What's in the issue

It’s ticket-clipping time again as once more, we board our excursion coach for a limited stop tour of some of Britain’s most interesting bus and coach operations.

This issue, other than Birmingham and the buses of Britain’s second city, we are mostly in the north, starting with a very interesting operator that served both dale and city, in the form of North Western Road Car. Originally based in the fringes of the Peak District, its sphere of operation spread first down into Cheshire, to Macclesfield and Northwich, while the mill towns of north-west Manchester around Rochdale and west to Warrington, further enhanced its territory.

Talking of territory and expanding operations, Northern General was formed in 1913 to protect and consolidate the British Electric Traction group’s tram and bus interests in the north-east, its umbrella encompassing Gateshead, Tynemouth, Sunderland and Tyneside operations, along with those of Wakefield’s Motors and those of Venture Transport, based in Newcastle. It also operated its own fleet alongside these subsidiaries, creating an interesting tapestry of bus operations.

Halifax Corporation Transport had a challenging existence, not just because of the difficult Pennine terrain it operated within, but due to the presence of rival operators that wanted to connect the burgeoning textile centre with neighbouring towns and cities such as Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds. It was also part of the Halifax Joint Omnibus Committee, formed in April 1929, which culminated in running joint services with the railway companies and their Hebble subsidiary.

Finally, we pay a visit to a small, but proud, Lancashire town; Leigh ran its own municipal fleet until it became part of the regional SELNEC operation - South East Lancashire North East Cheshire - which in turn was swallowed up as part of Greater Manchester PTE during the 1972 Local Government restructuring.

There is plenty of variety in this edition of On the Buses - we even manage to squeeze in a section on demonstrator vehicles on loan in Halifax - get your copy today, this excursion won’t be operating again any time soon!