood of being transferred to the next bus – probably a Lodekka. I needn’t have worried.

In double-quick time Underwood depot wheeled out yet another Mark II. Midland General’s blue and cream livery was handsome – the blue by which I still measure all the rest. All their vehicles seemed to smell of disinfectant – and notices on the platform asked workmen wearing overalls to travel upstairs (where the seats were trimmed in leathercloth instead of moquette)!

Stephen Ford
11/2009

To see a photograph of a Midland General Regent all be it a III click here

The Brooklands School Bus

In 1954 when I was 5, we moved from Nottingham to Long Eaton, about 7 miles to south west. At the age of 8 I transferred from the infants school which was about 2 minutes walk from home to Brooklands junior school, which was about a mile away. In those days it was very common for kids to go home for lunch, and with car ownership still quite rare, this meant a bus ride.

Now, Long Eaton was served exclusively by Bartons (if you ignore the hourly Midland Red X99 plying between Nottingham and Birmingham, which was a sort of exotic interloper, not available for local journeys anyway). The school journey lay on the regular bus routes southwards from Long Eaton (3, 3C, 10, 11 and 15). However, I guess Bartons didn’t want their regular clientele to be invaded by a marauding crowd of 8-11 year olds, who had just been let out of school. So they provided an additional service, which started at the Lord Nelson on Tamworth Road (nearest stop to school) and ran via Tamworth Road to Sawley Junction (now Long Eaton) railway station, where it turned right into Wilsthorpe Road continuing to the regular route 15 terminus at Thoresby Road.

It never appeared in the timetable, and had no official route number, although the indicator often showed 5A or 5C – which might just have been the last proper service it had operated. As far as I know the public were welcome to use it (though few ever did, and I can’t say that I blame them!) Because it did not pass under the low arched railway bridge at Sawley Junction, it was invariably operated by double-deckers, and Bartons, bless them, turned out a variety of museum pieces for our delight and entertainment. And, of course, they specialised in museum pieces, oddballs and home-made rebuilds.

Some were ancient second hand Leyland TD something-or-others from distant municipalities. I recall that one had an Eastern Coach Works body. Occasionally we were favoured with one of the famous Duple-bodied low-bridge, front entrance PD1s which were actually quite modern. But the normal offering was one of the decrepit Utility Guy Arabs, that normally snoozed quietly at the back of Long Eaton garage between peak periods.

There were three that were regular performers – GNN 705 (444), GNN 709 (448) and GAL 506 (running number unknown). All were “lowbridge” with sunken gangway upstairs on the offside, and of course, the typical long protruding Guy radiator (“Here’s my nose, and the rest of me is following some distance behind!”) The Guys always looked as if they had been chopped carelessly out of a slab of granite, and they drove like it too – agonisingly slow acceleration, furious vibration, deafeningly noisy, with a harsh rattling growl that rose to a screaming crescendo before each gear-change, which was executed with much grinding, clanking, double de-clutching and perhaps bad language from the driver.

We soon discovered that by giving the seats a few hearty wacks, you could produce a dense choking fog of dust upstairs, to the fury of the conductor – oh yes, we had to pay – 1½d each to Sawley Junction, 2d beyond there. There was one conductor who ruled with a rod of iron. The bus would draw up with him standing glowering on the open platform. As the horde surged forward he would yell, “Now, you can all get in a single line.” Anybody who tried to swarm on was firmly ejected and we were warned that no-one was getting on, and the bus was going nowhere until we sorted ourselves out in an orderly way. Then he insisted that we all sat down and stayed sat down. That meant three to a seat downstairs.

I seem to remember that the bell on the Guys was actually a buzzer, and the buttons were not the usual red “PUSH ONCE” variety, but black knobs in raised metal mountings that stood out about 2 inches from the framework above the right hand windows.

Of course the journey was over in a very short time (but the conductor usually managed to collect a full set of fairs – woe betide anyone who wanted change for a half crown!) The first stop, Wyvern Avenue, was always ignored – no-one bothered catching the bus to travel 300 yards. Then it was the Royal Oak, then Sawley Junction (and in the interests of road safety this was the only double decker that stopped both before and after turning into Wilsthorpe Road). Next it was Blandford Avenue, and on to Thoresby Road, after which, as far as I know, the bus returned empty to Long Eaton garage. There was never a corresponding service back to school after lunch – but then, there wasn’t the same concentration of kids going back. Some walked, others caught any one of the regular service buses in the half hour between 1 o’clock and half past.

Stephen. Ford
12/2009

Visiting Grandad

When I was about 4 my grandparents moved from the Nottingham suburb of Mapperley to Hucknall – now the northern terminus of the Nottingham tram system, but then way outside the precincts of Nottingham City Transport. Hucknall was a mining “village” and my grandmother always referred to it disparagingly as “Mucky ’Uckna’ ”.

From our own home (a prefab just off Nuthall Road, Aspley) a trip to visit them was at first an epic journey involving 3 different buses, run by 3 different operators, with 3 different coloured liveries. Just for good measure they had 3 different ticket systems too. One thing they were all agreed on, however, was that a bus meant an AEC. You will realise that I didn’t know what a pre-selector Regent III was at the age of 4, but I knew the difference between the sound it made and that of a crash gearbox Regent II. Most of the specific detail I have gleaned since. But I can remember these journeys as clearly as yesterday. (Unfortunately I can’t remember what we had for dinner last Tuesday!)

AA Routeplanner now tells me the total journey was 5.7 miles, with an expected journey time (by car) of 14 minutes. On a good Saturday afternoon with a following wind it would take us about 45 minutes.

It began with a green NCT No.7 – invariably one of the Roberts Regent IIIs – which picked us up by the library at the corner of Melbourne Road, and proceeded along Nuthall Road (the A610). The route was soon joined at Stockhill Lane by the trolleybuses which came from the city centre through Basford – both the NCT No. 41 and the Notts & Derby Traction blue trolleys which ran all the way to Ripley until their demise in 1953. At Cinderhill Cross Roads, where the 41 terminated, our No. 7 turned right along Cinderhill Road, terminating at Bulwell Market Place – a run of about 10 minutes.

The Market Place itself was littered with terminating buses (including the frequent – i.e. every 3 minutes – No.43 trolley from Trent Bridge, which came by Radford Road and Highbury Vale). The buses made a bit of a nuisance of themselves amongst the old fashioned market stalls, and a proper bus station was eventually built for them. One point of interest here was the local service from Bulwell to Bestwood Colliery Village, operated, not by any of the dominant local companies, but by Bulwell independent Makemson’s. Their vehicle was always a lowbridge all-Leyland PD1 (or was it a PD2?) with platform doors, and wearing a smart deep maroon livery.

The next leg of our journey was by one of Trent’s red and cream buses. They did not stop in the Market Place but 100 yards north in Main Street outside a public house – officially the King William IV, but universally known as the King Billy. This next section to Hucknall Market was by route 61 (Nottingham – Mansfield) or occasionally 60 – a short working that went no farther than Hucknall. The 60 would often be one of the AEC Regal half-cab single deckers, while the 61 was invariably a Regent – sometimes full height, sometimes lowbridge. All were bodied by Willowbrook. The lowbridge variety, at least, were pre-war chassis, whose previous front entrance bodies had been replaced by Willowbrook in the late 1940s. Any of these would give me my “fix” of Regent crash gearbox music – but only for 6 or 7 minutes.

The ride took us due north along Hucknall Lane, under the soaring arches of the old Great Central Railway Bulwell viaduct. Then past the City Transport Bulwell Hall Estate trolleybus terminus at the city boundary, with its elaborately worded “Corporation Protection Point” plate. Basically, this forbade Trent from carrying passengers for journeys wholly within the Nottingham City Transport operating area. In other words, you couldn’t get off an outward bound Trent bus until the stop after the protection point, and you couldn’t get on an inward bound bus after the stop before it. (Are you confused? Well, you should have seen the fare regulations applying to the Trent No. 67 which dodged in and out of the NCT protection zone two or three times. The Berlin wall couldn’t hold a candle to this!) After passing Broomhill (Yew Tree Inn), another point quoted in the timetable, a couple more minutes brought us into Hucknall Market.

Two minutes walk took us round the corner into West Street – a singularly drafty location as I remember it. You didn’t know where the wind was coming from, but you jolly well knew where it was going! Here we awaited the last player for the journey out to Beauvale estate – perhaps a mile and a half distant. The operator was Midland General – always one of my favourites, with their handsome blue and cream buses. They used a route numbering system comprising a letter and a single digit number. In theory this would have given them 234 route numbers (excluding zero) without going beyond a 2-track display. They needn’t have bothered, however, as their portfolio of routes never got anywhere near the 100 mark. Anyway, our route was the C9 which originated at Alfreton, coming by way of Heanor, Eastwood, Moorgreen and Watnall.

The C9 was an early convert to Bristol Lodekkas, but at the time of which I am writing it was still operated by pre-selector Regent IIIs with Weymann bodywork. The interior décor, I seem to remember, always featured the advertisement line “Dogs that eat Winalot wagalot”. There were one or two unusual features about Midland General fleet. Their buses always had shapely curved tops to the seat backs. This was true of all the Regents, and when they were obliged to go over to the Bristol/ECW combination, they continued to demand them. The other non-standard feature was the rope bell (London Transport style) in the downstairs saloon. This applied to the Regent III’s, and was also later specified by the associated Notts & Derby Traction for the small fleet of 15 Bristol KSW6Gs – the only Bristol Ks ever bought by the group. It was not perpetuated on the Lodekkas – or maybe the BTC had got a tighter grip by then.

Returning to the journey, the building of the Beauvale Estate had overtaken either the bus network, or the bureaucracy involved in getting approval for a route extension. The C9 therefore turned at the end of Wood Lane, nearly half a mile short of the new housing. It was a semi-rural spot overshadowed by trees, and the road petered out into a cart track at this point. Common Lane, the new access road to the estate, sheared off to the left.

In later years, the C9 was extended via Common Lane and Beauvale Road to a terminus in the estate at Priory Road. Then an additional route the F4 was introduced, from Nottingham by way of Basford, Larkfield Estate and Watnall. Finally, Trent also muscled in on the act with their route 60B from Nottingham via Bulwell.

Nottingham City Transport used the colourful Ultimate tickets (“chikka-chikka” – remember?). Sometimes they were printed by “Oller Ltd. London” and at others by Hunt & Colleys of Nottingham. A bit of competitive tendering there I guess! At this time Trent were still using the early “Insert Setright” ticket system. The conductor carried a rack of pre-printed and numbered blank tickets for each different class – single, return or workmens. (They were printed by Williamsons of Ashton-under- Lyne). These were then validated and printed with the date, fare and stage boarded by inserting them into a slot in the front of the machine, setting the relevant fields and then winding the handle. The machine was the same in concept as the later Setright Speed, which printed the whole ticket on a continuous paper strip (although the blank rolls were still pre-printed with the company details etc.) Midland General were already Setright Speed users.

When we later moved house, the bus journey to Hucknall began at Nottingham’s Mount Street bus station, invariably using the Trent 60B. However there was no convenient 60B for the return trip, so it was necessary to revert to a blue C9. Consequently, my father would cause consternation on the outward trip by asking the conductor for “two and a half returns to Hucknall Market, and two and half singles from Hucknall Market to Beauvale Estate”. There ensued a lengthy process of inserting tickets, resetting the machine, and complicated mental arithmetic, eventually producing an impressive stack of substantial card tickets.

I was quite gratified to discover that the journey is still achievable today, with only slight variations. The present day NCT 79 takes a slightly different route from the old No.7 between Aspley to Bulwell. The Bulwell – Hucknall leg is now by tram instead of bus, and the final stretch is by Trent’s “Hucknall Connection” – a circular local service, which serves the tram terminus, and then goes on to wait for time at the infamously drafty West Street corner. All are still frequent services (in the daytime). And I suspect that the overall journey, allowing for connections, would take no longer today than it did in 1953. I may just try it out some time.

Stephen Ford
02/2010

“’Arf a day trip she’s paid for…”

Round about 1956 my uncle, aunt and cousin booked a half-day pleasure tour with Trent from Nottingham to Dovedale. I guess it would cost about 4/6 in those days. I haven’t a clue what the vehicle was, but it had a central entrance, and uncle and cousin managed to snaffle the front nearside seat alongside the driver.

They set off in bright sunshine about 2.15, but as they travelled west along the old A52 to Derby clouds were gathering. Between Derby and Ashbourne it became very overcast indeed. It started to spit with rain as they passed through the village of Thorpe Cloud, and by the time they reached the car and coach park near the famous stepping stones, the rain was falling in a steady torrent.

Well, there’s not much to do at Dovedale in that sort of weather, and no-one appeared in a hurry to alight. So after a bit of discussion and a call to Nottingham from a public phone box, the driver (who was a bit of a glum individual) said that they were going on to Matlock instead. Everyone brightened up a little, though the weather didn’t follow suit.

Now main roads didn’t feature much in the run to Matlock. What is more the driver didn’t have a map – didn’t need one; knew the route to Dovedale like the back of his hand. He knew the route to Matlock as well – but not, it seemed, starting from Dovedale. My 12 year old cousin, on the other hand, had a one-inch Ordnance Survey on his knee, and was following progress with interest.

Amongst the party of 35 or so on board was a middle-aged foreign lady who seemed to be of a nervous disposition. As the coach plunged along narrow muddy twisting lanes, she gave vent to a series of gasps and sighs, and seemed doubtful about their prospects of survival. Several times she said to no-one in particular, but loudly enough for others to hear, “It would be better to go home!”

At length they came to a cross roads (no signpost) and after pausing a moment for inspiration, the driver chose the road to the right. They hadn’t gone far before my cousin looked up from his map and remarked confidentially, “Hey, dad – this is going to be interesting. There’s a hill steeper than 1 in 5 along here, and a ford at the bottom of it!” As the gradient steepened, uncle ventured to pass on this priceless piece of intelligence to the driver, who replied, “Not a lot we can do about it now is there?”

At this the French lady became even more agitated, and cried out “It is too dangerous. We cannot go on. Let us turn round and go home!” Think of it – trying to turn a coach on a road less than 10 feet wide, that looked as though it was about to disappear over a cliff edge.

At this the driver half turned to my uncle and muttered out of the corner of his mouth. “’Arf a day trip she’s paid for” he said darkly “and ’arf a day trip she’s going to get!”

Matlock was no drier than Dovedale, and the tour was a complete wash-out. But thereafter, whenever coach tours were mentioned in our family, my aunt would solemnly intone “’Arf a day trip she’s paid for, and ’arf a day trip she’s going to get!” All who had heard the tale before would then roll about in fits of uncontrollable laughter, and those who hadn’t thought we’d all gone doo-lally.

Stephen Ford
05/2010

Western National Cornwall

My father worked for British Railways in Nottingham, so unlike most of my schoolfriends who had to be content with holidays on the Lincolnshire coast or maybe North Wales, we made the very best use of our free rail travel. A favourite destination was Cornwall, and since the railway came to an end at Penzance, it was usually Penzance!

In those days, of course, Cornwall was almost wall-to-wall Western National. Even the most important roads tended to be narrower there than elsewhere, so buses to the old 7 foot 6 inches standard width were preferred. In my mind, the double deckers (all lowbridge type) were mainly Bristol K6Bs with a few KS6Bs and K5Gs. KSWs were not unknown, but not numerous (though I have seen a picture of a KS at St Ives sporting an 8 foot wide KSW type body. Lodekkas had been invented a long time before they became common in West Cornwall. I think the long main road service 18 to St Austell was the first (a full 3 hour journey) and then the 21 main road service to Falmouth.

Single deckers were mainly standard rear-entrance (and therefore conductor operated) L6Bs or LL6Bs. This, of course, was a bit wasteful of staff (especially considering that many services had to be heavily enhanced for Summer visitors) and a number later received front entrance, full front bodies and were thereafter one-man-operated.

Route 9 to Newlyn and Mousehole was an exception. It could not take an L of any description since it was geometrically impossible to get that length round the narrow street corners in Mousehole village. So there was a clutch of Bedford OBs with Beadle bodies. I believe they were also used elsewhere in Devon and Cornwall where local conditions required very short vehicles, but in the Penzance area, route 9 was their reason for existence.

The main terminal point in Penzance was at the railway station, but quite a lot of routes heading eastward started instead in Alexandra Road at the western edge of the town – a location referred to on timetables and destination blinds as “Penzance Promenade”. This ensured that most services in any direction had convenient stops throughout the length of the town.

The depot was at Wherrytown, a few hundred yards farther west than “Penzance Promenade” and Royal Blue coaches were also stabled there overnight. There was a fair amount of to-ing and fro-ing between Wherrytown and the Railway Station terminus, and the timetable book contained the following note : “Garage Working Journeys : Wherrytown – Promenade – Railway Station : PENZANCE. In addition to the journeys shown in the timetable between Railway Station and Promenade passengers are also carried on certain buses proceeding between the Company’s Garage or Promenade and the Railway Station prior to and after working other services.”

The range of routes is still more or less recognisable to this day, although many are now operated by Western Greyhound instead of First Western National. There was the famous route 1 and 1B to Lands End. (In line with the usual Lands End commercial twaddle, I suppose it ought to be have been called “the first and last bus in England”!) 4 and 4A were two versions of the route to Porthcurno. 5 was a local to the Gwavas Estate up Chywoone Hill beyond Newlyn. 7 was a Thursdays only run to Nanquidno. 8 went to Grumbla and “Golf Links”. The 9 to Mousehole I have already mentioned, but then there was also 9A which, illogically, had no connection or relationship to the 9, but headed off in the opposite direction to Perranuthnoe. Then there was the mind-numbing variety of St Just services – 10, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D and 10E. Actually the vast majority were 10B and 10E which formed a circular route running Penzance – Pendeen – St Just – Penzance and vice versa. 11 was a town service to Treneere Estate. Then there were three different routes to St Ives – each having its own number (14, 16 and 17) instead of being distinguished by suffix letters like the St Just services. 18 was the long route to Camborne, Truro and St Austell. 20 was an occasional service to Praa Sands. 21 was the main road route to Helston and Falmouth, and the 22 was a much more interesting village service taking in Townshend, Godolphin Cross, and Constantine. Lastly, and way out of numerical sequence, was the 138 which ran to Tredinnick on Thursdays and Saturdays only.

Routes 1, 4, 5, 7, 8 9 (but not 9A) and 138 were usually single deckers. The rest were usually double deckers, but there were exceptions. I recall an LL6B setting off as a 21 on the 2 hour run to Falmouth, full up and standing. On one surprising occasion a K6B turned up on route 1 for our return journey from Lands End.

From the front nearside seat (downstairs on a double decker) you got a splendid view of the road ahead, as well as the full audio benefit of the 6B being worked hard over steep gradients, hairpin bends and narrow roads. The view from the long bench seats upstairs was even better, though the engine music was more muted, and on the sunken lanes it was entertaining to spot cars coming the other way, that the driver couldn’t see from down below, before we met them on a blind bend or particularly narrow stretch of road.

St Ives Malakoff bus station was (and still is) a remarkable place – a constricted triangle of concrete perched on the very edge of the cliff overlooking Porthminster Beach, surrounded by a flimsy looking guard rail. It looked a work of art to turn a double decker there and position it for departure with the rear backed up within a few inches of the sheer drop (and a substantial chock under the rear wheel to guard against mishaps). We always arrived in good time for the 7 o’ clock (evening) number 14 back to Penzance, so as to make a strong bid for the front seat upstairs. Then it was away, plunging down the narrow, steep and sharply curved Tregenna Hill into the town centre; left into the Stennack and right, up what, as you approached it, looked like a footpath, called Bullans Lane. Out along the twisting coastal road with views over the cliffs and sea to Zennor and Gurnards Head, and then turning south across the moors on the narrow lane through New Mill to Gulval and Penzance.

Another memory of old Western National was their useful bus stop display. Instead of mounting a boring plate on a post, they erected a notice board by the roadside (even in very rural locations). These had neatly pointed eaves along the top to deflect the rain, and the whole thing was painted in Western National green. On the notice board a poster was stuck, comprising the timetables of all services in the region. This was printed on a deep yellow paper, and overprinted “BUS STOP” in red letters about 4 inches high. These displays were a distinctive icon throughout Western and Southern National territory.

These memories are from say, 1957-59.

By 1967 much of the old order was disappearing. In that year we holidayed in Falmouth instead of Penzance. One day I set off to travel the Newquay branch line. There was a fairly regular direct bus service from Falmouth to Newquay – Western National route 46/46A. My plan was to take an early bus as far as St Columb Road station – a journey of about 1 hour 40 minutes. This gave me time to travel by train down to the mainline junction at Par, back right through to Newquay, and finally return to St Columb Road, with about 10 minutes to spare for the bus back to Falmouth.

We were staying out of town at Golden Bank, and the expedition began predictably with an LD6B originating from Helford Passage on route 43C to Falmouth. I had seen the Newquay buses earlier in the week and knew they were invariably FLFs. Falmouth had a number of town services, most of which were by this time LDs, with just one or two Ks still lingering on. About five past nine, one of these museum pieces turned into the bus station. I first saw it from the side and paid little attention to it, expecting it to be heading for Gyllingvase Beach or Pendennis Point. Then it turned sharply left into the bay where I was waiting and the destination blind revealed all “46A NEWQUAY”!

It was, I think, the oldest K5G I have ever travelled on. I kid you not, it had timber instead of metal-framed seats. I don’t think it had strayed more than 5 miles from Falmouth garage in years. It was obviously a last minute substitute, and probably the last available bus in the garage, because I feel certain that an hour’s notice would have given them time to juggle something more recent into position for a two hour cross country journey. It is the only time I ever remember a conductor apologising to passengers for the age and condition of the bus before we set off! There were several long hills on the trip, and the superannuated 5-cylinder was a bit short of breath. Where possible the driver took a run at the hill. Then as speed fell off rapidly, there was that growling, grinding double de-clutching change down to third, and often again to second.

The departure from Truro was memorable up the long Mitchell Hill and Bodmin Road – a noisy, window-vibrating grind at about 10 mph in second gear. Even so, the driver got the bit between his teeth on stretches of road where the gradient was favourable. If she wouldn’t go uphill, she would just have to go down – and 40+ mph in a 20 year old K5G was a rattling and exhilarating experience. I was sorry to quit at the country cross roads by St Columb Road station, and watch her roar off into the distance.

I had done a quick calculation, and worked out that after reaching Newquay the same vehicle should do another round trip to Falmouth before I caught it again on the homeward trip. About half past four in the afternoon, I waited with mounting anticipation at that country cross roads. Sadly Falmouth garage had mended whatever had forced this unusual substitution. My hopes were dashed as a familiar FLF hove into view.

Stephen Ford
08/2010

14/08/14 – 15:09

Stephen, if you were riding on the number 10 to St Just via Morpha Pendeen in that era you may have met me! in a primary school green blazer going home to Pendeen, boarding the bus at the cattle market?
Reason for replying to your article is that I remember that old bus, well maybe similar but there was only the one that I ever saw, we called it the boneshaker, it had those bench seats upstairs and very notable was its long narrow radiator grill. along time ago now, but I still have memories of her, we did seem to have allot of the cast offs from up country.
Enjoyed your article, brought back a lot of memories, pity I didn’t spend more time studying my lessons as I did about the buses.
It was never an ambition of mine, but ironically I did end up driving buses for MPTE Liverpool for 11 1/2 yrs after leaving RN. Many of the back loaders we had were boneshakers.

Jim Delleur

Goose Fair

It is easy to forget how heavily we relied on buses during the 1950s when car ownership was so much lower than it is today. Any major function was an occasion to run a special bus service. Many cities’ blinds featured such exotic destinations as “Football Ground” and “Races” as well as the more general “Special” “Works Service” “School bus” etc. Nottingham City Transport had one unique destination – “Goose Fair”.

Each year showmen from every part of the country converged on the city for three days – the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday in October. The history of the fair goes back to mediaeval times, and for many years it was held in the city centre, in what is now the Old Market Square and surrounding streets. By 1928 congestion and the re-development of the Old Market Square forced the fair to migrate to the Forest recreation ground, about a mile and a half from the city centre. This necessitated public transport to move the vast number of fair-goers to and fro. There were, of course, regular Corporation bus (and tram) routes that passed nearby, but the crowds would have swamped these services, and seriously interfered with the needs of ordinary passengers. So a dedicated Goose Fair service was introduced by Nottingham Corporation (later City) Transport.

The city terminus was on the south side of the Old Market Square, and it always seemed that sufficient buses were provided at any given time to just exceed demand. A long queue was constantly gathering – but it was shifted quickly, and it was rare to have to wait for more than 10 minutes. There would be up to three buses standing nose to tail. An inspector would divide the head of the queue up into blocks of about 50 people for each bus, and load up two at a time. There was no point in having standing loads, as this would have made fare collection difficult on a journey of no more than 6 or 7 minutes. On average, a bus was leaving about every 2 minutes at the busiest times.

The Goose Fair service must have absorbed about 10 – 12 vehicles. As with all extra demands on resources, it drew heavily on the second-line fleet. In the mid-50s that meant mainly pre-war AEC Regents, or utility Guy Arabs and Daimler CWA6s. From 1956 when the big fleet of Regent Vs came on-stream, some of the early post-war fleet of Regent IIIs (Roberts and Metro-Cammell bodies) and Daimler CVD6s (Roberts and Brush) were released from front line work to take their turn as well.

I mentioned fare collection, and with Ultimate ticket machines, only two fares to issue (adult and child), no stops or bells to mess about with, and the driver maintaining a moderate speed of about 15-20 mph all the way, the conductor could collect a full set without too much trouble. About 1955 I think the fare was 4d (purple tickets) and 2d (green). Later it was 6d and 3d, but as 6d fares on NCT were 3d (pink) double issues it became even easier. There were lots of family groups travelling, so “three and two halves” produced a reel of eight 3d tickets – very quickly. No doubt multiples of 3d also reduced the number of old pennies taken, so lightening the conductor’s load –four shillings worth of old pennies (equivalent in value to 20p) weighed a pound. Try tripping lightly up and down stairs with that hung round your neck!

The route was round the east and north sides of the Old Market Square, then up Market Street, across the left hand side of Theatre Square and along Goldsmith Street, Waverley Street and Mount Hooton Road, to the Forest main gate. At the time this route was normally only followed by the infrequent NCT service 2. More recently, it has been adopted for the trams. After unloading, the buses turned in a circuit of roads not usually frequented by buses, and then returned to Mount Hooton Road to pick up a return load – right where the Forest tram stop is now sited.

I seem to remember that there was an inspector stationed here as well. Obviously, traffic was uneven with lots of people heading to the fair at certain times of the day, and a major flow of home-going revellers building up from about 8.30 in the evening until close of play about 11.00 (and lots of sticky-fingered kids with candy floss and toffee apples!) So it was a work of art for the inspectors, relying on past experience and current information from incoming crews, to regulate the flow of buses to concentrate them at whichever end they were most needed. (No mobile phones in those days!) By mid-evening many buses to the fair were running empty, simply to provide needed capacity for the city-bound journey.

This was one of the few times in the year when the oldest rolling stock came out on ordinary public service (as opposed to works services and rush hour enhancements). Other occasions were race day specials to Colwick racecourse, football services to Trent Bridge, a tour of Nottingham that ran on occasional bank holiday Mondays (price one shilling), and, I believe, a special service to Newton air-display, in conjunction with other operators, taking NCT buses well outside their usual city-bound sphere of influence.

Stephen Ford
01/2011

Many thanks to Stephen for a most fascinating description of this particular “bespoke” service. The article is so well composed and written that, even as a virtual stranger to Nottingham as I am, I was able to fully assimilate every aspect of the operation of the special facility and I can imagine what a well organised and efficient feature it must have been. In 1955/6 I was in the RAF at Patrington, East Yorkshire with a chap from Gedling, Nottingham and I lost count of the number of times he informed me that those lesser mortals who had never visited The Goose Fair “hadn’t lived.” Well, I still haven’t visited it and I’m still around !! Incidentally I’m almost sure that the Fair featured in the classic movie “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning”, along with the Raleigh bicycle factory, didn’t it ??

Chris Youhill

Thanks for your kind comments Chris. You may well be right about Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. The film actually contained a few shots of buses in Nottingham. See here The series of three shots shows five buses : (1) NCT Regent III/Park Royal OTV 176; (2) Trent PD3 on route 61B to East Kirkby; (3) One of the standard NCT 6-wheel BUT/Brush trolleybuses; (4) Following the trolleybus a Notts & Derby Traction Bristol KSW6G; (5) in the far distance the back of a Midland General AEC/Weymann. The location is Derby Road, with the steps of the Roman Catholic cathedral visible on the extreme right.

Stephen Ford

As a native and resident of Nottingham, I found the Goose Fair article fascinating, and very accurate!

Bob Gell

Unexpected burst of nostalgia! I lived in Nottingham as a kid in the early 1960s and I’ve traveled on those buses several times with my parents. Completely forgotten about them until reading this. I was always fascinated by how they were totally full in one direction and empty in the opposite, depending on the time of day. And even though I knew nothing about buses, I noticed that those used on this service were always very old. If you’ve ever been to Goose Fair you’ll know that you can tell when you are near the site by the sounds and smells – even when you’re on a bus. Normally for me, a bus service was a bus service, but that one had a special atmosphere which I can still remember. And yes, it does feature in “Saturday Night Sunday Morning. The film was reissued on DVD a couple of years ago and I bought a copy (still available on Amazon). For bus spotters, there are a lot of street scenes of life in the early 60s which you might find interesting.

11/03/11

The fair scene in the film was actually shot at a fair on Wimbledon Common due to the time of year it was filmed.

Roger Broughton