THE LAND ROVERS OF MIDLAND RED (PART 1)
Cradley Heath's Series IIA Land-Rover (7, 628 HA), compares with 390 FHA, a Series I model, at this time numbered 13 and allocated to Banbury. Ken Jubb captures the pair on film at Carlyle Works c.1962
In January 2001, the Trust received an enquiry from the owner of a former Midland Red Land Rover. We were pleased to be able to offer help and progress his wish to return the vehicle to the condition in which it first entered service. One requirement, of course, was to identify its fleet number and garage allocation, both of which would have been displayed when new. The records held by the Trust, and those of many other Midland Red enthusiasts with whom we made contact, proved no help at all. Indeed, it was soon apparent that little had been formally recorded about the Company’s service vehicles. We set about trying to improve matters and, twelve months on, a fairly comprehensive listing has been prepared. There are still omissions, and further information would be welcomed. The exercise has only been possible thanks to the contributions of many people, sometimes in respect of just one van or lorry, other times a whole list of them. Quite a lot of anecdotal detail has also been learned about Midland Red’s Land Rovers, some of which is included in that which follows.
We think Midland Red was unique amongst bus operators in purchasing Land Rovers for towing and recovery work – but please do not be shy to tell us if you know otherwise. A short wheelbase demonstrator was borrowed in 1957 and put through its paces with a double-decker in tow, prior to an order being placed.
The first purchase entered service towards the end of 1957, followed by one more, licensed on 22 March 1958. Both were late examples of the long wheelbase (109inch) Series I model, petrol-engined, with high and low ratio gearbox, four-wheel drive, and a front-mounted capstan winch driven direct off the engine crankshaft. The utility body had a tailgate at the rear and a canvas tilt on a hooped frame. Standard equipment included jacks and a cranked two-piece towing bar. The spare wheel was mounted on the bonnet and a white cab roof relieved the customary bright red paint job. At least one of the pair also had an illuminated “TOWING” display. The signwriting was a scaled down version of that used on the buses. The pair was registered 589EHA and 390FHA.
They must have impressed, for in 1959 two Series IIs joined the fleet, followed by thirteen Series IIAs in 1960 and a final trio in 1963. Again, all were long-wheelbase models, of similar mechanical specification to the Series Is. The restyled body shell was rather different, however, and Midland Red also dispensed with the white cab roof, the “TOWING” display and the bonnet-mounted spare wheel.
The Land Rovers were allocated to garages around the system and all twenty settled into their role well. We have been fortunate to acquire a detailed account of the Ludlow-based example, together with a set of photographs. Unfortunately, the latter are not up to reproduction. They were taken with a Box Brownie in truly awful weather conditions, such as three feet of snow on the ground.
The Ludlow Land Rover was kept quite busy. In the winter months this sometimes involved the recovery of buses that had slid off the road into ditches. The photographs illustrate the vehicle attending to an S6, and S10 (or similar), an S14 and a Stourbridge-based S15. If the damage was minor, the bus, once recovered, would make its own way back home; otherwise it was a tow job. On the level, on a summer’s day, this was quite straightforward; in winter, up and down the snow and ice covered hills that surround this particular Shropshire town was difficult work and not without risk. At this time of year, a regular problem area was the northern section of the road between Kidderminster and Ludlow, over the Clee Hills, and the Land Rover was occasionally called upon to recover and tow a bus up the hill and then make the long, hazardous descent down the other side, back to the garage. Ludlow was proud to be a “Leyland outpost” and for a number of years its allocation included a few of the 1953 Leyland Titans, which comprised Midland Red’s LD8 class. Although weighing in at over 8 tons unladen, these two were within the towing capacity of the Land Rovers. Indeed, it was an LD8 that was hitched to the back of the 1957 demonstrator for the trials.
The writer can recall that subsequent to a BMMO D5 double-decker ramming the side of a Foden, owned by Holland’s Coaches, at the Bassnage/High Farm/Thornhill Road junction in Hasbury, c.1963, Bearwood Garage dispatched their no.18 to recover the bus. He was surprised that the return to garage, or works, was via Mucklow Hill, which the Land Rover climbed at a steady, if slow, pace. This is the same hill that had stalled more than one AD2 (see Omnibus no.118).
The Series I Land Rovers were sold in 1967, the 1959 and 1960 Series II/IIA examples going the same way in 1970/1. The last survivor was from the final trio, not sold until late in 1975. An average life of just over ten years is creditable, especially so when the type of work undertaken by them is taken into account. Why they were not replaced like-for-like has not been established, and it has been suggested that their demise was hastened by legislative changes. Perhaps someone with knowledge appertaining to the development of the towing/recovery regulations can advise us further.
Whatever the reason, it left Midland Red with a problem. Apart from five ex-military lorries purchased between 1967 and 1970 – none of which was a success, all were sold in 1972 – and the two long-standing AEC Matadors, there was no other in-house towing facility. Buses were sometimes used but this was far from an ideal arrangement. The Company’s answer was found in time-expired D7 double-deckers, a number of which were converted into towing vehicles. The first of them was put to work at Leicester in 1972. Although less in number than the Land Rovers, by allocating them on a strategic basis, almost all of the bus garages were promised prompt assistance in the event of a breakdown.
Thanks are due to Christopher Davis, Ed Hazard, Nigel Hall and Tim Ralphs for their help with the foregoing article. The stories of two survivors and a list of Midland Red Land Rovers will appear in a future edition of “Omnibus”.
Paul Gray
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
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