Coventry Buses - past and present

Arrrrrrrrrh, that's the reason we haven't got a Boris!!!! Nobody to stand up and be listened to, same as redevelopment of city centre.

Diary date 30 March 2014 - Centenary of the first Coventry motorbus, and 40 years since CCT joined WMPTE. Rally and Running Day, White Street Coach Park, Coventry. Phone Roger 07889-214236 for details.

A fellow forumite has showed me a photo from a bus magazine that has us both rather puzzled. At first we thought the writing on the large roof might give a clue as to what was inside, but on enhancing the image it simply turns out to be an advert for GLICO MOTOR OIL. But as for the location.... could it be somewhere around Pool Meadow? Hopefully this will give some pleasure to you, and in return maybe we'll get to solve the puzzle, too. And finally, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first motor bus service in the city has now been switched from White Street to Millennium Place, in front of the Transport Museum. The date is still Sunday 30th March. The event will have a number of buses on display, various trips around the city, and something for all the family. Admission is free. The Corporation placed an order for six motor buses in 1903 at a cost of £739 each. They were built by the Maudslay Motor Company which had been producing vehicles at their works in Parkside, Coventry since 1905. The chassis was based on that of their 3 ton lorry fitted with solid tyres and an overhead camshaft petrol engine which was rated at 40 horsepower. The bodywork was oak framed and mahogany panelled, built by Brush Electrical Engineering of Loughborough. The seating inside was lengthwise with room for eight passengers on each side. A further 18 could be accommodated in lateral seats on the top deck but this was open to the weather. The driver sat in an exposed cab behind the engine without even the luxury of a windscreen. The buses were painted in a livery of chocolate and cream with gold lining, similar to the tramcars of the time. On Monday 30th March 1914 the first service began operating from Stoke Heath via Clay Lane and the Walsgrave Road to the Municipal Buildings in Earl Street and the fire station in Hales Street. The fare varied from 1d to 2

Many thanks for the detailed information ManorHouse, you'd be a welcome member at the Coventry Transport forum. I can add that Albert Dolby, who retired as a bus driver in 1953 returned to Harnall Lane in 1965 at tha age of 77 and met the man who bought the first ticket on that inaugural journey. The transport department's assistant engineer, Eric Whitehead, as a lad of 9 had bought that first ticket on the run from the fire station to the council house. Eric's father was the general manager of the department, T R Whitehead. Apparently Eric's sister who also travelled on the first journey still had the original tickets. [from the Coventry Standard of 15th April 1965] Albert was also the driver of the first new post-war bus FHP 1, on it's first day of service in April 1948, carrying general manager Ronald Fearnley and other officials.

I wonder if any of you Bus People can tell me the history of the Bus in my gallery (demolition part). The registration will help because it ended with a single number one ? ? ? 1 . The pic shows it about to make it's last journey to Blackpool..

That is fleet number 1, registration FHP 1 as I mentioned above. It's a Daimler model CVA6, new in 1948 with 60 seater bodywork by Metro Cammell. After withdrawal from service it was sold to local scrap dealer George Hilditch in April 1966. The bus was in good condition as the engine had been replaced by a reconditioned unit just a few months earlier, so Mr Hilditch organised the trip to Blackpool. He later removed the engine to fit it to his tow wagon. The rest of the bus was scrapped. Number 1 lives on in 3D digital form here: sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse. Click on 3D view to rotate the model.

Thanks for that mcsporran..One of the lads that drove the bus back told me only last week that the Reg had a single one in it,so I thought there was a fair chance someone would know it's history..Thanks a lot

Hi all Centro News

The Coventry Transport Museum are busy refurbishing a WWI Maudslay truck to coincide with the centenary of the start of the war. It is one of only a handful of the 37,000 vehicles used during the war still surviving. They are looking for any photographs that may help and assist them in their task. The telegraph article can be read here

Nice picture of City buses from Festival of Britain, City of Coventry Official Programme June 1951

Hi Annewiggy Sneaking this in from Wiki - Maudslay The above picture from Annewiggy shows nearly all of the nine Maudslay "Regent" supplied in 1950-51. They were 56 seats, with fleet numbers 117 to 125. Almost a hybrid of Coventry's only London Transport style bus number 99.

Hi all Just a bit of bus & safety chat Members have shared opinions from time to time about the shared space road schemes in Coventry. A case in point being the lack of good visibility for a modern bus driver making a hard left turn, like coming out of Bishop St for example. The current bus design actually means that if a pedestrian is near to his left side vision, the driver will never see him, as the front left corner of the bus which is also the door pillar blocks his line of view. That was one of the reasons for the offset drivers cabs design, as seen in Annewiggy's picture. The drivers all around view in those vintage buses, is about as good as it can get. What we have today is a compromise between cost & safety.

I wish I knew what sort of bus my dad drove. He started as a conductor after the end of the war and was then trained as a driver. I can remember him telling me he had to drive on a skid pan before he could drive a double decker. He was on the buses about 1945 to 1951.

Hi all Latest bus info