A BUS enthusiast is taking readers on another nostalgic drive down memory lane with his second book about former bus company Midland Red – inspired by a lifetime in the industry.
Midland Red Influence by Ashley Wakelin navigates over a hundred years from the early 1900s, detailing the company’s past from its complex formation, and its rise to become the UK’s largest provincial bus and coach company.
In the book, he recalls more stories from the history of Midland Red – whose buses graced the roads of Warwickshire and Worcestershire from 1905 to 1981 – with its scramble for dominance through fair means and foul in its aim for supremacy over the entire Midlands.
He recalls his own personal experiences and those of his old colleagues and friends who had a wealth of knowledge – some nearing retirement age when he joined Midland Red at just 16 years old.
Brinklow resident Ashley worked for the famous firm as a conductor, driver and manager in Leamington, Coventry and Nuneaton from the late 60s to the mid 80s.
Having seen the industry evolve over half a century, the former Leamington resident decided to channel his unique perspective on the company into his part historical, part autobiographical book – a companion to his earlier book, Inside Midland Red.
He has worked in manual and managerial roles, has been an enthusiast, preservationist and operator, and has worked in both the private and public sectors, and with national and small independent operators.
He said: “I enjoyed a lifetime in the bus industry, and realising that it had dramatically changed from the calmer 1960s to the stresses and realities of modern times, I decided to put pen to paper to recall the story of my passion for, and work-life with, the company.
“When I retired, I realised that my own working life with Midland Red from office lad, conductor and driver, and into management had accumulated a number of escapades, and entertaining and sometimes shocking stories that were worthy of recalling.”
He says his experience of working for Midland Red was special. The company’s characterful own-made vehicles, the nostalgia, the sense of community in the areas they served, the family feeling among its loyal workers, and the enjoyment of being part of something bigger was all very different to today’s modern bus scene – something the author wanted to cherish.
“The Midland Red spirit got into the blood of many of its employees, and was the career choice of sometimes two or three generations of a family,” he said.
“These industry professionals, whether drivers and conductors, engineers or managers, told me their stories of life with Midland Red in the 1930s and beyond, and how the job and the vehicles had changed over the years.”
Through his career with Midland Red from the late 60s to the mid 80s – a time which he reflects on as being the end of a very special era in transport history – Ashley saw its ownership change from a private company to the largest provincial bus company in the UK.
Other political interventions included nationalisation and European legislation. After a change of government, Midland Red was carved up and sold back into a different type of private ownership – where Ashley feels the desire for profit led to a poorer service.
It was during those developments that Ashley decided to leave and move to a side of the industry that was less affected by such radical change – the independent operator.
It wasn’t quite like jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but from it emerged an exciting new idea – linking hobbies with business, which led to ‘WHEELS’, a specialist provider of bus and coach hire, with model railway shops and railway-themed fine dining all part of the plan.
There is no questioning his enthusiasm for the vehicles. Besides having a collection of Midland Red memorabilia and models, he has previously owned over 60 buses and coaches, selling some on and keeping others – all acquired between his 16th and 60th birthdays.
And he helped buy and save two significant buses made by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company – Midland Red’s former name; the only running Midland Red CM6T motorway express coach, and the last built Midland Red S16 single-decker service bus.
Chapters in the book covering Midland Red’s 100mph motorway coaches, early experiments with pneumatic tyres, and their very early adoption of computers in the 1950s make for fascinating reading.
And his admiration for the company, its engineering achievements, and its employees really shines through.
He said: “Midland Red was no ordinary bus company. They designed and built their own vehicles from 1923 until 1970.
“They had an operating territory of over 12,000 square miles of the Midlands, and operated daily coach services and coach cruise holidays over the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.
“And they had an enviable reputation for speed, reliability, comfort and service which over the years gave them their reputation of ‘The friendly Midland Red’.
“Midland Red played a big part in the lives of the people of the Midlands for most of the 20th century, and still retains a fiercely loyal following of enthusiasts – which is why it is important that stories of ‘The Red’, such as those in my book, should be retold for future generations.”
Midland Red Influence is available from www.midlandred.co.uk online, or selected independent book shops including Kenilworth Books, Hunts Bookshop in Rugby, and the Transport Museum Wythall.
