Heswall Bus Station 1986-2026: The deregulated years.

 

The former Crosville depot, now a Aldi store. 

Nowhere exemplifies the trials, tribulations, entrepreneurship and shear recklessness of the bus deregulation years than Heswall Bus Station. From October 2026, Heswall and the rest of Wirral will become one of two areas on Merseyside returning to franchised services: operated by Go Ahead and under the control of the metro mayor. 

First, a bit of history. Mr. Pye, who had been in the motor omnibus and motor coach business since 1919, had a fleet of about 20 vehicles and ran routes between Heswall and Birkenhead. In January 1924 Crosville purchased the business of Johnny Pye. With the business and buses, there was a plot of land in Heswall that also transferred to Crosville.  Very shortly after purchase, a new depot and a Bus Station were built on this land in Telegraph Road and a variety of vehicles arrived including Crosville’s first Bristol vehicle, a 1919 Bristol 4-ton chassis with Ch28 bodywork. The allocation in 1947 was 27, in 1956 it was 32, in 1959 - 33, in 1965 - 33 and in 1970 - 26.   

The depot closed on 4th September 1988 and buses transferred to Rock Ferry and West Kirby.  The Heswall depot premises were demolished and are now the site of a public house called the 'Johnny Pye'. The Bus Station also closed in 1988 but was eventually re-developed on the same site. Today, between the bus station and pub is a road called Pye Road. The modern ‘band stand’ bus station has three loading bays and additional space for two buses to layover.

In March 1988 ATL (Western) purchased Crosville England upon privatisation of NBC and a year later sold it on to the Drawlane Group. Subsequent depot sales and various brand name changes saw PMT, First Bus and Stagecoach take ownership of various parts of the former Crosville empire on Wirral.

Throughout the privatised years, Heswall has seen a mix of tendered (Merseytravel) and commercial bus services. The big groups also took the opportunity to battle each other and occasionally attempt to remove the smaller independents. Arriva became the dominant operator for some considerable while occasionally losing tendered routes to the likes of Avon Bus who would become the largest independent operator on Wirral. Arriva in turn would clash with First Bus on the core routes into Liverpool before First sold its Wirral operations to Stagecoach. A sensible solution was eventually negotiated by Merseytravel with one of its first quality contracts whereby the operators shared the two Liverpool routes with equal number of buses and shared revenue. Stagecoach also turned its attention to route 22 (West Kirby-Chester), a tendered service with additional financial support from Cheshire County Council, that had alternated over the years between Arriva and Avon Bus. Stagecoach registered some commercial workings but soon realised the errors of their ways and retreated.   

Route mileage from the bus station has reduced in the past forty years with many residential areas now devoid of buses, many frequencies greatly reduced and other routes convoluted in an attempt to service hospitals and shopping centres. More recently the situation has stabilised, and routes and schedules have seen little change whilst the number of operators has also settled down. Stagecoach/Arriva share the core 471/472 Liverpool route, Happy Al’s have the 22 and most of the local school routes, whilst A2B from nearby Prenton have been a constant on the smaller local routes. 

From October 2026 the franchise for all bus services on Wirral has been awarded to Go Ahead and school services awarded to St Helens based Huyton Travel part of Tower Transit. The future for smaller operators is uncertain and it is likely that Heswall will once again become a one operator bus station.         

Crosville fleet name with PMT colours on route 23 to Meols.

Merseybus XEM 905W, Leyland Atlantean/Alexander H43/32F on the 172 to Woodside. 

Avon Buses, Prenton, AE08 DKU. Alexander Dennis Dart SLF/MCV B40F on the 22 to Caldy Crossroads, (note the Jonny Pie pub in the background). 

First Bus A144 SMA. Leyland Olympian/ECW H45/32F on the 72 to New Ferry.

Eazibus MX09 AOC. Optare Solo M880SL B28F, on the local 73 service.

Arriva MX13 ADV, Volvo B5LH with Wright H43/23F body with Cross River livery, for the 472 to Liverpool.

E567 MAC, Talbot B20F. Ex Barrow on the 135 to Eastham Ferry.

Al's HA21 ALS. Alexander Dennis E20D MMC B41F on the 22 to West Kirby.

Bus and Coach World

The many colours of Bracknell.

 

Alighting at Reading railway station for the first time in 20 years, it was amazing to see how the area inside the station had been transformed. However, it was a shame that the same could not be said for the immediate area outside the station. I remember James Freeman, when MD of Reading Buses, saying that a lack of consultation resulted in the loss of the bus station immediately outside Reading railway station, in favour of a vehicle free grand piazza. Today, what welcomes you in place of a grand piazza is a great chasm, as Reading mines for either hidden minerals or Dante’s Inferno. However, that matters very little as it is a quick dash into the surrounding side streets in search of bus service X4 to Bracknell. 

                                                                                                                        

A pride of lions. Below YX73 PHK and above KX59 GNV (ex Portsmouth University) showing the contrasting ‘Lion’ livery. Both are departing on service 4 to Reading. As hoped for, the day got off to a roaring start: the bus that arrived was one of the new Alexander Dennis E40D MMC ‘s in the revised ‘Lion’ livery. We settled into smart leather seats (top deck front of course): checked out the contactless phone charging pad, peered through the full-length sun roof and admired the ambient lighting and set off at a sedate pace (X for express?) to a cacophony of squeaks and rattles along the very straight A329. A visit to Wokingham Railway Station before pulling into the town centre for a short layover and then onto the epitome of 1960’s pre-cast concrete, Bracknell. On route enjoyed a tour around one of the industrial parks and the derelict dry ski slope, although the alpine chalet hotel at the summit remains open. Around the ring road, passing the railway station and the site where the First depot once stood, we arrive at the all too familiar bus station. The one constant on the Bracknell bus scene is the bus station. Whilst numerous operators have come and gone, Thames Valley, Beeline, First, and Courtney to name a few, the bus station has changed little. The greasy spoon café is as rough and cheap as ever; the toilets are indescribable with the mural no longer a diversion; the former information shop now a focal point for staff to loiter, and the remaining retail outlet long closed. However, the one major redeeming feature is the buses. Today, the majority are under Reading Buses management and trade as Thames Valley, with White Bus coming in on a couple of irregular services. Reading has invested heavily in new buses in an assortment of liveries, whilst still retaining a few of the former Courtney fleet. Visiting on a dull Monday in February, passenger loading looked light on the town services but slightly better on services out-of-town. One negative observation was that the buses could do with a good clean as the exterior on many buses showed signs of several days’ road dirt. With so much redevelopment in the centre of Bracknell, it is encouraging that the bus station survives especially as it is conveniently adjacent to both the shopping precinct and railway station. The level of bus provision also belies Bracknell’s status as a new town built around a road network designed for the car.     Former Courtney YY67 HDO about to depart on half-hourly service 194 to Camberley. The service extends four time a day to Farnborough.  Above: Reading Buses FL73 WND departing on service 703 for Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 via Slough and Windsor. The 18 daily departures have an erratic headway from Bracknell but become a 30-minute headway when combined with short workings from Slough. Below: how things were when First operated the route. Above: Two AD E20D’s in a rather drab Thames Valley livery. Front YX68 ULZ and behind YX65 RKK, both ex Courtney although RKK was originally an Alexander Dennis demonstrator. Below: YX73 PGZ arrives into the bus station on service 171, an every 30 minute circular around the town via Hanworth. The livery displays a variation of the bird motif used originally by Courtney.     Two variations on a colour theme: Above: SN69 ZMZ laying over and below YX22 OJG about to depart on service 194 to Camberley.   Two ex-Courtney buses still in service with Thames Valley. Above: KX64 AEJ returning to the bus station on service 150, a 27 minute circular via Binfield. Below: YX67 UYP about to depart on service 156, a 25 minute circular around the town.          In the past.     Left, First Bus, right two examples of Courtneys operation. Left, Beeline operating the 192. Centre the mural in the bus station toilet and a Mercedes laying over.  Bus and Coach World