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Lickey Hills

Great memories John we used to do exactly that on our days out there. I seem to recall that there was a Coffee/Tea shop & Gift shop after we got off the Tram and started the walk down the hill :D

Perhaps our newer members have some memories and photos, its a pity our parents could'nt have got a Camera but it was out of reach those days. :)

By the way I got my first camera at about 19 a 35mm Ilford I believe ^-^
my two sisters were evacuated there in the war and they used to take me there when i was growing up. they were housed near walton or walcot pool i remember
 
I haven't, Bernard ...... but I'd fly home tomorrow and buy a ticket at £25 if I was offered the chance! Where did you photograph this splendid model? Look after yourself, David
 
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I often did Bernie. I can still see and smell the 3p tickets, hear the bell clang and feel the rails under my seat, read my fortune from a machine at the Lickey terminal, get my hands, tongue and Sunday best stained with bilberries, Graham.
 
I often did Bernie. I can still see and smell the 3p tickets, hear the bell clang and feel the rails under my seat, read my fortune from a machine at the Lickey terminal, get my hands, tongue and Sunday best stained with bilberries, Graham.

I bet it was 3d tickets you could smell Graham!
 
Remarkably yes I can remember riding the tram from St Lawrence Road Northfield to the Lickey terminal. It is a vivid memory even though I was only just 3 years old when the trams were decommissioned. ... the bell cable strung at shoulder height (my dad's not mine) ... the acrid smell of cigarette smoke drifting down the stairs from the top deck ... British School of Motoring, Fry's Five Boys chocolate and Anti-vivesection posters in glass cases on the walls ... the cheery clippie with her ticket machine slung in front of her ... the clippie hopping off to clock-in from time time at a large (blue? or maroon? coloured) clock near fare-stage stops.

The tram travelled up the tracks in the central reservation of the Bristol Road South to the terminal circle at Rednal ... dozens of trams slowly inching around the circle till the front one broke off and trundled back to central Birmingham. The slow breathless hike up Rose Hill to the Crown Pub (where we had glasses of lemonade while mum and dad had bottles of Manns) then past the large duck pond, up the side path to Beacon Hill with the stream running down by the side in little pools, full of ornamental fish and little families of coots ... dashing into the trees by the path and crunching on pine needles in an almost cathedral like silence ... then breaking out at the top of Beacon Hill near the wooden open-topped toilets that were built in the war for fire-watchers and the Royal Observer Corps.

In the autumn instead climbing Bilberry Hill on the other side and the whole family picking the sticky blue berries ... each with our own enamelled bowl ... and afterwards strolling back to the large tea-rooms at the base of Bilberry Hill for toasted tea-cakes and a huge pot of tea ... then queuing to get back on the tram home.

I can see and smell it in my mind like it was this afternoon, not 58 years ago ... So yeah --- hands up here!
 
Yes, I also seem to remember catching it in Navigation St, usually with my 2 sisters. We always rushed upstairs, especially if we were lucky enough to be on one of the the open ended ones. It must have been one of the longest routes in the Bham tramway system ? . Eric
 
One of MY favorite trips was the tram to the Lickey Hills in the 50s, John Crump OldBrit Parker.Co USA
 
That was a regular trip for me,from Aston to the lickey's.:)
On nice Sunday's there would be a queue the lengh of Navigation St.,but you didn't wait long,there was a constant flow of trams.After an exausting day,running up and rolling down the hill's,we would then go to the grounds of the Hare And Hounds pub,where dad would have a pint,and we shared a glass of pop:rolleyes:.And then back to the terminus,where a line of trams would be waiting to take us back home,tired but so content:)...School tomorrow,never mind, there's always next week,we so easily pleased:rolleyes:.

The last time I was up there they had a lengh of the old tram lines,where the terminus used to be.
 
Fun times, Did much the same, Are The Lickeys still there or have they been developed with a Tesco etc? John Crump oldBrit in Parker. Co USA
 
This is very topical for me as I am planning to visit the Lickeys on my next visit to Birmingham in June. Sadly I won't be able to go by tram. I was looking for the 62 bus that went to Rednal but it seems to have gone as well, the nearest I found was an X62 which appears to go past the old Rednal terminus and carry on to Rubery. Can I still get off a bus at the old Rednal terminus?

Oldbrit from what I have discovered the Lickeys seem to be alive and well.....
 
This is very topical for me as I am planning to visit the Lickeys on my next visit to Birmingham in June. Sadly I won't be able to go by tram. I was looking for the 62 bus that went to Rednal but it seems to have gone as well, the nearest I found was an X62 which appears to go past the old Rednal terminus and carry on to Rubery. Can I still get off a bus at the old Rednal terminus?

Oldbrit from what I have discovered the Lickeys seem to be alive and well.....
I just drove! on Google maps along the Old Brum Rd to Warren lane and found I think the end of the line for the trams in those times. Its a car park with lots of trails from it into them thar hills. John Crump
 
Some nice recollections there and much in line with my own. I don't think I have ever been to the Lickeys other than by tram, so that puts my last visit well back in the 1950s.

I've no doubt the main road has changed drastically, as has the Stratford Road since we used to walk from Shirley to Monkspath and then have a picnic. Probably best kept as memories and those not destroyed by a modern visit!:)

Maurice :cool:
 
Hi 6198,
You can get the X62 from stop JB(Ithink it was that one) on Paradise Street that goes to Leach Green Lane, Rednal, takes around 50 mins, then a 15 minute walk, or get a Diamond Bus no 202 from outside the Hare and Hounds, towards Worcester get off at Lickey Post Office then about 5 minute walk - not quite as easy as the old 62, but good service according to my mate who did it last year, as a re-run of our training days out at Selly Oak!
Sue
 
View attachment 66891
For many years the 62 bus has been stoping one stop short of the old Rednal terminus and returing to Birmingham from the junction with Leech Green Lane. This bus has recently been replaced with the limited stop X62 which now turns right to run along Leech Green Lane to Rubery. This picture is taken from Google maps street view at the junction of Lickey Road and Leech Green Lane and shows a 62 bus waiting to return to Birmingham. The old terminus is behind the camera.
 
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