"STRATFORD BLUE" and how it fits into the Midland Red story.
What is the story behind the growth of the local bus company whose buses and coaches in their familiar colours that were so well known throughout "Shakespeare Country"? That livery of deep blue and off white was shared with another associated company - that of Midland General in Derbyshire.
On April 1st 1927 two local residents, Messrs. Grail and Joyne inaugurated a service with one 14-seater Chevrolet Bus between Stratford-upon-Avon and. the village of Shottery. Within three years this small undertaking had increased its fleet to nine 20-seater Thornycroft vehicles, and had extended its operation to include services to Tiddington, Alveston, Bidford-on-Avon, Evesham, Snitterfield, Learnington and Shipston-on-Stour. It had office accommodation in Wood Street Stratford-upon-Avon, and its buses were housed in the Cattle Market. The possibilities of providing a connecting service between Leamington, Stratford, Evesham and Cheltenham were visualised at this time, and late in 1930 a service between Evesham and Cheltenham was purchased from another operator - a Mr. Martin of Cheltenham.
Around this time many routes/operators were controlled by Messrs. Balfour, Beatty and Company Ltd, and in May 1931 that Company acquired Messrs. Grail and Joyner's interest in Stratford-upon-Avon Blue Motors Ltd. The business then included a Petrol Filling Station at Bridgetown, and the acquisition arrangements also included a number of adjacent residential properties where the tenants used to pop into the enquiry office at the depot to pay their rents each week.
The Stratford Company continued to grow. In February 1932 it acquired the assets and eight buses of the Reliance Bus Company of Bidford*on-Avon, who operated services between Stratford, Welford, Bidford and Evesham. And other routes between Evesham, Fladbury, Pershore, Cropthorne and Tewkesbury by arrangement were transferred to the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Ltd who paid £1000 for the goodwill for these routes. In January 1933 a site in Warwick Road on which the headquarters of the Stratford Blue Company once stood was purchased, Garage and Office buildings being erected and occupied early in 1934.
In 1932, control of Stratford-upon-Avon Blue Motors Ltd passed from Messrs. Balfour, Beatty and Company Ltd to the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Ltd. On 28th June 1935, BMMO bought all of the issued share capital of Stratford Blue Motor Services for just over £15,000. It was then decided that the Stratford Company should continue to operate as a totally separate undertaking.
Further progress continued to be made. On the last day of 1936 Stratford Blue acquired the Kineton Green Bus Company, including the small garage premises in the old Warwickshire town which lies about ten miles away from Stratford to the south-east.
Services operated by the Kineton Company between Kineton and Stratford, Leamington, Banbury etc., were taken over and operated from the beginning of 1937 by Stratford Blue. The Stratford Company's next acquisition was the business of Bennett's Bus Service of Ilmington in February 1953, which included two small services between Ilmington and Stratford, and Ilmington and Shipston-on-Stour. In the following year new garage premises and offices were built at Brookhampton Road, Kineton. This garage and offices closely resembled depots being built by Midland Red at the time.
On April 1st 1962 the Stratford Blue Company made its most recent acquisition when it purchased the coach business of the Warwickshire County Garage Ltd of Stratford-upon-Avon and one of that firm's coaches.
Such, briefly, is the history of the Stratford Blue Company. Let us now take a look at the Company as it was in its closing days; and it will perhaps be appropriate first to say something of the Company's omnibuses and coaches since they are the most obvious items of the "stock-in-trade" of every operator of public service vehicles. During the period from 1931 until 1948, the Stratford Blue fleet consisted mainly of Tilling Stevens vehicles. After 1948 these were replaced with new single-deck and double-dock omnibuses of Leyland manufacture. Considering its ownership by Midland Red it is perhaps surprising that SOS/BMMO vehicles were not operated. Although there was one SOS SON dating from 1937 which was used by Stratford Blue - but not before it had been converted into a tree-cutter - that vehicle lasted until 1964. Latterly a couple of D9's were used for short periods.
Stage carriage services are operated on 415 miles of route in Warwickshire and parts of north Worcestershire Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. In addition, a comprehensive programme of day and half-day tours was provided to local places of local interest and especially the Cotswolds. Most of the fleet was regularly based at the Company's headquarters in Warwick Road, Stratford, but almost a dozen were stabled at the Kineton garage, where only running repairs are effected, all major maintenance work being done at Stratford.
In its heyday, Stratford Blue employed over one hundred and twenty staff, many clocking up more than twenty-five years' service. They were the days !
On January 1st 1969 Stratford Blue became part of National Bus Company, as a result of the same happening to Midland Red. Exactly two years later to the day, Stratford Blue was totally absorbed into Midland Red, and when in 1981 Midland Red was split up and Midland Red South company was formed, that company inherited the property staff and vehicles of what was once Stratford Blue. However, what appears to be a slimming down exercise (or should we call it asset stripping) took place and the prime site Warwick Road depot was sold along with the Kineton depot. Stratford's buses were now run from a discarded council depot.
The British Road Transport Stamp Group organised an interesting souvenir cover to mark the passing of Stratford Blue. Bus tickets were stuck onto the covers and the letters did a return bus route before being posted. This of course marks another interesting service which many of the old bus companies offered - that of the posting of letters and parcels services. In fact, Stratford's Red Lion Bus Station was once not only a busy bus station, but a busy interchange point for parcels going far and wide by Midland Red Parcels Express.
The Stratford Blue fleet had operated in what was virtually an international showplace. During the theatre season visitors from all parts of the world converge on the town in their thousands. In such circumstances, courtesy and consideration on the part of drivers and conductors, well maintained vehicles and efficiency of services were of great importance. Stratford Blue Motors Limited endeavored to provide for both the multitude of visitors and the growing resident population of the town, who were glad to have an undertaking like "The Blue" to cater for their transport needs.
Sadly those once familiar Warwickshire registration plate letters "AC" "NX" and "UE" are no longer seen on the equally once familiar blue and off-white liveried Leyland buses of Stratford Blue.
More recently, Midland Red (now Stagecoach) pulled out of Stratford operations altogether. Some services went to tourist operator "Guide Friday" and in the more recent past- a revival of the Stratford Blue name was made by ex Midland Red Manager, Alan Newland who operated using the name as a trading name of the operator Newmark Coaches which itself was formed out of Anthonys Coaches. If anyone has any photographs or cine film of Stratford Blue or Midland Red or other films with scenes of Stratford Blue or Midland Red subjects, please contact us.
|
23rd January 2011, 14:14
:
