Crosville Motor Services
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Crosville Motor Services was a bus operator based in the north-west of England and north and mid-Wales.


History

On 27 October 1906, Crosville Motor Company was formed in
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Georges de Ville, with the intention of building motor cars. The company name was a
portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.
on the names of the founders. In 1909, Crosville commenced its first bus service, between Chester and
Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...
. By 1929 Crosville had consolidated an operating area covering the Wirral and parts of
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
and
Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...
. The Railways (Road Transport) Act, 1928 gave the four railway companies the opportunity to provide bus services. But rather than run in competition they bought into or purchased outright existing bus companies. In February 1929, the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...
made an offer of £400,000 to purchase Crosville, which was effected in November 1929. The new LMS (Crosville) company then in the next few months purchased Holyhead Motors, and UNU Motor Services of
Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...
. Shortly afterwards, the four railway companies reached an agreement with the
Tilling Group The Tilling Group was one of two Conglomerate (company), conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other ...
and British Automobile Traction (T&BAT) to complete a cross-holding deal, whereby each organisation held a 50% share in a series of jointly-held and consolidated regional bus companies. LMS (Crosville) was therefore merged with T&BAT's Royal Blue of
Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community â ...
, and renamed Crosville Motor Services on 15 May 1930, after only nine months of outright LMS ownership. In the next few months the company consolidated its majority share of the
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
coastal services, buying up various smaller private companies that operated in the Crosville area, including: White Rose Motor Services of
Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...
, Red Dragon of
Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...
, Burton of
Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporl ...
, North Wales Silver Motors and Llangoed Red Motors. On 1 May 1933, the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
's northern Welsh service
Western Transport Western Transport was a road transport company that commenced operation in 1934 in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Background Founder John Cyril Anderson worked in a family grocery store in Toowoomba, and he purchased a two-ton Studebaker tru ...
was amalgamated with Crosville. In 1930 All-British Travels Ltd was formed by coach operators George Taylor of Chester, Alfred Harding of Birkenhead and J.W. Scott of Edinburgh, with sleeping partner Evan R. Davies, a solicitor in Pwllheli. Under the fleet name of 'All-British Line' the initial intention was to run express coach services to and from Liverpool and Llandudno to London via Taylor's Market Square car showroom in Chester and to operate a central London travel agency to advertise those services and the other coach services of the respective companies. This express coach service to London commenced on 14 April 1930. Crosville had also started an express coach service between Liverpool and London in 1929, and by 1933 tried with All-British Travels Ltd to co-ordinate the Liverpool to London service, thereby complying with the North Western Traffic Commissioner's decree to reduce the duplication of that service. A joint timetable was worked on but problems co-ordinating the service proved impossible to surmount. In January 1933 the coach operator, Red & White Services of Chepstow in South Wales, purchased All-British Travels Ltd and in September of that year the remaining All-British Line express coach service between Liverpool and London operated by Taylor ceased. Taylor continued in the coach excursion business and car trade in Chester up to 1972.


Second World War

Although the start of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
brought about cuts in the company timetable, by the end of the war the company had increased passengers by 50% and revenues by 90%. This was through
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
being seen as a safe area from
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
bombing, resulting in a number of
shadow factories British shadow factories were the outcome of the Shadow Scheme, a plan devised in 1935 and developed by the British government in the buildup to World War II to try to meet the urgent need for more aircraft using technology transfer from the mot ...
and
munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...
factories being built in the area. This resulted in the expansion of a number of formerly quiet villages, and hence the route map changed quite dramatically. In example,
ROF Wrexham Wrexham Industrial Estate () is a well defined industrial area in Wrexham, Wales. It is situated 3 miles east of the city centre. Originally the site of a World War II munitions factory, the estate later became known as the Wrexham Trading Esta ...
,
Marchwiel Marchwiel (; standardised: ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is about 2 miles south-east of Wrexham city on the A525 road towards Bangor-on-Dee. The community has an area of 1,488 hectares and a population of ...
needed over 200 buses daily. This passenger demand brought about a change in fleet policy, with the relatively small double deck fleet being considerably expanded, mostly with second-hand vehicles as production capacity at most bus manufacturers had been given over meet the requirements of the military. On 3 December 1942, Crosville became a subsidiary of the
Tilling Group The Tilling Group was one of two Conglomerate (company), conglomerates that controlled almost all of the major bus operators in the United Kingdom between World Wars I and II and until nationalisation in 1948. Tilling, together with the other ...
, resulting in a change from maroon to Tilling-green livery, and Bristol-chassised buses replacing Leyland as the manufacturer of choice. Crosville emerged from the war far stronger in many ways, with healthy cash reserves in the bank or accumulating nicely in property assets, unable to replace their fleet at their normal renewal rate. However, although Crosville focused on replacing its single-deck fleet with double deckers, Tilling had a group policy against investment in coaches, resulting in a rise across the geography of a number of new coach operators. By the time that the post-war government of
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...
merged both Tilling and the railway companies into the
British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the s ...
on 1 January 1948, and Crosville was nationalised, the coach operators were a sustainable competitive entity.


1948–67

New Bristol double-deckers had become the standard fleet purchase for all Tilling/BET fleets, which allowed the company to serve the post-war boom until 1950, when traffic began to fall again thanks to the increase in the number of private cars. The combination of this, plus the
Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
of 1956 and a lack of staff due to low wages, led to a general contraction of the network of countryside routes and reduced services by at least half on a Sunday. The network continued to decline, except in the provision of a new service to replace railways removed by the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...
, with the 1965-introduced "Cymru Coastliner," between Chester and Caernarfon anticipating the closure of that
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
route and the intermediate stations.


1968–85

The
Transport Act 1968 The Transport Act 1968 (c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The main provisions made changes to the structure of nationally owned bus companies, created passenger transport authorities and executives to take over public ...
created the National Bus Company (NBC), and introduced the principle that rural bus services could be subsidised by councils. Although they had reduced costs by the introduction of one-man operation, Crosville submitted a list of 196 routes that required financial assistance. With the transfer of routes of the North Western Road Car Company within
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
to the local
Passenger Transport Executive In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives (PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities, which were created between 2011 and 20 ...
in 1971, NBC split the residual services of NWRCC between Trent and Crosville, with the latter company taking over 119 vehicles and depots in
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
,
Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...
and
Biddulph Biddulph is a town in Staffordshire, England, north of Stoke-on-Trent and south-east of Congleton, Cheshire. Origin of the name Biddulph's name may come from Old English language, Anglo-Saxon/Old English ''bī dylfe'' = "beside the pit or q ...
in March 1972. A consolidation of companies within NBC resulted in Crosville taking over services in parts of West Wales from
Western Welsh Western Welsh was a Welsh bus operating company, based in Cardiff covering South Wales and the northern parts of the West Country. Formed in 1920, it was nationalised when the BET Group sold their bus interests to the Transport Holding Company ...
, including those from the depots in
New Quay New Quay () is a seaside town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town ...
,
Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn () is a town and Community (Wales), community on the River Teifi, in West Wales. The community is wholly in Carmarthenshire, but the built up area also includes Adpar north of the Teifi, which is in Ceredigion. Adpar was formerl ...
and
Lampeter Lampeter (; (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and C ...
. The company continued to consolidate and reduce its network through the 1980s, making losses of £1M in 1980 and £2M in 1981. Rebranding of local services in metropolitan areas assisted in flattening the rate of decline in revenues, but losses continued to mount.


Deregulation

On 13 February 1986, the
Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...
decided that, because of their size, the four largest NBC companies would be split, as they provided too great a competitive threat to
deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
. Crosville was split into two, with the English and Welsh operations divided between two businesses. Ultimately, both businesses were acquired by the Drawlane Group. Crosville Cymru was to remain generally in one piece, but most of the remainder of Crosville based in England was split between then-sister companies Midland Red North and the new North Western company based in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. The latter move was quite a reversal of fortunes, as much of Crosville's territory in the eastern half of Cheshire had been gained from the original North Western company at its dismemberment in 1972. On 25 March 1988, Crosville was sold to ATL (Western). In 1989 Crosville was sold to
National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...
passing with the business in 1991 to the Drawlane Group, which in 1992 restructured to become
British Bus British Bus was a bus group in the United Kingdom. It was sold to the Cowie Group in August 1996. History British Bus was founded in November 1992 when the Drawlane Transport Group split its bus interests from its National Express in the lead ...
. On 1 August 1996 British Bus was purchased by the
Cowie Group Arriva Ltd. is a British multinational corporation, multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. The company was originally established on 24 October 1938 as T Cowie Ltd. Initially focused on the sale of motorcy ...
. It traded as Arriva Cymru until February 2002, when it merged with
Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871
to form
Arriva North West & Wales Arriva North West and Wales was a division of Arriva that operated bus services around North West England and Wales. It was made up from several previous bus operators, including North Western (in Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire), most of ...
. The remaining Crosville operations in the Wirral and Chester area were sold in February 1990 to
Potteries Motor Traction First Potteries is a bus company based in Stoke-on-Trent operating services in North Staffordshire, England. It is a part of First Midlands and a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History The business began life in 1898 as a tram operator, the Pot ...
who retained the Crosville name, but the name passed into history ten years later when rebranded as
First Chester & The Wirral First Chester & Wirral was a British bus operator operating in the Cheshire and Merseyside regions between February 1990 and January 2013. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History In February 1990, the Chester, Ellesmere Port and Rock Ferry ...
. Following losses, the business was sold with depots in Chester,
Rock Ferry Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the ...
and
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
to
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered in Liverpool. History Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire can trace i ...
in December 2012.


Revival

The Crosville Motor Service name was resurrected by a new operator that operated in
Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...
from 2011 until 2018. As well as modern vehicles, it had a heritage fleet which included several vehicles from the original Crosville fleet. The Crosville Cymru / Crosville Wales Limited name also exists but not with Arriva. Gwasanaethau Cerbyd Crosville Motor Services Limited also exists. The word ‘Gwasanaethau’ is the Welsh for ‘Services‘ and the word 'Cerbyd’ is Welsh for ‘Vehicle’. Both company names are registered as dormant companies in Wales.


References


Further reading

*Anderson, RC; ''History of Crosville Motor Services''; David & Charles plc 2001; *Banks, John; ''The Prestige Series – Crosville''; Venture Publications; 2001; *Carroll, John; ''75 Years of Crosville''; Transport Publishing Company; 1981; *Carroll, John & Duncan Roberts; ''Crosville Motor Services : Part 1 – The First 40 Years''; Venture Publications; 1995; *Crosland-Taylor, WJ; Crosville: ''The Sowing and The Harvest''; Transport Publishing Company; 1987; *Crosland-Taylor, WJ; Crosville: ''State Owned Without Tears''; Transport Publishing Company; 1987; *Hillmer, John; ''Exploring Crosville Country: Part 1'': England; Past & Present Publishing; 2005; *Hillmer, John; ''Exploring Crosville Country: Part 2'': Wales; Past & Present Publishing; 2005; *Jenkins, Martin & Charles Roberts; ''The Heyday of Crosville''; Ian Allan; 2009; *Maund, TB; ''Crosville on Merseyside''; Transport Publishing; 1992; *Maund, TB; ''Motor Coach Services from Merseyside 1920 – 1940 Part 2 – The Independents''; The Omnibus Society; 1980; *Roberts, Duncan; ''Crosville Motor Services : Part 2 : 1945 – 1990''; NBC Books; 1997; *Roberts, Duncan; ''Crosville 3 – The Successors''; NBC Books; 2001;


External links


History of Crosvile Motor Services 1911–1990
{{Defunct British Bus Companies Companies based in Chester Former bus operators in Wales Historic transport in Merseyside Transport companies established in 1906 1906 establishments in England Former bus operators in Cheshire Former bus operators in Lancashire Former bus operators in Merseyside National Bus Company (UK)