Depots U - Z
Warrington
Chester Road, Warrington WA4 6AD
from October 1923 until September 1988
Beck & Pollitzer / Buckley Tankers, Howley Lane, Warrington WA1 2EB
from September 1988 until May 1992 (after transfer to North Western and Arriva)
Crosville started services to Warrington in 1920 from Runcorn. Further services were started in 1921 with buses going from Warrington through Widnes to Rainhill and Prescott. Initially the buses for this route were based in Widnes. A depot was established in Warrington in the autumn of 1923 at Chester Road and the Widnes depot was closed. The allocation in 1947 was 23 buses, in 1956 - 29, in 1959 - 26, in 1965 - 29 and in 1970 - 24.
The depot was modernised and redeveloped in 1974.
The Chester Road depot closed in September 1988 and the buses were moved to a haulage yard in Howley Lane near its junction with Farrell Street. The depot and vehicles formally transferred to North Wester Road Car Co. in November 1989 and operations in Warrington ceased in May 1992.
The former depot in Chester Road was demolished and a residential block of flats stands on the land.
The haulage yard in Howleys Lane still exists.
Welshpool
Car Park, Off Church Street (Market)
from February 1970 until December 1990
From February 1970 Crosville used the Market Car Park in Church Street Welshpool as an out-station of Oswestry for up to 5 buses.
The facility was also used by Crosville Wales on transfer in 1986 and the out-station in Welshpool closed in February 1990 when it was transferred to Abermule.
West Kirby
Smith's Garage, Bridge Road, West Kirby
from July 1920 until 1923
Orrysdale Road, West Kirby L48 4DZ
from 1923 until January 1990
Crosville commenced operations in West Kirby during 1920 when a service to Wallasey Village from West Kirby began. The depot at the premises of Smiths Garage, 4 Bridge Road was opened in July of that year initially for two buses. The following year there were six buses. The work expanded and a new depot was established in 1923. The Smiths Garage on Bridge Road is now an Aldi supermarket.
This new depot at the junction of Orrysdale Road and Bridge Road initially housed 27 buses. In 1947 the allocation was also 27, in 1956 - 40, in 1959 - 39, in 1965 - 40 and in 1970 it was 38.
The depot in Orrysdale Road was never large enough for the number of vehicles allocated to West Kirby and various arrangements were made over the years for additional overnight parking. During the 1960s the former GWR-LNWR yard near to the current Railway Station was used. Later overnight parking occurred on land that eventually became the southern extension of Orrysdale Road. Another area used was land on Greenbank Road near to the current West Kirby Recycling Centre. Also used in the 1980s was a location off Carr Lane, Hoylake. This land backed onto the railway line and is roughly where Phoenix Auto Trim is now. A further location used was the municipal car park in Dee Lane which is now the car park for the Morrisons Supermarket.
In August 1987 the Orrysdale Road depot closed but was soon re-opened again for minibuses. Following the closure of Heswall depot in September 1988 the Orrysdale Road depot was completely re-opened for a short period but finally closed in January 1990.
It was demolished in the summer of 1991 and the land is now occupied by houses.
Whitchurch
Salopia, Green End, Whitchurch SY13 1AD
from 1957 until May 1979
During 1957 the railway between Chester and Whitchurch was closed and as a result Crosville increased the frequency of its service to Chester. This entailed out-stationing one vehicle at Whitchurch. With thanks to John Roberts, who was a Crosville Scheduler at Chester in the early 1960s, it is known that the main bus used at Whitchurch was Bristol Lodekka DLB863 (820 AFM). This bus would work the 0745 service from Whitchurch. During Mondays to Fridays it would work the 1610 from Chester arriving and finishing at Whitchurch at 1718. However on Saturdays the bus would work the 1930 service from Chester terminating at Whitchurch at 2114.
By 1966 the service was revised and two vehicles were out-stationed at Whitchurch with at least one of of these being single crew operated. One vehicle would leave Whitchurch for Chester at 0640 and the second vehicle would depart at 0745. On Saturdays there was a late working from Chester and the last vehicle would arrive back in Whitchurch at 2349. By May 1975 the allocation was again two buses. One was single crewed with two drivers. One would work the morning shift and the other an afternoon shift. The morning shift would involve the 0640 service to Chester leaving Whitchurch returning at 1313. The afternoon driver would then leave Whitchurch at 1320 returning at 1936. Both drivers would work services in Chester between journeys from Whitchurch. The double deck crew would leave Whitchurch for Chester at 0735 and then work Chester depot routes until they returned to Whitchurch at 1813 having worked the 1635 C65 from Chester to Bulkeley and then the 1745 C59 from Broxton back to Whitchurch. At this stage the Whitchurch buses only worked Monday to Fridays.
The premises used for the out-station was the Salopia depot in Green End. Salopia Saloon Coaches was a well established coaching and bus company that commenced in 1915 and grew to a business with over 70 coaches running weekly tours to all over Great Britain. There was an on-going close working relationship with Crosville. Apart from the facilities offered at Whitchurch both companies acted as agents for each other for their services and at some stage there were joint working arrangements on some services. On the retirement of the founder of Salopia, Harry Richards, in the early 1970s his company was bought out by Shearings.
The former land used as the Salopia depot is now a residential housing estate.
Widnes
Railway & Commercial Hotel, 4 Victoria Road, Widnes
from October 1922 until October 1923
Crosville started bus services in Widnes during October 1922 and the initial allocation was 2 buses. The service ran from Widnes to Garston and there was also services to Warrington and Penketh. The work increased and therefore a new depot was opened at Warrington in October 1923 and the Widnes out-station closed.
The Hotel has been demolished and a rental company stands on the land.
Wrexham
Maesgwyn Road, Wrexham
from May 1933 until 1965
Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AF
from May 1933 until October 1991
Crosville did not operate in Wrexham until May 1933 when the company took over the operations of Western Transport. With the takeover of Western 'Red' as it was known came two main depots in Wrexham.
The depot on Maesgwyn Road was at the time of transfer the main depot of Western Transport. It had previously been one of the tram depots and evidence of some of the lines in the building can still be seen. It was also the main workshop and housed office accommodation. These premises continued to serve Crosville until the late 1965. On the expansion of the second depot in Wrexham on Mold Road by Crosville the Maesgwyn Road depot became mainly a maintenance facility with a paint shop and it was also used as a store. The office staff transferred from Maesgwyn Road to Mold Road in 1965 followed shortly afterwards by the Engineering staff. On closure it became the property of Vincent Greenhous a motor car, lorry and bus dealer. Currently it is a tyre and exhaust retailer.
The second depot on Mold Road was only a short distance from Maesgwyn Road. In 1928 Wrexham Transport had acquired the Maesgwyn Estate and this consisted of the Maesgwyn Hall and associated land. They commenced building a new depot on the land but until the transfer to Crosville in 1933 the premises was primarily used for additional parking. The depot on Mold Road was expanded and developed over the years. During the second world war years the land behind the depot was used for an influx of over 200 buses that arrived to serve the nearby munitions factory on the Wrexham Industrial Estate near Marchwiel.
The Maesgwyn Hall was used for a period as a residence for senior managers of Crosville. In addition rooms at the Hall were used as the Staff Social Club, to house the Company's section of the Home Guard and also for such things as a Conductors Training Room.
In 1947 the allocation of buses to Wrexham was 103, in 1956 - 132, in 1959 - 123, in 1965 - 128 and in 1970 - 106.
The depot transferred to Crosville Wales in 1986. However in October 1990 an industrial dispute which started as a strike resulted in most of the Wrexham drivers being dismissed and as a result the Mold Road depot closed. The depot officially closed in February 1991 but a number of buses were kept on the forecourt as an out-station until August 1991. Some of the work during the dispute was undertaken by other depots and an out-station of Oswestry was established in Plas Madoc near Ruabon. In early 1994 Crosville Wales opened a new depot in Caego which is still the current base of the successor company Arriva Wales.
The former depot was demolished and the land now is a housing estate. The Maesgwyn Hall still exists and is a Masonic Hall and also a Food and Drink Venue.
