Coaches travelled far and wide
WHEN The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company began operating passenger services in Gloucester in 1913, all the PR stops were pulled out.
A procession of charabancs, taxis and cars owned by the company snaked through the city centre with a brass band at the vanguard playing stirring tunes.
The leading vehicle was bedecked with a banner that read Advance Gloucester - We Have Come To Stay
All this fuss ushered in the new company, the vehicles of which were painted in a livery of blue.
Consequently the firm was known locally for long after as the Blue Taxi, in the same grammatically odd way Cheltenham’s bestknown coach operator was known as the Black and White.
Road communications improved after the First World War, which made possible the new bus service that people in the city saw advertised in May 1927.
Rural England Motor Coaches Ltd, of London offered a daily road service between Gloucester and the capital, via Cheltenham, Oxford, Abingdon, Henley, Maidenhead and Slough.
The service was all-year round and tickets could be obtained from the firm’s office at 24 Westgate Street.
The price of a single from Gloucester to London was 9/ 6d. (48p) or 15/- (75p) return.
Coach excursions were popular in the 1950s when petrol became available after the rationing of the Second World War.
Coach travel was a little less expensive than the train and there were plenty of local operators offering bargain priced days out.
“Travel with the times” was the slogan that appeared in advertisements for Edward Motors of Lyson’s Avenue. Bayliss Coaches of Dymock promised “Luxury with safety”, while Jones Brothers of Upton-on-severn boasted “Radio coaches”.
Kearsey’s, Warner’s and Williams Coaches of Coney Hill Road ran daily summer excursions, while longer haul holidays could be booked at the Red & White office in Westgate Street.
Soudley Valley Coaches of Linden Road, Gloucester styled themselves “The specialists in modern luxury coaching”, while Ribble Motor Services of Northgate Street offered “Easy way holidays”.