Coventry Buses - past and present

I am trying to identify three Fare Stages on the Inner Circle in 1962 between Cash's Lane and Gosford Green. 1. Five Ways. Could this have been the intersection between Leicester Row and Harnall Lane West plus Springfield Road? 2. Brett's Works. Was this somewhere towards the Foleshill Road end of Harnall Lane East? 3. Jeffrey Wood's Cross. Could this have been at the junction of Harnall Lane East and Swan Lane?

As an ex bus driver, I can tell you that Five Ways was the island at Harnall Lane East/Swan Lane/Burlington Road/Swan Lane/Nicholls St. Bretts Works was Bretts Stamping which was situated just inside Harnall Lane East (from Stoney Stanton Road. Jeffrey Woods Cross is REALLY bugging me, because I KNOW it was a fare stage and I always remember my old mum talking of the area. All I can find in old archives is "alias Birds Close beyond Harnall Field towards Jeffrey Woods Cross". Hope this helps.

I have now found the stamping works on my 1927 map, but it is one of the very few that is not named. I have now been told that Jeffrey Woods Cross was definitely the Five Ways at the junction of Harnall Lane East and Swan Lane. The Five Ways in the timetable is identified as a Fare Stage between Cash's Lane and Brett's Works, so I think it must have been where Springfield Road meets Leicester Causeway and Harnall Lane West, because the route was Foleshill Road, Eagle Street, Harnall Lane West and Harnall Lane East. Although JW's Cross was a five ways, it is beyond Brett's Works on the route.

Hello InnisRoad, nice to see you on here as well LOL. Peter.

Peter Walduck has pioneered an excellent forum about the history of Coventry Corporation Transport (CCT). It can be found at http://www.cwk205.com/ Also he has started a general bus forum at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Farestage/ It is worth visiting these if you are at all interested in the development of public transport in Coventry. Please feel free to register and comment on the two sites.

Yes. Jeffery Woods Cross was definitely just inside Swan Lane round the junction with Harnall Lane. I know because in the 50s & 60s I often caught the No 14. I well remember the conductors usually shouting out, "Jeffery Woods Cross". If one was feeling brave or trying to show off, you might jump off while the bus was still moving as it slowed down to go round the corner before the stop.That's all gone now, that piece of fun, what with the modern buses & Health & Safety Reg's. No wonder people called them "The good old days."

Hello Doug, That's another event that sadly is a thing of the past, the conductors on the buses. They ranged from the whistlers, the ones that uses to shout "Hold very tight please", "Anymore fares please" to the ladies who I started to see from about 1953.

Hello Wighter, my Dad was a driver too - Jim "Dickie-Bow" Davis. His number was 1806 and Frankie Gilbert was his Clippy. When he was on the 14 or 14A, I used to catch it from 5 ways (Springfield Rd, Leicester Causeway, Harnall Lane West x 2 and Howard Street) and ride the full circle. Frankie would give me a penny ticket in case the inspector got on! I used to kneel on the front seat with my head through the cab window so I could chat to my Dad. Happy days!

I am trying to find information about the buses hired by the Corporation after the air raids of Holy Week 1941. I already have some infromation on the buses hired in 1940 from Southend and Great Yarmouth. What I am looking for now is information on the buses hired from Bolton, Manchester and Nottingham Corporations, the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Board (SHMD), Ashton-under-Lyne, Leicester and Salford Corporations and Trent Motor Traction Co. Does anyone know where I might usefully look? I have tried searching the Coventry History Centre, but I have not been able to find anything.

Hi, can't find anything that refers to Coventry hiring buses after the war, but these two pages contain some interesting information.... Coventry Transport History Coventry Transport Fleet List Lots of other info at the same site: www.petergould.co.uk

Thanks Tony. Peter Gould is a site I use regularly for reference. I am looking for hired buses DURING the war, specifically in 1941. It is difficult to find any details. Thanks you for your suggestion anyway, I will keep digging.

The only thing I remember about wartime buses are buses that had wooden slatted seats and were known as "utility buses", most uncomfortable. The other thing that sticks in my mind were the gas powered buses, they towed a big trailer with a huge gas bag on it. I don't think it was too succesful because they weren't around for long

Yes I remember the buses with wooden slatted seats, usually on the Guy"s unless I am mistaken and as you say, they were uncomfortable. Sandy Lane.

And Daimlers, obviously: I assume they were replaced with fabric seats as soon after the war as possible?

341, the bus in your picture, was a Daimler CWG6 delivered in 1944 to Ministry of Supply "Utility" specification. It was rebuilt by Coventry Corporation in 1952 with upholstered seats but, presumably, retained its wooden slatted seats until the rebuild.