IT is 50 years ago this month (july) that Exeter's brand new bus and coach station opened for business.
The golden anniversary is being celebrated in style on Saturday (july 5) with a celebration run by the Devon General Omnibus Trust.
To celebrate the day, more than 40 vintage vehicles will be parked up on the whole lower level of the bus station with free Magical Mystery trips from 10.30am to 3pm – and free trips through the bus wash.
There will also be memorabilia stalls and exhibitions.
The first bus station in Exeter opened in 1931 on a site at the top of Paul Street – where the Harlequins Shopping Centre is now – which the Devon General bus company rented from Exeter City Council.
Facilities for passengers were minimal and in 1949 much-needed extra space was created by leasing the next-door, lower-level, car park.
Coaches and local services provided by independent operators used the adjoining larger and low-level site, which also doubled-up as a car park in winter months.
By the late 1950s, with the continued growth of Exeter, it was realised that the limited capacity of Paul Street bus station and coach park had been reached and conditions for both operators and the public were becoming very unsatisfactory.
A new inner by-pass to the city centre was planned to the south of High Street and so a site in Paris Street which would adjoin it was chosen.
Plans for the new bus station were prepared by Exeter City Council and work began with site clearance in August 1962.
The site sloped considerably from north to south and thus a two-level facility, in which the upper level became the bus station and the lower level the coach station, was constructed.
There were 18 departure bays, into which buses drove head-on and reversed out, plus parking for two rows of buses alongside the boundary wall parallel to Bampfylde Street.
The large, covered passenger concourse for bus passengers included seating, an inquiry office and waiting room, a tours booking office, parcels and left luggage office, staff canteen and kitchen, offices for inspectors and duty-clerks and cashing-up room.
The lower level coach station could accommodate 72 coaches and had a waiting room and toilets, an inspectors' room and chart room for monitoring express coach services that used the facility.
An on-site cafeteria and shop, open during normal shopping hours, plus vending machines and phone booths complemented the facilities.
The bus station was leased to Devon General, which started using it on Sunday, July 5, 1964, vacating the Paul Street site on the same day.
The official opening ceremony was on Thursday, July 16, with the Lord Mayor of Exeter, Alderman Pat Spoerer, accompanied by civic dignitaries and representatives of the directors and management of Devon General, Western & Southern National and Greenslades Tours, all of whom dined afterwards at the Imperial Hotel.
In the 1960s, the coach station was a hive of activity in the summer months with the luxury coaches of Greenslades Tours departing on local and extended tours, the express coach services of Royal Blue, Associated Motorways and Yelloway Motor Services and others, plus visiting coach tours and local services provided by independent coach and bus operators.
By 1984, the shortcomings of the coach station and the decline in coach tours led to the movement of express coach services to the upper level (bus station) site.
The facility has performed an invaluable role at a convenient location for 50 years, but time moves on. It is anticipated that it will be replaced in the near future with a new and more compact facility in Belgrave Road.
