Midland “Red” Depots and Garages in Nuneaton
Nuneaton (Coton Road) depot
Coton Road, Nuneaton (depot code: NN)
Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) expanded their operations to the Nuneaton area on Friday 1st February 1918, when they acquired the business and assets of North Warwickshire Motor Omnibus and Traction Company Limited. Operations in the area quickly expanded and by the 1960s five different sites in the town had been used to garage the company’s vehicles, although between 1921 and 1960 the primary site of operations in the town was the purpose built BMMO depot on Coton Road.
Nuneaton was also the base for many Midland “Red” services in the nearby City of Coventry which, except for a short period in the early 1920s, was never home to a BMMO garage or depot. Due to vehicle height restrictions, double-deck buses could not be allocated to Nuneaton (Coton Road) depot from the introduction of higher enclosed-roof designs in 1931, so other depots in the area were required to operate such vehicles in Coventry and Nuneaton until a new depot at Newtown Road was built in 1960.
- Purpose built by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) with a capacity for 29 vehicles. Three-bay, steel-frames construction with red-brick frontage and single storey office building.
- Opened on Wednesday 21st December 1921, with an initial allocation of about 12 vehicles plus spares.
- Expanded with the addition of an extra bay in 1923, and again in 1925. Capacity increased to 50 vehicles once the fifth bay was operational at the end of 1925.
- Due to height restrictions, this site was not able to accommodate enclosed-roof style of double-deck vehicles built from 1931, with the introduction of the SOS “DD”, and therefore allocation was restricted to single-deck buses and coaches from this time.
- Nuneaton (“Empire”) garage opened as an outstation or “dormy garage” in June 1932 to provide additional capacity. “Empire” site is closed in December 1934, following the opening of Hinckley depot.
- Garage closed to make way for pending road improvements in 1960, with all staff and vehicles moving to a new site at Newtown Road.
- Buildings demolished c. July 1961.