Rawtenstall Depot -

A Glimpse into the Past

By Harry Cropper (Jnr)

Rawtenstall Corporation purchased the Tramway from a private company in 1908.

 The tramway had been in operation as a private company since 1889. The original Tramway depot and offices were actually on the opposite side of Bacup Road to the present site of the bus station, and certainly dated from 1908, if not possibly as early as 1889.

The offices were situated in the section of this building nearest to the Bacup stand, and the Tramway depot which was demolished in 1965 was actually situated behind this building on what is now the site of the present car park. Indeed, there are probably quite a few people left who may have been summoned to 8 Bacup Rd, for either a commendation or to be told of a misdemeanour or other. This is where our present Depot Manager, Bob Edwards would have gone for his first interview with, what would have then been Rawtenstall Corporation Motors.

The earliest recorded mention of a building on the present site of our depot is in 1909, when the Tramways were modernised from steam to electricity, and also extended up the Lumb Valley towards Water, necessitating the need for an extra "Tram Shed" on the "Municipal Meadow" , which is what the site of our garage was then called.

On the 31 March 1932, the operation of the Trams was ended in favour of the new fangled Motor Buses. However, Tram drivers were always known as motormen anyway, and as early as 1907, both Rawtenstall and Haslingden Corporations had conducted experiments with a motor bus , only Haslingden's trial being successful, the motor bus was built by a lawnmower manufacturer from Leyland, later to become one of the world leaders in vehicle manufacture, known as Leyland Motors.

So it was on Monday, 1^st May 1933, that our magnificent new bus garage, described as one of the finest of its kind in the country, was formally opened. A full 13 months after buses had replaced the Trams. Mr Frank Lythgoe, the then General Manager of the transport undertaking, was handed the Golden Key, who then in turn handed this key to Councillor R Ashworth, the chairman of the Transport and Electricity Committee.

As the day was quite cold, Councillor Ashworth kept his speech, on this auspicious occasion, quite brief, opened the door, and invited those present, inside. Inside was a platform decorated in the colours of the livery of the buses, and the word "Progress" prominent at both the back and front of the platform.

Many visiting dignitaries were present, including representatives of both Bacup and Haslingden Corporations, indeed there was an argument between the Town Clerk and the Mayor, both of Bacup, as to who had got the best bargain, on there respective bus fares from Bacup. The Town Clerk paying a single fare of 3d, making a total of 6d on his return, or the Mayor of Bacup who had bought a 5d return, to which the manager of the undertaking, Mr F Lythgoe, commented to the Mayor, that the hope was that he would lose his return ticket and the undertaking would then be better off by 3d, to which there was much laughter!

The Mayor of Haslingden commented that they had a "Grand Shed", but he did not know what it would be like in ten years, perhaps they might have to put a flat roof on it then to accommodate aeroplanes.

By Mr H Cropper

Where are they now?

This is ex Rawtenstall Corporation Leyland PD3/4 with East Lancs bodywork - No.34 (MTJ 434C) new in 1965. There were four in the batch    (34-37) but No.35 was different in that it had a severe accident on Haslingden Road when fairly new and was re-built with an upright windscreen instead of the original raked-back design. Here is a picture of 34 taken in September 1976 outside Rossendale Football Club at Newchurch in the days when Football Specials were commonplace. The second picture is as it can be seen today in Haslingden.