When Stroud's buses were green (and even red)
Stroud's Buses
Stroud Bus Station
Both the Bus Station itself and the politics surrounding it have played a major part in the lives of Stroud residents from even before its initial opening in 1960, its part-rebuilding in 1972 and its temporary closure in 1992. To get a flavour if its ups and downs, read on...
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It was to the considerable benefit of Stroud's travelling public that in the 1950s the Bristol Omnibus Company embarked upon a series of terminus improvements. One such was at Stroud. Both the Company and the then Stroud Urban District Council were instrumental in moving this project forward, for the benefit of the town, even though there was some small opposition on the Council.
The Bus Station opened in 1960 on the old Armory site at Merrywalks, at the time adjacent to the former Ritz cinema. The Bus Station replaced a collection of on-street bus stops scattered throughout the town. It is an interesting aside that the development now being built on the site actually includes a cinema...
For its first eight years, buses would enter and leave at the same point, causing some traffic congestion on Merrywalks. A separate exit was built in 1968 and it was from that point that there was no further need for buses to reverse onto passenger stands and buses therefore began to pull on nose-first. Most buses had become front- rather than rear-entrance at this time, anyway.
Bus drivers in 1961 would have been all too aware of the results of a fire which destroyed the Ritz cinema then adjacent to the site. The fire left one wall which for some time was perilously poised over the drivers' canteen. The site of the former Ritz is where currently the multi-storey car park and Somerfield elements of the shopping centre now stand. Prior to Somerfield, the store was named Gateway and before that, it opened as Key Markets.
At the time, the Bus Station housed both a lubricating bay and bus wash. Buses were taken off service to be washed in the afternoon and this caused some difficulty for passengers on through services. Buses were also parked overnight in the Bus Station, as well as at London Road Depôt.
From the mid- to late-sixties, the Council pressed on with plans for developing the area immediately behind the Bus Station. A number of options were assessed from 1967.
1970 onwards: Rebuilding... and Improvement
Planning permission for the Merrywalks Shopping Centre's preferred option was granted in 1970, when building commenced. The centre was to occupy land behind the Bus Station towards Bath Street and then beyond to Russell Street, with the eventual stopping-up of Bath Street. As a result, the passenger platform had to be moved slightly in a north westerly direction towards what became a reduced reversing and layover area.
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The revised Bus Station opened in 1972 and was acclaimed as being among the most modern of its kind with more space for passengers, a canopy, lighting, lavatories, illuminated bay departure signs and grouping of departure stands. An escalator, subsequently deactivated and boxed in and replaced by two lifts, ran from the Bus Station platform to Merrywalks Shopping Centre above. The office block constructed for 1960 remained unaltered.
The opening of both the centre and revised Bus Station was hailed as a success for Stroud. It is interesting to note that during the late sixties the developers, Laing, viewed both the Bus Station and the adjacent multi-storey private car park (then with proposed petrol filling station beneath) as integral to the success of the new shopping centre!
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Following disputes over running costs at the site, the Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company (who by this time had succeeded the Bristol Omnibus Company) withdrew general passenger services from the Bus Station in February 1992. Services commenced on-street operation once again, as they had till 1960.
Buses stopped in Russell Street (three stops), George Street outside the Subscription Rooms and on Rowcroft. Prior to this, the Sub Rooms stop had been the only one in the town centre other than at the Bus Station and even then was designated as set down only for services between Stonehouse, Stroud and Chalford.
The exception to all this was for school and college children who, at the appropriate times, continued to use the Bus Station. They required the reservoir space available to marshal and change buses safely but in reality, many used on street stops instead. The Bus Station was also still used to park vehicles.
There were complaints from many in the town following on-street running. Stroud District Council purchased the site and buses returned from 1997.
1997: Council Era... Towards Redevelopment
Changes made during the late nineties were relatively few. In Stroud District Council's ownership, the former lay-over area has become a short-stay car park. This caused few operational problems as the numbers of buses at Stroud progressively reduced. The number of passenger bays diminished but only marginally and some were marked out at an angle to the passenger platform rather than perpendicular to it.
 It was rare indeed to see the Bus Station full of passengers in the late 1990s. The afternoon peak with its mixture of college students and returning shoppers was the closest to how things used to be |
Throughout this period of council ownership, there had been talk of redevelopment of the site. This and the reduced number of buses and passengers is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the Bus Station continued to have an air of neglect about it for it must have seemed wasteful to spend large amounts of money other than on patching on a site whose time had come.
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In spite of some patching, deterioration of the Bus Station platform surface was significant in places. Cracks such as these are nearly 2m long |
2001 and on: Stroud Bus Station... a Future?
After much prevarication, the bus station finally closed in March 2004. As work began on the site, so passengers faced "temporary" bus stops on Merrywalks itself... with the A46 to cross between stops.
The bus station site promises a cinema, bowling alley and more retail space, including anchor store Wilkinsons.
The much talked about transport interchange replacement for the bus station has yet to see the light of day. This follows problems between the rail authority, county and district councils as to how the allotted £2mil of transport grant for the site should be spent.
Two separate yet connected developments have shaped the future of Stroud's former bus terminus. The first was that owners of the Bus Station site, Stroud District Council, wished to push forward with its development. The Council negotiated for leisure use on the site (and adjacent multi storey car park and furniture store). The cinema will return the area to its 1939 position when the original Ritz was built.
Secondly, Gloucestershire County Council as transportation authority wished to build a Transport Interchange adjacent to the rail station. Details were published in 2001 in the Stroud Transport Strategy and besides an Interchange, included supporting sustainable transport such as enhanced pedestrian movements, cycle paths and 20 m.p.h. zones.
It would be best for passengers if the development of the existing site and Interchange had taken place together. The longer the negotiations over the cinema, the more likely this was to be. However, the rail funding upon which the Interchange was based is no longer available and either the Interchange will be developed to a lower specification or it will have to wait some years. Parties have failed to deliver.
The Stroud Transport Strategy recognised that there would probably be a need for an Interim Bus Station during the redevelopment of the current site and the completion of the Transport interchange. Several sites were mooted, including under the present Merrywalks multi-storey car park and opposite, on Merrywalks itself. Space would be at a premium. These interim measures did not appeal to passengers, some councillors or Stagecoach. In April 2002, then Stagecoach West & Wales' Commercial Director stated that he welcomed an integrated Transport Interchange but felt that the interim measures were unsatisfactory.
Protesters mounted a strong campaign against the interim measures and, indeed, the bus station's closure. This campaign, the last minute nature of the proposals and the fact that the interim measures were unsatisfactory to Stagecoach resulted in a reprieve for the bus station, which was due to close in July 2003. This followed the closure of the original 1960 building and offices in May 2003. The entire bus station was then due for final closure in August, September and then November 2003 and again in February 2004.
The interim measures at Merrywalks - which seem to look increasingly permanent - are by no means ideal. They are somewhat distant from the town centre and require older people to cross the busy A46 and walk up a pitch to the town itself. However, they have not been the operational disaster expected by passengers and the media.
Add the recent completion of the Hill Paul project, a scheme to refurbish the famous mill which has been a landmark of the Rail Station and Cheapside for many years, plus plans afoot at last to improve the GWR goods shed, to improve the appearance of empty property nearby and the lower Russell Street part of the town could still see major improvement... if and when the transport interchange is ever built.
Revised July 2004
For up-to-date information inlcuding the new bus terminus, click here