green bus service/ warstone motors

[Bob]

Anyone remember them? Largely concentrated in the Cannock & Wolverhampton area, their once immaculate fleet gradually degenerated into a load of tatty breadvans! I think they got done by Vosa for the state of some of them, it was a real shame

[D10]

yes I remember their really smart Leopards and Antlanteans running into Wolverhampton. Also I think they had some preserved vehilces too, not sure what happened to those.

[Tony]

The two old bedford sinle decks are still owned by the former proprietor of Green Bus and are kept at the former depot in Great Wyrley. The rest of the vehicles have been sold off

[andyr]

The Bedfords were advertised for sale in a recent issue of bus & coach preservation. I did some driving for them back in 2000. The fleet was well looked after in those days. The Leyland lepords were so different to the Neoplans i had been driving. Graham always tried to keep the same bus  on a regular route. happy days.

[Bob]

They went terribly downhill after about 2002 and gradually introduced awful mercedes breadvans :-( the  stupid 2015 low floor rule wouldve sadly finished them off eventually probably

[Badger]

Happened to walk past the Mercedes' parked up at Leicester Great Central station in 2010, not sure where they went from there.

They were a great company in their day but they went downhill when they lost their conductors and the buses started falling apart. They lost their license over it: http://www.expressandstar.com/latest/2009/11/11/bus-firm-must-stop-operating/

A good flickr about them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8050359@N07/sets/72157603888954956/

Such a shame that this is how now they're remembered: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcw1987/4913905358/

[Justin Tyme]

Warstone Motors started running buses in the mid-1970s.  Their first service was Cannock - Penkridge, which I believe replaced an operator who had ceased trading.  The first two vehicles were a Leyland Olympian (1956 single-decker 521 CTF) and a Bedford OB coach (GCA 747).  Services gradually expanded, reaching Bishops Wood and Telford, and cheap fares brought very good loadings.  Soon the first double decker (Guy Arab YTH 815) joined the fleet.

Further expansion came in 1980 when the Midland Red /WMPTE Chaserider scheme came in.  Warstone (now trading as Green Bus) now ran Cannock - Longford Estate - Calf Heath, Wolverhampton - Landywood and part of Wolverhampton - Brewood.  More work still came a few years later with the demise of Blue Bus Services of Rugeley around 1984, which saw Green Bus running regularly into Walsall and even Birmingham for a time.

It is best remembered for old, fascinating and well-maintained vehicles (the Bedford OB and OWB were used on normal service on occasions for the benefit of enthusiasts), and also for its use of traditional Bell Punch tickets for many years.  It was very sad to see the firm go.

[Bob]

who ran the cannock-longford-wolves service prior to 1980? ( the number 10)? as the bus stop outside the longford island shell garage said 'west midlands' but maybe one of their walsall services went that way?

[Justin Tyme]

who ran the cannock-longford-wolves service prior to 1980? ( the number 10)? as the bus stop outside the longford island shell garage said 'west midlands' but maybe one of their walsall services went that way?

Green Bus started the number 10.  West Midlands PTE did run Wolverhampton - Cannock direct (inherited from Wolverhampton Corporation) until 1973, when it passed to Midland Red, becoming their 872.  This is the only West Midlands service I can find that went round Longford island.  Others went nearby (e.g Longford Road and Hampton Street), but not along Wolverhampton Road as far as I know.

Just a thought - might the stop have since been used by another operator, whose name may have peeled off?

[Bob]

blimey i forgot the 872 far better than the crap 70 & 68 we got now an much quicker