a brief history of Bullocks
Coachs
Bullocks Coaches are a family run firm based
in cheadle, which is located in South Manchester in the North
West of Englend. Bullocks Coaches now run a fleet of coaches
as well as a fleet of busses,. Bullocks Coaches now operate
in Manchester, Cheshire and the North West along with Coach trips
all over the UK and the Continent.
A taste of adventure
Ralph Powell Bullock was born in Cheadle, Cheshire
on the 5th April 1900 during the reign of Queen Victoria. With
appetite for travel from an early age, this exuberant young man
had managed to convince the Army recruitment board that he was
16 so that he could join up and go to the trenches in France
during World War One. At 6 feet 2 inches this wasn’t a
problem, and a worried Mrs Bullock mother was obliged to make
the journey over to France to bring him back. At 16 he tested
his sea legs with the Navy and served aboard HMS Barnham, seeing
action at the Battle of Jutland, and being present at the famous
scuttling of the German fleet at Scappa Flow.
After the war he decided to see the world and began
to seek his fortune in the States working for the Dodge motor
company. Then, putting his acquired mechanical skills to use
he moved to Australia setting up a business in Brisbane.
A young man with drive
Returning home after a number of years when he heard his mother was unwell, he soon found himself busy
following his passion for motor cars and working as a chauffer
for a local family.
It was around this time when Ralph saw an opportunity
going begging. He noticed that fresh milk from the farms around
Cheshire wasn’t being distributed, and so he set up his
haulage business. This instantly flourished and soon a sister
company appeared in the form of a sideline offering day trips.
These included Blackpool in the now legendary Charabang?. This piece of pure English nostalgia
was to become the beginning of the Bullocks’ Coach business
as we know it.
Doing his bit for England
The company was incorporated in 1932/33 As well as the coaches,
Ralph had a fascination for Foden trucks and befriended the Foden
family who first built them. During World War Two, Bullocks haulage played
a crucial part transporting war manufacturing up and down the
country. The business first operated from a small farm
that Ralf had in Cheshire, and then he acquired the Stockport
depot that is still used today.
After the war in 1947, the haulage business was
nationalised, Ralph returned to Australia with his family and
considered emigrating permanently.
Family values
At this stage, family members Ralf Trevor Bullock,
Geoffrey Bullock, Pamela Bullock, worked in the business. Up until the late 80's and
early 90's this was the lions share of the business, and were
the main supplier for 'diversion' coaches for British Airways
out of Manchester Airport. Over the course of years the 3rd generation
came into the business, Steven Powell Bullock, Alan Ralph Bullock,
Elizabeth Bullock and then Robert Geoffrey Bullock.. Ralph Bullock died in 1993
at the ripe old age of 93 and Pamela Bullock finally retired
in the early 90's.
The company moved into the thriving bus market,
after deregulation in 1986.
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