Adrian Morton visits an operator in Cheshire that very much keeps out of the limelight but should be considered a role model to many
After selling my own company, Mortons, and moving from Hampshire to the footballers’ wives territory of Cheshire, an operator whose coaches have always caught my eye is Roy McCarthy Coaches of Macclesfield. Why do they catch my eye, do I hear you ask? Well, I think the livery, although now an old design, still remains fresh; it sits well on the mainly Plaxton-bodied Volvo fleet and is instantly recognisable as a Roy McCarthy’s coach. In addition, I’ve yet to see one on the county’s roads that isn’t clean, damage free and immaculately presented.
A visit to the company’s depot with my Leyland Tiger Plaxton Paramount back in May, whilst on a Merseyside Bus Club tour, left me wanting to return and find out more. Knowing much of its work is centred around local schools, I waited until ‘silly season’ had neared its end before heading back.
History
Started in 1971 by Roy McCarthy when 45 years old, his first coach was a petrol-engined Duple Super Vega bodied Bedford SB3. Roy initially took his test at the local bus company, North Western Road Car, before moving on to work at Fred Lomas Coaches in Macclesfield. By 1970 Fred Lomas was looking to retire so Roy decided to set up on his own and bought his first coach. Coincidently, where he used to park is only a stone’s throw from the current premises.
The McCarthy family already had other business interests in the area. Roy’s wife Margaret ran a grocer’s shop that served workers at one of the former silk mills, the town being synonymous with silk weaving in the early 20th century. Clean water was needed for producing and dying the silk, so its location next to the River Bollin meant the industry became a major employer and an integral component to the town’s economic growth. The couple had three children; Andy, born in 1959, being the third of those.
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