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History of the buses in Burnley
THIS week we have something of a treat for those of you who are interested in our local fleet of buses.
The picture shows seven Leyland TD40 double deckers which were bought, out of an order of 32 vehicles by the then newly amalgamated Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Transport Committee to run on the Nelson to Padiham route.
This route, as you will know, had formerly been served by electric trams and, if I am correct, it was the last of the old routes to be converted to buses. The buses were put into service in 1935 so, next year, those who prefer buses to trams will have the opportunity to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the local victory of buses over trams. If, like me, you feel otherwise it might not be an anniversary in which you would want to participate.
I felt sure, on first seeing the photo, that the picture was taken at the Queensgate depot, but Alan Catlow, the expert in these matters, informs us the actual location was the Leyland Motors factory where the vehicles were built. The Queensgate premises, which although altered still stand, were originally constructed for Burnley's early trams.
My grandfather lived nearby and, as a small boy, I recall seeing a short stretch of tram line leading from Colne Road to what had formerly been a tram shed. I used to think, at the time, that there could have been no reason to retain the disused tram line, but, on reflection, history is full of similar examples of apparent laziness on behalf of the authorities, whoever they might have been.
These days I am always pleased to find old boundary stones, turnpike milestones, even directional signs and former shop signs which have been either made redundant by constant change or superseded by something, more modern, perhaps, but mostly not as interesting as the original.
Only a few days ago, a friend and neighbour knocked on my door and told me that, in helping to clear out an old allotment shed, he had found a cache of Burnley street signs made many years ago by Minton, the great ceramics firm.
On another occasion, again very recently, I was driving to Whalley when, stopped at some traffic lights just out of Read, I noticed a really old and very dirty road sign (white letters on a black background) which, for years, has been pointing the way to the village with the famous abbey, but which I suspect has not been seen by many of the thousands of motorists who now use this road every day.
It is not about such things that I write today, but about the local transport undertaking. In his excellent book "Burnley, Colne & Nelson Joint Transport", Alan Catlow, reminds us it was in 1861 that "a horse drawn omnibus started operating an infrequent passenger carrying service along the main roads from Colne to Burnley".
Twenty years later steam trams were introduced on the Nelson, Burnley to Padiham section of the route and a period of over 50 years commenced in which the tram was king.
Of course, the tram system was not built at one time. I did not realise that the first routes were laid at the famous 4ft. 8in. gauge which had been introduced by George Stephenson, the engineer of the Stockton to Darlington Railway, in 1825.
It was not until 1901, when the original private company which operated the tramway was bought by Burnley Corporation, that the more familiar (for trams) 4ft gauge was introduced. Later still, lines were constructed on roads which branched off from the original route and I think the last line to be built was the one that used Briercliffe Road to get to Harle Syke.
Motor buses were first introduced, after considerable debate, in 1924. Their introduction resulted in a change of name for the company, from Burnley Corporation Tramways to Burnley Corporation Tramways & Omnibuses. It is a small change like this that help to date otherwise undated postcards, but, perhaps, the most interesting thing that happened in 1924 was that the first buses, single deckers and beautifully constructed, were made in Burnley by Knape's, one of several Burnley coach builders.
I have several photos of Knape buses. Altogether some 13 were ordered between 1924 and 1927. They were all based on Leyland chassis (A13s, C9s and PLSC1s) and they were a real credit to Burnley industry and enterprise. It was also interesting for me to find out that Burnley was part of what was then a new industry, that of the construction of omnibuses. Of course, I should not have been surprised because, with firms like Knape's, Dickinson's and the Burnley Carriage Company, Burnley had a long history of coach building.
In succeeding years, Burnley replaced the tram system with the now more familiar buses. Another significant fact is that the present company (now again privately owned) appears to be reverting to single deckers, the first kind of buses which operated in town.
However, looking at today's picture brings back memories even for me as I just remember the last of the Leyland TD4Cs most of which saw about 20 years service with BCN. In fact, I have an abiding memory of such a bus racing down the hill at Lanehead. I was not on board but I felt some concern for those who were. Fortunately, nothing happened, so far as I know, and another safe journey was completed.
I would like to thank Mrs Melanie Whitehead, of Stoke-on-Trent for the use of the photo used both today and last week.
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Weather for Burnley
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
