Wolverhampton Corporation Timetable 1942
To look at this Wolverhampton Corporation bus time issued in early 1942, there is nothing immediately obvious to show that Britain was living through some of the darkest days of WW2. The colourful cover is no different from those issued in the immediate pre-war period and there is no mention in any part of the publication about the wartime measures that were being taken throughout the Country at the time, such as the blackout, war bonds, rationing, air raid precautions, etc. Instead the normal terms and conditions for travel appear, as do advertisements for local businesses.
However, when the timetables are themselves studied, it soon becomes apparent how many extra journeys are being laid on by the Transport Department, especially for workmen’s journeys, and discounted rates for ticketing applied to them.
Right at the back of the booklet, is a set of timetables for motorbus services that carry no route numbering, but serve outlying districts that run back through populated areas to the Sunbeam factory at Blakenall, the Courtaulds factory at Whitmore Reans, and the Boulton & Paul aircraft factory at Pendeford.
Oddly, Sunbeam and Courtaulds are mentioned by name as destinations, but quite rightly, the Boulton & Paul factory producing aircraft is only mentioned in the timetable as the Canal Bridge Pendeford.
Although Courtaulds were a famous textile manufacturer that had factories throughout Britain, they were certainly producing ordinance and munitions for the war effort at their extensive Wolverhampton factory. The 1942 timetable indicates that motorbuses were provided for the transport of workers on these special services, but the Corporation did extend trolleybuses wiring into the Courtaulds main entrance to allow trolleybuses to enter the factory grounds, turn around and come back out again onto Court Road.
A monochrome picture exists of the turning circle within Courtaulds grounds, but no picture is known to exist of it being used by trolleybuses. This wiring extension was removed after the war, however, a traction pole that once supported the trolleybus wires, which stood opposite the entrance to the factory was of heavier dimensions to the rest of those on Court Road because it had once carried some of the weight and tension of the overhead junction that had served the factory. Retained for street lighting purposes, this pole survived until the late 1980s.
Incidentally, on the 1st January 1942, The Declaration by United Nations, a signed united declaration against the Axis was agreed upon during the Arcadia Conference by 26 governments. These were the Allied "Big Four" (the US, the UK, the USSR, and China), nine American allies in Central America and the Caribbean, the four British Dominions, British India, and eight Allied governments-in-exile, for a total of twenty-six nations.
Wolverhampton Corporation Timetable 1942
To look at this Wolverhampton Corporation bus time issued in early 1942, there is nothing immediately obvious to show that Britain was living through some of the darkest days of WW2. The colourful cover is no different from those issued in the immediate pre-war period and there is no mention in any part of the publication about the wartime measures that were being taken throughout the Country at the time, such as the blackout, war bonds, rationing, air raid precautions, etc. Instead the normal terms and conditions for travel appear, as do advertisements for local businesses.
However, when the timetables are themselves studied, it soon becomes apparent how many extra journeys are being laid on by the Transport Department, especially for workmen’s journeys, and discounted rates for ticketing applied to them.
Right at the back of the booklet, is a set of timetables for motorbus services that carry no route numbering, but serve outlying districts that run back through populated areas to the Sunbeam factory at Blakenall, the Courtaulds factory at Whitmore Reans, and the Boulton & Paul aircraft factory at Pendeford.
Oddly, Sunbeam and Courtaulds are mentioned by name as destinations, but quite rightly, the Boulton & Paul factory producing aircraft is only mentioned in the timetable as the Canal Bridge Pendeford.
Although Courtaulds were a famous textile manufacturer that had factories throughout Britain, they were certainly producing ordinance and munitions for the war effort at their extensive Wolverhampton factory. The 1942 timetable indicates that motorbuses were provided for the transport of workers on these special services, but the Corporation did extend trolleybuses wiring into the Courtaulds main entrance to allow trolleybuses to enter the factory grounds, turn around and come back out again onto Court Road.
A monochrome picture exists of the turning circle within Courtaulds grounds, but no picture is known to exist of it being used by trolleybuses. This wiring extension was removed after the war, however, a traction pole that once supported the trolleybus wires, which stood opposite the entrance to the factory was of heavier dimensions to the rest of those on Court Road because it had once carried some of the weight and tension of the overhead junction that had served the factory. Retained for street lighting purposes, this pole survived until the late 1980s.
Incidentally, on the 1st January 1942, The Declaration by United Nations, a signed united declaration against the Axis was agreed upon during the Arcadia Conference by 26 governments. These were the Allied "Big Four" (the US, the UK, the USSR, and China), nine American allies in Central America and the Caribbean, the four British Dominions, British India, and eight Allied governments-in-exile, for a total of twenty-six nations.