Coventry Buses - past and present

This morning I have been to the Coventry Transport Fair at the Butts Arena which has been advertised in this forum. I was slightly concerned that the only other place that the event was advertised was on a website for preserved buses, but no matter, we had been there before and seen a good selection of old buses, and even had a ride on a few of them. Today as we drove into the car park we saw a Midland Red single deck bus leaving so at least the event was actually taking place. We then paid the £5 weekend parking fee and I remembered why I usually avoid this car park at weekends. We then walked around the end of the stadium which seemed to be very quiet. Looking into a window I could see a large room which appeared to be devoted to nothing more than the sale of books and DVD's (it was hard to see much because the lights were not on). Before paying our £4 entry fee we asked if there were any buses present and were told that there were supposed to be two buses but one had broken down so there was only the one. A decision was required, do I pay £8 for my wife and I to look at a selection of books for sale, or do I not. Anyway, we were soon home in Bedworth having wasted our time. By contrast we had visited the Statfold Railway near to Tamworth on the previous weekend, it had cost us £10 each but we saw a huge selection of classic cars, we visited a very large museum devoted to narrow gauge railways, we had a ride on two different narrow gauge lines, and finally a delightful ride on a preserved Midland Red bus. Statfold was good value for money, but Coventry was not. Perhaps the organisers should change the name of the event to Coventry Transport Book Fair in future.

Very sorry Not Local - I reported this in good faith but it sounds like a con.

Helen, no apology needed. I think it was just that the event was poorly described by the organisers and no doubt there are bus enthusiasts who will have been happy buying books etc. What fooled me was the reference to booking in vehicles to take part in the fair. I have been to events and shows that were inaccurately advertised, and those where the standards slipped over the years, it is bound to happen occasionally. I don't know if their standards have improved because I never go back. The Riley event at the canal basin a couple of weeks back was a superb day out, and I only found out about it through our forum.

Not local, if you are into cars there is a monthly car meet at Middleton Hall just outside Tamworth every first Sunday of the month starting again on 5th May. If you just visit you do have to pay the entrance fee to the hall (which I do feel is a bit excessive), but if you have a classic car you pay £5 to park in the field and can visit the Hall, a restored Elizabethan house and the Peel Police museum is inside. There are also some courtyard shops and nice gardens and walks.

Not Local, I was also at Statfold, not in the Riley though, my MGB, it has a heater !!!!!!!! I am a member of a local classic car club and we meet the first Monday in the month (except bank hols) at Weston Hall in Bulkington. Usually at this time of the year we gather in the rear car park and kick tyres, in June we have our pride of ownership meet, vehicles are judged in classes, lots of polishing involved.

Hello, I tell you what, Helen, these were beautifully furnished. That's one of the batch of 40, buses, that were all delivered during December 1951, entering service during January 52. They were steel framed, with highest quality reinforced glass fibre panels, but wood trim was everywhere inside, as with the previous 1948, Daimlers, a hundred of those. The crews loved them, their only operating issue was being thirsty for radiator water in hot weather. They were pre-selector, fluid flywheel gears, by means of a manual selector, that was engaged by operation of the what in a crash box would be the clutch pedal. Both of my late friends who drove for Coventry spoke so highly of them. Although not fitted with heaters, heat from the engine warmed the front of the lower saloon as well as the cab. The lower saloon of No 140, prior to entering service. Notice the internal light fittings of wood, with hammered trim glass encasing the bulb. The buses that followed these luxury ones, were classed as utility. Very functional & comfy, but steel ruled along with fibreglass panels.

I have a particular memory of the old front engine buses during the 1970's. One Friday afternoon a number 20 bus was travelling towards Bedworth. The driver safely negotiated the Iron Bridge and swung the bus into the traffic island just before the motorway. Halfway round the island the bus spluttered and stopped dead. I remember thinking that this was not a good place to stop because within minutes the schools would be emptying and hordes of workers would also be leaving the factories ready for their weekend break. It was also getting dark, so must have been in the winter. The situation was saved by the arrival of a bus mechanic carrying a great big wooden handled screwdriver. He whipped up the engine cover and then in turn undid big brass screws on the side of each diesel injector. Impressive amounts of diesel fuel were burped out along with quite a lot of air bubbles. Having tightened up the injector screws the bus engine burst back into life and the situation was saved. Afterwards I realised that the mechanic must have known what the problem was because he was ready armed with his big screwdriver. I guess that the bus had been filled with fuel on the previous night and had been plying back and forth between Bedworth and Broadgate all day. By late afternoon the fuel tank would have been quite low so perhaps the energetic swing into the traffic island caused the fuel to slop to one side of the fuel tank so allowing the engine to take a big gulp of air. Diesel engines don't like air.

Hello, There was one feature of all rear exit Coventry double deck buses supplied after 1947, that I rarely saw anywhere else. The front bench seat. A child's delight kneeling to see out of the window at the front. They were functional. They housed the transmission shaft joint, as well as most of the electrics. They also became very warm from the heat of the engine. Can anyone remember front back facing bench seats on any other operators buses? I can't think of any. Birmingham, who had buses built by the same manufacturer as Coventry, engines & bodywork, yet they never had bench seats. Coventry was possibly an ideal size using economics. Just imagine you placing an order for the Forty KVC luxury buses that I call them, with wooden featured light fittings & so on. Telling the council that we've added £100 to the bus bill for a few nice features on our new buses, would go down a lot easier that that same conversation in Birmingham town hall. Every additional expense compared to Coventry, is multiplied by ten in Birmingham. Today Coventry has nearly a 94% electric buses in service. Birmingham is still scratching along with nearly 75% Diesels. There's is such a huge operation. Some things, size does matter. Coventry is just about as good as it gets, I believe. A manageable size.

Don't know much about buses but came across this picture in one of Roy's books The Leyland Bus by D Jack. It says it is a new A Type body for the Atlantean introduced in 1962 for an initial order for Glasgow. Leyland borrowed it for use as a demonstrator and SGD is seen in Coventry in company with a CVG6 bus.

Came here on loan to Coventry Transport:

Drivers & Conductors / Clippy's pictured at a Coventry Bus Centenary event, which was held in Millenium Place back in March 2014.