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FLIGHT's Coaches

Strange how they included Flights and Gliderways in the company name but no mention of Stocklands who, of course, owned Glderways prior to Bowens takeover.
 
Ken Flight, whose father Frank started Flights Coaches in 1913 passed away on Sunday 22nd April 2012. Ken took over the family business in the early 1950's when his father passed away and did much to build the Company into one of the most respected coach operators in the country.

Flights were regular entrants in the annual British Coach Rally where operators from around the country compete to show off their vehicles. Flights won the top award of "Coach of the Year" a total of 6 times which to date has not been equalled.

RIP
 
My father was related to the family who were proprietorsof Hastilow ‘Tudor Rose’ coaches. He can recall playing on Hastilow vehiclesduring WW2 with his cousin (Peter?); presumably these vehicles had been laid upfor the duration. He tells me he can recall his uncles home seemed full oflarge pieces of furniture, I believe the firm was involved in the clearing oflarge (stately?) country houses during the 1920's and 30's as the wealthy gaveup on their expensive piles.
 
Re: coaches

j hogarth said:
As far as i,m aware, Claribels of today are descendant of the old company, in their days they had double deckers among the fleet as well as coaches, to jog your memory , Claribels were situated right opposite Thompsons pork butchers, just behind a petrol station/ tyre company where i used to work. Talking of long distant coach travel, in 1963 me and my intended went to Brixham in Devon with Stockland coaches, took us 9 hours , and that was through the night , must have been foggy or something :?
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When Ronnie Lees passed away Dave Watkis bought the trading name and the book(I dont think he bought any of the motors) and moved to a garage and service station on cov rd almost opposite the old bham airport, he then moved to a unit in bickenhill in the yard of what once was Geo Higginson plant hire when Allenways sold up he bought the Name and the Radley motors yard off the Weatherhog family who owned Allenways,superb,radleys,and Masons of darlaston. he ran it as Claribells and Allenways up until the 90s when he dropped the allenways name Dave passed away some time ago and the business is now run by his two sons they alllso own Birmingham International coaches.
 
Mentioning Allenways reminds me of the time I applied for a job as a mechanic, arrived for the interview and was told the job had been given to someone else, wouldn't have minded but I'd only phoned a couple of hours before. When I started working for Claribell Ron had me working at his Brothers Transport yard as he hadn't told the existing mechanic that he was being replaced, took me a few days before I moved to Wainright street.
 
Re: coaches

j hogarth said:
Billy Anderton was the owner of Andy,s coaches, they had a slogan on the back of the charras, "travel the Andy way", i often heard the expression, "travel the Andy way, come back in the family way" , don,t know how true it was :wink:. Also do you remember the original coach company, Claribels in Wainwright st Aston, that was started by Ronnie Lees?
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Bill Anderton was my Nans brother, and their younger brother Denis worked as a mechanic for him.
Uncle Bill was always a bit of a character, and reading the comments on here has certainly made me chuckle.
Mechanical Reliability obviously wasn't a strong point :)
 
Re: coaches

Lunchy said:
Bill Anderton was my Nans brother, and their younger brother Denis worked as a mechanic for him.
Uncle Bill was always a bit of a character, and reading the comments on here has certainly made me chuckle.
Mechanical Reliability obviously wasn't a strong point :)
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Weren't they all Characters. I remember Ian Mclochlin from Stocklands trying to screw in a self tapper into a leaking petrol fuel tank that was leaking out faster than we could put the fuel in, in the end they had to hire in another coach.
Now talking about characters Ron Lees (claribell) was probably the biggest character that I've ever worked for :)
 
Re: coaches

If you look at any pictures of Flights Coaches you will see that the vast majority had the number 7 in the registration number.... even the "trade plates" we used at Victoria Road included a 7. And if I remember correctly, Ken Flight was very superstitious and did not come into work on any Friday the 13th..
 
A Flight's coach. No idea of location or date, but it does have "Birmingham" on the destination board.

I think we went to Cornwall in the late 1950s/early 1960s on one of these - from Stockland Green Garage. Did they operate from there? Viv.

image.jpeg
 
I remember going on evening 'mystery' tours with my Wife on Flight's coaches around the 50's, also day trips to Rhyl, Blackpool etc... I seem to connect them with Victoria Road (?). Eric
 
Flights business started from there great grand dad of earning money as a rag and bone man
whom got is son a little space and a little garage to do car repairs and buily up a car repair business before
buyin a chara bang for day trips far bar as claribelles whom had two old coaches bone shaker,s they was
for little trips up to the clent hills and they was real bone shakers
and they started on lichfield road opersite in a little garage oppersite cromwell terrace and we lived at 5/92 lichfield road
two doors from our terrace , at the bottom of the terrace was two high pillows with a hugh concrete ball on each on
on the right there was mrs barnsely grocery and the left was Astons the cake shop next to them was thompsons the butchers ;;
Astonian,,,,
 
Vivienne14 said:
A Flight's coach. No idea of location or date, but it does have "Birmingham" on the destination board.

I think we went to Cornwall in the late 1950s/early 1960s on one of these - from Stockland Green Garage. Did they operate from there? Viv.

View attachment 115191
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Would have been Stockland coaches Viv, Friday night services to South Devon and Newquay Cornwall. Flights also operated similar services as we used to meet up in Taunton and use a traffic free short cut to Bridgewater missing all the traffic jams on the A38.
 
Yes Nick - Friday night journey ! It was so exciting for me as a kid. We used to get off at Newquay, then on to St Agnes. Viv
 
Hi Viv. Only did the Newquay run once as preferred Torquay and Paignton run instead. Strange how we have lived in Cornwall for the last 20 years apart from a 4 year spell in Torquay. Quite like St Aggie even though I used to drive through there twice a day on the way to Perranporth whilst driving for Truronian, local bus company, after I took early retirement.
 
Dorothy Dodson said:
Andys and Claribels

J Hogarth...I seem to recall now that Andys coaches were a bit traumatic if you happened to be a longer distance passenger (Well was Weston S Mare long distance?) Yes i remember now, my mum and dad booked Andys on a weekly return to W S M, and even in the late 50s it really wasn't that far.

They were due back about 5pm on the Saturday, and eventually arrived worn out and bedraggled at about 11.30pm vowing "Never Again!" The coach had broken down about 6 times and the last time, it was considered beyond repair, and they and all the other passengers had to wait for another 'Andys' coach to go out and rescue them, and it seems that the rescue coach had broken down on the way to them. It was pouring with rain and they were all thoroughly cheesed off. Have to say that was not the exact description that my dad used but.....

Sylvia i do seem to remember Claribels as well from our younger days, but are they a new phenomena around the CB, Chelmsley Wood, Shard End area? I do remember that there were a few private buses when the free for all started with WMPT buses ...but they were all rather basic. Ahhhh those were the days. We're lucky to see a regular bus round here, but then i really dont rely them at the moment. But the day will come....

Luv Dot
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i remember the claribel bedford coach on the 94 route you could see the road throu:laughing::laughing:gh the hole in the floor but it more comfortable. than the double decker
 
chainmaker said:
Re: coaches



When Ronnie Lees passed away Dave Watkis bought the trading name and the book(I dont think he bought any of the motors) and moved to a garage and service station on cov rd almost opposite the old bham airport, he then moved to a unit in bickenhill in the yard of what once was Geo Higginson plant hire when Allenways sold up he bought the Name and the Radley motors yard off the Weatherhog family who owned Allenways,superb,radleys,and Masons of darlaston. he ran it as Claribells and Allenways up until the 90s when he dropped the allenways name Dave passed away some time ago and the business is now run by his two sons they alllso own Birmingham International coaches.
Click to expand...
 
My uncle Vic Sharlott was married to Ron Lee's daughter Janet, Vic and my dad Ken both drove for Claribels along with Mick Rattigan, Billy Essex and Sid Rose amongst others. Mick taught me to drive PSVs and later was my best man when I got married. Years later the yard and garage on Lichfield Rd was taken over by Endeavour where Dad, Vic, Mick and myself worked over the years. I think that it was going with Dad and Vic when I was younger that made me follow suit with PSV and HGV driving.
 
Thanks for the info. My BIL had a small coach company in Coleshill back in the seventies, excessive overheads and complying with legislation resulted in closure, very sad.
 
Royandrew said:
My uncle Vic Sharlott was married to Ron Lee's daughter Janet, Vic and my dad Ken both drove for Claribels along with Mick Rattigan, Billy Essex and Sid Rose amongst others. Mick taught me to drive PSVs and later was my best man when I got married. Years later the yard and garage on Lichfield Rd was taken over by Endeavour where Dad, Vic, Mick and myself worked over the years. I think that it was going with Dad and Vic when I was younger that made me follow suit with PSV and HGV driving.
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Vic and Ken both worked for my BIL.
 
nickcc101 said:
Mentioning Allenways reminds me of the time I applied for a job as a mechanic, arrived for the interview and was told the job had been given to someone else, wouldn't have minded but I'd only phoned a couple of hours before. When I started working for Claribell Ron had me working at his Brothers Transport yard as he hadn't told the existing mechanic that he was being replaced, took me a few days before I moved to Wainright street.
Click to expand...
nickcc101 said:
Mentioning Allenways reminds me of the time I applied for a job as a mechanic, arrived for the interview and was told the job had been given to someone else, wouldn't have minded but I'd only phoned a couple of hours before. When I started working for Claribell Ron had me working at his Brothers Transport yard as he hadn't told the existing mechanic that he was being replaced, took me a few days before I moved to Wainright street.
Click to expand...
I can remember Dad driving a Bedford Yeoman, brown and green I think and a yellow and white Mariner, WTC 551D, known as the witch if my memory isn't playing up.
 
I used to go with Dad on a Saturday and clean the coach and Colin used to turn up in an artic unit because he was going to take his HGV
 
Colin went back down the pit, a job he'd done when he was younger, unfortunately he was in an accident when one of the trucks hit him underground. He never worked after and coped with his injuries extremely well.
 
Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately Dad and Vic have both passed in the last 3 years so I can't pass on anything. All I have is many happy memories of going with them and my own driving times, but since my heart attack I've lost my PSV and HGV.
 
My PSV ran out in 1978 but I took my PCV in 1998 after I'd taken early retirement in 1996. Had my C+E by grandfather rights but both now gone as never took the medical when I reached 70. Sorry to hear about your Dad and Vic and your heart attack.
 
My mate who worked for Marsh & Baxters s as a Salesman did part-time driving for Flights his name was Ronnie Allen in the 60s.
 
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