Coventry Buses - past and present

Yes Slash, The 7 terminated at the island roundabout junction of Torcross Avenue & Sewall Highway, commonly called the Devon (a Sizzler pub nowadays).

The question was, where in town did it stop for its break?

Slash! No.7 route details here

The No 7 resting at the Sewall Highway terminus. GKV100. For many years, a Crossley crash-gearbox reverse livery bus. It was eventually converted to a conventional pre-selector gear box, to avoid complications. Some Coventry drivers were unable to operate a crash box.

I can remember catching the no 7 outside the old Art College and it would be around the mid 60s. I think you got on and waited for it to depart, rather than it just stopping and moving off straight away. I was fortunate to have the choice of several buses to get home: the no 10 which went from Pool Meadow near the kiosk; the 23 to Allesley Park; the no 1 to Chapelfields which went from near the Herbert Art Gallery. At a pinch I could get the 5 for Coundon or the 11 for Whoberley.

Oldmoney, no.7 and Art College brought back a lost memory. This was about 1957 when I was nine approx. As a family we would always go on walks together. This time around town window shopping. On the way home the route was along Ford Street, past the Art College, as we lived in Lower Ford Street. We three children were always told to walk shoulders back and head high. Not me, as if you'd done that you never found what other people had dropped. Going past the no.7 bus stop, the bus was in, I spotted a purse, which of course I picked up. It was absolutely stuffed with money, I had never seen so much. I ran to my dad to show him what I had found. He asked me where I had found it and back we walked. As we approached the bus stop, a man and woman were desperately searching the pavement and gutter, the woman crying. My dad asked had they lost something, they described the purse and what was in it. Hundreds, it was for a deposit on a house. They then turned, jumped on the bus and the bus departed. Then I asked why they had not said thanks for finding it. My dad said that they were so glad to get the purse back and their bus was leaving, their mind was elsewhere. Then he gave me half a dollar for being so honest. That has always stuck in my mind. I love honesty, and my dad for being my dad.

Lovely story, scrutiny

Cheers MR, those are the things in life that make you are what you are.

Hi all, Now then, top secret. I was doing a job during the autumn in Nuneaton, in the ....... offices, where I saw documents that were not meant for my ears. Please eat this message. If anyone using a bus pass to go to Nuneaton, & taking non-bus pass eligible friends, please make sure that you use bus No 20, from Trinity St, not the 48 Stagecoach. Reason being that the maximum inclusive fare is £2.20, whereas the Stagecoach is double that. What I saw in those memos, confirms my suspicions that the local authorities between them want rid of Stagecoach as an operator in our area, except for minor routes. That is only my opinion, this message being top secret. We will see. Our friend & member, often has more up today info than me. Leicestershire CC maybe in on this too.

And so it came to pass.... Stagecoach and National Express agree to merge Not sure which operators business model will win through? New depot in north Coventry servicing Coventry & Nuneaton freeing up valuable city & town centre real-estate?

Thank you, Peter, I knew you would come up with the goods. Happy New Year to you. The docs that I saw were last October, printed emails regards subsidy funding & levels.

And a Happy New Year to you too, Phil. There have been rumours of a takeover/merger since the summer. Coventry to Nuneaton & Leamington is one of the few areas where NX and Stagecoach compete directly and I am sure they wanted to avoid a reference to the competitions watchdog.

Hi all, It's not easy to imagine how public transport will pan out post Covid habit changes. Our councils are trying to maintain city centre footfall by whatever means, it's part of their revenue requirements. If city centre traders are not trading, just imagine the additions to the rates to compensate. Whizzing around as I have this last couple of days, passing suburbs lined with uncollected rubbish bins, suggests possibly the high volume of folk who are unaware of the bin dispute, which is my analogy to awareness of bus travel that I want to share. It comes down to IT. Just as motorists nowadays use Sat/Nav, I use Bus/Nav. No it's not called that, there are various apps, but I use Google Maps Go. It's best if you are actually signed in to Google, but to try, select Google Maps. Let your device establish where you are. Select an area where you know there's bus stops. They will show up as a symbol on the display. Touch a bus stop with your finger, where to your amazement, every bus serving that stop is displayed in that region of time, along with its times & realtime info. The same applies for trains & trams. It's so simple to use, even I can use it. Without it, I couldn't travel or whizz around like I do. If only folks could learn to use that. Who needs a timetable! Just yesterday. I went from Roland Ave in the morning, boarded the No 55 to Bedworth. It continued eventually to Nuneaton, but using Bus/Nav, I could see that only a minute away was a No 48C going to Nuneaton, the direct route. So, there I am in Jenny's cafe, my breaky ordered which included free coffee before 11am, whereupon I watched the No 55 arrive in the bus station at least ten minutes later. After a brill breaky, I boarded the No 20, for a whizz to Cov, to enjoy half an Abbott at the Earl. After saying goodbye, I walked through the cathedral walkways to Trinity St, for the No 56 to Roland Ave. No waiting at shelters at anytime for more than a minute, anywhere. It's all on my phone. What a pip! I don't think that a motorist could match my times yesterday. I left home at just after ten, was back home for half two.

Service 7 routed into Pool Meadow on and from the 5th June 1968 due to the upcoming closure of Ford Street.

Service 22 extended to Proffitt Ave on and from 9th June 1963.