H.M.S.Catherwood

Harold Matthew Stuart Catherwood formed his bus company on July 7^th 1925 with money his wife inherited from her late father. The first Catherwood bus (a 32 seat Leyland with Edinburgh bodywork) operated a service from Toomebridge linking Antrim and Portglenone.

In July 1927 Harold Catherwood introduced the travelling public of Ulster to the delights of a blue liveried American Fageol Coach which he purchased second hand from Warwick Wright the Chiswick based Fageol dealer. The vehicle had been used for about two years previously on the London to Brighton service. The Fageol was introduced on the Belfast to Portrush service. The Fageol often fell foul of the Royal Ulster Constabulary who rigidly imposed the 12 miles per hour speed limit resulting in many court actions against Catherwood's drivers for exceeding the speed limit in the Hall Scott petrol powered machine. Harold Catherwood so loved the blue liveried Fageol coach that he adopted the livery for all future Catherwood buses. It was officially known as Cambridge Blue and was likened to an azure shade.

The Catherwood operation soon flourished through the hard work, innovation and pioneering spirit of Harold.

Harold Catherwood was a strict Calvinist and member of the Plymouth Brethren a fundamentalist Protestant group who held that the "Lords Day" was special. Consequently H.M.S.Catherwood never ran any bus services on Sundays during the whole history of the Company.

Catherwood buses awaiting passengers from the Heysham boat Donegal Quay Belfast.

In 1926 Harold Catherwood appointed Joseph Mackle as his Chief Engineer a man who enthusiastically pursued a policy of buying Leyland buses. At the time Mackle joined Catherwood's the Company was operating 63 miles of routes and had a 12 vehicle fleet. By 1929 this had risen to 286 route miles operated by 122 vehicles. Catherwood's rapidly expanded with a fleet of modern, fast Leyland's to a very high specification which was the envy of many an operator in the British Isles. Joe Mackle left Catherwood's in 1929 to join the Great Northern Railway of Ireland as its first Road Motor Superintendent and was succeeded by a former British Army Officer Captain Richard Stagg. Stagg introduced the "Alexander" type fleet numbering system with an alpha character denoting the vehicle type followed by the number. Catherwood dismissed Richard Stagg in 1934.

On August 27^th 1927 a new long distance service (103 miles) was opened between Belfast and Dublin serving Lisburn, Hillsborough, Dromore, Banbridge, Newry, Dundalk and Drogheda en route much to the anger of the Great Northern Railway. Five return workings were introduced between Mondays to Saturday. Two additional workings were added in 1929 followed by a further journey in 1931.

In October 1930 a further important extension was made to the Company's routes when a Dublin to Cork service was introduced. The Cork service was timed to connect with the Belfast/Dublin operations thus providing a 272-mile service from Belfast.

Catherwood's were not the first operator to run buses between Belfast and Dublin that distinction was accorded to the International Bus Service who predated Catherwood's using mainly 24 seat Guildford buses. Two well-known Belfast businessmen Baird & Weir owned the International. Catherwood's bought out the International in October 1929 and used the inherited buses to provide feeder services to the main Dublin service.

The feeder services linked the towns of Clones, Newbliss, Ballybay, Castleblaney, and Carrickmacross with Dundalk. A short feeder service operated between Clogher and Drogheda. There was also a short dalliance with a working from Dublin Eden Quay to the Baily at Howth just North of Dublin. Catherwood's introduced a Sligo/Londonderry service on the 22nd December 1929 adding a leg to Glenties the following July.

The Leyland Lion (PLSC3) 17 seat buses used on the Belfast/Dublin service were specially bodied by the London firm of Hall Lewis and featured underfloor luggage lockers and a 2 + 1 seating arrangement with foldaway tables at every seat and a small chemical toilet on the offside rear of the vehicle. These rare features were indicative of the innovation demonstrated by the H.M.S.Catherwood Company.

H.M.S.Catherwood became a limited company on the 20^th July 1928 at that time its operations were further developed with the acquisition of a Limavady/Londonderry service from Hutchinson Brothers. The nominal share capital of £25,000 was primarily held by members of the Catherwood family and the Northern Bank.

From L- R Harold Catherwood(with glasses) Viscount Craigavon Northern Ireland Prime Minister and His Grace Duke of Abercorn inspecting a Catherwood Leyland Tiger at the Balmoral Show.

Catherwood's were one of the principal parties to the Belfast "bus war" when they competed fiercely with Belfast Corporation Tramway's. As soon as the bus war was settled by the Northern Ireland government through the introduction of new legislation Catherwood's turned their attention to Northern Ireland's second City of Londonderry. The Company introduced services in the Maiden City competing with the municipal run Londonderry Corporation Services, which had been running since March 1^st 1920. Lower fares, more frequent services ensured that within a very brief period of time the Corporation run bus service was on its knees and suing for peace!

In May 1929 the Ulster Unionist controlled Londonderry Corporation voted unanimously to award a 20-year franchise to HMS Catherwood to run all the City services. The only opposition in the Londonderry Corporation came from members of the Labour Party. Catherwood's opened a new bus garage on Strand Road to service the fleet of vehicles. In 1932 a new Bus Station was opened in Foyle Street for the operation of all the City Services. A plan to open another bus garage at Rosbeg County Donegal was not realised.

Catherwood's placed an order with Leyland for 50 single deck and 50 double deck buses in 1930 an order valued at £176,000. The order was later reduced the result of the economic depression and the downturn in business confidence generally. At the time Leyland claimed it was the largest single order from any Irish bus company.

In 1928 Catherwood's established a tours business under the direct control of its Traffic Manager Mr.William Adam Agnew (who was also Harold Catherwood's son in law) who ran these from the Company's Head Office at 51/55 Upper Library Street, Belfast. William Agnew although a shareholder in the Company left its employment in 1932 to take up the position as Tours Manager with the LMS (NCC) and GNR (I) railway companies a position he held until 1936. Arthur Culbert was Catherwood's Traffic Manager working from offices at 9,Eden Quay Dublin until it's Irish Free State operations were compulsorily acquired by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland in 1933. The G.N.R.(I) finally paid HMS Catherwood fifty thousand pounds compensation on the 27^th March 1935.

The Chief Inspector of Catherwood's was William Andrew Kissick who himself became a shareholder in the business in July 1932.

1932 saw Thomas Tilling purchase a 58% stake in HMS Catherwood and it became a subsidiary of the Tilling Group who nominated two Director's H.C.Merrett and Stanley Kennedy. Harold Catherwood became a Tilling Director in return.

H.M.S.Catherwood established a Central Works in Belfast on the south side of the Donegal Road near Celtic Park Football Ground. Major repairs and overhauls were carried out at these premises. A number of bus bodies were also built replacing worn out Hall Lewis bodies on earlier buses.It is believed that the Catherwood bodies were in fact Weymann frames completed in Belfast. There was a tendency for Irish bus operators to rebody vehicles every five years or so such was the wear and tear exerted by poor Irish roads.

HMS Catherwood also ran a Road Freight department, which undertook deliveries of parcels and small consignment traffic as well as offering a passenger luggage in advance delivery service. The Road Freight Fleet consisted of a small number of Leyland lorries together with some buses, which were converted to Parcels Lorries.

HMS Catherwood obtained the first of a total of 10 double deck buses in 1931 (the 1930 double deck order was cancelled) represented by two Leyland TD1 51 seaters with low bridge bodies (necessary to navigate the LMS NCC Railway Bridge at Templepatrick) designed to operate between Belfast and Portrush.

In 1932 further deliveries of Leyland TD2 machines with Leyland bodies were joined two years later by a tranche of Leyland TD3 deckers with Northern Counties Bodywork all to a low bridge specification.

Leyland TD2 Double Decker fleet number D-254 photographed at the Donegal Road Workshops.

HMS Catherwood lost all its services in the Irish Free State to the GNR and the Cork service to the Great Southern Railway in December 1933. Two years later the Northern Ireland government effectively nationalised all bus and road freight transport outside Belfast when it formed the highly unsuccessful Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB). HMS Catherwood, its buses, lorries and staff were all absorbed into the NIRTB on October 1^st 1935.

This resulted in the sun setting on the Catherwood Empire. It really was the end of an era, which lasted just over 10 years during which so many innovative ideas, and concepts, which we take for granted today, were pioneered by HMS Catherwood.

The company was formally wound up by the Thomas Tilling organisation on the 10^th July 1939.

Catherwoods 1931 Route Map.

Postscript

Some famous members of the Catherwood family:

Sir Frederick Catherwood former Conservative member of the European Parliament and son of Harold Catherwood.

Andrea Catherwood Independent Television Newscaster often seen on TV these days.

Appeal for information!

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Thank you - I hope you have enjoyed this small potted history of a great bus Irish operator!