MOTOR COACHING AT 344. PER MILE.
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Some Phases of the Movement in Blackpool, Together with Brief Details of the Past Season's Activities.
ONE of the happy hunting grounds for the motor coach owner in Lancashire is bright and breezy Blackpool, where some owners do all that is humanly possible to develop all-thin yearround interest in road touring. About 100 vehicles of the open and saloon types comprise the town's motor coach fleet, and, looking backward for a couple of years, it is very easy to distinguish the gradual change which is taking place in the class of vehicle and style of body which are favoured locally.
Up to two or three years ago local owners were very emphatic in declaring their belief in the future possibilities of the then popular type—the 28-seater open coach. During the past twelve
oaths they have been .wavering, and allegiance is now divided between the, all-enclosed saloon coach and the 20seater vehicle on pneumatic tyres.
Chattily; with one Blackpool motor coach owner a few days ago, the writer gathered the impression that the adoption of the newer types of passengercarrying vehicle had been stimulated by the keener discrimination exercised by passengers when they go to book a seat for a particular run. It could be depended upon, he said, that if two vehicles were advertised to undertake tours to a particular location and the fares were the stone, but one coach was a 28-seater running on solids and the other a 20-seater on pneumatic tyres, the public would flock to the smaller. coach.
Yet the 28-seater coach has a great sphere of usefulness, especially at boom periods—at the height of the holiday season—when there are special inducements to attract the holiday-making public to book for sight-seeing excursions.
"When the loads are available, there can be no gainsaying the fact that the 28-seater is undoubtedly the ,best paying proposition so far as we in Blackpool are concerned," added this owner, "and especially for the smaller owners, since it is not possible for us to get even a slight advance on ordinary rates. Generally speaking, the same rates apply to open 28-seater coaches as to enclosed saloons and 20-seaters on pneumatic tyres—about id. per mile."
The difficulty of maintaining rates has again been experienced during the past season. Apparently, it is an annual endeavour on the part of the Blackpool owners to work to more or less uniform standards, but once there is a deviation from the schedule, it seems to be a general tendency to view questions of rates as a matter of private concern, and to act accordingly. Economic considerations, however, do impose a limit beyond which owners hesitate to venture. For a long time Blackpool has been regarded as the
cheapest motor coaching centre in the kingdom and, again this past season, the town, it is believed, could vindicate its claim to this questionable distinction.
About Id. per passenger per mile is the figure to which most owners work, and amongst the recent fares quoted by Blackpool owners have been the following :—Liverpool, 96 miles, 4s. return (against the railway excursion fare of 5s. 11d.) ; Southport, as.; Windermere, 6s.; Keswick, 8s. At one time Blackpool owners could get 10s. for the Liverpool run and pro rata for the other journeys.
Is there any other place in the country where passengers could get a 40 minutes' motor coach ride for Oil.? During the recent period of the Blackpool electrical illuminations, when a gigantic scheme of electrical beautification was carried out, visitors were attracted to the queen of the Lancashire watering-places from far and wide. Such big incursions of visitors encouraged local owners to organize evening trips to enable sight-seers to make a complete review of the illuminations. After six o'clock in the evening some owners were able to book their vehicles for as many as three or four round trips of the town. All classes of vehicle were in demand, but especially the opz.i coaches. Some owners charged 9d. for these short runs, and a few 18., but many 6d. These evening tours proved very popular during the period of this special local attrection.
The past season has been a fairly good one for the Blackpool owners, but there have been some dull patches. Just before, and immediately after, the main holiday-making season, the local owners organized a comprehensive programme of long-distance tours, especially to interest local tradesmen, who had the option of booking for trips extending from one to ten days. Apparently, during the past season, these have not been so well patronized as in previous years. The enclosed saloon coach has done much to promote bookings for autumn and winter journeys, although this class of business does not yet register any more than a very moderate turnover.
As typical of the late-season engagements in which Blackpool coach owners -participate, a few representative examples might be quoted. On Saturday, October 31st, Messrs. W. Armitage and Sons ran an all-weather saloon pneumatic-tyred coach to the following destinations, returning home on the Tuesday :—Leeds, 10s.; Hehden Bridge, 7s. 6d. Halifax, 8s.; Bradford, 9s.; Bolton, , 5s.; Manchester, Os. 64.;
Oldham, 7s. 6d.; Huddersfield, Vs. return.
During the last week in October Mr. A. Whiteside organized a six-day tour to London. The fare of £6 included hotels, late dinner, bed and breakfast.
Mr. John Hodge has announced that, at fortnightly intervals, commencing November 2nd, he will be sending a saloon coach on five-day tours to London (four nights in London). -The inclusive fare, covering late dinner, bed and breakfast, is £4 10s. The coach which is used for this service is fitted with electric heaters.
In late October Messrs. W. Marshall and Sons, also booked a complement of passengers for a six-day tour to London, via Lichfield, Warwick, Oxford, Henley, Maidenhead, Windsor (allowing time to
visit the Castle), London (three nights in London), Bedford, Leicester, Derby. Matlock and Buxton. The fare was six guineas, including first-class hotels, late dinner, bed and breakfast. On November 3rd there was a five-day tour by saloon coach to London, allowing four nights in London. The fare, including late dinner, bed and breakfast, was £4 10s. and drive only £2.
A twelve-day tour through North and South Devon and the Wye Valley was organized by Mr. A. Roberts, placesvisited being Hereford, Monmouth, Tintern Abbey, Symond's Yat, Chepstow, Cheltenham, Cheddar Gorge, Minehead, Ilfracombe (one day), Torquay (two days), Plymouth dila Weymouth, the cost being £12 12s. return, including late dinner, bed and breakfast at firstclass hotels.