Stage Services Still a Family Business
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Green's Motors, Ltd., Operate 21 Routes from Haverfordwest and Milford Haven : Remote Location Necessitates Self
Sufficiency in Maintenance By E. W. Hirst
ONE of the few family concerns still running 'stage services on in area basis is that of Green's Motors, Ltd., Haverfordwest, Pemb, who operate 21 routes from Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. Founded in 1907 by Mr. F. L. (Eric) .Green, the present chairman, the company introduced their first service in 1923 with a Ford Model T vehicle. Another director of the company is Mr. Stephen Green, brother of
the founder. . . .
Pembrokeshire is an area steeped in historical interest, many of the towns and villages. dating ,from' the llth and 12th centuries. . During the holiday season there is a substantial demand for local transport in the area. and it was increased by the good weather this year.
. A town served by Green's Motors is Tenby, which has the ,reputation of being the most popular holiday. place in South Wales, and has, been a corporate town since 1402. Nearby Saundersfoot is served along a busy, hilly route by a 15-minute or 30-minute headway
throughout the -day. , Pembroke, the birthplace of King Henry VII, is linked with Haverford west via Pembroke Dock. Another popular and useful service is that running between Haverfordwest and Fishguard, at both termini of which 'services connect with those of the Western Welsh Omnibus Co., Ltd., to St. David's and Solva.
Probably the busiest route is that ' 112 linking Haverfordwest, Milford Haven and Neyland, from where there is ferry service across to Hobbs Point.for Pembroke Dock. There is a parcels service throughout the system.
• Green's.M.otors also operate 46 tours, all from Haverfordwest, to places such as Swansea, Gower Coast, Elan -Valley, Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth. Since the war, this aspect of the company's activities has been extendedto 'that magnet of all coach operators, Blackpool.
Tours and Works Services Three-, four-, fiveand seven-day tours are available, and there is a weekend. tour to Blackpool Illuminations in September., In spite of the 11-hour journey and the . small .population served, six coaches were filled last year.
Works services are run to the Royal Naval Air Station at Treewn and Milford Haven. There are no interrunning .a greements with other operators, but .Green's services connect at Tenby with those of Western Welsh for Carmarthen andPendine, and with the services of D. I. Morrison and Sons, Ltd., for Whitburn and Manorbier. At Pembroke, there are connections with local services run by Messrs. W. L. Silcox and Son, and at Haverfordwest with Western Welsh forCardiff, Carmarthen, Fishguard and St. David.
In the past seasOn, •Green's Motors had two additional traffic problems: the Royal Welsh Show and the Queen's visit. Both events were catered for without recourse to hiring. Some 75,000 people.travelled to the Welsh Show, and a one-minute headway was maintained to the site. Fares were collected while passengers were waiting for buses; it would have been virtually impossible to collect them all in the normal way. . During the fine summer weather, the Tenby service called for five duplicates. All tour bookings were substantially higher than last year—those to Blackpool"in particular.
The fleet is made up of 20 doubledeckers and 25 single-deckers. Makers are Leyland (14), Bedford (14), Guy (9) and A.E.C. (3). Bodywork is by Leyland, Barnard, Duple, Strachans, Park Royal and East Lancashire. The latest additions to the fleet are four A.E.C. Reliance-Park Royal 44-seaters and two Perkins oil-engined BedfordDuple Super Vegas.
One of the Leyland buses is a pre-war TD5 Titan model. Another Leyland— an LT5 Lion single-decker—has just been taken out of service after 23 years. Mr. Stephen Green has high praise for the Guy buses in service.
In contrast with the policy of most of the smaller private stage-carriage operators. Green's Motors do not normally buy used vehicles. Only two are not the company's original vehicles, and they arc due shortly to be taken off the road.
A high standard of .vehicle turn-out, in red and cream, has paid good dividends, and the fleet is looked upon with pride by the population it serves. The average vehicle mileage—at 22,500 a year—is not as 'high as in industrial areas. The fleet mileage last year was 1,033,000. Narrow streets and hills are characteristic.of the company's operating area. Tenby—Saundersfoot and NeylandMilford Haven are both steeply banked routes with gradients of 1 in 5 and in 6. On the Haverfordwest—Neyland route 8-ft.-wide Leyland double-deckers are used.
The fleet is garaged. maintained and overhauled at Haverfordwest. ' There are dormy sheds at Neyland (three buses) and Saundersfoot (two). Each of these five vehicles is changed during the, first journey every morning to enable it to go into the garage for cleaning.
As the nearest manufacturers' service station or bodybuilder is more than 100 miles away, Green's Motors are obliged to do everything except crankshaft grinding. The workshops incorporate a fully equipped fuelinjection department, the machines including a Hartridge tester. The main shop has a line borer and cylinder borer for engine bearings and blocks, and the body shop is equipped to tackle any job. Buses are washed by a Niagara plant.
The. stores are a model of neatness. Stock-keeping and the storing" and recording methods are fully up to present-day standards.
Staff totals approximately 100, of whom 12, including Mr. R. Crockett, chief engineer, have been with Green's Motors . for 30 years. The traffic manager is Mr. T. Baker, formerly chief inspector with Chesterfield Corporation.
After 32 years of operation, the Green brothers can look back with satisfaction on the way they have developed their area, particularly as this has been done without absorbing other operators. During the war, three licences were transferred to Green's Motors, but the company concerned were not taken over.
Green's Motors remain just the right size for the brothers to retain personal control, and they are popular figures in their community, where they are also Bedford distributors.