The North Western Road Car Company was a bus company in

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 ...

, England, formed in 1923 from the existing bus services of the British Automobile Traction Company Limited (itself a subsidiary of the British Electric Traction Company Limited) in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

. The company operated bus services in five counties (

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

) through a combination of growth and the acquisition of other bus companies, such as the takeover in 1924 of the Mid-Cheshire Motor Bus Company Limited, which brought new operations in

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

and Flixton. The company also operated express

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

services to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. North Western had garages in: * Altrincham: Oakfield Street * Biddulph: Whalley Street * Buxton: Bridge Street *Castleton, Back Street open till at least 1967 * Glossop: York Street * Macclesfield: Sunderland Street * Manchester: Hulme Hall Road * Matlock: Bakewell Road * Northwich: Chester Way * Oldham: Clegg Street * Stockport: Charles Street * Urmston: Higher Road * Wilmslow: Church Street North Western Bristol K5G

The company later became part of the National Bus Company, which eventually split it between its neighbouring subsidiaries; its depots in Stockport,

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, Glossop,

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,825 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the ...

areas were transferred to the

SELNEC PTE SELNEC was an acronym for "South East Lancashire North East Cheshire". It may refer to: *Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; co ...

in 1972. The remaining depots and services in Cheshire were transferred to

Crosville 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 by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Geo ...

, however the services originating from Warrington, to Altrincham on the direct route service 37 via Lymm Church and the indirect route service 38 via Dunham Massey, and the route to Urmston, service 42, were jointly licensed with Warrington Corporation. In practice Warrington only operated jointly with Crosville on the 37. Warrington Corporation had enjoyed a good relationship with North Western and the municipality's Wilderspool Causeway depot provided an outstation for two North Western buses, a driver and two conductors, who came under the companies depot at Northwich. Crosville exclusively ran the 38 and 42, largely because these less frequent services were interworked and required specially adapted single decker buses to cope with the low height canal bridge at Dunham Massey on the 38. The buses in question had been transferred from Selnec Cheshire Bus Company to Crosville's Warrington depot for this purpose. The depots in

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

and Matlock were transferred to Trent Motor Traction. North Western kept hold of its

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 ...

depot for its remaining express coach services, but the company was renamed as National Travel (North West) Limited in 1974.

References

* Ogden, Eric. (1980) ''North Western: V. 1'', The Transport Publishing Company.

External links

History of North Western Road Car Company 1923-1974
Former bus operators in Greater Manchester Former bus operators in Cheshire Former bus operators in Lancashire Former bus operators in West Yorkshire Former bus operators in Derbyshire Former bus operators in Staffordshire Transport companies established in 1923 1923 establishments in England {{UK-bus-company-stub

See also

References

External links