Barnsley Buses

Roger Glister, Stephen Farnsworth

• Publisher: Wharncliffe Books
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781871647914
• eBook ISBN:
  9781473835245
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

In Barnsley Buses we have a superb combination of talents. Stephen Farnsworth is not simply an enthusiast where Barnsley Buses are concerned, he is also a singularly competent photographer. Put these talents together and combine them with many years spent working for Yorkshire Traction and the potential for a totally unique publication of Barnsley Buses, rescue vehicles and the facilities required to run and maintain this vital service, is there. Steve also holds a unique collection of bus memorabilia, much of which is also illustrated in the book. Roger Glister, is a specialist transport historian, who has concentrated on the development of public transport in Yorkshire for many years. Roger's research and writing skills deftly bring to life the story of post war bus transport in the Barnsley area. When combined with the photographs and memorabilia supplied by Steve Farnsworth, Roger's historical framework and descriptive prose brings to life this fascinating account of post war public transport in Barnsley.

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CONTENTS

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Introduction

About the Authors

The Yorkshire Traction Bus Company

Chapter 1 - Makes and Types of Vehicles Used by Yorkshire Traction

Chapter 2 - Various Depots and Facilities

Chapter 3 - Coaches and Excursions

Chapter 4 - Advertising and Flamboyant Colour Schemes

Chapter 5 - Recovery and Maintenance Vehicles

Chapter 6 - The Development of Barnsley Bus Station

Index

INTRODUCTION

It was with considerable pleasure that I accepted the commission to compile this book from the wonderful collection of photographs that Stephen Farnsworth had in his possession. He has spent a large part of his life putting together this detailed pictorial history of the Yorkshire Traction Company that has fascinated him since childhood.

I, too., have known this company all my life and travelled many thousands of miles on their buses. Being brought up in Sprotborough, it was the Yorkshire Traction that we used to go to Doncaster on a regular basis. I remember very well walking along Station Road and passing the old Grand Theatre on my way to catch a number 49 bus back home. In the early 1950s, this theatre was almost a house of ill repute – their variety shows included young ladies déshabille and I was always rushed past the display boards lest my young mind be corrupted.

Upon attending school in Mexborough, the school buses were supplied by Yorkshire Traction and I can recall the excitement when the first ‘flat fronter’ was used on the school run. If one was kept in after class and missed the school bus, the walk to the West Street terminus in ‘down-town’ Mexborough to catch a service bus was quite an adventure for a twelve-year-old lad on a dark winter‘s evening.

Whereas I only knew two bus routes intimately, Stephen knew them all. Besides travelling all the local runs from Barnsley as, at first, a conductor and then as a driver, at weekends he would take charter trips to Blackpool or Scarborough. In fact he could not get enough of the Yorkshire Traction Company. His dedication is ably demonstrated through this extensive collection which he now shares with us all.

Roger Glister, March 2001.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Stephen Eric Farnsworth was born in January 1959 and brought up in his parents’ home in Barnsley.

The son of a former development mining engineer he developed an interest in the Yorkshire Traction Bus Company at an early age and started amassing his extensive collection of photographs.

Educated at the Oaks Secondary Modern School in Kendray, Stephen joined Downings Steel as an apprentice plater welder after leaving school in 1975. He realised a long held ambition by going to work as a conductor with Yorkshire Traction in October 1976. Following a break with the company in 1976. Stephen returned as a trainee driver in September 1983. In 1987 he formed his own car audio and security firm and is presently involved in the leisure industry.

During his career at Yorkshire Traction, Stephen collected many hundreds of photographs of all the fleet vehicles together with all property owned by the company. He also recorded the changing face of Barnsley town centre and photographed much ecclesiastical architecture around the Barnsley area.

Roger Glister was born and bred in Sprotborough, a village to the east of Doncaster, where his early memories of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal provided a basis for his lifelong interest in historic transport.

Educated at Mexborough Grammar School and Doncaster College of Technology, Roger has written extensively on the history of all types of transport with an emphasis on Inland Waterways. A long standing member of the Vintage Sports Car Club, Roger campaigns enthusiastically in his 1930 MG.

He is a professional engineer and designs heating systems for churches in the York and Leeds & Ripon Diocese.

The Yorkshire Traction Bus Company

November 1902 heralded the birth of mechanical public transport in Barnsley when the first tramcar service ran on the fledgling network. The enterprise was operated by the ‘Barnsley and District Electric Traction Company’ which, in turn, was a subsidiary of the ‘British Electric Traction Company’ (B.E.T.). This company, set up in 1895, promoted new tramway schemes throughout the land which were subsequently sold on to a locally promoted company; in this case the ‘Barnsley and District Electric Traction Company’.

Ten tramcars were operated in the first instance from the new depot in Sheffield Road to five termini at Hoyland Common, Smithies, Locke Park, Ardsley and Dodworth Road. The inaugural runs were greeted with much acclaim and the vehicles were kept very busy throughout the day. The last tram to be put into service was purchased from the Brush Company in 1912 and brought the total of vehicles to fourteen.

With the rapid development of the motorbus and its freedom of travel, not encumbered by tracks or overhead power supply, the days of expansion of the tramway network in Barnsley were numbered. Buses had been running on routes mainly unsuitable for tramcars since 1908, but on 31 August 1930, all the ageing tramcars were replaced by Leyland Titan double deck buses.

It was in January 1929, following an Extraordinary General Meeting on the 12 November 1928, when a resolution was brought into force to change the name of the Company to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright Page
• Contents