Manchester's Bus Depots …… another story from Tony Goulding

This impressive clock tower in Parrs Wood, East Didsbury is all that remains of the first purpose-built motor bus garage/depot of Manchester Corporation Transport Department. 

“Tesco” Clock

It was opened on the 23rd March, 1926. Mr. Stuart Pilcher, the new general manager of M.C.T.D. was an advocate of bus transport and initial replacement of tram services by buses proved to be more profitable and negated the need for an expensive renewal of obsolete parts of the tram network. (1) 

As the city’s bus fleet steadily increased with the tram network being cut back the tram depots were also converted to garage buses. There were several of these around the city at Princess Road, Moss Side, Hyde Road, Ardwick, Queens Road, Cheetham Hill and Birchfield Road, Fallowfield, needed to house the fleet of Manchester Corporation's buses. 

When the short-lived S.E.L.N.E.C. took over responsibility for running the bus services in 1969, Manchester City Transport  were operating 1,250 vehicles at the hand-over on the 1st November, 1969.

Another purpose-built bus depot was built in Harling Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe. Despite its location, it was known as the Northenden Depot. When completed in 1942 its first use was in the construction and repair of Lancaster Bombers. 

Grade II listed Wythenshawe Bus Depot

Due to its pioneering design by Manchester City Architects Department, (chief architect G. Noel Hill) it has been designated a Grade II listed building. In 1946, the building reverted to its peacetime use of housing up to 100 double-decker buses. 

On a personal note, from 1952 to 1974, it was the home depot of my father working first as a bus conductor and later, after the introduction of driver only operated buses, bus cleaning and general maintenance.

Hyde Road Depot - 1958

The Hyde Road depot housed the transport department’s lost property office on Devonshire Street North which I had occasion to visit more than once as a schoolchild in order to retrieve a bag or on one occasion a “Scholars Pass”. 

The huge building was very much a local landmark and featured this famous five faced clock!

I also have vivid memories of the large transport depot on Princess Road as it was located on one of the routes, I would take to attend matches at Maine Road in the late 1960s .

After alighting from either the 80 or 88 bus from Chorlton-cum-Hardy Office on Alexandra Road we would skirt the park and cross Princess Parkway by the Y.M.C.A Hostel before continuing down the road at the side of the bus depot. 

My Pass

Hyde Road's famous five-faced clock

I remember being impressed by the size of the walls and the view through the wide entrance into the garage.

Princess Road Depot in 1967

Pictures: - “Tesco” Clock courtesy of Andrea Martinez, School Pass from the collection of Tony Goulding, Princess Road depot 1967 by D. Wildgoose and Hyde Road Depot and clock 1958 by F. Hotchin (m38470 and m27231 respectively) courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Archives, and Information, Manchester City Council http://manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass Wythenshawe Bus Depot: - By KJP1 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Notes: -

1) Manchester was one of the first cities to make the change from an extensive tram network to bus services, some of which in the initial phase were trolley buses which were powered from the overhead power lines but did not run on rails.