But what happeend to Kenmargra? - Many readers will have happy memories of Kenmargra, which was established in 1950 by Kenneth and Marjorie Smith who used their own names and that of their young son, Graham, to create a unique company name. 

Sadly, Kenneth - who was known as Ken - died in 1970 after he was knocked down by a car on Manchester Road, Linthwaite. He was 65. His widow died in 1993, aged 86. The company ran until 1999 when the owners, Graham Smith and his wife Maureen, who have three daughters, decided it wasn’t worth carrying on. All the drivers were given help to find jobs with other companies and the eight vehicles were sold off. The company did everything everything from school runs, football and rugby trips, children’s outings and excursions across the UK and the Continent.

By 1999, they decided to give up on coaches, partly because they felt that “red tape” was getting too much and because they had had enough of the long hours. “A lot of new regulations came in,” recalled Mrs Smith. “There was a lot of red tape.”She said many other coach companies decided to call it a day around the same time. At the time Kenmargra had eight coaches but Mrs Smith has no idea where they may have ended up..

This street has not always been called Ship Street looking back to pre-1902 it was known as Victoria Street. But just when the name changed needs further research, however on the basis Queen Victoria died in 1901 I cannot imagine a street with her name would have been changed whilst she was still alive. 

Here is a pre-1902 map showing when it was Victoria Street.