Hi I am looking for a plan of the old Omnibus Station on North Road, Durham City for a model I am building; also details (destination number, type of bus and route) for the bus that serviced Browney Colliery.
George Kelley
27/09/11 - 06:50
After a full day racking her brain my wife may have come up with some answers re the Browney Colliery service.The destination number was 48 Browney Colliery and the route, with every stop, was:-Durham North Road Bus Station - County Hospital - Crossgate Peth - Nevilles Cross West - Nevilles Cross East - Stonebridge - Park Gates - Langley Moor - Humbles Corner - Meadowfield - Meadowfield Road Ends - Browney Post Office - Browney Colliery.The service then did the journey in reverse.
The only thing I am unsure of was the type and operator (but believed to be United Automobile Services - red/cream livery)
George Kelley with thanks to Margaret
05/12/11 - 08:51
Regarding the previous answer posted my 1962 records show the Browney Colliery route as United 50, but that may have changed at some time. I cannot help with a plan of the bus station, but the basic layout was designed for chaos. There was a single entry road and four (I think) exits, but each exit road had two bus stops and queuing pens alongside it and no room to overtake. One road was used for Express and Limited Stop services and would often be free, but the others were used by the joint United / Northern cross - city services. As a result it could easily be the case that all would be blocked by loading buses. At the rear of the bus station was a circulating area, surrounded by 'nose in' stands for United terminating services; it was not unknown for buses from this area to be unable to leave due to the exits being occupied, and as a result the circulating area would not have room for inward vehicles to arrive. No doubt it kept a few United and Northern inspectors in a job!
David Todd
27/04/12 - 08:52
Sorry George but I've only just chanced upon your query about the old bus station in Durham so I realise that you may now have all the information which you need to build your model but, if not, I could attempt to draw a diagram of the layout between 1960 (when I first started using it) and 1976 when it was demolished. I can also try to add a bit from memory to David's remarks.
When originally built it consisted only of the front stands which opened directly onto North Road; the "nose-in" stands to which David refers were a later addition although they were added well before my time. I've seen early photographs from the 30s which show a marked turning circle behind the main through stands but this later become a bus parking area.
From right to left looking in from North Road there was:
a) Stand 1: 57 (UAS/NGT/SDO) to Sunderland
b) through stand
c) Stand 2: 42, 46, 55, 56 (all UAS/NGT) to Newcastle
d) Stand 3: 56 (UAS/NGT) to Bishop Auckland, - 57 (UAS/NGT/SDO) to Bishop Auckland
Stand 4: 42 (UAS/NGT) to Crook, - 51 (UAS) to Tow Law
e) Stand 5: 14 (UAS) to Darlington, - 38 (UAS) to Middlesbrough, - 46 (UAS/NGT) to Darlington, - 55 (UAS/NGT) to M'bro
During the early 60s NGT introduced the X1 to Newcastle which used stand 2 and in 1968 this was extended to run between Newcastle and Middlesbrough, operated jointly by NGT and UAS and replacing 55 between Newcastle and Durham. 38 was later withdrawn and replaced in part by a diversion to the 55.
X3 operated by NGT was also introduced during the early 60s between Durham and Sunderland and this used stand 1.
To reach the "nose-in" stands which were arranged in a saw-tooth pattern, intending passengers had to select the correct stand from the area outside the offices (roughly behind stand 1) and walk along between the appropriate barriers to reach the end of the queue. These bays weren't only used by United although they were the major operator with services to Brandon, Hamilton Row/East Hedley Hope, Browney Colliery, New Brancepeth, Auton Stile/ Cornsay, Peterlee and West Hartlepool. NGT services 78 - later re-numbered 23 - to Framwellgate Repair Depot & Brasside, 127 to Chopwell via Stanley and 37 - later 137 - to Easington Village via Murton (later altered to operate to Seaham Harbour via Murton) all used the back stands throughout that period. They were later joined by the 84 (NGT/SDO) on Saturdays only to Hetton Downs and by 112 to Consett and Delves Lane via Leadgate and 113 to Consett via Delves Lane. The Consett services moved into the bus station from the Waterside Bus Stand and later metamorphosed into service 134 to Castleside via Consett. I have a feeling that NGT Races buses to the Dogs (Gosforth & Brough Park Stadia) also used these stands but I may be mistaken there.
As David has said, it could get congested at peak times particularly if the through stand was blocked effectively trapping any services from the rear stands within the bus station, which left arriving services with nowhere to go after dropping their passengers off, which left buses queuing on North Road waiting to get in, which left....well you get the picture! Although the through stand was intended to be left clear it was sometimes used by Long Distance Services if stand 1 was occupied and this, as David points out, could have a knock-on effect. On Summer Saturdays a number of Long Distance Services (eg Blackpool & Southport) loaded and dropped of at the stop on Sutton Street outside the County Hospital in stead of the bus station. This reduced congestion in the bus station bus was inconvenient for anyone using a local service into Durham to connect with these services: they were faced with a long walk with heavy cases! It should also be mentioned that Durham District Services (in spite of being a United subsidiary) didn't use the bus station and neither did any of the independent companies (G&B, TMS, Diamond, Gypsy Queen, Armstrongs) running into the city.
Having said all this, it's worth pointing out that most of the time the arrangements worked pretty well and Durham was no more congested than many other bus stations of the time - the old United bus station in Middlesbrough and all three in Newcastle (Worswick Street, Haymarket and, especially, Marlborough Crescent)all spring to mind in the North East. I would go so far as to argue that it was a lot better than the existing bus station in Durham which is short of bus parking bays (especially at the end of the peaks) and in which buses often have to leave from the wrong stand when their allocated stand is occupied. The problem is exacerbated by the design of the current structure which blocks intending passengers' view of the destination screens of buses once they are on their stands; all that can be seen as one enters the bus station is a row of windscreens and headlights! "The more things change the more they stay the same" as someone once said!
Alan Hall
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