• 
  • 
    •  introduction
    •  horse buses & private operators 
    •  trams                                              »
      •  routes
      •  tramcars 
  • 
    •  c & d traction company history 
    •  routes
    •  people
    •  buses
    •  events & anecdotes
  • 
    •  1956 changes 
    •  fleet twilight 
  • 
    •  how to help
    •  formation and current status 
    •  2005 anniversary event
    •  activities
    •  sales
  • 
    •  post-service
    •  foct stewardship 
    •  restoration progress 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Chatham Traction Routes

The start of bus services on Wednesday 1st October 1930 saw a brand new fleet of Leyland Titan TD1s enter service on the former tram routes. However this network was re-arranged and simplified, with the services numbered for the first time, as follows:

1 Luton (Hen & Chickens) and Dockyard (Pembroke Gate)

2 Chatham Cemetery and Rainham

3 Frindsbury and Gillingham Green

4 Strood Hill and Town Hall

5 Borstal and Gillingham Strand

The result was a more uniform pattern of services and a greater choice of through journeys. In conformity with the 1929 Act of Parliament the streets and roads used by the new routes did not depart from those used by the trams.

Some of the service termination points had to be adjusted to take account of the need to physically turn a bus, something not necessary with the trams. The Rainham terminus of what was now service 2 was moved down Station Road to Webster Road, although it’s not clear what was done at the other end - turning a bus at Chatham Cemetery where the side roads went very steeply downhill would have been an interesting exercise. Service 3 was extended beyond the Grange Road junction to Gillingham Green itself. At Borstal the service 5 buses went beyond the end of the tramlines at Manor Lane to turn at Silver Hill, whilst at the Gillingham end a regular service went beyond the Shalders Arms along Pier Road to the Strand at last. What joy this must have brought, to be able to reach Medway’s little Riviera with such convenience!

The first route changes occurred in 1933. The no.2 was extended up Maidstone Road from the Cemetery to Huntsman’s Corner, and service 4 was taken from Strood Hill up to Rede Court. A new service designated 3A paralleled the no.3 from the Town Hall through Rochester and Strood, but took off up Cliffe Road as far as Slatin Road.

The Towns continued to expand, causing people to travel farther to work. Recognising the need to serve a wider geographical area there were more route changes in 1937. The Wagon-at-Hale became the Luton end destination of service 1. Service 4 became a circular at the Strood end, running from Strood Hill to both Rede Court and Salter’s Cross via Rede Court Road, alternate workings running in opposite directions round the loop, a vulnerable arrangement!

Routes continued to extend ever outwards. In January 1939 applications were made for new routes along Cliffe Road from Slatin Road to Brompton Farm Road for the 3A, and from Huntsman’s Corner to Magpie Hall Road Top for service 2. These extensions not only served the expanding development, but took account of increasing road vehicle traffic by moving turn-round points to more convenient locations.

As a wartime economy measure Wagon-at-Hale journeys on service 1 were withdrawn in 1940, the terminus reverting to the Hen & Chicks.

Service alterations in 1942 saw service 4 extended from the Town Hall to Gillingham Green, and new service 5A, running as service 5 from the Strand to Priestfields (Rochester), then to Cookham Wood, Sir Evelyn Road, via Maidstone Road.

An extension to the no.1 route in 1945 responded to the expanding housing beyond Luton village. Journeys beyond the Hen & Chicks to the Wagon-at-Hale were re-instated, but now alternated with others to the new Wayfields estate at Churchill Avenue.

The vulnerability of the routing of service 4 at the Strood end finally exhausted the locals’ patience in April 1947, and improvements were demanded through letters to the press. It was alleged that Chatham Town Hall departures although regulated by the Town Hall clock were often missed because the clock was rarely in agreement with Greenwich Time! The arrangement where alternate buses did the trip in reverse “seemed to be subject to the whims of the drivers”. This referred to the practice whereby the London Road – Rede Court Road – Gravesend Road loop was scheduled to be traversed in opposite directions by successive workings. It was suggested that services 3a and 4 were combined – each to run round the circle in opposite directions. Change did come, but not quite as suggested, and not for a few years.

In 1949 services to Luton altered yet again. The no.1 now ascended Wayfield Road to terminate at Mountbatten Avenue, whilst its alternate trips to Wagon-at-Hale were withdrawn once more. Instead, Brompton Farm Road service 3A was extended from the Town Hall to the Wagon. The changes weren’t over yet, however, for in 1952 the no.1 finally reached Burma Way. Also in 1952 the long awaited change to service 4 arrived, although perhaps not as the protesters had asked. The Rede Court Road loop was abandoned, the service now using only Salter’s Cross as its terminus. At the other end, the service now ran to Luton instead of Gillingham Green, alternate workings terminating at the Wagon-at-Hale and Churchill Avenue. The 3A now ran to Gillingham Green, replacing the service 4 to that terminus.

In 1955 service 2 gained a long extension from Magpie Hall Road to the new Weeds Wood Estate, negotiating the daunting Waterworks Hill in the process. This was the last change in the service routes for the brown buses.