Annual Works Outings

These are all annual works outings official photos which came out of my late father's effects. Some of them are not labelled on the front, so I will endeavor to explain them to you. Most of these photos are taken on the main Keighley to Skipton road. If they tried to stand at these same places like that today, there would be traffic mayhem and they would all be run over! It's a reflection of the increase in private car ownership that they went by coach. Also the Cooperative Society outing went to Southport, very posh! Whereas the local engineering works went to Blackpool, very working class!

The first one is labelled on the back - Glusburn Mills outing. Twelve coaches, July 19th 1952

The second one is labelled and reads - Keighley Industrial Cooperative Society Sports Club - Outing to Southport 24th June 1952 16 Coaches

The third one is untitled, but I would imagine it’s 1952/3 because the LWL coaches are at the front of the convoy.

The fourth one is labelled - Dean Smith & Grace Ltd (Outing to Blackpool) 17 10 1956 18 Coaches. It shows how they set so much store on this job that the area traffic supervisor turned out on the day and is leaning against the corner of the front coach, with the driver.

The fifth one is untitled, but has 1958 written on the reverse.

Finally the 8th June 1961. Seventeen coach line-up. Coaches required to take 600 VIP guests from York railway station to the Minster for the royal wedding of Katherine Worsley to the Duke of Kent. The convoy then travelled to Hovingham Hall where this photo was taken. Vehicles lined up were West Yorkshire Road Car Bedford OB CP1, CUG 11 and CUGs 29-15 (going from left to right).

I do hope you found the pictures of interest and if you have any similar shots of outings requiring several coaches why not tag them on to this gallery.

David Rhodes
03/2013

22/03/13 - 17:11

What an interesting selection! Doesn't JWU 892 in the top picture look old, in comparison with her cousin JYG in the second one? And all for a bit of decorative trim!

Pete Davies

23/03/13 - 08:04

Annual Outings/Wakes Weeks show the tremendous cultural North/South Divide. I worked in a factory near Wimbledon for my first nine working months and nobody ever suggested a day's outing to Brighton/Bognor/Southend etc. When I lived in Southsea, my abiding memory is of dozens of red LTE RT's parking on Southsea Common, on a garage outing, each garage identifiable on its blind. And that's about it. It was a literal busman's holiday for the drivers! I would have loved to have taken a ride on that quite challenging run, in a full vehicle, climbing around the Devil's Punchbowl, at Hindhead.

Chris Hebbron

23/03/13 - 16:15

David
That is a magical selection of views.
Your caption that comments on the fact that a senior manager attended is well chosen. The logistics in making available that number of vehicles and drivers, even in what was a reasonably large company, is by no means insignificant and the planning would have been done at a reasonably senior level. Both coaches and drivers would almost certainly have had to be be gathered from several different depots, and it would have been a matter of company pride to see that all went off well.
An interesting feature of all except the wedding set is that the newest coaches are at the front of the line. Were the more senior employees allocated to these? In the last picture, one wonders whether the OB, with its additional sightseeing windows was for a particular group, or simply making up the numbers. The position in the line-up suggests the former.
Also of note in the two Co-op Society views is that one of the drivers clearly did not have the regulation long summer overcoat, and is simply in the normal black uniform. Did he get a dressing down for not being properly equipped, I wonder!

Alan Murray-Rust

23/03/13 - 17:52

Probably the driver in the 'normal' black uniform was not a regular coach driver, and so would not have been issued with a white coat. Finding sufficient coach drivers for such a big job would at times have been a struggle and maybe he had been taken off his regular service bus duty to make up the numbers.

John Stringer

24/03/13 - 15:04

What a superb selection of happy pictures of the immaculate competence of West Yorkshire RCC in those halcyon days. I really can almost feel the tears welling up at the sight of all that glorious machinery in such a dignified livery. No silly zany polka dots and scarcely repairable and incomprehensible swoops and dives in non compatible meaningless colours. I have no regrets at all about being in my eighth decade, because me and my contemporaries really have seen the golden days of the industry.

Chris Youhill (stage name Victor Meldrew)

25/03/13 - 12:38

The line-up of the wonderful WYRCC Bristol LL6B coaches in the top photo brings back very fond memories of a West Yorkshire Information Service tour to Lincolnshire RCC and Grimsby CT and Cleethorpes CT in 1955. We had the choice of the two WYRCC coaches used for the tour, which comprised Bristol LL6B CB 2 and Bristol LWL6B CBW 5. I remember opting for CB 2 as it seemed to me to be more truly "Bristol." What lovely memories of an excellent "Tilling" company.
I feel like Chris Y regarding present-day coach liveries and what an excellent choice of stage name.

Richard Fieldhouse

28/03/13 - 09:03

Only just picked up on this thread and thrilled to see such a fine selection of official photos when WYRCC were proud to offer these outings.
I am familiar with the first (Glusburn) photo, and pleased to say that the buildings seen are still extant, but the mill is no longer a textile mill but a circlip manufacturer with a fraction of the workforce. David is right to suggest it being impossible to stage such a view today on this very busy section of road. Considering that all the coaches are facing back towards Keighley (from whence they came), the very act of reversing them all must have been quite a logistical nightmare as there were no roundabouts or turning circles to use at that time. To stage such a line-up must have required an earlier clocking-on time for the drivers or a later start for the trippers.
The second, fourth and fifth views look to be taken on Skipton Road, just beyond Kildwick (but actually in Farnhill). This was the first dead straight section of road out of Keighley long enough to accommodate all the coaches safely. I have lived overlooking this section of road for a number of years (off to the left) and would have loved to photograph them from an elevated position.
Ref. photo four, Dean Smith and Grace still exist (a Keighley lathe manufacturer now a shadow of their former glory).
Even though I remember being on such outings myself many years ago, I can't remember how they arranged their "rest stops". Assuming they were heading for Blackpool, Southport or Morecambe, the usual watering holes en-route couldn't possibly have coped with this amount of vehicles or people in one go, particularly when competing with the many other outings and service buses heading in the same direction.
Truly a lost world - thank you David for helping us to remember it.

Paul Haywood

01/04/13 - 08:32

Following the excellent prints of Annual Outings provided by David Rhodes, I include two more from my WRCC archive.
The first shows a lineup of coaches at Barbican Road, York about to depart for York Station to collect VIPs off a special train conveying guests to the Minster and on to Hoveringham Hall, returning to Malton Station for the Royal Wedding of Katherine Worsley to the Duke of Kent in 1961 The crews had just been fortified with bacon butties.

David Allen

01/04/13 - 08:34

The second shot looks as if it is at Chelker Reservoir on the A65 between Addingham and Skipton. Could be wrong of course.

Peter

01/04/13 - 09:35

Yes Peter, my second shot was taken on the A65 at Chelker Reservoir, hardly a place to stop in todays traffic. It was taken in 1951 on the occasion of Yeadon Charities Association Annual Outing to the West Coast. Most if not all the relatively new WYRCC coach fleet must have been on show that day.

David Allen

01/04/13 - 09:42

I thought it was I lived for a short while just down the road at Draughton.

Peter

01/04/13 - 09:45

I would agree, Peter, about the second picture being alongside Chelker Reservoir - although the water level is rarely, if ever, as low as that these days. The picture brings back very fond, but unrelated, memories for me as an Ilkley depot conductor in the early 1960s. Service 76 was my all time favourite and the 06:50 from Ilkley to Skipton was a rural delight - cup of tea in the old bus station cafe before operating the 07:30 on the wonderful two and a half hour trip (each way) to Tadcaster. On this particular duty though the crew came off in Ilkley at 08:00 while the bus sailed on to Otley, Harrogate, Wetherby and Tadcaster - we nipped into the depot to collect EB2 or EB3 to provide 31 seat luxury on the 08:15 "extra" service 68 to Bradford via Shipley Canal Road. This vehicle was parked at Bradford for the day while we operated the 09:15 to Ilkley on service 63 with a Bradford depot car - the Bradford crew of which rode upstairs in style before taking it over "bar t'at" at 10:03 in Brook Street. What enjoyable and fascinating duties, and then we had our breakfast before part two !!

Chris Youhill

01/04/13 - 09:51

Thank you everyone for your very kind and considered responses to these photos. Firstly in reply to Alan Murray Rust's question re the OB I have just found out after having had that photo for years,that the Bedford was used by the band. Hope they did not have many large instruments!I totally agree with Chris Youhill about liveries of the pre National bus liveries which were swept away with such arrogant haste. The asset strippers then did the same with the bus depots and stations.I find it too upsetting to visit my old haunts because my fond memories of happy times are erased.No Vicar Lane, Grove Park etc. For the rest stops on the journey to the coast, I remember the Cross Keys and Ye Old Naked Man, the latter I think was in Settle.The stop on the journey to Scarborough I think was a typical 30s road house pub but I dont remember the name. As kids in the 50s there was a great sense of adventure on a day's excursion - something which today's kids don't have or understand. The journey to Scarborough was punctuated by going through York trying to gather up as many bus numbers as possible because that fleet was very unusual. One other punctuation was going past the "bad boys' home" on the side of the A64 when my brother was threatened that if he didn't behave for the day, he'd be left there on the way back. Child abuse?...
The biggest adventure of the year was to catch the night coach from Keighley to London Victoria just for a day out. The journey down the old A1 was utterly absorbing and eventually the sound of the old Gardner engine on the LS sent you to sleep. Of course we knew the regular crews who wore their uniforms and long service badges with pride. As Chris says, I think we saw the best days as reflected in these photos.
I will try to look out some articles about the Yorkshire service's run to London.

David Rhodes

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