A view of the east side of the High Street Stockton looking towards the Town Hall. c1957 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of the east side of the High Street Stockton looking towards the Town Hall. c1957
Having chanced upon this thread, I would recommend a book “Stockton Corporation Transport” by Peter Cardno and David Hunter. This includes lists of all bus routes in Stockton, by all operators, at various dates between the thirties and sixties as well as lots of photographs. Incidentally the “Blumers” service mentioned was taken over by United and became the 67, which went from Great Broughton to Hartlepool via Middlesbrough, Stockton and West Hartlepool. After a while (probably as a wartime economy) the Middlesbrough – Stockton bit was withdrawn, and the Hartlepool part became the 67A. As Billingham expanded there were introduced a 67B to the new estates, and a 67D to Wolviston
Stockton Corporation Transport. Transport manager in the 1940s/1950s was W.C.Wilson, he lived with his family in a large double fronted house in Hartburn Lane. His two sons Tony and Iain both attended Richard Hind School at the same time as myself. Both insisted that their father’s initials (WC) had been painted on the buses the wrong way round, it should actually have been CW Wilson – a pure signwriters error! And nobody noticed until 500 buses had been painted!!
The youngest one of the Wilsons, Ian I think was in my class at RH. He was a really good swimmer. At the start of the new academy year he was missing. We found out later he was sent to the Barnard Castle boys College.
It was Adrian Wilson, who attended Richard Hind Juniors. His father ran a swimming club at Stockton Baths, that was why Adrian was such a good swimmer.
Just to add another peculiarity to the “O” bus route that travelled from Norton to North Ormesby. I used this bus to get to my Convent school in Middlesbrough 1944/51; caught it from outside Rossi”s on the High Street. We asked for a “tuppeny scholars” and were always given two tickets, a pink one and a blue one, presumably to ensure that each Corporation got their share of the profits. If we travelled on the lower deck we knew we would be standing all the way through Thornaby, the Wilderness and Newport Road but the upper deck was a health hazard, the air was blue with smoke, with much coughing and spluttering. Other than the Middlesbrough buses being blue and the Stockton ones green I can”t recall that there was much difference between them.
I add this comment to aid any future researchers of Stockton High Street, buildings etc. This photo was taken in approx 1960/61 even maybe 1962. The car at centre left is a Triumph Herald Coupe. The Triumph Herald saloon did not appear until autumn 1959 and I think the coupe followed later. There would not be a huge number of Triumph Heralds sold between September and December 1959.
My Mother who is now 85 remembers a bus company called ” Bloomers ” she thinks the buses were blue. She remembers catching them in the early 1930″s ( ? ). She thinks that they came from Billingham to Norton and then into Stockton. She also remembers going on a tram from Norton to North Ormesby, again in the 1930’s.She remembers getting bus tickets which allowed you up to four journeys a day.
The red livery of the Stockton buses that Anon remembers was inherited from the Imperial Tramways that operated locally until they were taken over by the Stockton and Thornaby Corporations in 1921. The colours were vermilion and white. When the two Boroughs took over the operation in their area they added their crests and from 1931 Stockton buses adopted the vermilion colour with three white bands and a white roof and the Stockton Borough crest. The green and cream livery was adopted in 1947. Does anyone remember the wooden seats of the WWII buses?
Yes – I remember wooden seats on some of the buses, not uncomfortable.
It”s just dawned on me that the comments about bus liveries were referring to much earlier times, i.e. pre-war. I believe that Corporation buses wore a red and white livery back in those days.
Stockton buses were definitely green. The Red ones were operated by United Automobile Services. United also owned Durham & District, which was a ploy to exploit a loophole in the law, allowing them to run extra services as bus legislation was much tougher in those days.
Anon I too can vividly remember the Stockton buses being red. I was born in 1937. I think that when it became a Labour town the colour changed to green.
Regarding the colours of Stockton buses,unless my memory is playing one of its frequent tricks,while I well remember the green buses I seem to remember them being red when I was very young. [ I was born 1933} I also remember Stockton getting several London buses with open stairs to the top deck. I hope somebody else remembers the red buses then I”ll know I”m not losing my marbles.
I remember the Northern Routemaster buses on the 55 service and recently saw a preserved example on Durham Road, Stockton, early one Sunday morning, probably heading for a vintage vehicle display. A friend who drove for United recalls once having to drive a Routemaster which had suffered a puncture at Middlesbrough back home. He much preferred it to the United buses he normally drove.
The services 21 and 24 united buses went to Darlington. My friends and l travelled on these buses in the early 60s going to the convent school in Darlington and yes the seats were very prickly.
The United 67B terminated on the Junction estate in Billingham and I”m sure the 24 went to Sunderland. Another bus service you didn”t mention was the Durham District Services that I sometimes used on my way home from school during the early 1950″s.
United renumbered their routes in the early 70″s by adding a 2 to the front. i.e the 72 from Middlesbrough to Billingham via Stockton became the 272. The 55 to Durham was unchanged, perhaps because it was a joint service with Northern General. Interestingly, Northern had a fleet of about 50 Routemaster buses, similar to the ones recently retired from London service. Does anyone else remember seeing them on the 55 in the late 60s? Stan Hilton. The blue/green buses normally ran through from Norton to Ormesby. I can only assume that the transfer you recall was due to some hiccup in the service.
Mary Scott: United bus numbers I remember were, the 73 to Redcar, 38 Durham via Fishburn, 55 Newcastle via Durham, 21 to Darlington and a 67/67B to Billingham. This would be in the late 1950s. There was also a No. 24. Did this go to Hartlepool or Sunderland? Not sure. In the 50s/early 60s there were also firms like Transport Motor Services, who ran Stockton – Bishop Auckland, later taken over by Trimdon Motor Services (TMS), Crowe”s of Swainby, and Scurrs of Stillington and Wilkinsons of Sedgefield, the latter taken over by United -and subsequently ruined – in the late 1960s.
I was a big fan of the 4 minutes “O” bus service in the 1940″s when I think the fare was 1d (penny) from Tilery to the High street. Although I never rode the full route from Norton to Ormesby I seem to remember that at one time you had to change from the green Stockton bus onto the blue Middlesbrough bus halfway along the Wilderness (Middlesbrough Road) that went past the Stockton Race Course. Can anyone confirm this or is it a figment of my imagination.
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE BUS THAT CRASHED THROUGH THE RAILINGS OF THE BRIDGE THAT CROSSED LUSTRUM BECK ON NORTON ROAD JUST OPPOSITE THE MAIN GATES TO F HILLS & SONS, I”M NOT SURE WHAT THE YEAR WAS I KNOW I WOULD BE AROUND 8 OR 10 YEARS OLD, I LIVED IN SWAINBY ROAD THEN, I THINK IT MAY HAVE BEEN AROUND 1955-56.
MARY SCOTT;- I SEEM TO REMEMBER UNITED BUS NUMBERS BEING HIGH NUMBERS IE; 205, 206, WHEN I WAS AGED ABOUT 8, MY DAD WOULD TAKE ME TO VISIT MY GRANDPARENTS WHO LIVED IN GUISBOROUGH, WE GOT THE O BUS TO MIDDLESBROUGH BUS STATION THEN WE GOT A UNITED BUS No 65 TO GUISBOROUGH THATS THE ONLY LOW NUMBER I CAN REMEMBER.
Mary Scott: Spot on about the comfort. I used to catch the joint 55 service Middlesbrough – Durham -Newcastle from Stockton in the late 1950s and always preferred it when it was a Northern bus from the Newcastle end, as opposed to the Uniteds from Middlesbrough. The Gardner engines of the Uniteds -though evidently good engines – had a monotonous drone which became very wearing after a while and it was the best part of a two hour journey. The Northern buses seemed better on this count. In addition the Uniteds seemed for some reason to often emit a tremendous squealing of brakes every time they pulled up, great for setting your teeth on edge. It”s only recently that the companies seem to have realised that urban buses are not good enough for what was a fairly lengthy journey of around forty miles. Incidentally, I remember being told by a bus inspector that the post-1968 Teesside bus livery, a sort of turquoise colour was an attempted amalgam of the former blue of Middlesbrough and the green of Stockton. The later Cleveland Transit green was closer to the old Stockton colour.
I remember the “O” buses very well. Blue for M”bro and Green for Stockton. They ran every 4 minutes. What a service, not like today. My busfare to work at Thornaby cost 2 1/2p. My wife and I went to Stockton by bus recently. From Derwent Street, Norton to the Town Hall cost 95p for my wife, I had the Pensioners “bus pass.
All this talk about buses. Can anyone remember the United buses? I can”t recall the numbers, but just that the seats were covered in horrible prickly material!
Eric Collins & Barry Parkin. You are both correct in the colours and number of he joint service that operated between Norton and North Ormesby. Middlesbrough buses were blus ans Stocktons green. United buses also ran double deckers with the upstairs seat on one side.
Eric Collins – You are correct in in thinking the the O bus was a joint venture between Middlesbrough and Stockton councils. The reason O was used was because Middlesbrough buses used letters to designate their routes, whereas Stockton used numbers. Therefore O could be found on both undertaking”s destination blinds.
I can remember the blue buses on the “O” service, Norton Green to North Ormesby. The blue buses belonged to Middlesbrough Corporation with the motto “Erimus” on the side. I think this service was a joint one with Stockton, I”m sure green buses appeared on the “O” service – but it was along while ago…
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE “O” BUS,IT WAS BLUE AND CAME FROM MIDDLESBROUGH THROUGH STOCKTON ONTO NORTON AND TURNED ROUND AT NORTON GREEN ON ITS WAY BACK TO MIDDLEBROUGH, I CAN ALSO REMEMBER A BUS WITH THE SEATS UPSTAIRS WERE ONLY DOWN ONE SIDE OF THE BUS, AND THEY MUST HAVE SEATED 6 PEOPLE, IF YOU WERE SAT NEAR THE WINDOW AND WANTED TO BE OFF, 5 PEOPLE WOULD HAVE TO GET UP AND STAND IN THE SMALL ISLE TO LET YOU OUT.
Apologies for appearing impossibly pedantic, but this great photo of Stockton High Street is probably sometime after 1957, as the car in the foreground, a Triumph Herald Coupe, was built between 1959-61, so post 1959 might be a better bet.
I was one of those young tykes who did somersaults. I remember doing them waiting for the no 7 bus to Thornaby to visit my gran.
Jean Miller: Thanks for this information. Evidently, bus nos,. 3 & 7 was a joint service which took in Thornaby, Stockton, Norton, Roseworth and Hartburn, with the numbers changing over en-route. Those double-deckers without rear doors were certainly chilly in winter and I remember the conductors/conductresses wearing half – mitts in the winter. They needed their fingers free for handling the money. We were always being told to “move along the bus” or “hurry along”. Daring to venture upstairs on the No 8 in the morning rush was the equivalent of smoking 20 Capstan Full Strength and sounded like a T B ward, hence the warning Spitting Prohibited! Finally, trying to catch a bus out of town at Leeds Street at a busy time. Forget it! No chance, as they sailed past full.
In “Memories of Stockton” (1997), there is an air photo of Stockton High Street in 1973 , which really shows its true width, not the “bus-jams” of to-day. Over 300 cars are in the centre from the Parish Church to south of the Shambles and either side of the Street carries 3 lines of traffic N & S eg : near Silver Street one bus parked , another alongside and cars passing with ease. This picture also shows the old and new buildings and workshops of Head Wrightsons across the Tees
Notice the netting fitted on the bus stop railings? If I recall it correctly, that was put there to stop us young tykes playing a favourite game of holding onto the rail and doing somersaults, rolling around over the bar. I think some young lad was badly injured when he fell off in front of a bus.
Anon – I seem to remember the bus that I got home to Hartburn was the number 3 (possibly late fifties/sixties ) I can”t remember exactly the dates. I do remember though that it cost a penny halfpenny to get from the Hartburn terminus to my school – Queen Vic. That was half price. The number 3 bus was green. The other bus that could be taken from town to Hartburn was a double decker red bus – number 21 ( I think!! ).
The No:9/9A bus-stop was directly outside Littlewoods and the No:8 bus-stop was a touch further up to the left of Littlewoods.
DAVE MOODY, WHEN I WENT TO VISIT MY AUNT WHO LIVED IN RUDYARD AVE ROSEWORTH, I CAUGHT THE No 7 BUS, AND GOT OFF NEAR THE KIORA HALL. YOU ARE CORRECT ABOUT HAVING NO DOORS AT THE REAR AND JUST A POLE TO HOLD ONTO, ONCE AS THE BUS WAS LEAVING STOCKTON HIGH STREET A WOMAN WAS STOOD AT THE REAR OF THE BUS WITH A BRUSH SHANK, AS THE BUS PULLED AWAY A MAN RAN AFTER IT AND JUMPED ON THINKING HE WAS GRABBING THE POLE BUT HE GRABBED THE BRUSH SHANK, AND ENDED UP ON HIS BACK IN THE HIGH STREET WITH THE BRUSH SHANK IN HIS HAND.
Were the Stockton Corporation Transport services 3 and 7 operated as a joint bus service to Hartburn and Thornaby, with the number changing en route, in the 1950s? I would catch this bus each day and I remember the 3/7 stopping outside of the police houses at the top of Ragpath Lane and the crew would have a short break at this point. It ran through Roseworth via Ragpath Lane,Redhill Road and Rosslare Road then Junction Road to Norton. Before Roseworth was built up the No. 8 terminus was by Ragworth shops.I also remember a service 3A which ran ,I think, to Primrose Hill and Eastbourne.In C1963-64 there were the trials of the Atlantean type buses on the 9 service to Hardwick, prior to this high capacity type being ordered.Another thing which amusingly sticks in the mind was the chorus of disapproval aimed at the conductors one day when the fare from the Mile and a Half into Stockton went up from 3d to 4d.From my present stop (2007) it has gone up by 35p = 7 old shillings in the past three years.
The bus stop in the bottom right hand corner was outside Littlewoods (next to M&S). I used to get the number 8 bus from here to Roseworth. The no 8 went up past Redbrook School and the terminus was near Kiora Hall, where it turned round and went back to town. The no 3 bus, also stopped at this stop, but took a different route to Roseworth, via St Chads church, Roseworth shops and on to the terminus on Ragpath Lane,near Blakestone Lane school. The buses were green double deckers, with an opening at the rear (no doors)and a pole to hold onto. Where was health and safety?
These are really fantastic photos. Well done, this site is fantastic!