Bus, Trolleybus and Tram Routes of Kingston upon Hull Corporation
Predecessors and Successors. 1899 to 1986

Chapter Eight

Spring Bank West

Trams: SW, SWC
Trolleybuses: 61, 61A
Road Service Licence No’s: BH101/2, /3, /4, /11, /12, /23, /24, /47, /48, /49, /54, /83, /84, /95,
/121, /124

Municipal public transport arrived along Spring Bank West when a branch of the Prince’s Avenue tramway service ‘S’ was extended from Botanic Gardens Station to the railway crossing at Walton Street on Spring Bank West. To distinguish it from the Prince’s Avenue service it was given route letters ‘SW’. The service was brought into operation in October 1913. A Corporation motorbus service along Spring Bank West was commenced ten years later in October 1923. This was in the form of a night service after the trams had stopped running; it was extended beyond the tram terminus and continued along Chanterlands Avenue to the Cottingham Road junction. Under the provisions of the 1930 Road Traffic Act this was to be number 20 and granted on Licence number BH101/4. In the interval, however, the tramway tracks were also extended to run along Chanterlands Avenue and by October 1924, the terminus was situated at the Park Avenue junction. Trams on the extension were lettered ‘SWC’ whilst a spur was retained at Walton Street for the ‘SW’ service. During 1925 the terminus was extended to the Bricknell Avenue junction and the Park Avenue trams now displayed ‘SW’ even though the two termini were only a short distance apart. By January 1926 the SWC had been further extended along the full length of Chanterlands Avenue and westwards along Cottingham Road to a new terminus outside the Goodfellowship Inn. This in the event proved to be the final extension to the tramway system in Hull. The terminus was later moved back to the Cottingham Road junction.

Motorbus services were commenced in 1930 in the form of a service to the Derringham Bank estate, the terminus was situated at the commencement of Willerby Road, this was joined by a night service on the same route, both carrying the route number 11. Road Service Licence numbers BH101/11 and /12 were granted for the night service and day service respectively. They commenced running in June 1930. In July, night and Sunday morning services were commenced which covered the ‘SWC’ tram route but extended along Hall Road, Greenwood Avenue and York Road using route number 15, licences were BH101/23(?) and /24(?) respectively.

Somewhat confusingly, there were also another two services using the route number 15, but running only to the end of Cottingham Road. Licence numbers were BH101/2 and /3. Very little is known of the purpose or routes taken by these two services.

During 1933, the western terminus of the two 11 services was extended westwards along Willerby Road to the Manor Road junction. These services were in competition to the service provided to Willerby by East Yorkshire, as of course were the trams and from this came the coordination agreement between the Corporation and East Yorkshire which eliminated wasteful competition and utilised the tramways of the Corporation and buses of both operators to the best effect. This also gave East Yorkshire a share of revenue from the inner areas, where their buses did not carry many passengers. The agreement commenced on the 29th July 1934 and ran with modifications until 1981.

As far as Spring Bank West services were concerned it put an end to the tramways west of Prince’s Avenue, thus some of the Corporation’s newest and best tracks were abandoned and the ‘SW’ and ‘SWC’ services ceased operation. Motorbus services 12, 15 and 20 were introduced by the Corporation to replace the trams and these were co-ordinated with East Yorkshire’s services which operated along the routes. Four Road Service Licences were granted to the Corporation in order that they may operate the services. BH101/47 was granted for route 12 terminating at Goddard Avenue, replacing the SW trams; BH101/48 terminating at Chanterlands Avenue replacing the SWC trams and BH101/49 for a Sunday morning service on the same route, route number 20 was used for both. The final licence was BH101/54 which covered route 15 which ran via the same route as the 15 on BH101/23 and /24. The 15 to Hall Road were both discontinued at this point and their licences BH101/2 and /3 were surrendered.

As stated earlier, after the abortive attempt to operate trolleybuses along Preston Road, Parliament granted the Corporation powers in 1936 to operate trolleybuses. The first route to be tackled was the Chanterlands Avenue route 12 and 20. On the 23rd July 1937 trolleybuses made their appearance as routes 61 (Chanterlands Avenue North) and 61A (Goddard Avenue) commenced. The motorbus services 12 (BH101/47) and 20 (BH101/4 /48 and /49) were discontinued. The licence granted to replace trams by motorbuses in an emergency was now extended to include trolleybuses also. The motorbuses displaced by the trolleybuses were transferred to operate the Newland Avenue tram route pending conversion of the route to trolleybus operation.

Service number 11A was given to a variant of the Willerby Road service 11, but this service ran along Wold Road at its western end instead of Willerby Road, although it was otherwise identical. Road Service Licence BH101/84 was granted and operations commenced in February 1938. The previous licence BH101/83 was also a Spring Bank West route, but operation was confined to Hull Fair week in October 1938. It ran between Newlands Avenue and Walton Street via Queens Road, Prince’s Avenue and Spring Bank West. Route number 23 was used in the inter-district series.

Services in operation at the outbreak of the Second World War were as follows:-

The night and Sunday morning services were early casualties of the war and the Hull Fair service was not operated again, and all four licences were subsequently surrendered. Wartime was not without developments as the 11A was extended the full length of Wold Road to the Wymersley Road junction in 1940. In February 1941, in order to improve legibility of the route blinds the 11A was renumbered 12, whilst the following year saw the trolleybuses given new white on black blinds showing route numbers only, as a consequence 61A became 65.

During 1947, the outer terminus of the 11 was extended from the Manor Road junction to the Wymersley Road junction, the latter road was now served by the 12 at the northern end and the 11 at the southern end, although neither service ran along the road itself as yet.

Granted to the Corporation on a joint licence with East Yorkshire during 1950 was a school service between Cottingham and West Ella serving the Tranby Croft School there, the Corporation held Licence BH101/95 in respect of the service. There were no new services along the Spring Bank West corridor from 1950 until 1954, when two new services commenced. Route number 25 was given to an untimed “extra journey” on BH101/54 which ran the 15 route but terminated short at Inglemire Lane. The second was also an “extra journey” this time on Licence BH101/12 and was given route number 13, it was in fact identical to the original 11, and terminated at Derringham Bank, it was shown in timetable up to April 1961, but was not shown after that issue. The route number was re-used and was shown in the timetable for April 1962, but was a short working of the 15 on licence BH101/54. The terminus was situated at the Hall Road/Endike Lane junction.

July of 1962 saw the replacement of the Chanterlands Avenue trolleybus services 61 and 65 being replaced by two services which were added to Licence BH101/54, namely the 23, which was now extended along Cottingham Road to Ferens Avenue, replacing the 61 and service 24, which was a direct replacement of the 65. In addition, the 25 “extra journey” was extended from Inglemire Lane to Fairfax Avenue.

When East Yorkshire Motor Services started to use route numbers publicly in September 1963, the Tranby Croft School service became 51S and the Corporation services 11 and 12 were renumbered 81 and 82 to remove duplicated numbers. Things remained unaltered from 1963 until the appearance of the new timetable in April 1965, when Licence BH101/54 gave two alterations. The first was the removal of the “extra journey” status of the Fairfax Avenue service 25, while the 13 was extended to Orchard Park Road West from Hall Road. The following September a school service was commenced along the 81 route the city centre from Ainthorpe Grove. It was numbered 881 and was also on Road Service Licence BH101/12.

Co-incident with the introduction of the Greatfield circular, already described, another circular was introduced to serve Orchard Park estate. For the western part of the circular, the service 13 was used and linked to this was the Beverley Road service 17. To facilitate this, the 13 was transferred from BH101/54 to the Beverley Road Licence BH101/76. As the 13 was a joint route with East Yorkshire, this now brought East Yorkshire buses on a circular service. The circular commenced operation in October 1966. Another joint service commenced also at this point and was route number 51. It terminated at the Pickering Rod junction with Hessle High Road, and ran from the Coach Station via Anlaby Road, Anlaby and Willerby. The service number was in East Yorkshire’s number series and it is doubtful if the Corporation ever operated on it at all. The terminus was later altered to Calvert Lane, Licence number BH101/121 was granted to the Corporation for the service.

The timetable dated April 1967 showed a number of amendments to existing licences. Licence BH101/12 had the 881 renumbered 81 and a new Guildhall journey to Wymersley Road commenced operating as 81D. On Licence BH101/51 the 15 was extended through Orchard Park estate to terminate at Ellerburn Avenue and the Fairfax Avenue short working, 25, was discontinued and the trolleybus replacement service 23 was transferred to a new Licence BH101/124. A new service also commenced on this latter Licence, this being service 25, between Spring Bank West/Albert Avenue and Somerden Road, the route being via Chanterlands Avenue, Cottingham Road, Stoneferry, Garden Village, Holderness Road, Southcoates Lane and Marfleet.

The next edition showed the commencement of a special service on BH101/12 which was a short working of the 81 as far as Walton Street. As far as can be ascertained it only operated during Hull Fair weeks, as it was listed as an “extra journey” with route number 80. Also at this time the joint 51 service on BH101/121 was amended as stated above terminating at the junction of Calvert Lane and Willerby Road adjacent to the “Savemore” stores. These changes were all given in the October 1967 timetable.

June 1968 saw another edition released and relevant alterations were the 80 on BH101/12 now became a timed service, not just for the fair, and the same licence saw another short working in the form of the 81B, which terminated at the Manor Road former terminus. BH101/84 acquired a service from Wymersley Road to the Guildhall with route number 82D. Finally, on BH101/124 there were three variants of the 25 service added: 25A Clough Road to Somerden Road, 25B Chamberlain Road to Somerden Road and 25F Chanterlands Avenue north to Marfleet Lane.

Joint operation of the Orchard Park circular services ceased from October 1968 when the western half of the circular was altered from the joint 13 to the Corporation’s 15 service. The results were the transfer of the original 15 service to BH101/76 as the 15A and 15C/17C was the new circular service whilst 15B covered a short working to Hall Road. Full details of the alterations are given in the chapter covering Beverley Road services. The 13 was transferred from BH101/76 to BH101/54 from where it had originally come. Two variants of the 13 were commenced, namely the 13A which covered services to or from the Coach Station, other services used the stands outside the ABC cinema on Ferensway, and 13D which ran to or from the Guildhall. The outer terminus for all three services was now situated at the junction of Greenwood Avenue and Ellerburn Avenue South. In March, 1969, the trolleybus replacement 23 returned to BH101/54 from BH101/124, which also lost the 25A and 25B short workings, leaving only the 25 and 25F on the licence. On Licence BH101/12 the 81D became a timed service from its original “extra journey” status.

In the timetable dated June 1969, the Walton Street service 80 was not shown but, it re-appeared in the one for the following September. Also deleted from the June issue was the joint 51 service on BH101/121. It is believed that the Corporation surrendered its licence, leaving East Yorkshire’s licence BE3/12, where it was now shown a circular via Anlaby and Willerby. In September, in addition to the 80 mentioned above licence BH101/54 lost the Ferens Avenue service 23 which had been transferred from BH101/124 six months before, the route was finally discontinued. The biggest changes at this time were on Licence BH101/124, where the 25F was discontinued but three services were transferred to it from the mammoth BH101/105. There were 24 Gipsyville-Sutton Village, 24A Gipsyville-Ferens Avenue, and 24B Gipsyville-St Mary’s High School in Cranbrook Avenue. The 24 group travelled via Askew Avenue, Pickering Road, Anlaby Road, Calvert Lane, Spring Bank West, Chanterlands Avenue, Cottingham Road, Clough Road, Ferry Lane and Leads Road. To these three services two new ones were added 24D Gipsyville-Stoneferry and 24S Ferens Avenue-Kingston High School. Six months later in March, 1970, the 24 and 24D were re-routed between Chanterlands Avenue and Cottingham Road to run via the 26 route of Hardwick Street, Belvoir Street, Prince’s Avenue, Queens Road and Newland Avenue.

To differentiate between the two routes the remaining 24A, 24B and 24S were renumbered 23, 23A and 23S respectively. A new service by the new route was added in the form of 24B which ran between Gipsyville and Sutton Road/Leads Road. The Stoneferry service 24D was withdrawn by September and left the licence with the following services 23, 23A, 23S, 24, 24B and 25.

A new school service commenced in October 1971 on Licence BH101/84 which commenced from Setting Road off Priory Road and ran to the Sydney Smith High School in Anlaby, running via Hotham Road, Wold Road, Wymersley Road and Willerby Road. It took the service number 82S. Two services which ceased were the 81B on BH101/12 and 13D on BH101/54.

Another short working of the 13 route was shown in the timetable for September 1972. Given the route number 12 it terminated at Chanterlands Avenue North, and was, of course, on licence BH101/54. BH101/84 saw the extension of both the 82 on 82D along Wymersley Road to the Willerby Road junction, around the corner from the 81 terminus and at the same time the 82S was extended to commence from Coventry Road. Changes were also made to Licence BH101/124, where the 23, former 24A, service to Ferens Avenue was withdrawn and the 25 termini were altered from Spring Bank West to Chanterlands Avenue North and Somerden Road to Marfleet Avenue. The following September, 1973, however, saw the service transferred to BH101/125 and renumbered 28A and the 24B was discontinued.

Sydney Smith High School received another service, the 91, which commenced from the Wold Road/County Road junction, and the original 82S was renumbered 92S, both services were on the same licence. These changes were shown in the timetable for May 1974. At some time during 1974, East Yorkshire altered the Hull terminus of the 51S service to Tranby Croft from Cottingham to the Haworth Arms on Cottingham Road, this was probably in September for the new school year, the Corporation held this service on Licence BH101/95, which was joint with East Yorkshire.

There were few changes to Spring Bank West services during 1975 but in May the 92S was discontinued and on BH101/124 the 24 was extended to Sutton Fields Industrial Estate which was being developed north of Stoneferry. In September BH101/12 lost the 81D Guildhall journey. In 1976 the Ferens Avenue to Kingston High School service was discontinued in July at the end of the school year, while the following September saw the 51S revert back to Cottingham Green.

In May 1977 the 24 reverted back from Sutton Fields to Leads Road. In time for Hull Fair, in 1978 the 80 was renumbered 81F which signified both its origin and purpose, the ‘F’ having been used for Hull Fair services for some time on other routes. The final change to be recorded in the 70’s was the commencement of service 24A on BH101/124 between Gipsyville and Sutton Fields; this was identical to the 24 between 1975 and 1977.

At the rationalisation of services in June 1980 licences BH101/12 and BH101/84 were both given service numbers in the 3 group, East Yorkshire’s 82 and 82D (BH101/84) became 3 and 3D and the Council’s 81, 81 (Ainthorpe Grove) and 81F became 3A, 3 and 3F respectively, by March 1981, the Ainthorpe Grove service has become 3S. Also in June the 13 was transferred to commence from the Coach Station instead of Ferensway and as a consequence the 13A became surplus. In March 1981, when the 3S acquired its suffix, the 3F was discontinued and on BH101/12 a journey from Wymersley Road to the Guildhall commenced with the number 3D, this made two 3D’s but as they both ran inwards only there was no confusion as to which route they took.

After the abortive negotiations between Hull City Council and East Yorkshire, over the terms for use of the Coach Station, in June 1981 East Yorkshire’s services were barred from the Coach Station and had to use stands in Short Street, Lombard Street and Ferensway. The 3 (BH101/84) group moved to the stand in Ferensway formerly used by the 13, whilst the latter group was moved into Lombard Street. By August a compromise was reached which allowed the four services back into the Coach Station, albeit at the uncovered stand to the north of the Coach Station. Prior to this in May 1981 BH101/84 saw the demise of the 91 school service and BH101/124 saw the renumbering of its three remaining services 24, 24A and 23 to 69, 69A and 99 respectively. In June the 51S Tranby Croft service on BH101/95 was withdrawn. At the end of 1981 there were only ten services on the licences under consideration still in operation, these being 3A, 3S, 3D on BH101/12; 13 on BH101/54 - joint, 3; 3D on BH101/84 joint and 69, 69A and 99 on BH101/124. These all continued up until July 1985; BH101/124 was then surrendered as the 69 and 69A were withdrawn and the 99 was transferred to Licence BH101/105 as service 115. The joint routes 3 and 13 were transferred wholly to East Yorkshire, but whilst Licence BH101/154 was surrendered BH101/84 was not as KHCT still operated the 3D Guildhall journey. A year later as the pre-deregulation services were introduced, the three routes on BH101/12 were discontinued and the licence surrendered, whilst the £D on BH101/84 became ‘Earlybird service 52’ and continued until 25th October 1986.

Keith Easton
01/2012

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