JIM Lynch received a fistful of replies when he asked about the route of the No 8 bus in Oxford (Oxford Mail, March 11).

Long-standing Oxonians were quick to point out on the paper’s letters page that it ran from Marston through the city centre to New Hinksey, turning round at Canning Crescent, at the southern end of Abingdon Road.

Originally, the Marston terminus was in Croft Road, but when the Northway and Headley estates were built, the route was extended to serve those two new communities, with the termini at Meaden Hill and Fortnam Close respectively.

When the new estates opened, passengers at New Marston often complained that peak-hour buses were full by the time they reached their stops.

Memory Lane this week

The No 8 also served Old Marston, although earlier, passengers for Old Marston and the neighbouring villages of Elsfield and Beckley had to catch single decker buses, Nos 71 and 72.

Today, the No 8 bus runs from the city centre to Barton, while Marston and Northway are served by the 13 which runs between Abingdon and the John Radcliffe Hospital.

A feature of the bus routes of yesteryear was that all city services ran from one side of the city to the other, through the city centre.

Cornmarket Street and Queen Street were a free-for-all for buses in both directions.

The No 1 route would take passengers from the railway station to Cowley and later Blackbird Leys.

No 2 ran from Headington to Cutteslowe or Summertown. If you wanted to go to Kidlington, you caught the No 94 from Gloucester Green bus station.

No 3 took you from Rose Hill to Kingston Road, and the No 4 from Westbury Crescent to Wolvercote.

Nos 5, 6 and 7 ran from Headington Quarry and Wood Farm to estates in the Botley area, and the buses were specially adapted to squeeze under Oxford station bridge.

Passengers who went upstairs walked along a passage on the right hand side of the bus, then sat on a long bench-type seat stretching to the left-hand side – inconvenient for everyone if you were sitting by the window and wanted to get off.

Those sitting downstairs on the right had to be careful too - not to bump their heads on the low-slung ceiling!

In those days, buses would often reverse at the terminus, with the conductor or conductress acting as lookout. With the introduction of one-man buses, this manoeuvre was considered too dangerous.

In the post-war years, all city and many country services were run by City of Oxford Motor Services (now Oxford Bus Company) and controlled by Traffic Commissioners, who also had to agree fare increases.

Since then, there have been major changes in Oxford’s bus industry. Stagecoach has become a major player alongside Oxford Bus Company, cross-city routes have been cut by the closure of Cornmarket Street, park-and-ride has become a major success, Oxford’s bus fleets are among the greenest in the country and bus patronage in the city remains consistently high.

  • Do you have any memories of the old city and country bus services to share with readers? Write and let me know.


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