Route number W35 was one of the few to be used more than once in the Worcester City local bus network. The first time was from early 1958 to 1961, when it was used for a short-lived service between Worcester City Centre and Langdale Drive and the newly built Warndon Estate. This version of the route was replaced by extending Service W7 in 1961.
The second use of route number W35 came in early 1976, when it was once again used for a service between Worcester City Centre and Warndon Estate, but this time it was part of a new network and replaced Service W25 on the Brickfields Road corridor. This second version of the Service W35 remained in operation until the company ceased trading as a bus and coach operator in 1981, when it passed to the newly formed Midland Red (West) Limited.
The first use of route number W35 by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) came on Saturday 11th January 1958, when the company introduced a new route running every 20-minutes between Worcester City Centre and Warndon Estate.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing I don't have any details of the exact route taken, but I do know it departed from Angel Place and terminated at the junction of Langdale Drive and Borrowdale Drive. Use of the route number W35 would suggest it ran via Rainbow Hill as an extension to the W5/W15/W25 group of services, but all of those routes were shown together as a combined table of departures in timetable books, and Service W35 was not included with these. I believe it is more likely that Service 35 ran via Tolladine Road and either Ambleside Drive or Borrowdale Drive.
On Saturday 7th February 1959, the route was extended to the junction of Langdale Drive and Windermere Drive, and frequency increased from every 20-minutes to every 12-minutes, but timetables from that date still did not mention the route taken to get to Langdale Drive (incorrectly shown as “Longdale Drive” on some timetables).
By October 1961, this version of Service W35 had been withdrawn. At around the same time Service W7, which previously ran between Worcester City Centre and Tunnel Hill, was extended to run via Trout Beck Drive, Ambleside Drive and Langdale Drive, and terminate at the junction of Windermere Drive and Langdale Drive. This would have replaced the Langdale Drive section of Service W35, and it also supports my theory about the W35 running via Ambleside Drive, as that would have been partly replaced by Service W7 too.
Until early 1976, the network of local bus routes in Worcester had evolved from the same network that was first introduced with the closure of the tram network in 1928. However, with the continued decline in passenger numbers and the need to modernise and introduce one-man working, all surviving routes from this network, except the recently introduced Service W37, were withdrawn at the end of operations on Friday 13th February 1976.
A new Worcester City local bus network was introduced on Saturday 14th February 1976, being run with modern one-man operated Leyland National single-deck buses. These replaced BMMO-built single-deck and Diamler Fleetline double-deck buses that had been used on city routes throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Routes in the new network continued to use “W”-prefix route numbers, but this time they were in the range W32–W37 and W53–W57.
As part of the new network changes, the City Centre departure stands at Queen Street and Trinity were discontinued and new Service W35 departed from Angel Place Bus Station, but otherwise acted as a direct replacement to the previous Service W25, running over the same route to Rainbow Hill and Brickfields Road, but extended past the old Service W25 terminus at Glenthorne Avenue, and along Langdale Drive to Warndon Estate. To allow the bus to turn round, it ran in a clockwise loop down Tetbury Drive, along Sheepscombe Drive, and Cranham Drive, before returning to the City Centre over the same route as outbound journeys. The Warndon terminus for the route was on Sheepscombe Drive, and an Adult Single fare from the City Centre to Warndon cost 20p.
As part of the original local Worcester network, Service W15 had also run along the Rainbow Hill corridor and was inter-worked with Service W25 to provide a regular frequency on that section of the route. This was replaced by new Service W34, but as the new Leyland National buses were too tall to pass under the railway bridge on Field Road, the W34 had the distinction of being the only route in the new Worcester City network that continued to be operated with BMMO-built single-deck buses. Unlike Service W15, new Service W34 also ran as a cross-city service providing links between the Rainbow Hill corridor and Dines Green.
At the introduction of the new network, Service W35 ran every 30-minutes from 06:50 to 18:50, Monday to Saturday, then every hour until 22:35. On Sunday, there was no service until 14:35 and then it ran hourly until 22:35. New Service W34 also ran every 30-minutes during the daytime and every hour in the evening, and it was evenly spaced to with Service W35 to give a 15-minute daytime and 30-minute evening frequency on the shared section of the routes. On Sunday, Service W34 offered an hourly frequency from 09:52, so Rainbow Hill wasn't entirely without buses in the mornings.
Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited (MROC) ceased trading as a bus and coach operator at the end of services on Saturday 5th September 1981. From the following day, all local Worcester City services were operated by the newly formed Midland Red (West) Limited. Service W35 continued to be operated by Midland Red (West) Limited until the introduction of a new network run entirely with 20-seat minibuses was introduced on Saturday 23rd November 1985.
1 Runs via Tetbury Drive outbound and Cranham Drive indound.