On the Buses Buses of Britain Book 18

Book 18 of On the Buses includes some pretty impressive fleets, including that of Bradford Corporation which pioneered the ’Trackless Car’ system in 1911 - what we perhaps better-know as trolleybuses. Bradford’s unique geographic location, effectively in a saucer between steep hills, meant that conventional motor buses couldn’t deal with the steep gradients, whereas the trolleybuses could call on ‘more juice’ and so they prevailed until bus technology caught-up after the Second World War.

Another town whose trolleybuses prevailed, is Walsall in the West Midlands, where they lasted in service until 1970. In both cases we survey the early history from horse buses and trams through to the most recent bus service developments. Huddersfield was another Pennine town that featured challenging gradients on its routes, though we focus on the Joint Omnibus Committee operations there, formed in 1930 after the railways were given powers to operate bus services and a degree of cooperation was required to avoid expensive and unnecessary duplication of routes.

We also visit two other Midland conurbations, one in the east, the other in the west, in the heart of the Black Country. Leicester was famous for its shoe and hosiery industries and its buses served the large East Midlands factories where its workers travelled each day from the large urban housing developments. West Bromwich Corporation survived as a municipal operator until 1969, when like Walsall, it was integrated as part of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive.

More than a hundred previously unpublished pictures fill the pages of this latest edition, bursting with colour and nostalgia.