Bus Services in Gloucester

Black & White Motorways

My earliest memories of travelling by Black & White relate to regular journeys from London to Gloucester when I first started work in Tolworth over the period 1963 to 1966. I’ve described the local bus scene I found in south west London elsewhere, but my trips home were initially by coach. I usually caught the 5.15pm from Victoria Coach Station, which I caught at Shepherd’s Bush Green at 5.45pm, or sometimes Uxbridge at 6.30pm. The trip from Shepherd’s Bush involved a trek up the Uxbridge Road, the home of the 207 bus route, and could be very slow during the rush-hour. However, it was possible on Fridays to catch a faster service from Victoria at 6.30pm which ran via Western Avenue and called at Uxbridge at 7.17pm. Occasionally when it was busy, a separate coach was provided for Gloucester passengers, which resulted in a quicker journey, and avoided stops at Witney, Burford, Northleach or Cheltenham, so that Gloucester would be reached well before the scheduled time of 10.17pm. More often, however, the journey was broken by a stop at the King’s Arms Hotel, Stokenchurch, where a rather basic café provided refreshment during a 15-minute stop. The return journey on Sunday usually meant a 4.04pm departure from Gloucester, although there was later service at 5.59pm which was not scheduled to arrive at Victoria until 11.20pm. Between 1963 and 1965 the cost of a period return was 27/3d.

Black & White Motorways had been created in 1934 and became a major partner in Associated Motorways for pooling of coach services, along with the operations of Royal Blue, Bristol Greyhound, Midland Red and Red & White, all members of the Transport Holding Company, nationalised in 1948.

The coach station in St Margaret’s Road opened in 1931 and became the base of operations until the advent of motorway travel, so that after 1983 the mass departures that occurred at 2pm became a thing of the past.

The fleet list from 1951 until its absorption into National Travel is summarised below:

BLACK & WHITE
Fleet no.	Registration	Chassis	Body	Seating	Date
129-48	KDF980, etc.	Leyland Royal Tiger PSU1/11	Willowbrook	C37C	1951
149-58	LDD990, etc.	Leyland Royal Tiger PSU1/11	Willowbrook	C37C	1952
159	MDF484	Leyland Royal Tiger PSU1/11	Willowbrook	C37C	1953
160-75	NDG160, etc.	Guy Arab LUF-6HLW	Duple Elizabethan	C37C	1954
176-87	PAD176, etc.	Guy Arab LUF-6HLW	Willowbrook	C37C	1955
188-93	SAD188, etc.	Guy Arab LUF-6HLW	Willowbrook	C37C	1956
194-203	SDF194, etc.	AEC Reliance MU3RV	Willowbrook	C37C	1957
204-8	WDG630, etc.	AEC Reliance 2MU3RV	Roe Dalesman	C37C	1959
209-16	4209AD, etc.	AEC Reliance 2MU3RV	Duple Britannia	C41C	1960
217-22	8217AD, etc.	AEC Reliance 2MU3RV	Duple Britannia	C37C	1961
223-31	6773DD, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Plaxton Panorama	C47F	1962 w1975
232-41	4872DF, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Plaxton Panorama	C47F	1963
242-6	AAD242B, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Plaxton Panorama	C47F	1964
247-51	AAD247B, etc.	AEC Reliance 470 2MU4RA	Harrington Cavalier	C41F	1964
252-6	DDG252C, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Harrington Grenadier	C47F	1965
257-61	DDG257C, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Duple Commander	C47F	1965
262-8	HDG362D, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Plaxton Panorama II	C47F	1966
269-71	HDG369D, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3/3R	Plaxton Panorama II	C47F	1967
272	HDG772D	Daimler Roadliner SRC6	Plaxton Panorama II	C47F	1966
273-9	KDD273E, etc.	Daimler Roadliner SRC6	Plaxton Panorama	C47F	1967 w1971
280-9	KDD280E, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3 /3RT	Plaxton Panorama II	C47F	1967 w1978
290-9	NAD290F, etc.	Daimler Roadliner SRC6	Plaxton Panorama II	C47F	1968 w1973
300-9	RDG300G, etc.	Daimler Roadliner SRP8	Plaxton Panorama Elite	C47F	1969 w1975
310-9	UAD310H, etc.	Daimler Roadliner SRP8	Plaxton Panorama Elite	C47F	1970 w1975
320-9	YDF320K, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3B/4R	Plaxton Panorama Elite II [NBC]	C47F	1971
330-6	ADG330K, etc.	Bristol RELH6G	Plaxton Panorama Elite II [NBC]	C47F	1972
337-46	FDF337L, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3B/4R	Duple Dominant [NX onwards]	C49F	1973
100-11	PDD100M, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3B/4R	Duple Dominant	C47F	1974
112	PDG112M	Leyland Leopard PSU3B/4RT	Plaxton Panorama Elite III	C44F	1974
113-20	MDF113P, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3C/4R	Duple Dominant	C47F	1976
121-3	SAD121R, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3C/4R	Duple Dominant	C53F	1977
124-32	SAD124R, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3D/4R	Willowbrook 008 Spacecar	C47F	1977
133-49	SDD133R, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3E/4R	Plaxton Supreme	C47F	1977
150-60	NDF150P, etc.	AEC Reliance 6U2R	Duple Dominant	C57F	1976
161/2	TFH161/2R	AEC Reliance 6U3ZR	Duple Dominant	C55F	1977
163-7	WFH163S, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU3E/4R	Duple Dominant II	C51F	1978
168-83	WFH168-81S, AFH182/3T	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Plaxton Supreme	C53F	1978
184-98	AAD184/5S, AFH186-98T	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Duple Dominant II	C50F	1978
209-15	XDG209S, etc	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Plaxton Supreme	C55F	1978
253-60	DAD253-8T, DDG259/60T	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Plaxton Supreme IV	C57F	1978
261-8	EDF261T, FDF262-5T, DDG266-8T	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Plaxton Supreme IV	C57F	1978
269-76	EDF269-74T, FDF275/6T	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Plaxton Supreme IV	C57F	1978
277-81	GDF277V, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Duple Dominant II	C50F	1979
282-7	JDG282V, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Duple Dominant II	C51F	1979
291-302	SND291X, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU5C/4R	Plaxton Supreme IV	C53F	1981
344-59	KAD344V, etc.	Leyland Leopard PSU5D/4R	Plaxton Supreme IV	C57F	1980

Ref: lthlibrary.org.uk

National Bus Company

In 1969, Black & White became part of the National Bus Company, the coach arm being known as National Travel. A standard livery for coaches was adopted, consisting of a broad coloured band on an overall white livery, the colour for Black & White operations being black. However, by early 1973, an all-white livery with blue and red National fleetnames was introduced.

Further rationalisation of coach operations occurred on 11 February 1974 when Black & White Motorways was renamed National Travel South West, absorbing the coaching operations of Bristol Omnibus, Shamrock & Rambler (part of Hants & Dorset from 1966) and Greenslades (incorporating Grey Cars, the Devon General coaching operation in 1970). A new fleet-number series was introduced along with the National Express all-white striped livery with red fleetnames. On 1 August 1974 Wessex of Bristol was acquired, the 41-vehicle fleet consisting entirely of Duple-bodied Bedfords. In November 1974, a renumbering scheme was introduced so that all Black & White vehicles were in the range 100 to 246 (see table 1 below). The fleet included a batch of Samuelson’s Leyland Leopard PSU3/3RT with Duple Northern C51F bodies (XVB466-8G), and some Wessex Bedford YROs with Duple C45F bodywork (LAE890-5L).

The operations of Western and Southern National (Royal Blue) still retained their fleet names as they remained separate companies, as did those of Bristol Greyhound and National Welsh (into which Red & White had been absorbed). However, by 1978 ‘South West’ was being used as a fleetname on the all-white National Travel livery for all coaches, and a common fleet numbering system was in use.

National Travel South West also acquitted several second-hand Plaxton-bodied Leyland Leopards, most of them coming from Ribble. In 1978 the coach fleet was consolidated with further renumbering: table 2 below shows details of the new numbering scheme.

Coaches from 1982 (*) were new to National Travel West, following rearrangement and amalgamation of NT operating areas in November 1981 to include previous Midlands and North West operations. At that time, the fleetnames Black & White and Wessex were reintroduced replacing the South-West branding, and in early 1983 a new ‘stripy’ livery was introduced.

Table 1: National Travel South West, later National Travel West from 1977
November 1974 fleet number list revised to 1978
1978 fleet no.	Original fleet	Previous fleet no.	Registration	Notes
100-120	Black & White	100-120	PDD100M onwards
121-3	Shamrock & Rambler		REL400-2R
124-198	B&W	124-198	SAD124R onwards
200-2	B&W	121-3	SAD121-3R
204-8	Ribble	993/5-8	KCK993/5-8H
209-15	B&W	209-15	XDG209S, etc.
220-9	B&W	320-9	YDF320K, etc.
230/1	Rhondda	2322/3	YTX322/3H	later Greenslade 406/7
232-6	Ribble	979-83	KCK979-83H
237-46	B&W	337-46	FDF337L, etc.
247-52	Midland Red	179-84	HHA179-84L
290-2	Midland Red	2278/64/1	SBF217/8/447J	ex-?
293-5	Samuelson		XVB466-8G
312-4	Greenslade	312-4	BFJ312-4L
323-8	Greenslade	323-8	JFJ503N, etc.
330-6	B&W	330-6	ADG330-6K
340-3	Ribble	1000, 990/1/4	KCK381, 990/1/4H
368-82	Greenslade	368-82
400-4	Greenslade	300-4	UFJ229J, etc
406/7	Timpson		ELU599/600J	ex-National London
411	Greenslade	315	NTT315M
412/3	S&R		NLJ733/4M
416-9/21	Ribble	976/87-9/9	KCK976/87-9/9H
438/9	S&R	538/9	ORU291/2M
441/2	S&R		KRU441/2P
443-7	S&R		NFX443P, etc.
448/9	Eastern National	445/6	XVW633/4L
461/2	Ribble	977/8	KCK977/8H
490-5	Wessex		LAE890L, etc.
496-9	B&W	333-6	ADG333K, etc.
500-3	Wessex	500-3	JHY500P, etc.
504-8	Wessex	504-8
510/1	Greenslade	310/1	BFJ310/1L
600-5	Midland Red	6144/8-51/5	SHA644/8-51/5G
606-10	Greenslade	305-9	UUO450J, etc.

Table 2: National Travel West – later Black & White fleet
1983 renumbering
Fleet no.	Registration	Chassis	Body	Seating	Date
200-5*	BDF200Y, etc.	Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3R	ECW	C53F	1983
206-7*	CDG206Y, etc.	Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3R	Plaxton Paramount 3200	C50F	1983
209-16*	CDG209Y, etc.	Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3R	Plaxton Paramount 3200	C46FT	1983
217/8*	DAD217/8Y	Leyland Royal Tiger RTU1	Roe Doyen	C50F	1983
500	B500TCJ	Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3RH	Duple Caribbean II Dominant II	C50F	1985
2408-10 [to C&G]	C422WFH, etc.	Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3RZ	Plaxton	C46FT	1986

The break-up of National Travel

On 2 June 1984 part of the National Travel (West) Ltd fleet was transferred to a separate company – Black & White Motorways Ltd. Finally, on 28 April 1985, the Cheltenham-based Black & White operations of National Travel (West) were absorbed into Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Co. Ltd; and on 27 April 1986 Black & White was wound up, and its fleet dispersed as shown in the following table:

Fleet no.	Registration	Disposal	New fleet no.
116	MDF116P	Shamrock & Rambler	129 re-reg.
118/24	MDF118P, SAD124R	Wessex	418/24
164/5	WFH164/5S	Shamrock & Rambler	Hampshire Bus 3032/3
166	WFH166S	Devon General	166
167	WFH167S	Wessex	467
184/7/9/90	AAD184S, AFH187/9/90T	Wessex	484/7/9/90
186/8/93/4	AFH186T, etc.	Devon General	186/8/93/4
196/7	AFH196/7T	Shamrock & Rambler	130/1 re-reg.
200-2/9/10/7	BDF200-2Y, CDG209/10Y, DAD217Y	Wessex	200-2/9/10/7
203-5/13/4	BDF203-5Y, -, CDG213/4Y	Cheltenham & Gloucester	2400-5
215/6	CDG215/6Y	Cheltenham & Gloucester	2215/6
218	DAD218Y	Cheltenham & Gloucester	2406
253/6/7	DAD253/6/7T	North Devon	280-2
277/86	GDF277V, JDG286V
278/83/4	GDF278V, JDG283/4V	Devon General	278/83/4
279/82/91-5	GDF279V, JDG282V, SND291-5V	Wessex	279/82/91-5
285	JDG285V	Shamrock & Rambler	132 re-reg.
296/8	SND296/8X	National Travel London
299, 300/2	SND299X, etc.	Cheltenham & Gloucester	2112/3, 2306
97/8	YEL97/8Y	National Travel London
100	BPR100Y	National Travel London
331/2	NBP331/2X	National Travel London
352/5	KAD352/5V	Wessex	Plymouth Citybus 352/5
354	KAD354V	Shamrock & Rambler	Plymouth Citybus 354

Cheltenham coach station ceased to be an interchange from 22 January 1984 and was finally demolished in May 1990.

Leyland Leopard 289 KDD289E passes St Catherine’s Church, Wotton Pitch, Gloucester en route to the bus station with the 2.30pm Cheltenham to Aberystwyth service on a winter’s day in early 1971.