Archive news items

Tour Programme

At the AGM a 'draft' Tours and Events programme was discussed. Unfortunately there were no nominations for the post of Tours Officer.  This is the only position on the Committee not filled and whilst other members of the Committee make great contribution to the success of the Club's Tours - the meeting recognised that this post needs to be filled. If anyone feels that they can take on these duties please contact the Secretary.  In the meantime the draft programme appears below and in the next Review.  This programme will be developed with further details added when possible.

December 2023 Review

We have experienced some unexpected printing difficulties but despite this it is hoped that the next 'Review'  will be in the post just before Christmas and should arrive sometime around Christmas and before the New Year. 

It is possible that January’s edition may be slightly delayed while we resolve the printing problems, so please do not get overly concerned, it will arrive but perhaps slightly later than has been the “norm” recently.

This month there is the Tour Report for the September North Wales Tour using DFG 65 and those of you who were on that trip will have been aware that our member Denis Strange was videoing the proceedings. He has now compiled a DVD of the day and is offering copies to CEC Members. 

To conclude the record of the AGM proceedings we have the outstanding Report presented at the Meeting – that of the Chairman, together with the Draft copy of the Minutes of the proceedings, which, as usual, will be presented to the next AGM for Approval.

Another item of non-routine interest is an analysis by Anthony Randall of vehicles used on the extended Cambrian Coast Rail replacement services, whilst the railway line has been closed for the final stage of the renewal of Barmouth viaduct and bridge and which was due to be completed in early December. The vehicles deployed were from a wide variety of operators, some quite distant with an even more interesting mix of vehicle types and sizes. Anthony has compiled a most useful record which will also be of interest in the future and our thanks are due to him.

This month’s Reviews Revisited column will be Peter McGivney’s final contribution, as he has decided that it is time for him to hand over to someone else. Thanks go to Peter for all his work on this column over the years. Should any member wish to take over this column or produce something in a similar vein then would you please let the Editor know.

November 2023 Review

The November Review is expected to arrive with members well before the end of the month

In addition to the round-up of news from around the area there is an Article from Don McKeown on a day trip he recently made between Altrincham and Chester in which he reflects on similar journeys he made in his younger days and entitled “Things ain’t what they used to be”.

Some of the Reports that were presented at the AGM will appear and there will be included a very interesting photograph taken in about 1916 of a large number of the Crosville fleet with their crews. 

October 2023 Review

The October Review was posted out to members on Wednesday 18 October.

In addition to the round-up of news from around the area, which in Arriva North West territory is dominated by the closure of Bolton depot in connection with the franchising of routes by Transport for Greater Manchester in that area and a consequent reallocation of many vehicles. Meanwhile within Arriva Buses Wales there was a major reorganisation of services from Bangor to and on Anglesey. 

By way of articles, there is the Report of the South Cambria Tour of 10 June and to accompany this a schedule of Lloyds routes and vehicles together with the depots primarily responsible for their operation. 

There is also the Club's Statement of Accounts which will be discussed at the coming AGM on 4th November

Archive

A small team of volunteers under the leadership of the Archivist have been busy making arrangements to remove the contents of the CEC Archive from its home for many years at Taylor Street Museum, Birkenhead. The first consignment has now been transferred to The Bus Archive at Droitwich with a second being prepared prior to closure of the Wirral Tram Museum in early September for about six weeks whilst work is carried out. The site is then expected to be transferred to the control of Big Heritage who have some ambitious plans for it on behalf of Wirral Borough Council. Alternative accommodation on a temporary basis has been secured by the Club at Hooton for the remainder of our Archive pending a determination of some permanent arrangements for it. A further significant quantity of surplus items has been identified for sale and many of these items will be on our Sales Stand at the forthcoming Wirral Bus and Tram Show on 1 October. 

A comprehensive update on the Archive will be provided at the AGM in November with the opportunity for a discussion on how the Club might wish to deal with the outstanding artefacts.

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Membership Fees

A reminder to the few who have not yet renewed that Membership fees are now overdue.  Don't forget the increase has been kept to a minimum of £1 making the annual subscription only £27.

September 2023 Review

Following the major changes in the scope of D&G’s operations since Arriva’s withdrawal in April, there is a schedule of the routes now operated by the company together with an attempt to identify the depots responsible . Also produced is a current D&G fleet list.

“The Bob Hardy Diaries” is an article compiled by Paul Riley from the diaries which Bob, a Crosville Scheduler, kept from the time of Deregulation.

A well-known club member often referred to in articles and reports was Geoff Crawford. Geoff lived in the Crewe area, was member number 12 and his detailed diaries are the stuff of legend. Many of these gems came to light during the process of sorting out our Archive at Birkenhead. Rather than to just send them to The Bus Archive where they would reside quite safely but unlooked at, the decision was made to pass them initially, at least, to another former Crewe resident, our member Dave French. Dave has found them to be akin to glue and finds great difficulty in putting them down, but has undertaken to go through them and extract some of the interesting facts which Geoff recorded. Dave’s introduction to this most enjoyable task is included this month to keep the Crewe and Cheshire theme going. We will be featuring regular extracts from them in future editions of the Review.

 Reviews Revisited, compiled by our Chairman looks at what was happening twenty-five years ago.  whilst in contrast another item this month has been entitled  We also include one of our occasional extracts from Crosville United, although more strictly this month’s is actually from The Crosville Social Review, the predecessor of Crosville United. It was penned by W J Crosland Taylor himself and describes the very early days of the Nantwich and Crewe operations. 

August 2023 Review

In this edition there is the second part of Don McKeown’s experiences driving the Snowdon Sherpa services out of Caernarfon, which takes the story on beyond the initial “experiment” to the time Don left Crosville for pastures new in 1986. Also, there is the long-awaited Tour Report, as recorded by the regular “scribe”, Paul Clayton, of the South East Cheshire Tour on 1 April. 

This month there is a 'double' centre colour section

July 2023 Review

This month our photographic content includes several views, past and present, to reflect the operations from the Oswestry depot, which finally closed, with the transfer of services 2/2A/2C to Caego, on Saturday 1 July. 

Also, this month, a Retrospect on the depots at Winsford and Macclesfield which includes references to various articles which have appeared in the Review over the years. (Members are reminded that copies of the aforementioned publications can be viewed through the Club’s website and details of how members can access them were provided in June’s edition.)

Following on from the article by Colin Swinson last month, an analysis of Dennis Loline production and a schedule of the ones which ran with North Western has been compiled which appears with a few observations, by Paul Riley, on some of the detail recorded.

The other main article in this edition is the first part of Don McKeown’s experiences driving the Snowdon Sherpa services when he commenced employment with Crosville at Caernarfon. Also, this month is one of our occasional extracts from the pages of Crosville United – this time on the subject of Holyhead depot’s involvement with the Holyhead Lifeboat back in 1948.

Membership Fees

A reminder that the Membership fees are now due.  The increase has been kept to a minimum of £1 making the annual subscription only £27.

APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE WITH MOVING THE CROSVILLE ARCHIVE

We have been requested by Wirral Borough Council to vacate the premises at Taylor Street, Birkenhead in the next few weeks. The Bus Archive have kindly offered to take our folders and files, but we need assistance to move them down the stairs at Taylor St ready to be collected. If anyone is willing to help during the following times, in the last week of June or during the month of July, then please contact Ian Bewley (see contact details in the Review)

Wednesdays: 10:00 to 15:00: Fridays: 10:00 to 16:00: Saturdays: 13:00 to 16:00: Sundays: 13:00 to 16:00

June 2023 Review

The June Review is number 666 therefore several photographs of vehicles which contain three sixes in one form or another will appear. The articles this month include the final schedule, carried over from last month, in the series by Glyn Jones and Tony Moyes covering the SLL class in South Cambria. As Crosville acquired its first Bristol Lodekka  (ML661),  in April 1953 there is an article taken from Crosville United on this model. Colin Swinson has prepared an article on the Dennis Loline.  This was the model that Dennis Brothers were licensed by Bristol Commercial Vehicles to manufacture as an equivalent vehicle to the Lodekka. Lastly there is a short article on the Crosville Staff Magazines and instruction on how members can access copies of such magazines such as Crosville United and also the complete set of previous Reviews.

Membership Fees

The Committee has given consideration to the annual costs of publishing and distributing the Review and these have again risen. In particular postage costs increased by more than ten percent this April and printing costs have also risen but by a lesser amount. Overall therefore Subscriptions have had to be increased but we have been able to keep the increase to just £1 for the forthcoming year (3.85%) making it only £27 for the year. This small increase has been possible through our having a healthy bank balance and a steady membership level plus income from our Sales Stand. 

May 2023 Review

This month the Review covers the closure of Arriva North West’s Winsford depot and it’s Macclesfield outstation. Our Service News column updates the record on the future of the routes involved with the closure of these and also Oswestry depot.

Such has been the quantity of contributions from members by way of photographs, news and letters that some material has had to be carried over to next month. We have significantly expanded the pictorial content this month including more colour pages. Photos this month reflect the way that bus companies are marking the events of the day, such as the Coronation and those happening in the 'Crosville' area including the Eurovision Song Contest and the celebrations of Wrexham Football club being promoted. 

In addition to our usual round up of news and the regular Reviews Revisited column we have an illustrated article from an Arriva driver recording his final week at Winsford depot and the delayed final part the South Cambria REs by Glyn Jones and Tony Moyes.

April 2023 Review

The April Review was posted on Friday 14th March and should be arriving soon.  

Of note, within the usual round-up of news this month we have information on the future of some of the services currently being operated by Winsford, Macclesfield and Oswestry depots. It should be noted that at this stage that they are planned alterations and therefore could be subject to change but are included in the Review for members’ information. We also have news of the “electrification” of TrawsCymru service T1. 

We had intended to conclude the resume of REs in South Cambria this month together with a schedule of SLLs that have operated in the area. This has been delayed whilst some of the information is being verified so we hope that it will appear in May’s edition. Instead, we have brought forward an article by Paul Riley entitled “Variations on a Grand Day Out”. We also conclude the series of reminiscences by Hughie Hughes and this final extract is accompanied by a tribute and the record of a presentation made to him on his retirement, on the last day of 1973, also copied from Crosville United. Meanwhile Alan Wheeler has been busy researching the background to “Wardle Bridge” which featured in one of our rear cover photographs in February’s Review. We also have a letter providing further information on the batch of diverted Leyland PD1s from Cumberland and a couple of appeals for help from knowledgeable members so please respond if you can help with these.

Wirral Transport Museum, Birkenhead - Crosville Archive

On March 9th Wirral Council Tourism, Communities, Culture & Leisure Committee made the decision that will see the transfer of the lease for a period of 25 years for the museum premises in Taylor Street, Birkenhead to 'Big Heritage' .  This organisation is involved in the management of such tourist attractions as Western Approaches in Liverpool, Deva Roman Discovery Centre in Chester and the Battle of the Atlantic Centre in Birkenhead. This move is expected to save the Council £85,000 per annum which they spent last year in the maintenance of the building and the tramway.  The Crosville Archive is currently located within this building and it is still to be determined what effect this will have on the future of the Archive,  

Further details are available on the Wirral Council website with background papers and a link to a webcast of the meeting at <<LINK>>

Depot closures

On Monday 27 February both Arriva North West and Arriva Midlands made announcements that they were beginning consultation with a view to the closure of Winsford depot together with the Macclesfield sub-depots  and also Oswestry depots.  Further details will appear in the March Review.

New Website

The new website was fully launched on 1st March and the old website is now closed and will simply direct visitors to the new site.  Any feedback on this new website is welcome - please use the contacts section <<LINK>> or members can contact the Webmaster direct.

March 2023 Review

The March Review is on target to be with readers before the end of the month

We are planning in addition to the normal round-up of news to include articles such as "REs In South Cambria - Part 2" by Glyn Jones and Tony Moyes, a feature of Brodyr Richards / Richards Bros and "The The Cs, Ds and Es " by Hughie Hughes.  There will be the usual excellent photographs.

February 2023 Review

The February Review is on target to be with readers well before the end of the month

We are planning in addition to the normal round-up of news to include articles such as "Venturing back into North Wales – August 2022"  by Paul Clayton, "REs In South Cambria" by Glyn Jones and Tony Moyes and "The Short and Long Lions" by Hughie Hughes.  We also hope to have a bumper edition of photographs.

January 2023 Review

The January Review should be with members well before the end of the month.  In this edition the round-up of news reveals much activity and there are plenty of developments and new vehicles planned for 2023.

This month we include a second extract from Crosville United in the “Looking Back” series, this time, covering “Toast Racks, Boats and Open Toppers” from the memoirs of Hughie Hughes and reproduced by our Deputy Editor. We also have an account of John Young’s second excursion into North Wales using a 1Bws ticket, undertaken in September. 

The regular “Reviews Revisited” column, compiled by our Chairman, of course starts to look at a new year, 1998, when the Arriva brand had just been introduced and when First Group were considering introducing a corporate livery in place of the various local liveries that had been inherited. Also included this month are the draft Minutes of the AGM held in November and which will be presented formally for adoption at this year’s AGM.

Chester & Wrexham Charity Running Day 2023

There have been some last minute changes to this event and the Chester Park and Ride site near the Chester Business Park will no longer be used.  The event will now be based at the Wrexham Bus Station where there will be catering and bus stands. The D1 service will be running through to Chester Railway Station up to every 10 minutes for most of the day.