Saturday 11 April 2015

No Reversing at the Social Club

February 2009 and preserved 529 poses at Thornton Social Club terminus on a photoshoot for Bus and Coach Preservation - buses arrived into an embayment to the right of the camera and reversed into this spot to await time.

April has seen the demise of a long disused terminus. From 1930 to 1977 an intermediate service on the 14 ran as 14A from Bus Station to Thornton Social Club. After 1977 only a handful of journeys terminated at Social Club but by 1988 when the 14A resumed a new terminal loop via West Drive, Amounderness Way and Bourne Way was used. 

At some point - perhaps in the 1960s - a terminus was constructed with buses pulling off road into an embayment then reversing 90% into another. When this ceased used is not clear - certainly in 1988 there was an 0705 Bus Station to Social Club working which returned at 0730 after just one minute layover and another trip at 0720 from Bus Station and 0750 from Social Club. By 1988 these had been extended to Ash Street, and the Social Club terminus now used the terminal loop via Bourne Way.

The arrival embayment can just be seen to the left of the bus