Coaches Serve Catterick's 16,000 Troops
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By Ashley Taylor
THROUGHOUT the early hours ot 1 each Monday, scores of coaches, working from points all over the north, concentrate on Catterick, returning troops, who have been on 36-hour or 48-hour leave, to their units. The great Catterick Camp, located near Yorkshire's Richmond, is probably unique in the demand that it makes for passenger transport. Officially, the Services are neutral in any road-rail controversy, but there is no doubt that the soldiers themselves come down heavily in favour of the coaches. Even the Servicemen, however, often failed to realize that only competition from the buses has produced the exceptionally cheap rail facilities that are enjoyed by those who must reside at Catterick.
The camp has a population of some 16,000, of which probably 50 per cent. flows in and out each week-end. Changes of personnel with the completion of each training period, mean that in the course of 12 months some 30.000 different troops become resident in the camp. About 20 years ago there were road Services from Catterick Camp to Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Birmingham, but now only one coach a day is run to London and seats have to be booked at least three months in advance_
Leave Uncertain After passing the raw-recruit stage, many men can be away from camp from after duty on the Friday until first parade on Monday. but in the Army one cannot bank on these concessions months in advance. Thit is why it is necessary to have specially organized coach services.
In 1946 it was common for 500 men from Catterick to be spread along a 14-mile stretch of the Great North Road, soliciting rides southwards from passing drivers. Because of the competition for lifts, groups would club together to charter a taxi and drive northwards, so that they would be among the first* to intercept London-bound vehicles on the Al highway.
With the coming of the coaches, however, this state of affairs was altered. For some four years the coaches were run as contract carriages to all parts of the country, but the High Court's decision made it necersarv for operators to annlv.for road seeviee licences At the end of 1952 there were 75 licences granted for various destinations, the operators concerned being c6 Percival Bros., Ltd., Sinner Bros., Hall Bros., Layfield Motor Services, Ltd., M. Hardy, Bee-Line Roadways, Ltd., and United Automobile Services, Ltd. Between them, these operators serve Liverpool, Preston, Lancaster, Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Rochdale, Bradford, Halifax, Bolton, Bury, Wigan, York, Hull, Doncaster, Worksop, Mansfield, Nottingham, Loughborough, Leicester, Barnsley and Warsop. In general, coaches may not operate to London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh or the West Midlands.
Doorstep Service
Booking agencies are located in the unit lines of Catterick Camp, the men being picked up at those points between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Fridays or between noon and 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Vehicles often cover as much as 15 miles in their circuit round the camp to meet each man almost on his own doorstep. In some instances, taxis are employed to bring in the men to the maincoach stand.
On the Sunday night, all the passengers return, being picked up at prearranged points in their own localities at times from 11.30 p.m. onwards and, once again, they are delivered to their own unit lines. In practically every instance the coaches used are largecapacity post-war models—Lteland, A.E.C. and Bedford vehicles were observed on a recent visit—all with radio and heaters.
Soldiers want to make the best use of their free time and those at Catterick not only gain on the length of the journey, but also benefit from the timing of the return departures. By road, Liverpool is about a four-hour run, as compared with six or seven hours on the train via Darlington. The special coaches leave the Pier Head on the Sunday at midnight, which is a good deal later than the rail departure time_ Even the Hull contingent does not leave until 11.30 p.m., whilst the Lancaster coach makes its departure at 1.45 a.m. on Monday.
Before the High Court gave its momentous decision, bookings for many of the coaches from Catterick
Camp were arranged by Mr. A. Tyler, of Tyler's Taxi Service, Catterick, an ex-member of the Royal Army Service Corps. For a long time he arranged for vehicles to be supplied by many operators over a wide surrounding area and no fewer than 75 such coaches were run, representing about 2,400 men, on August Bank Holiday, 1951. As previously indicated a similar number is licensed at present.
Mr.. Tyler is now acting as an agent for Sunter Bros. and for Hall Bros., Ltd., South Shields. Whilst most of the Catterick services are run on excursion licences, the Hall Bros. route, which covers towns from Doncaster to Leicester, is a variation of this operator's express-serv.ice route from South Shields to Coventry and single fares can be offered, as well as return facilities.
Bee-Line, Percivals and United are linked in the Catterick Leave Services organization. Similar services are provided from the R.A.F. Catterick Aerodrome by Percivals, but, as this station has only about a tenth of the population of Catterisk Camp, it is obviously not so easy to make up full loads for even relatively populous places.
Short Cut Lost
At the nearby Leeming R.A.F. Station an extension of the main runway has cut the route giving the quickest access to the Great North Road, so that Service personnel and their families wishing to join longdistance transport must make their way on foot for a couple of miles to link up with the buses. What is now the shortest available connection between the main highway and the R.A.F. station is a lane unsuitable for public seevice vehicles, although it is now in the course of reconstruction. The airmen appear to be sanguine that good services will be available when, at long last, the road is in a fit state to carry large vehicles.
There is a fair certainty that local services will he provided, so that single men will get away more easily on leave and families' shopping trips will be facilitated. Whether the general optimism over the longer-distance services is justified remains to be seen when the results are announced of the appeal by Sunter Bros. that is pending with regard to coach services to London, Glasgow, Newcastle and Liverpool.