Clocks by bus stops

A question for you bus nuts, What were the clocks for by some bus stops, I remember one at the stop at the end of Broad St on SSR end?

I think buses were expected to keep to a tight schedule in those days? There was one on the corner of Jordan Well opposite the Gaumont and another at the top of Queensland Avenue. Both were mounted on traffic lights about 50 yards from where passengers would be waiting at a stop.

Hi all I never thought of myself as a bus nut, more a general nut! I travel on them now as much as I did when at school age. I always took an interest in what I saw around me. The bus stop clocks were as Dutchman says a clock-in method for the crews to stamp their log sheets with. The best examples that I remember were in B'ham. Travelling into Birmingham from Coventry, once past the airport, reaching the Birmingham Corporation bus terminus on the Coventry Rd, there was one in the bus 'turnaround' layby. It might even be still there, painted blue. This picture from Flickr, shows such a clock at the Hall Green terminus in B'ham.

Bus drivers "clocking-in", what will they think of next?

Hi again Tony. The clocks were introduced not only to maintain times, but also to ensure that on late night services, the bus actually reached the terminus. That was quite an issue at one time.

Thanks for that Philip, does that mean that some drivers would sneakily abandon their route half-way round, or that there was a danger that the bus may be prevented from completing its journey?

Hello Tony, Sadly it does. Coventry only had a couple of out in the sticks routes so I do not believe it was much of an issue here, but B'ham with much longer routes going many miles, it would not be too difficult for a bus travelling outward light, to be turned around before reaching the terminus & either tracking back into the centre or the garage if the garage team were in on what was going on. So the clocks were in effect robot inspectors.

Thanks for that Philip, my uncle was a driver - but I never heard him mention that.

Hi all When I was researching for my model railway, I spent many hours in the company of former Coventry bus crews, many now no longer alive. One Welsh gentleman, who drove for several operators before driving for Coventry Transport, now in his eighties, who I still meet in the vicinity of the Transport Museum has told me accounts of events which I have no reason to doubt. Also a very near neighbour now also in his eighties, was a conductor in Coventry and he was dismissed, because along with his driver, they were caught by an inspector short cutting a route. I am reasonably confident that operators like B'ham Transport would not have spent a fortune on expensive high-tech equipment along with the cost of maintenance if there was not a good reason for it. The Bundy clocks were nothing short of robot bus inspectors. Wiki has a description of them - Birmingham City Transport

I travelled regularly on Coventry buses from the late 1940s until the late 1960s. Also, as a teenager, I and my friend spent many days in the summer holidays, riding the bus routes on our bikes to explore where they went and where the stops were. I canot remember any clock near to a bus stop that was not a public clock. Indeed, the only timings in the schedules and timetables were arrivals and departures from the terminus and City Centre. I cannot remember a single terminus where there was a clock. In the City Centre, there was an inspectors' hut in Broadgate, adjacent to the Service 9 (Earlsdon) stop on the East side of Broadgate and one in Pool Meadow. It may be that, at times when the inspectors were not on duty, crews had to clock in there. There was no inspectors' hut in Earl Street (Services 1 and 11) nor in Cox Street (Service 3), so there may have been a facility near by. Crews could be reported by the inspectors for being too early as well as too late. In general there was a layover period at the terminus and City Centre and the buses were not supposed to leave until the departure time. The main thing that kept the crews on their toes was the travelling inspectors. Passengers were under the impression that the job of the inspectors was to check the tickets to ensure that everyone had paid. However, their remit was much wider than that. They would plan a journey from route to route and, in theory, could pick up a bus at any point on its journey. If crews failed to keep to time or took short cuts, they could be detected by a travelling inspector, who would have all the relevant schedules. Also, when the inspector boarded the bus, the first task was to inspect the running log kept by the conductor in a small compartment on the inside of the rear bulkhead of the lower saloon. So Bundy Clocks may, indeed, be a reality. But I don't think they were ever used in Coventry. I will check with ex-CCT drivers and conductors and report if there is any error in the above.

I am sorry that my question has raised some disagreement amongst us, I just wondered what the clocks were for. They were certainly not public clocks because they were set at little more than waist high and were for human contact. I can remember the conductor getting off and either stamping or turning something and I think it would prove that the bus had passed that point at a certain time, so come on guys keep it friendly and I am sure someone has the answer, ex-conductors etc.

Hi all Hello Normk. The only clock that I can remember locally was in Bedworth & I don't know if that was for Coventry Transport or Midland Red or who it was for. It might not have been a recording clock, but Norman remembers one from somewhere. As I have previously stated, Coventry did not have the length of routes to require their installation. It was B'ham where there was a problem & that is why so many were installed. I am reliably informed that they had over two hundred, some of them along the route as well as at the end. I tried to answer your question from info given to me by former bus crews who told me why B'ham had so many & Coventry didn't as well as some of the handed down amusing stories as to how they came to be needed. So that is what I did. What you saw when the conductor got off the bus & stamped something is exactly right. He or the driver was recording proof of time & place where they were.

I have checked with former CCT crew members, who have no knowledge of such clocks. Where exactly was the clock? Was it actually in Broad Street, in Foleshill Road or in Stoney Stanton Road? Both Stoney Stanton Road and Foleshill Road were tram routes, but I have no knowledge of tram procedures in this respect. What exactly did the clock look like? Can you draw a sketch? Is it possible that it had some other use and the conductor was simply making use of it for some other purpose at that time? Can you give us an idea of the year? Sorry to ask so many questions, but asking questions is probably the only way to make any progress with this.

Hi InnisRoad, The only one that I remember was in Bedworth & was just the same as the ones in B'ham. I do not know of any others in the Coventry area. A pic from Flickr. This is one is sited at the B'ham terminus in Sheldon. The crew are leaning up against it. Hope this helps. As stated, I do not remember them in Coventry. Just one in Bedworth but loads all over B'ham. ps. The bus route 58 (Birmingham - Solihull via Sheldon) as shown on this picture from fifty years ago, still goes to Sheldon now & then on to Solihull. How I would love a ride on that bus, even without the front bench seat.