 | |
| Founded | 1915 |
|---|---|
| Ceased operation | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Rochdale |
| Service area | Greater Manchester |
| Service type | Coach service operator |
Yelloway Motor Services [1] was a bus and coach company based in Rochdale.
| | |
| Founded | 1915 |
|---|---|
| Ceased operation | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Rochdale |
| Service area | Greater Manchester |
| Service type | Coach service operator |
Yelloway Motor Services [1] was a bus and coach company based in Rochdale.
In 1902, Robert Holt commenced a parcels delivery service in the Rochdale area using a pony and cart. In 1904, Holt went into partnership with his younger brother Ernest and they established themselves as carriers trading as Messrs Holt Brothers. Additional ponies and carts were purchased, later followed by steam and motor lorries. [2]
In an attempt to earn additional revenue, when the lorries would otherwise be idle, interchangeable charabanc bodies to enable the lorries to be converted into passenger pleasure vehicles at weekends. In May 1913 the first purpose built charabanc entered service, a 28-seat Dennis painted in a yellow livery with burgundy upholstery. When it arrived at the offices of Holt Bros in Rochdale a member of staff shouted "The Yellow Car has arrived!" This remark was the birth of the trading name Holts Yellow Cars. In November 1915, the company was incorporated as Holt Bros (Rochdale) Limited. [2]
The company extended its operations into Manchester and Oldham. It diversified into stage carriage services in 1921. On 1 October 1928, an express service linking Blackpool with London commenced. In 1930 the business was placed in administration. In March 1931, a consortium of Maurice Edwards, John Barlow and Herbert Allen purchased the business. On 9 April 1932, the company was officially renamed Yelloway Motor Services Limited. [2]
Yelloway was granted operating licences for a service to Torquay, with other operators denied. By 1937, Yelloway was providing travel facilities for passengers from West Yorkshire to destinations in South West England, connecting services being provided by Ripponden & District through Halifax, Sowerby Bridge and Ripponden to Oldham where they joined the Devon bound coaches. [3]
World War II caused the curtailment of a number of services, including the London express. In 1944, Maurice Edwards indicated his desire to sell his stake. In order that no additional borrowing was undertaken, which may have put the company into debt, the Manchester to Rochdale service was sold on 18 June 1944 to Manchester, Rochdale and Oldham Corporations. [3]
In 1947, Yelloway acquired the operation of Brierley Brothers, Rochdale which included tour and excursion licences and an express route to North Wales from Rochdale and Oldham. In 1955, Holts of Oldham was purchased. This business had been set up by the original founders of Holt Brothers because of licensing difficulties in Oldham and, although at one time it had been planned to merge the two operations this had never been done and the Oldham company had continued to trade separately. [4]
Blue Bird Tours, Hollinwood was also acquired, including excursions licences from the Oldham area and a number of express services, including a Hyde to Cleveleys route, which was retained, although the Oldham to Market Drayton service was sold to the North Western Road Car Company. In 1959, Yelloway acquired three more operators, taking over the businesses of the Rossendale Division Carriage Company, Johnston Bros (Middleton), and Merriway Tours. [4]
In 1961, the excursion licences of Turner Brothers, Todmorden were purchased, followed in 1964 by the excursion licences of Chas Holt & Sons, Whitworth, Kershaws Luxury Tours of Rochdale in 1967. In 1968 the related businesses of William Makinson (Manchester) Limited and North Manchester Motor Coaches Limited were acquired, in addition to excursion licences the latter company held express service licences to Blackpool and North Wales. [5]
In 1976 an agreement was reached with National Bus Company that saw Yelloway relinquish its London express routes in return National Bus Company's interests in the Fylde Coast Pool were handed over to Yelloway, which became the sole operator on the routes. [5]
In January 1984, following a revision by National Express, routes were allocated service numbers;
On 5 July 1985, Yelloway was sold to Neoplan dealer Carlton PSV Sales of Rotherham. [6] In October 1986, following deregulation, Yelloway registered several stage carriage services in the Greater Manchester area and won contracts from the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive. [5]
By 1987 the services run jointly with Premier Travel were no longer operating and National Express services had replaced them. Instead, Yelloway was contracted to run two journeys a day on the Burnley to Harwich services 351 and 352. Most of the remaining coach work undertaken by Yelloway at this time was under contract to National Express and this was transferred to Carlton PSV Sales' parent ATL Holdings newly acquired National Travel East subsidiary along with most of the coach fleet. [7] The last remaining vestige of the Yelloway express network was the Blackpool route through Oldham and Rochdale areas, but by late 1988 this too had gone. [5]
In return a motley collection of second-hand vehicles came to Yelloway to operate the stage carriage services. By late 1988, Yelloway Motor Services had been reduced to a run down local service operator. Maintenance problems with the ageing fleet resulted in a number of buses being put off the road. [8] [9] [10] Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executives cancelled contracts on several services because of poor performance. On 24 November 1988, the Yelloway was placed under the control of Crosville Motor Services, which had just been purchased by ATL Holdings, along with the remaining contract work and the name disappeared. [5] [11]
A Yelloway mobile museum, housed in a former Yelloway coach, was formed in 2002 by enthusiast David Haddock. It is now owned by Paul Blackburn and is based at the Bury Transport Museum. [12]
In 2008, Courtesy Coaches bought the rights to the Yelloway name, and currently use it on a fleet of 15 coaches. [13] [14] In 2008, it won a contract to provide transport for the Rochdale Hornets rugby league team. [15]
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern England.
National Express is an intercity and Inter-regional coach operator providing services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of National Express. Most services are subcontracted to local coach companies. The company's head office is in offices above Birmingham Coach Station.
The Preston and Wyre Railway was promoted to open up agricultural land in the Fylde in Lancashire, access a new port at what became Fleetwood and the Lancaster Canal at Preston: it opened in 1840. An associated company built the dock leading to the company changing its name to the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company. Passenger business was more buoyant than expected, and the company built branch lines to the nascent resort of Blackpool and Lytham that opened in 1846. At that time the line was leased by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and later the London and North Western Railway took a share in the lease which was later converted to outright ownership. The Preston and Wyre Railway continued o be jointly owned as the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway.
First North Western was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup, that operated the North West Regional Railways franchise from March 1997 until December 2004.
Bury Interchange is a transport hub in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Opened in 1980, it is the northern terminus of the Manchester Metrolink's Bury Line, which prior to 1992 was a heavy-rail line. It also incorporates a bus station.
Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales.
Ribble Motor Services was a large regional bus operator in the North West England based in Preston.
The North Western Road Car Company was a bus company in Stockport, England, formed in 1923 from the existing bus services of the British Automobile Traction Company Limited in Macclesfield. The company operated bus services in five counties through a combination of growth and the acquisition of other bus companies, such as the takeover in 1924 of the Mid-Cheshire Motor Bus Company Limited, which brought new operations in Northwich and Flixton. The company also operated express coach services to London, North Wales and Yorkshire.
North Western Road Car Company was a bus operator based in Liverpool, England. The company operated between 1986 and 1998.
Lloyds Coaches operates bus and coach services in mid Wales. It is a small family-run independent firm. The company is based at the old Crosville bus depot opposite Machynlleth railway station. It was established in 2001.
Royal Blue Express Services was a coach operator in the south and west of England from 1880 until 1986.
The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.
Yorkshire Tiger is a bus company based in Elland, West Yorkshire. Formed in May 2008 as Centrebus Holdings, in September 2013 it was bought by Arriva and was rebranded Yorkshire Tiger.
Trathens Travel Services was a Devon (England) based bus and coach operator, taken over in 1996 by Scottish-based Park's Motor Group. The family owned group came to national attention after running express coach services from Plymouth to London, in light of the Transport Act 1980.
Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation carried 328 million passengers on 953 trams, via 46 routes, along 292 miles (470 km) of track.
Express Motors was a bus and coach hire company based in Penygroes, Gwynedd. The company operated public bus services in the Caernarfon, Porthmadog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bangor and Llandudno areas, as well as long-distance TrawsCambria service T2 between Bangor and Aberystwyth.
Crosville Motor Services was a bus and coach operator based in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It operated both contract hire and stage carriage services from 2011 until April 2018. It also operated a fleet of heritage vehicles.
Greater Manchester Bus route 17 operates between Rochdale Interchange and Manchester Shudehill Interchange. From Rochdale Interchange it travels through Sudden and Castleton to Middleton bus station, and then continues through Blackley, Harpurhey and Collyhurst to Manchester Shudehill Interchange. It has a sister service 18 which operates on the same route between Manchester and Middleton, and serves Langley. One service per day (17A) serves Stake Hill Industrial Estate.
The Middleton Electric Traction Company Ltd. operated an electric tramway service in Middleton, England between 1902 and 1925. It was a subsidiary company of the British Electric Traction group,.
