Midland “Red”
BMMO and MROC

Service M33: Service History

Service M33 (1945–1959)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

The first version of Service M33 was introduced by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) in late 1945, running between Great Malvern, Malvern Wells, Hanley Road, and Merebrook Camp, for the benefit of Military personnel at that site.

This service was suspended between January and April of 1959, and finally withdrawn in December 1959, when the military relocated to Aldershot and the camp closed.

This service was not advertised in Midland Red timetable books.

Service M33 (1965–1974)

Operated by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited

On Saturday 26th June 1965, Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) reorganised their Malvern Local services, following requests from the local authorities. There were a number of significant changes to the local network, but one minor change was that from this date all Service M32 journeys that continued past Upper Howsell to Malvern Link were given route number M33, with only journeys that terminated at Upper Howsell (Greenfields Road) continuing to use route number M32.

Service M32 and Service M33 journeys were operated by Malvern depot, and inter-worked with Malvern Local Service M13, Service M14, and Service M42 to provide four buses an hour in each direction between Great Malvern, Belmont, and Malvern Link. This was reduced to three buses per hour in each direction during the daytime on Saturday 6th January 1968, when almost all journeys on Service M42 were withdrawn.

One-man operation was introduced on Service M32 and Service M33 on Saturday 2nd May 1970. At this time, the departure stand in Great Malvern moved from opposite the Post Office to Belle Vue Terrace. This was because the exit from Church Street is blind and required the conductor to guide the bus out. Without the help of a conductor this route was not safe, and the change of departure stand meant vehicles no longer went that way. On the same date, the route for journeys towards Great Malvern changed to run via Albert Part Road, not Newtown Road, to avoid congestion.

Route Summary

  • Jun 1965–May 1970
  • Great Malvern 1
  • Link Top
  • Belmont
  • Pale Manor
  • Tanhouse Lane
  • Upper Howsell 2
  • Church Road
  • Malvern Link 3
  • May 1970–Mar 1974
  • Great Malvern 4
  • Link Top
  • Belmont 5
  • Pale Manor
  • Tanhouse Lane
  • Upper Howsell 2
  • Church Road
  • Malvern Link 3

1  Departs from Opposite Post Office.
2  Short-working journeys terminate at Greenfields Road and operate as Service M32.
3  Buses arriving in Malvern Link terminate in Richmond Road. Return journeys depart from Pickersleigh Avenue.
4  Departs from Belle Vue Terrace.
5  Outbound journeys run via Newtown Road, inbound journeys run via Albert Park Road.

M33

Timetable Archive

March1972Great Malvern ↔ Belmont ↔ Upper Howsell ↔ Malvern Link

Service M33 (1974–1976)

Operated by Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited

Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO—Midland “Red” Motor Services) renamed to Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited (MROC) on Friday 29th March 1974, with no change to Service M32 and Service M33, other than the legal name on the side of the buses.

On Saturday 1st June 1974, use of the M32 route number ended. From this date all journeys ran as Service M33, including the short-working journeys to and from Upper Howsell. By this time, almost all journeys from Great Malvern were already running through to Malvern Link with only a couple of early morning journeys in the other direction starting at Upper Howsell, so the change probably went unnoticed.

After the end of operations on Friday 1st October 1976, Midland Red closed their Malvern depot and withdrawn all Malvern Local Services with ‘M’-prefix route numbers. A new network was introduced in Malvern, all operated by Worcester depot.

The Great Malvern, Belmont, Malvern Link section of Service M33 was replaced by new Service 408, while the Upper Howsell section of the route was replaced by diverting the Service 572 group of routes run by Bristol Omnibus Company Limited (BOC). Certain short-working journeys on the Bristol OC routes were subcontracted back to Midland Red, who operated them from Worcester depot.

Route Summary

  • Mar 1974–Oct 1976
  • Great Malvern 1
  • Link Top
  • Belmont 2
  • Pale Manor
  • Tanhouse Lane
  • Upper Howsell 3
  • Church Road
  • Malvern Link 4

1  Departs from Belle Vue Terrace.
2  Outbound journeys run via Newtown Road, inbound journeys run via Albert Park Road.
3  Short-working journeys terminate at Greenfields Road.
4  Buses arriving in Malvern Link terminate in Richmond Road. Return journeys depart from Pickersleigh Avenue.