Ribble Motor Services - Depots

Depots

Ribble's Head Office was in Frenchwood Avenue, Preston.

However, their depots varied in size from Preston, Selborne Street, and Bootle Depots, which both accommodated close on one hundred vehicles; to small depots like Dalton-in-Furness with a handful. There were out-stations too, at Appleby, Bowness on Solway and Sedbergh, the out-station never having a particular vehicle allocated permanently.

One depot was a former railway terminus, and that was the Cheshire Lines Railway station on Lord Street, Southport; Ribble turned the former railway building into a Bus Station and Depot.

Ambleside depot was built of local Lakeland Stone, and was situated below the bus station; the depot entrance being in the next street. The final new depot before Bus Deregulation, was situated in Skelmersdale (New Town), and replaced Ormskirk Depot. Services in the New Town area had expanded, and the Ormskirk site was believed to be inadequate for the task.

The original Bootle Depot, in Hawthorne Road was fully covered. In the late seventies a new open plan depot was brought into use a few yards away from the original garage. The maintenance building on the far side of the site, featured the pits and all the equipment in a modern environment for servicing buses.

Garstang Depot had a regular vehicle allocation until the late fifties, when it became an out-station. A bus would work out to Garstang for an over night garaging, then the following day return to its home depot.