Another Christmas Book - The Review

But First : Yesterday's Answers

1. Derby (Moorledge) - now rebuilt

2. Broad Marsh Nottingham

3. Broad Marsh Notttingham - Mark 2

4. Bridport

5. Buchanan Street Glasgow - replaced by "Buchanan"

6. Bedford - now rebuilt

7. Dundee - now rebuilt

8. Gloucester Green, Oxford : now rebuilt

9. Loughborough - gone

10. Portsmouth (The Hard) - now rebuilt

11. Golders Green

12. Northampton Derngate - replaced twice!

13. Bradford - now rebuilt

14. Shanklin - now on-street stands

15.Bolton - now rebuilt

Now, The Book : fbb's Christmas Present

This book is not an academic study! It is a collection of archive photographs and offers a feast of pure omnibological nostalgia.

This book is not a complete set. It provides a good selection of bus stations in England, Scotland and Wales that illustrate how varied the genre was. There is no mention of either Derngate in Northampton or its replacement, Greyfriars, now also demolished.

Development since the eighties are not covered, hence there is nothing about Nottingham's Broad Marsh Mark 3 which currently looks a bit like this:-

The book has no maps, leaving the reader to open up Google Maps or Street Map and search for where these facilities once were. Thanks to the vast amount of information available on-line, this investigation can be a pleasurable, sometimes a frustrating task. Here is a corner of the original Airdrie bus station ...

... and the helpful textk that accompanies it ...

... and a Streetview shop of the buildings today.

The trend in recent years is to remove bus stations and sell the site for development. Where new bus stations have been built, almost always by local authorities as bus companies no longer consider the expense of providing comfort for their waiting passengers worth the reductions in "bottom line" profits. Where new bus stations have been built they are usually smaller than their predecessors.

Many of the stations in this book were owned by the company. Here is East Yorkshire at Bridlington ...

... now The Promenade shopping centre. But "round the back" is a replacement.

By far the most fascinating picture, for fbb, is of this "bus station".

And, wowsers, it is still there!

The building at the back is the point of reference,

It is no longer given the title of a bus station - but it was once known as such. Google maps now call it "turning circle". The buses nip up the cul de sac, turn in the "circle" and use the shelter which once was a lean-to against the wall!

Surely the smallest bus station in the UK, it is in the community of Waterfoot.

It is just along the road from Rawtenstall.

Bus Stations in Britain by Kevin McCormack is published by Capital Transport at a whopping but stimulating £30.

Tomorrow we go on a train ride.

 Next Red Arrow blog : Wednesday 5th January