Intended as a mix of public transport topics, both current and historical, the locations of closed bus garages which were part of 'London's' operations (London General Omnibus Company/Country Buses/London Country/London Transport etc.), is the first addition as it ties together information available elsewhere, and my own query was simply 'where exactly was the garage', rather than a detailed history of what types of vehicles and routes it operated.
I've added several of the Out of Station Interchanges (OSI) within London, although these are Google Street View, hopefully it gives intending passengers an idea of 'the lay of the land' ahead of time rather than navigate between the stations unprepared.
I'm not sure if I'll do them all, as I think the OSIs in outer London are more useful to PAYG passengers than the multiple options available in the City of London.
I might add a couple of my own non-OSIs as suggested walking routes.
Hi again Ed, I was thinking of Armchair as a bus operator. I've never been to there yard. My latest suggestions are the Boroline Maidstone Depot at North Greenwich (according to Ians Bus Route sight may be code MS ?) I can find very little info on this Depot. Also Blue Triangles original Ferry Lane Rainham FL Depot use later on TFL Contracts I believe. Many thanks in advance as always Paul.
The Greenwich base was Ordnance Wharf, I've been looking into it, sometimes you get lucky and some intrepid photographer has gone there, but not in this case, it was only used for one year. If I could find a good source of aerial photographs from the late 80's/early 90's things would be easier as I could show the viewers that image as groups of red (or any other colour) rectangles on the ground gives a good idea of where the site was. Rainham took a bit of time to sort out geographically, the whole area has been eradicated and a new access road has been built through it, luckily the current Stagecoach site is very much active so you can cross link the location as they had a common boundary in a couple of areas.
Thanks Ed, I shall look it up on the map. I took a look at the 188 route on Ians Bus Route site and be called it GR Code. For the 108 route MS is a bit of a mystery for me as it ran with the 188 from Greenwich. Another ex driver who now works at Go ahead Morden Wharf depot. He said the Boroline depot is now where a car park for the dome is. I will have to visit the area. I'm waiting more info from him on a bus site.
@@paulwithers3658 Apparently the 188 moved there from Crayford which meant that Lynx could appear on the route, it was re-tendered one year early by LRT, but Boro'line then got the 272/472 instead. All the takeovers resulted in some of the ex-Boro'line Volvos ending up at Walworth where they could appear on the 188 again.
Hi Ed, thanks for latest videos VE & NB. I have more suggestions. Armchair of Brentford and one i know very little about is maybe a bus terminus or coach /lorry park at kings Cross area in Norhdown Street or end of Collier Street approximately. I think it may have appeared in tv show years ago. I know you have done several in that area already.
The sites in Kings Cross were covered because of Green Line route 727 and I wondered where they were - any other coach coverage tends to be connected to bus operations. I am confident that I know less about coach operations than you do. Don't forget that Armchair was acquired by Metroline via ComfortDelGro in November 2004, remember DP 962 running around on Potters Bar routes 84, 234, 384 and W9 in orange after the 485 was lost to Go-Ahead in 2006?
I've looked through The London Bus for all of 2008 and there's no mention that I can see in the Metrobus sections about them using it as overflow parking, the daytime operation of the 119 moved to Croydon along with 468-485 to make space for the First routes. In TLB521 the news for First London says that all their buses had been moved out of Y by 9th December 2007.
@@ElmersEnd It was part of the sale to Go Ahead. It was mothballed until 16.03.13 when we took over Route 126 at MB. 15 buses were outstationed at Y each night. They were for a variety of routes and the drivers signed on and off at MB. They travelled between the two sites on light running buses that were travelling between MB and various start/finish points. The site closed after 11.01.14 and then sold. Info on the Metrobus history page. images-metrobus.passenger-website.com/downloads/fleet-history1808.pdf
Clarification that everything is still very active coach wise, Kentish Bus were sort of lodgers and that's the part I'm covering - a bit like Harris Bus, Pan Atlas, Scan Coaches and Sampson's. Staines (ST) continued to be used for Speedlink operations after LCSW moved their bus operations out, but then the 116 and 117 were allocated there for a short time.
Hi again Ed. I worked as an Apprentice then fully qualified HGV Mechanic at National Carriers Ltd Rucholt Road Leyton London. Which later became BRS and part of site was TM Temple Mills and maintenence done by the BRS Staff .... Not sure. Now LI Stagecoach Depot. Although toaly different to my old bigger shed. Ive visited VE Victoria a few times and photod over years. Maybe a quick item on Newington Butts (they ran the John Menzies Newspaper Contract out of here and so did our Depot, but I never went there) and also Nine Elms New Covent Garden site used by the 19 Route in early Kentish Days Please. When your not to busy lol, thanks.
One of the LOTS newsletters has confirmed that LI was on the site of Leyton, this means that this can go ahead. I might break things up a bit otherwise they'll be a run of Kentish Bus sites - Victoria, Newington Butts, Leyton, 'Lewisham', there's probably around another 20-30 post 1933 locations to go, a few of these are in the 'not sure' category.
It's nice that Swanley is being used again for 'Country Buses' type work. I don't know the ins and outs - but Harris Bus seemed to spend 10 years being quietly successful operating a small group of routes in and around Grays, then took on several LRT routes and became unsuccessful. Clearly there was still money to be made operating a small group of routes in and around Grays because that's what Ensign ended up doing.
There is no operator change for the 77 (the next contract starts in 2025), although TfL did a map, Google Streetview gave an alternative option as to where the new pick-up stop is in relation to the old one, after all the passenger doesn't need to find the last stop, they need to find the first stop and Waterloo can be quite confusing.
The operator change for the 211 is mentioned in the 'selected changes' video, this was intended as an alert video that TfL had confirmed a date. Once 'Ian's Bus Stop' site is working consistently I'll take this video down, it was OK earlier in the week, then unobtainable Thurs/Fri 20/21, then yesterday it was fine on Chromebook but reluctant on Windows.
Thank you SO MUCH for this! You have no idea how impossible it’s been for me to find the Sampson’s base! I’m only trying to map every single bus depot that’s ever existed in Britain 🤷🏻♂️
Thank you - but as I've said before, I rely on the work of others, the LOTS newsletters and their contributors, those who put photos on flickr and went to photograph the location in the first place and other existing sites like Ian's Bus Stop or Robert Armstrong. I wish you well with your task, that's a big Everest.
@@ElmersEnd I’ve generally searched on Flickr and just hoped for the best. I can’t use LOTS newsletters of course for anything outside London like Birmingham, Scotland or something How did you access the LOTS publications before they started making the first pieces public?
Thanks for the Reply, what is your name please ? I have visited many of your posts locations over the years and still some to do. Also now I have your information, some locations I can for the first time. Between yours and Ians Bus Stop & Ians Bus Routes Sitesit helps us curiosity seekers lol. I have a few more suggestions. Enfield Carterhatch and Crayford council Depots. First Avenue Edmonton County Bus Depot. Trusty Bus Nazeing, Travel with Honey Debden near DD. Also the 412 outstation near Dorking and 336A Loudwater Eastate outstation.. By the way G used to have old LT buses parked in side in the 80s when I drove by and the gates were open. I was an Apprentice HGV and then Fully Qualified HGV Mechanic at National Carriers Ltd. Then a Mini Cab Driver and now a Suburban London Taxi Driver, so I get about still with my camera and Video.
Name? I keep myself to myself, not everyone has a tail wagging personality, it's a contradiction of 'the internet' that it gives 'niche nerds' disproportionate access to the wider world and vice versa. The good thing about 'the internet' is that putting out these videos doesn't require another party's approval (barring RU-vid's ToS) and neither does watching them, if they help others then they've served their purpose, if those watching add clarifications and corrections (like AP and SP) then they help put out a better one. My interest is in 'London Transport' so I'm unsure about non-LT operators, obviously Harris Bus and Sampsons count as they operated LRT contracts but Davian Coaches and Buzz Co-operative didn't.
Hi, again I shall call you Ed after your last reply. Thanks for you last videos on some of my suggestions. Much appreciated. I would like to suggest the Thamesway Romford base Bryant Avenue for 193 route.Not sure of what unit number. Also West Ramp for Air Bus Routes . The Eastern National bus garage in Walthamstow also coded WW I was told did after a while get a Council shed for Workshops, but at first some maintenance done on the floor in yard. As you said most done at Ponders End at first. Hope you can do some of my earlier suggestions as well. Thanks Paul.
@@paulwithers3658 Romford was published on 3rd September 2023, but has a different thumbnail design which is the reason you missed it, I was channelling their corporate look as I think it was part of First Essex. I have been hunting for the West Ramp because of the E10 but can't get a definitive location, I think I know where it was but had no luck in finding an image of an E200 parked up there. It might end up as part of the 'Waltham Abbey' pile, there are a few 'not sure' sites and Walthamstow had been one of them (I knew it was the council depot, but its a big site), then an image turns up of a taxi that you can tie to an existing location on Google - Crayford is the same, there are images taken there but it's a featureless site.
@@ElmersEnd Thanks Ed, I shall search for the Romford one. I've got in touch with someone for you and Laurie Akehurst about The Waltham Abbey Garage. They were in the Town Hall and have put me in touch with an Historian who says he has more information. If and when I get it, I will update you.
@@paulwithers3658 Thank you for that, although our 'friend in the plane' did manage to photograph a surprising number of sites, so you can forgive that they missed the odd one here and there.
Thanks, I get pot luck with the aerial images, going the full spectrum - from nothing - DG and HG, through 'oh it's off in the distance' - EG and LS and then striking gold - DS and SA. Although the LT Museum has images, a good aerial shot gives an idea of the layout which you don't always understand from ground views. Hopefully more photo archives will be put online in the future.
Hi Mr Elmers End, lm Paul. I've discovered your videos a couple of months ago. Very Good. Please can you do one on Sampsons yard in Pindar Road Hoddesdon. Also The LCBS overhaul works in Crawley. Also Borderbus at Patch Park near Abridge. How about Wyatts Green and Debden, County Bus outstations . Also Bonners Coaches( of Fyfield ?) they ran an `A1 route for a while, I can't find anything about them or where there Garage was. Also Ongar Coaches ran some Essex Tendered routes but where were they based ? One last one Cullinan Coaches did Essex routes yard was opposite Victoria Road in St John's Road Walthamstow, still there. I'm sure I've got many more I need info on lol. Keep up the Good work. I live in Leyton and was in Hackney till 1976. Intrested in the whole LT Empire as was.
Hello Paul, The general plan is to go through the 'LT' stuff, so Sampsons gets in because they ran the 217A/317 and Debden ran several routes, then there are the remaining Country Buses/London Country garages regardless of whether or not they operated routes for LT. After this I don't know, there is pre-LT - which is a fairly big subject in its own right, operators outside London post deregulation is 38 years of history and counting. I was trying to follow the changes in the former London Country era post October '86 and it's very involved, I might do an overview of post deregulation operators as many ended up with the larger groups anyway (such as Sampsons). Generally I've gone with whatever takes my interest at the time, my interests tend to be in the order of routes, buses and garages in the London area, although if a route has an interesting mix of buses that can make it my favourite route. Country Buses/London Country is being covered because I'm building up my knowledge plus several routes ended up as part of the TfL network like the 370, 403, 405 and 406 or they had operations that entered the London area.
I didn't leave mortlake till the last day and we had a BBQ till the early hours, and started at Fulwell the next day, had overtime to switch to the Metro bus. Then they became opo and had to learn them routes, fun days really wasn't a fan on the bus give the the RM anytime great bus to drive
Thank you for answering - I was trying to think of any other questions, then realised how many days had passed. The odd thing about Mortlake was that it had live garage journeys that didn't follow an existing route - I'm thinking the 33's via Sheen Lane - do you recall if LT bothered installing any intermediate bus stops?
What were things like, were all the routes about the same or was there one favourite or one staff wanted to avoid. Did some prefer a garage with a wider range of work and routes, what was the opinion of nearby garages like Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush.
@@ElmersEnd Hi only two routes the 9 and 9a on Sunday, 33 and 73 on Sunday. Senior Drives could choose what route they wanted to Drive, everyone started on the 9 and then could choose what they wanted I was on the 33/73 Hounslow to Kensington on Sunday it was Hounslow to Stoke Newington on Sunday. Great little garage very small but had the cleanest busses we had one RT and all the rest RM. Great days actually.
@@pauperme8852 Thank you replying. I think the weakest part of any historical coverage is how little there is from those who worked at any of the garages (open or closed), I know that there is some coverage here and there about the working day, what was good, what was bad, also things like traffic patterns, especially considering how much industry London has lost.
Well the first bus out the garage in the morning on the 9 bus was half full before getting to Hammersmith Bridge all cleaner's so was classed as regulars and drivers would know if they should wait sometimes if they hadn't seen one of them at the bus stop. That also applies to the first 33 out the garage. We as drivers over the years got to know who was a regular or not, learning the bus routes was difficult you had one day to learn the routes difficult trying to remember all the stops from Hounslow to Stoke Newington on a Sunday, obviously being human we might have missed a stop or pulled into the wrong one. But in time it was second nature, yes the bell did get on your nerves but ot was a job for 15 years for me , after mortlake closed I went to Fulwell more routes to learn 😂
@@pauperme8852 Thanks for that, as the 33 was crew M until 1985 how was the switch handled, did you go to Fulwell ahead of closure to get type trained or was this done elsewhere, what did the training for OPO conversion involve, as the 33 was the only crew route left at FW was there an incentive to get OPO trained as early as possible - I'm assuming that the pay rates still different for crew and OPO work. As a driver did you like the M and was there any difference between earlier production models like M 41 and later ones like M 821.
Oh wow, I never knew this even existed until now! Seems the history for NL is a tad complicated though Please could you do a video on the Kentish Bus depots at Leyton and Nine Elms plus Go Ahead at Battersea Base (BB) and R&I Buses?
They are all due be covered, Leyton - I believe know where it is - but I don't know where it is (if that makes sense - what part of the site was used), Nine Elms - I know where that is, BB - I think I know where that is (BA with Arriva?), R&I Buses, I know where part of it is (the bit next to Asda), but can't confirm the location of the main site in Victoria Road. Apart from the obvious (Victoria Coach Station and the Kings Cross - Luton version of Green Line route 727) plus many coach companies bidding for routes, my knowledge of the actual London coach operations and their histories hovers around zero. I've put up the odd video like the London Coach Terminal simply because I had no idea it existed, there were some decent images and I thought others would be interested.
That's an interesting video. Thank you for uploading. I lived in Dartford from 1957-1987. I was a bus enthusiast and often visited the old garage. I well remember the garage full of RT's and RF's and have quite a few old photographs. Latterly, it was also home to RML's, downgraded RMC's and SM-class Swifts. Happy days!
Thank you for your kind comments. 'Latterly, it was also home to RML's, downgraded RMC's and SM-class Swifts' - the 'new' Dartford is home to the 99, 229, 269, 301, 335, 401, 428, 492 and B15, all operated by red buses with white roundels on behalf of TfL - I wonder what a time travelling bus enthusiast would have made of that.
@@ElmersEnd Thank you! There is very, very little out on RU-vid about the old Dartford Garage (apart from another video this time offering model kits). I was delighted to watch yours. Do you have connections with Dartford, please? (I am not trying to pry - I am just interested as this is such an obscure subject!)
@@stuarthall6631 No connection, I simply wanted to put information about the location of 'London Transport' bus garages where it was easy to find. There are plenty of publications out there by Capital Transport, Ian Allen, LHRC and LOTS - but the gift of the internet, Google, Flickr, National Library of Scotland, Historic England (and anything I've forgotten) means I can put a short video on RU-vid clarifying something that often pops up in group chats (Where was...). It also gives those who can no longer travel or have moved away an idea of what the area looks like now - and as with Seven Kings and Sidcup, the information can be amended/altered/corrected quite easily.
@@ElmersEnd Thank you for kindly replying. I certainly fall into one of those groups as I now live in Northamptonshire. Great project - and, thank you again!
Have a look at that Blytheswood Road area, is that a Green LT Tramways electrical box ( I think there was one there and one back nearer Stratford along Romford Road)
Looking on Streetview, all three green boxes at the junction look like standard modern sheet metal equipment cabinets, something from that era would most likely be cast iron (guess) with rounded corners and have some form of decoration - because they did stuff like that back then. Something like this. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274791199790
I took a couple of pictures at AP of RTs and later RMs but no idea what I did with them. The road it was on I think had come the early 1990s a couple of independent coach operator premises too (seemed to be shared with car wash/ used car trader forcourts !)
Interesting places but not easy to find include Frames Rickards Tours location at the back of a Hotel near Russell Square ( very art deco ), as well as a mix of Tilling (group , etc) coach stations in Kings Cross, from places near york way, somerstown, and south into the judd street area.
there is a fair amount of info on the internet about this place and the destinations served, helped by its post war retenention and use by the likes of keith and boyle as vauxhall dealership. It was more it was too far south of central london to be useful as a full terminus, but at the same time would have been useful for layovers and maintenance. Similar Terminals would include The Orange Luxury Coaches Garage at Effra Road Brixton, and a a garage the United Service Transport location in Merton Road , Southfields, and of course Tilling's Rushey Green Catford garage (Later National Travel London), plus others in places like Croydon
@@ElmersEnd Bit past my time on paying attention at that tiime , anything post dereg was so confusing and I was living and working in East London so didnt follow much beyond Ensign/Capital Citybus routes I used
@@highpath4776 Obviously for someone working for London Buses/London Country at that time it would not have been not much fun with everything being torn apart, but from an enthusiast point of view it was a period of never ending interest. You were aware that wherever you went in London you were probably missing out on something good elsewhere and we haven't included the bus rallies organised by London Underground which were disguised as rail replacements.
@@ElmersEnd I was at NBC at effectively the start of what would become privatisation ( in part at Midland Red which had already suffered the polo mint carve up of the company with its middle going to WMPTE and the edge companies suffering with similar to LCBS and the linking of their cross Birmingham "Midland Express" and similar routes. I then moved onto Milk Marketing Board, which would in its own way end up carved up and privatised/ reformed but less "successful" farmer's co-op
I always get lost at New Cross, normally turning the wrong way to get to New Cross Gate, Also getting wrong bus and ending up at Elephant when the Bus towards Kennington or Oval would have been better for me
@@ElmersEnd there probably are finger signs, I think the mental problem I have is New Cross bus garage is closer to New Cross Gate station than New Cross Station ?
@@highpath4776 In my view TfL is right to include OSIs on their maps, but they should make the walking route far more obvious, hence why I think a line should be painted between stations. The problem with finger signs is that there is no standard position to put them as there is less control in a street environment - a line provides continuous reassurance that you haven't got lost.
The OSI should be extended to allow a walk from Clapham Common , Or Stockwell as Clapham North is often dangerously crowded peaks and a night when the Northern Line frequencies drop
The OSI is handy as you get a bit of time to stop off for a quick shop at Sainsbury's (either of them) OR a coffee brew from the coffee shop on the Clapham North Side
Clapham High Street station really could do with the semifast trains stopping to pull in the Victoria connection and also for direct trains to Beckenham Junction and Orpington, along with additional overgrounds Victoria (Or Battersea Park-there are more morning out services at present on the timetable) to London Bridge at least half hourly
It has been said that areas outside London are opposed to suburban services being transferred to the Overground because paths may be lost for long distance trains or extra stops added. Given the drop in commuters post pandemic and that there will shortly be a Labour controlled TfL and Government they could push the transfer through against diminished opposition.
@@ElmersEnd It has always been the case on National Rail (and Underground) that the more station stops the slower the service, so you add fast skipping services at least, but here you still get the London Bridge bottleneck, wether its for the terminating or the through trains. Zone 2 in the east just south of the thames is however berefit of NR stations. If there were a better common fares on NR and Underground within London Z1-6 that would help, but If I come in from Hayes or Lewisham and want to go to somewhere near Surrey Quays say it is a faff around unless I use or change to bus (incurring another £1.75 on my journey)
One could argue that a new entrance to Clapham North (if not full track level rebuild) is needed, the exit up at peak times from the train to ground level trying to get to Clapham High Street is difficult against hoardes of passengers bound for Bank, so some kind of underpass walkway is needed - difficult as the high street also has four pipes of mains Thames Water coming over from the Hampton Pumping complex under it.
@@ElmersEnd I dont think a doubling of services to the stations themselves would double passenger numbers, but they would reduce some car use , and give better options for intermediate, or final destination stations, from the far ends. for SLL I could see Brixton and Loughborough Junction easily getting busy, possibly aiding the Victoria line in the process
Peckham area bus garages are very complicated with the business of Thomas Tilling as both Jobmaster/Hirer of Horses, and Provision of Omnibus Services happened from an assortment of yards, Which I think "The Bull" was one if not the main one. I think come the arrangements with The General that the two brothers who ran Thomas Tilling business did assortment of route shares that would eventually lead to Thomas Tilling getting a "franchise" to run from Bromley, Lewisham(Catford) and South Croydon Garages (but were they in addition to any services from Peckham ?). The presence of the use of Rye Lane Bus Garage (was that General) as well adding to the dense confusion over time. I think one of the famous photos on the LT website is a RT in the new automatic bus washer covered in soapy suds in PM. PM had a "rear" entrance , into which incoming vehicles would be fuelled (two lanes) and washed, with the exit at the front into the bus stand/station area.
According to London Transport Garages by Ken Glazier and published by Capital Transport, Rye Lane - prior to being a bus garage. Horse tram depot opened on part of the site by The Pimlico, Peckham and Greenwich Street Tramways in 1872. Converted to electric operation by LCC in 1904 but from 1906 was used as a workshop and latterly as a base for The Permanent Way Department. I don't know if Peckham was built on the same footprint as Bull Yard or if it was incorporated into part of a larger site.
I think you mean RMF 1254. Front Entrance Demonstrator and sold in the End to Northern General. The BEA class of Routemasters I think were to a different length and had a revised rear axle ratio for the use on the A4 run ( which would have taken them over the flyover that was the reason for the closure of Hammersmith Trollybus Depot ). Question of pre the 4RF4 class , BEA had a number of other vehicles, were they all garaged at Waterloo (where the air terminal was until the West London Air Terminal was built) - the Waterloo site also had a helicopter interconnect to London Airport.
Guilty, RMF 1254 - 30ft demonstrator, RMA - 27ft production version which was geared for 70mph motorway operation according to Countrybus.org site by Ian Smith.
@@ElmersEnd I think Pete and His Bus has fitted the rear axle from a RMA (ahh, might be a Country Green Line axle?) to his BarRML. I wonder if Chiswick had a batch of spare axles ( were the Northern Generals so geared too ? - the hills would suggest not around there but they too had some fast run interurban bits.
Once again the Depots and Garages in Hammersmith are difficult to follow in part due to non codes (for Tram and Trolleybus), odd coding - for buses (R when its not near the river) and changes to the road layout. Historically ancient family cousins are recorded in St James' Church - which is now somewhat isolated in the one way and flyover. Driving around the roundabout is best done with your eyes closed, and I wish I had taken more photos of Butterwick in the late 1970s.
I was surprised that the Sutton - Epsom section (outside the TfL area) got the upgrade to a full daily service. Perhaps there are other plans for the 470, some of the other proposals in the consultation weren't proceeded with but might reappear in a different form.
@@ElmersEnd mostly because a) Sutton is a moaning Lib Dem council that really got hold of TfL for better links in borough. and b) with the problems with Belmont , Sutton and the Hospitals trusts some of those areas were given priority. Merton could be run over by a bus and still not notice what happens there, and SW London Assembly rep is as useful as a chocolate teapot.
The garage was also used for the servicing of a number of the Service Vehicle Fleet of London Transport , (might have continued after closure but I think sale came fairly quick after closing to public traffic. The Entrance facing Putney High Street (just about adjacent to St Mary's Chuch) wrapped around the church to the east covering Gothic Wharf, High Street, Putney, SW15. Site leased by the National Steam Car Company from a Mr Jay 30th November 1912 and opened during 1913 with alterations completed in 1914. This enabled the closure of the garage at Hercules Road/Carlisle Lane, Waterloo. F Closed 11.11.1919 when National ceased operating in London. Re-opened by the L.G.O.C. 21.01.1920. Then passed to the L.P.T.B. from 01.07.1933. Closed 26.11.1958 with most work transferring up the road to AF (Chelverton Road). The code ''F'' was previously used by the London Road Car Company's premises in Farm Lane which itself was re-coded from ''Y'' in 1911. ( note the Farm Lane premises themselves are a little confusing) Nearby at 38 Felsham Road the London Road Car Company had a stables (from about 1890) and later motor bus garage (from 1905) which passed to' L.G.O.C. by 1908. It had the code ''Z'' and closed in 1911. General also had stables at 135 Lower Richmond Road (1892 - 1909) ( ? would like to see old map or directory entry on that ) and at 156 Felsham Road (1901 - 1911). Nearby AF garage at Chelverton Road was also a stables from 1887 until conversion to motor buses from 18/7/1912 I know of only three photos taken of/at Putney Bridge Bus Garage
Thank you for adding so much additional information, the bus infrastructure isn't as loved or recorded as the rail network is - although how many had the time, money and knowledge to go around photographing bus operations in the early part of the last century. I'm unsure how far back to go, I think that the LHRG were looking at covering horse bus routes, if the stables were linked to the routes they operated then there is an anchor point which you follow through to the present day, it might work better as a website rather than a video because London keeps on getting rebuilt. I did find aerial images of Putney Bridge whilst checking on the Historic England site, they are on another video - you get pot luck on these, some good photographs of locations such as Old Kent Road, Dorking, Twickenham and St Albans, but nothing for Dunton Green, Hertford and Loughton - not even an overhead street image.
If you have a look at the Historic England photographs you can see the trail of what I assume is oil and rubber coming out of the side of the garage into Kiver Road, in comparison the Holloway Road access is relatively 'clean', so it's consistent with Holloway Road being 'in' and Kiver Road being 'out'. These images were taken in the 1940s though, so things might have changed by the time of closure as side streets became clogged with parked cars (perhaps making it a likely candidate for closure), but here are the links to the Historic England images. 1946, J is between 0100-0200, Archway is on the right, Nags Head at the top. historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_3g_tud_uk_194_v_5325 1947 - but now the other side, so J is still between 0100-0200 but Archway is top and Nags Head off to the right. historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_cpe_uk_2046_v_5164 It's the same with Muswell Hill, the Historic England photographs show the Sydney Road access covered in scrub marks from tyres, but the Hampden Road one is relatively 'clean', but back then there was direct access to the North Circular Road via Alexandra Road. historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_3g_tud_uk_230_vp5_5359
I Grew yp i Hanwell and Remember Southall garage well. And the Christmas fire. My father and me were out walking the dog and saw all the buses that had been moved out onto the Uxbridge road.
It's a shame it's mainly remembered for the fire, I like the idea that at one time someone could arrive at Heathrow on a Southall operated RT and then fly Condorde to New York.
It was a lovely Garage. I worked for London United. We borrowed 2 buses for a route Running gday in 2002. Was ment to get RML2760 & RMC 1461. Both were unfit. We got RM980 &RMC1485 insted. Got to use the canteen wen collecting them. Very nice.
The plan is to work through all closed locations, ideally I'd like to have something that I can link to the present day - so I can keep the number of London Easylink type videos as low as possible.
If it means I never have to use Southeastern trains again it’s worth a go! Sidcup to Bond Street in 5O mins via the Elizabeth Line sounds like a dream.
I just found the Blue Triangle depot in Rainham myself but I think you should do a video on it anyway. It would be interesting to see what information I missed out on, get more detail about the routes, dates and other pieces of trivia!
I've got one address for Blue Triangle/Rainham, but I think it moved, they might have had two sites (including the current Go-Ahead version) or three, but I only want to cover LRT operations.
Ah so THAT is the real location of Harlesden! I knew it was near the Atlas Road sites but I was thinking it was the original Park Royal site that might have later been repurposed for London United (turns out that was wrong) I didn’t realise it never actually made it to Metroline stage either, I thought it spent a few years under them. Unless Metroline used a different site in the same area? Either way, good to finally have this mystery solved!
Looking at photograph U10809 on the LT Museum website, I wonder if the area on the left is the back garden of the house or a bridge over one of the waterways, I had hoped to identify the house or that tall corrugated roofed building from aerial photographs, but it looks like areas have been cleared due to bombing (they are all after 1940 unlike the other photographs around Waltham Abbey Church from the 1920s). I tend towards the view that 'something will turn up', like a proper address, map or additional photographs.
Wonderful! Very helpful insight that I was looking for, as usual with your videos! Please could you do a follow up video just like this for the council depot on Sandridge Road that Sovereign used as an outstation, as it appears to have changed use and possibly no longer with the council? I think it’s actually on the St Albans Road beside the mainline railway but is very near the intersection that contains Sandridge Road. The Sandridge Road seems to be mostly old Metroland style 30s housing, so it wouldn’t have been down there
I am merely an information chef, like any chef I'm only as good as my ingredients, so the foundation are the Country Buses and Green Line books by Laurie Akehurst, London Transport Garages by Ken Glazier, East Surrey by 'Bell Street', London Transport Country Area Garages by Mick Webber, London Transport Bus Garages by John Aldridge, plus LOTS newsletters and the London Historical Research Group books, to this is added the maps from the National Library of Scotland, photographs from the LT Museum and Historic England/Britain from Above (sometimes flickr or another website) topped off with Google Streetview. Unfortunately many modern facilities lack many of these ingredients, so the Lewisham base of Kentish Bus will be 'it was here', same with London Easylink and the Walthamstow depot of Eastern National - I can add a bit of spice, like list of routes and types of vehicles operated. Sandridge Road fits comfortably into the latter 'it was here' category, but with less spice, following route changes post deregulation is a bit of a nightmare, the intention is to continue with the closed 'London Country' sheds and Central Area ones, plus looking at interesting content on the LT Museum where I can compare and contrast with other images.
