CAMERON'S CAMERA
The closure of Gibson Direct prompts memories of earlier Paisley area independents, and specifically another Renfrew firm that for over half a century made its living on the frequent service between Paisley and Renfrew Ferry. Paton Bros, founded by Thomas and John Paton 101 years ago in 1921 with a base near the town centre, moved by 1937 to Tower Garage, next to the terminus where buses and trams met the chain-hauled Renfrew Ferry that shuttled across the River Clyde to and from Yoker on the north bank.
From 1954, Paton’s blue and cream buses and the green and white ones of Paisley-based Cunningham’s Bus Service provided the main Paisley-Renfrew Ferry service. Paton’s also operated between Renfrew and Hillington Industrial Estate and, from 1958, between Paisley and the Glasgow Corporation Subway station at Govan Cross. Western SMT acquired the Paton’s and Cunningham’s businesses in August 1979, while Silver Fox Coaches now owns Tower Garage.
Paton’s bought new vehicles in its early years and 20 new single-deckers in the 1970s, but is best remembered for its regular purchase and replacement of secondhand double-deckers — mostly Leyland Titans — between 1939 and 1977. The purchase of e…
