A circular bus route can best be described as a route which commences and terminates at the same point, usually a town or city centre, but travels to a distant point returning by a differing route. I n some cases this occurs by deliberate planning, but it can come about by the extension of two separate routes to a common terminal point, then running the two routes as a single route. It is of this latter type that Kingston upon Hull Corporation is best known, although there were other types operated also.
The Corporation’s first circular was operated, not by bus, but by the tramways. Tram routes were being developed at the start of the 20th century, along both Beverley Road and Spring Bank/Prince’s Avenue. The tram depot for the northern routes was situated on Cottingham Road, at Haworth Street, which was situated between Beverley Road and the northern end of Newland Avenue. The tracks from both of these tram routes were extended onto Cottingham Road to give access to the depot, and westwards along that road also. July of 1919 saw the commencement of two services along Cottingham Road which terminated at Newland Park. They carried route letters BC and SC, travelling via Beverley Road and Newland Avenue respectively. At some undetermined time during that year a circular service was inaugurated via the two routes; the carried route letters BS or SB depending on the direction of travel, the letters were unchanged throughout the journey, unlike the later bus circulars. It would appear that the services were a useful means of providing peak hour short workings and avoided the need for reversal of cars at each end of the journeys. The BS/SB services continued until 1923, when they were discontinued, and circulars disappeared from the streets of Kingston upon Hull for a further twelve years.
Given the flexibility of the motorbus, as compared to the trams, it is surprising that circular services had not featured earlier, but it was not until the Christmas/New year of 1935/6, that a circular bus service appeared. It was given the route number 2, in the west Hull series, it was a deliberate circular that commenced and terminated at the Coach Station. The route was via Anlaby Road, Argyle Street, Derringham Street and Spring Bank. The exact purpose is not known for certain and it operated for only six weeks across the Christmas and New Year period of 1935/6 and never re-appeared, so it must be judged as being an unsuccessful experiment. It operated via the shopping districts of Ferensway and Spring Bank, as well as passing the Western General Hospital (much later becoming the Hull Royal Infirmary), so it could have been targeted for hospital visitors over the festive period. Following the demise of the service 2, circulars disappeared again, this time for thirty years!
In the interval, however, there was a proposal in 1938 to run a circular route between Beverley Road and Newland Avenue trolleybus services, as like the trams previously, the trolleybus depot was situated in Cottingham Road (actually the tram depot was converted for trolleybuses in 1937). This Circular was identical to the tram BS/SB described earlier. The closeness of the service actually becoming reality can be judged from the fact that the original trolleybus blinds for 61 to 63 routes actually had the circular listed on them from the outset of trolleybus services. Route numbers were to have been 62B for the route via Newland Avenue and 62C via Beverley Road. It would appear the blinds were altered at the halfway point. There is no documentary evidence that these services were actually operated, but the route was to appear, somewhat extended, thirty years later on.
Plans for circulars which were to be formed from two separate services were made in 1966. Two council estates were chosen for these, namely, Greatfield in east Hull and Orchard Park in north Hull. In Greatfield services 41 and 48 were amended to meet each other in Annandale Road. The 48 still served the old (southern) part of Bilton Grange, but now turned southwards to meet the new roads in Greatfield. Route numbers were changed at the Annandale Road timing point. One of the main advantages of the circulars was that passengers could now travel between any two points on the circular route, instead of changing buses at the terminus. Due to the fact that the circulars carried the same route numbers as non-circulars, this was a cause of some confusion to passengers, as the only clue was the word ‘CIRCULAR’ in the ‘VIA’ screen. In September, 1968 the suffix letter ‘C’ was used to distinguish circular routes, the Greatfield circular being now 41C and 48C. From this point on the letter ‘C’ was used exclusively to denote circulars. The Orchard Park circular has been discussed previously, sufficient to say that the original services were 13 which ran via Chanterlands Avenue, Cottingham Road and Hall Road, and the 17 which ran via Beverley Road, Greenwood Avenue and Ellerburn Avenue north. Prior to the development of Orchard Park, Hall Road ended at Greenwood Avenue and was linked to Beverley Road by Orchard Park Road. The new road layout of Orchard Park, saw Hall road extended eastward in an arc to Orchard Park Road, somewhat west of Barmston Drain, the eastward extension of Orchard Park Road was renamed Hall Road, which now linked the west of Cottingham Road to Beverley High Road. The 13 was extended along the new section of Hall Road to a timing Point at Milldane. The 17 was extended along Orchard Park Road eastwards, which now joined Hall Road and travelled westward to the timing point. As stated earlier, the 13 was replaced by the 15 in September, 1968. As far as Orchard Park estate was concerned there was no difference to the route travelled. The difference lay in the route between Chanterlands Avenue and Hall Road as the 15 travelled via Bricknell Avenue and Fairfax Avenue, instead of Cottingham Road. When the new routes commenced they were numbered 15C and 17C. In March 1981 the Greatfield circular 41C was renumbered 43C along with the rest of the 41 group, which became the 43 group.
Meanwhile back in 1968, a new circular route was created in February. These two services served Anlaby and Hessle Roads, with a timing point at Rokeby Park estate. The new circulars were numbered 63C and 73C and were formed from the 66 and 73 routes; the 73C also served the Boothferry Estate. Also at this time the two roads were also connected by another circular which ran via Gipsyville, the two routes being 67C and 77C; both constituents terminated at Norton Grove and the circular timing point was situated at this point also. The circular was discontinued in September, 1969 and the routes reverted back to their previous status.
Also in September, 1968 the fifth circular of this type commenced, this linked the northern part of Bilton Grange with Holderness Road and the Ings estate, using services 55 and 58. The 55 was extended from the northern end of Bellfield Avenue along Saltshouse Road to the terminus of the 58 at Diadem Grove, which became the timing point. The circular journeys were numbers 55C and 58C.
A month later on, a new circular commenced, although new was a relative term, as this was the extended version of the tram circular, and the abortive trolleybus proposal. Instead of meeting at Cottingham Road, as the trams did, both routes were extended to meet in Endike Lane. Routes 18 and 20 were used, the latter being extended along Cottingham Road and Cranbrook Avenue on to Endike Lane, the main service 20 being extended at the same time. Both services received the ‘C’ suffix. Like the 67C/77C, it did not last long and was withdrawn at the same time. This now left the four major circulars in operation and indeed they continued up to and beyond de-regulation.
A new type of circular commenced operation in that month, which was based on existing routes, services 20 and 34, both of which were linked between Bransholme and Beverley Road, by a route which was identical to the outer part of route 18. All three services continued normal operations, with the circular being operated as a separate entity, under route number 30. Only three service in each direction on Saturdays only ran the complete circular, as weekday services terminated at Littondale or Midmere Avenue. The service ceased to be listed after October, `1973. The following January, however, Bransholme gained a shoppers service e in the form of the 99, which linked the Bransholme District Centre with various parts of the estate. It operated in a clockwise direction only. Due to the comparatively low car ownership in the area, combined with the low fares charged the service was well patronised and remained in operation until the Bransholme area revisions of January, 1980. Encouraged by the success of the 99, the City Transport department, in March, 1976, commenced a similar service in Hull city centre. Although a flat fare of 2p was charged, patronage remained quite low. Initially the service, numbered 97, covered the main shopping areas of the city centre, but in an attempt to boost passenger numbers, in July, the route was extended to include the old town area also. The service operated in a figure of 8 pattern. It ran thus until September when due to low usage the route was withdrawn. Apart from the Christmas/New Year periods of 1976/7 and 1977/8, it then ceased operation completely, being replaced by free travel within the city centre on normal routes.
The next major circular service to appear was introduced in September, 1977. This was marketed as the ‘Outer City Circular’, and was based, not as may have been expected the 10 group, which had run since the 1950’s between Gipsyville and Marfleet, but o the north Hull to Boothferry Park 71 group. The route was extended from Greenwood Avenue via Sutton Road, Bransholme, Sutton, Longhill, Bilton Grange, Greatfield, East Hull estate, Marfleet and Hedon Road back to the city centre. It had previously been operated as far as Marfleet under the route number 71X, but the full circular was given route number 71C, which it carried in both directions of travel. It remained operational until the service re-organisation in June, 1980.
The 1960’s saw the clearance of slum housing in the area between Bean Street and the City centre, which paved the way for new inner-city development, based on Osborne Street, Great Thornton Street and Bean Street. It was almost cut off from the main roads to the north and south, these being Anlaby Road and Hessle Road respectively. The only access from Anlaby Road was by Great Thornton Street, or from Hessle Road via Bean Street, thus it was a fairly long walk either way for residents to catch a bus into the centre. Dissatisfied with the lack of a bus service, the residents petitioned the Council for the provision of a bus service to and from Thornton estate. In May, 1978 the City Transport responded with a circular service numbered 66, which was intended to provide access to the main shopping areas of Anlaby and Hessle Roads, as well as the city centre. He circular was formed by the route outside Thornton estate as the route within the estate was virtually identical in both directions. Having got their bus service, it was never highly patronised, and the council made moved to withdraw the service. This was met with more petitions for the council to retain the service. It was duly reprieved and continued to operate until January, 1980. In addition to the problems with the Thornton estate, the new Brunswick estate, off Beverley Road, was similarly badly served, initially by route 17 diversions and route 21. From January, 1980, both Brunswick and Thornton estates were served by a new route, numbered 25C/26C, which was based on the Fish dock to Sculcoates service. It was marketed as the ‘Inner City Circle’ and was the 26 route extended at both ends. The anti-clockwise journey was numbered 25C, whilst in the opposite direction it was numbered 26C. A year later the route in the city centre was revised to include the old town area.
The Bransholme service revisions of June 1980, saw the demise of the 71C, which was now replaced by the 10 and 10A services, the difference being that the 10A served the Bransholme Centre, whilst the 10 ran direct via Sutton Road. The following January the routes were reversed, with the 10 now serving the Centre, minor diversions later saw services running via Anlaby Road and Rawling Way, returning via South Docks Road, Myton Bridge and Market Place.
The Inner circle was discontinued in May, 1981, reverting back to the normal service. In order to maintain bus travel in Brunswick and Thornton, two small circulars commenced operation. They were numbered 65 (Brunswick) and 66 (Thornton). The bus operated each service in turn on a figure of 8 basis.
September saw the introduction of the final ‘traditional’ circular formed from two previously unconnected routes. It was based on the 57A to Spring Cottage, which was now extended to the Bransholme Centre, by Robson Way, and it was now renumbered to 34C. The link was made with service 33, which reached the Centre by the way of Garden Village, the circular being numbered 33C.
A small circular service serving the old town, commenced operation in April 1984. This was on the same licence as the 67 group, and was numbered 67X. The service was marketed as the ‘Heritage Service’. In the following June it was renumbered 50 The route covered the museums and historical buildings situated in the old town area, and was aimed at visitors to the city, as a convenient means of gaining access to the various attractions. It was discontinued in July, 1985, when the route was covered by a variant of the new ‘Inner City Circular’ numbered 50/51. These were an enlarged version of the earlier 25C/26C circulars, it was now routed via Hawthorn Avenue and Anlaby Road, previously part of the 10. This latter service was revised to include Orchard Park and Ings estate, and all journeys operated via the Bransholme Centre and Myton Bridge. A variant of the 10 route, in the clockwise direction only, via the Humber bank (English Street, Jackson Street and Goulton Street). This service covered a single journey only and was numbered 11.
With the introduction of the pre-deregulation network in July, 1987, all but one of the circulars was continued, albeit with different route numbers or amended routes. The 33C/34C circular was discontinued, but the remainder which continued were now numbered as follows: 73C and 43C were renumbered 1 and joined at the city, 63C and 48C renumbered 2, likewise joined at the city centre, the two services changed numbers at Tilbury Road or Annandale Road. The Orchard Park circular 15C/17C were renumbered 3 and 4 (clockwise and anti clockwise respectively), in a similar manner the 55C/58C were renumbered 13 and 14. The outer circle 10/11 became 23 and 24 (off-peak) or 25 and 26 (peak hours). The inner circle was rerouted and numbered from 50/51 to 21 and 22. Of all the inner and outer circulars the odd numbers ran clockwise, this then was the final situation prior to de-regulation in October, 1986.
Keith Easton
01/2012
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