Bullocks Coaches is a bus and coach operator in

Cheadle, Greater Manchester Cheadle () is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it borders Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green and Cheadle Heath in Stockport, and East D ...

History

R Bullock bus F238 YTJ Leyland Olympian Alexander RL in Manchester 25 July 2008

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The company was founded in 1928 by Ralph Bullock, initially as a haulage firm, with milk deliveries being the early focus. On weekends, the trucks turned into cloth-top

charabanc A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "ben ...

s for trips to the seaside. By the mid-1930s, the fleet included trucks and proper coaches, but the trucks were nationalised under the

Transport Act 1947 The Transport Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 49) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the Act, the railway network, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were nationalised and came under ...

by the

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

government, leaving only the coaches. Ralph was fond of Foden coaches and the majority of the fleet throughout the 1940s to 1960s were Fodens, of which two still survive to this day. The oldest, dating from 1949, is still roadworthy and is currently on loan to the

Museum of Transport in Manchester The Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester aims to preserve and promote the public transport heritage of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is located in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester. Background The museum was established in ...

. The firm remained small with around 20 vehicles, until 1986, when

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 ...

of the bus market allowed Bullocks to diversify. The fleet grew to around 75-80 vehicles in total with Bullocks acquiring many bus routes, and introducing new ones, including route 42 from

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

via

Wilmslow Road Wilmslow Road is a major road in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood northwards to Rusholme. There it becomes Oxford Road and the name changes again to Oxford Street when it crosses the River Medlock and reaches the city centre. Th ...

. Over the years, the number of services declined having been lost to other operators. By 2008, it was operating seven routes and several school services, all except one of the commercial routes were sold off, most to

Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach ManchesterCompanies House extract company no 2818654

and a couple to

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

. In August 2008, Stagecoach Manchester purchased all of the commercial bus operations of Bullocks except route 147. Bullocks continue to operate several school bus services, as well as coaches. In October 2013, Bullocks purchased the

Finglands Coachways Finglands Coachways was a bus and coach operator in Rusholme, Manchester. History Finglands Coachways was founded in 1907, initially as a coach operator. Bus services competing with GM Buses and other operators would be set up following dereg ...

coach charter business from

East Yorkshire Motor Services East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services. History ...

Services

Until 2018, Bullocks Coaches operated one route, the 147 Oxford Road Link that linked

Manchester Piccadilly station Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

with Manchester's main hospitals on Oxford Road. However, in September 2018, the contract for this route passed to

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

, who now operate the route under their Magic Bus brand. At the present time, the only regular bus routes operated by Bullock's are school services.

Fleet

As well as coaches, Bullocks formerly operated four

Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 The Wright Eclipse Gemini is a Low-floor bus, low-floor double-decker bus body that was built by Wrightbus since 2001, based on the single-deck Wright Eclipse design. The second-generation Eclipse Gemini 2 was launched in 2009, followed by the ...

bodied Volvo B5Ls on route 147, In 2018 these passed to

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian ...

in exchange for several Scania Omnicities, which will be used on school services. As at September 2013, the fleet consisted of 39 buses and coaches.Manchester Independents
North West Buses

References

External links

Bullocks Coaches websiteOxford Road Link website
{{Authority control Coach operators in England Bus operators in Greater Manchester Companies based in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport Transport companies established in 1928 1928 establishments in England

History

Services

Fleet

See also

References

Further reading

External links