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BIG BID FOR EXTENDED TOURS
Page 55
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WHEN a private hire operator applied VT this week in Manchester for 10 extended tour destinations, it was said that the application was prompted by the fact that honorary officials of a travel club (set up to provide excursions and tours from Glossop) no longer wanted the responsibility of handling the large sums of money involved.
Twenty operators and British Railways objected to the application made by Sevilles Tours Ltd. of Glossop. The company, formed in January this year, sought permission to operate eight 7-day tours (to Folkestone, Great Yarmouth, Paignton, Eastbourne, Bridlington, Skegness, Cliftonville, Bournemouth); one 5-day tour (to Blackpool); and one 9-day tour (to Falmouth) starting from Glossop with pick-up points at Hadfield and Tintwistle. Twenty-two vehicle departures were applied for.
The travel club started, it was said, after a Ministry of Transport official had called on Mrs. Alice Seville, managing director of the applicant firm, to tell her that the private parties she had been organizing between 1958 and 1960 could be infringing the law.
Mrs. Seville told the Traffic Commissioners that the family business started in 1935 and now operated two 41-seaters and one 36-seater on private hire. On the death of her husband she went on an extended holiday tour by one of her own taxis with four other widows.
Others heard of this "widows' cruise" —as it was described by Mr. F. D. Walker, appearing for 16 of the objectors—and a number of coach parties were subsequently arranged. Then they were reported to the Ministry of Transport because a notice of one of the tours had got into a window in the local High Street.
The result of the MoT official's visit was the formation of the Glossop Tourist Club. Soon, said Mr. I. A. Booth for the applicants, there were hundreds of members who joined for the express purpose of travelling on extended tours. By paying a subscription of 2s. 6d. anyone in the area could join. Now the membership stood at 680.
Five extended tours were operated by the club in 1962, 14 in 1963, and 18 in 1964.
When the chairman of the Traffic Commissioners suggested that sometimes private tour organizers who found they could not fill a coach applied for a licence in order to advertise the service— although he did not think this applied in the present instance—Mr. Booth said this was obviously a. feature of Seville's application. but not a major feature.
The chairman also asked why it was necessary to apply for a licence if the club had been operating efficiently so far. Mr. Booth said that some people were members of other social clubs and did not want to have to join this particular social club in order to travel. And Mrs. Seville said she had the feeling that she was being watched.
Questioned by Mr. Walker, Mrs. Seville agreed that the travel club operated from the same address as the registered office of her company. She said that prices quoted on the application meant operating on a narrow margin and that unless the coaches were filled she would operate at a loss.
The nearest pick-up point for established operators was said to be Hyde, seven miles from Glossop, , but Mr. S. Moss, appearing for three objectors, pointed out that one--Pleasureways (1955) Ltd.—was authorized to pick-up in Glossop during the July holiday period.