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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
CHESTERFIELD TO MANCHESTER
BUS SERVICE
by Neville Whitmore
Originally added to website 26 July 2011. Moved to this page 8 August 2011
This is far from complete so your
COMMENTS
are invited.
Looking at an East Midland timetable for 1961, service 67 (not please note X67) ran between Chesterfield and Manchester, terminating in Manchester at the
famous Lower Mosely Street bus station. The route was direct between Baslow and Tideswell and did not serve villages such as Eyam and Litton. The route was
operated jointly by East Midland and North Western but it appears that North Western only operated on Sundays all year round and on Fridays and Saturdays in
the summer when the basic service of two journeys per day in each direction was enhanced to four, as it was on summer Sundays. It was a limited stop service
stopping only at points mentioned in the timetable and local passengers were not carried between Chesterfield and Tideswell (to protect Hulley's services) and
between Barmoor Clough and Manchester (to protect other North Western services?) One notable feature of the timetable is that with only two journeys a day in
each direction it was still possible to have a day out at either end with a reasonable amount of time, something which was not possible from the Manchester end
on the recent timetable!
The running time end to end was 2 hours and 8 minutes (remember with crew operated buses, probably Leyland Tiger Cubs) compared with between 2 hours 12 minutes
and 2 hours 15 minutes today albeit with a "break" in Tideswell and a different route between Baslow and Tideswell and between Newtown and Stockport, with the
only limited stop section being between Marple and Manchester.
Unfortunately, I cannot find my timetable for when it was called the "Lincman" so this is from memory! I hope others will be able to fill in dates etc.
Please do feel free to respond.
At sometime in the early 1980s, the route was extended back to start from Mansfield and an arrangement was made with Hulleys so that the route could cover some of
the villages between Baslow and Tideswell such as Foolow, Eyam and Litton and about this time it became known as the X67. Another extension saw the route extended
again so that it now operated between Lincoln, Newark and Mansfield and onward to Manchester and at this time Lincolnshire Road Car became involved so that it
became a joint service between East Midland, Hulleys and Road Car. I am not sure when any involvement from the Manchester end ceased, North Western was dismembered
in 1972 although it was certainly after this date as I remember vehicles with North Western Road Car (SELNEC Division) legal lettering operating the route into
Chesterfield although I believe that operation remained with the coaching division of North Western and that these vehicles may have been technically "on hire".
One must suppose that the coaching division of North Western (which later became part of National Travel (North West)) did not really want any involvement with
what was basically a "stage carriage" service. Also at this time the service became known as the "Lincman" and all three operators had route branded vehicles. A
later extension saw the route extended from Manchester to Liverpool but deregulation in 1986 saw this arrangement cease.
Hulleys then became the sole operator of the route which reverted to being a service between Chesterfield and Manchester and a 1993 timetable shows
two daily journeys (three on Fridays) at similar times to today. Interestingly, it is not shown as a tendered service! A 1995 timetable shows the through service
to Manchester operating only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with only a peak hour journey operating in each direction between Chesterfield and Tideswell,
with "positioning" journeys operating between Baslow and Tideswell.
In 1999, some "Rural Bus Grant" funding became available and the service became a tendered service operated by Ringwood Coaches (who were new to "stage carriage"
work although at this time they did operate the Chesterfield "Dial a Ride" service). A new bus was purchased, being a Mercedes Benz Vario with an unusual Mellor
bus body and the service reverted to being a seven days a week operation along the whole length of route. Thus it remained, the only other change being the transfer
of the contract from Ringwood Coaches to TM Travel a few years ago.
Sorry some of this is a bit vague. Please feel free to comment on, correct and add to what is above!
Neville Whitmore
25 July 2011
This is far from complete so your
COMMENTS
are invited.
. . . and more information has come:
Rob Collis wrote on 27 July 2011:
Just a few links to photos of the X67 "Lincman" from Flickr that will be of interest to anyone reading your article on the 67
Chesterfield - Manchester
Lincolnshire Roadcar Willowbrook 003 bodied Leyland Leopard 1451 XTL 467X
HERE
Hulleys 85, MCS404W
HERE
Tony Wilson wrote on 5 August 2011:
A small selection of historical images to complement your article on
route X67. The Hulleys decker run I recall was a
special Sunday operation organised towards the end of Hulleys reign on
the route before it passed over to Ringwood Coaches. Probably the one
and only time the route was double-deck, unless of course anyone knows
otherwise.
Neville Whitmore has added the captions to Tony's pictures:
1. August 1983 VWA 36Y a dual purpose Leyland National working from Manchester to Lincoln seen in Baslow.
2. August 1985 Alexander bodied Leyland Tiger A44 XHE on its way to Lincoln leaving the old Beetwell Street bus station.
3. August 1985 A Manchester bound Alexander bodied Leyland Tiger in National Coach livery but with East Midland
fleetnames seen in Tideswell (B49 DWE)
4. March 1987 Another Alexander bodied Leyland Tiger (A 39 XHE) having just arrived in Mansfield and
deposited its passengers.
5. October 1998 Tideswell Moor Possibly the only time a double decker has operated the route, Hulleys number 20 (SCH 117X) their
ex South Notts Fleetline seen on what is believed to be the last day of Hulley operation.
6. October 1998 Foolow The new Mellor bodied Mercedes Benz Vario purchased for the route by Ringwood Coaches with the
help of Rural Bus Grant money carrying route branding seen soon after entering service.
7. September 2003 near Litton The same vehicle seen after sale to TM Travel who took over the bus with the contract for the service.
Richard Lomas wrote to Neville on 5 August 2011:
Hello Neville
I enjoyed the account of your recent bus ride to Manchester with Oliver.
I have looked through my old time tables and can add a little to the 67 story.
I think we can be reasonably sure that it was a post war service starting between April 1947 and May 1959 and hopefully we will be able
to narrow that down with more research.
Best wishes
Richard Lomas
Oct 1942 EMMS. Service 67 is not mentioned although a service 58 Chesterfield – Buxton is listed as temporarily suspended.
April 1947 NWRCC. 67 or X67 not mentioned but 4 journeys per day on joint service 58 (1 Chesterfield based bus).
May 1959 EMMS. Service 67 running as described by Neville. Service 58 Sats/Suns only and not a joint service.
June 1960 EMMS. No changes.
May 1961 NW (Express services). Service X67 with timetable as above.
June 1963 EMMS. Service 67 and 58 as above.
June 1963 NWRCC. Service X67 as above (NW have another service 67). It seems likely that NW always used X67 and EMMS used 67 for some years.
It was not unusual for joint services to have different numbers (Trent 80 and EMMS 37 Nottingham - Retford being an example).
June 1965 NWRCC. Service X67 as above.
May 1966 NWRCC. Service X67 as above.
Sept 1968. NWRCC. Service X67 as above.
Sept 1971. NWRCC. Service X67 as above.
In March 1972 North Western was split up. Matlock and Buxton depots went to Trent. Stockport became SELNEC (Cheshire) and Manchester remained
with North Western and operated express services. In Feb 1974 North Western was renamed National Travel (North West). X67 is not shown in
June 1972 Trent timetable. It was most likely operated by North Western along with X1 Manchester – Derby, X2 to Nottingham etc.
I have no East Midland timetables for this period.
May 1982 Derbys. EMMS/MDT/LRCC joint service X67/X68 Lincoln – Mansfield – Chesterfield – Manchester.
April 1983 Derbys. EMMS/Hulleys joint service X67 Mansfield – Chesterfield – Manchester.
Oct 1986 Derbys. EMMS/Silver Service joint service X67 Mansfield – Chesterfield – Manchester – Liverpool.
April 1988 Derbys. As above.
May 1989 Derbys. EMMS/Hulleys joint service X67 Mansfield – Chesterfield – Manchester – Liverpool.
May 1996 Derbys. Hulleys (commercial) X67 Chesterfield – Tideswell – Manchester (FSSu).
Oct 1998 Derbys. Ringwood Coaches (tender) X67 Chesterfield – Manchester daily.
Oct 2004 Derbys. TM Travel (tender) X67 Chesterfield – Manchester daily.
Oct 2006 Derbys. TM Travel (tender) 67 Chesterfield – Manchester.
Mar 2008 Derbys. As above.
Anybody know anything more? Please make
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