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Service 372: Service History

Service 372 (1928–1935)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

Service 276 was a local Malvern service running between Great Malvern, Belmont, and Malvern Link. The route had first operated on Saturday 17^th May 1924 as a variation to local Malvern Service 48, but all variations received their own route numbers in 1925 . On Saturday 11^th February 1928, Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) renumbered their entire network and at this time Service 276 became Service 372.

The route ran from Belle Vue Terrance (Unicorn Inn) in Great Malvern, via Worcester Road, Link Top, and Newtown Road, to the junction of Belmont Road and Somers Park Avenue, where the short-working journeys terminated. Certain journeys continued along Somers Park Avenue and Howsell Road to Malvern Link, terminating at the junction with Pickersleigh Road. Journeys were interworked with morning journeys of Service 144 that diverted via Belmont to give between 12 and 15 journeys per day in each direction during the winter months. Additional journeys through Belmont were provided in the summer season by Service 370 and Service 371 which ran between Malvern Link, Belmont, Great Malvern, and British Camp, and later by Service 379 on Saturdays.

By the mid-1930s, the BMMO network was expanding rapidly and the company were again starting to run out of available service numbers. To free up numbers for new services, local area networks were renumbered with a prefix letter to represent the area when the network operated, so thus on Monday 7^th January 1935 all local Malvern area services were renumbered in the range M10–M30.

With the renumbering of local Malvern area services on Monday 7^th January 1935, Service 372 became Service M22 for the full route and Service M12 for the short-working route between Great Malvern and Belmont only.

Route Summary

Service 372 (1937–1971)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

New Service 372 was introduced by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) on Saturday 3^rd July 1937, running between Worcester, Smith End Green, Alfrick, and Suckley. From Suckley the service continued to either Acton Beauchamp, Bromyard, Bishops Frome, or Stanford Bishop (Herefordshire House), depend on which day it was. The service continued to operate during the Second World War but at a reduced timetable, with withdrawn journeys slowly being reintroduced from February 1948.

Throughout the same period, Service 373 ran as a variation to Service 372 running via Leigh Court and Winsgrave, replacing a route that had previously been operated by Acton Beauchamp Transport. Service 373 was withdrawn during the wartime period and reinstated by the summer of 1944.

The Service 372 and Service 373 group continued to run until the 1970s, operating a different timetable on each day of the week. In the early 1970s, a large number of rural services were withdrawn, and these services did not escape this fate, being withdrawn on Saturday 3^rd April 1971.

Service 372 (1972–1974)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

Limited Stop Service 372 was introduced on Saturday 1^st January 1972 by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) as part of a group of services, including Service 371 and Service 373, to partly replace the Birmingham to Cheltenham Spa or Gloucester services.

Service 372 replaced the Worcester to Gloucester section of Service X72. Five journeys a day ran the full route to Gloucester, with other journeys only running between Worcester and Upton-upon-Severn.

Unlike Service X72, the new Service 372 ran only between Worcester and Gloucester and was not intended to be an Express service. It was still advertised as a Limited Stop service, but this was only between Tewkesbury and Gloucester, and the rest of the route was normal stopping. Most journeys connected with “Motorway Express” Service X43 or Service X44 at Worcester, with through fares being available, maintaining the connection between Birmingham and Gloucester that had been provided by Service X72.

From Sunday 16^th July 1972, all Sunday journeys and certain evening journeys on other days were changed to call at all stops on the route, with the timetable adjusted slightly to give more running time on the section of the route that had previously been Limited Stop.