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No 8 Bus Route

monument rd clock we would get off and wait for the driver to punch is clock asnd we would do the same asked him to put it on our wrist the ink numer best wishes astonian

Not about the Inner Circle route but the 29A (which has been renumbered 90 I believe). I used to cycle to the Baldwins Lane terminal on many occasions. Friendly BCT staff would allow you to empty the used ticket box into a 'andy carrier :D, change the bus destination blinds if they were short working or going to Yardley Wood Garage and finally impress the Bundy Clock key number on your wrist. ;)

Those were the days when most youngsters followed outdoor pursuits.
 
HI DAVID
Didnt your stret have a coronation street party we had a big one down on lichfield rd aston and up our end by the terrace andf thompsons the butchers
was organised by mr sheldon and mr craddock and by mr jelfs caruering from is coffee shops and he supplyed the food and tables and chairs
and for the cromwell terrace tennants afterwards we all walked down to the coffee shop and carried on celebrationg and shouted hip hip hooray for the queen
and still carried on artying in that coffee shop it was a two tear section with a billard tables on the second floor
there was a member on here along time ago whom was called f#lower girl her mother took it over and sold flowers but i later leart as my mother was told to his daughter whom was my mother that this ladys mother was a relatiopn to her but her father would not give her the named person for the thought of upsetting my mother
and through this forum i did learn whom the flower girl was i learnt of the mothers name and like the jelfs history they pass each other or shopuld i say they sold there bussines to each other when they want to move on she said it was ivy in fact its was her fathjer whom sold it to trhe lady
best wishes astonian
 
My father drove a No 8 bus for years and years. He retired and died so I rang people who would have known him and finally his old garage at Liverpool St. I said: "One of your old drivers has died ... George Smith .. everyone knew him ... popular bloke ... wrote the garage notes in the transport magazine." Complete and utter lack of interest and I thought: "Why am I doing this?" Then I said: "His number was 8806". The reaction was immediate. I heard him shout: "Hey, 8806 has died." He said: "Please convey our sympathies to his family ...." etc etc. So remember. They may not know you when you are gone. Best to leave a number.
 
Just joined the site - so my input to this thread may seem a bit late.
I lived in Benacre Street most of my childhood life and went to school at Hope Street at infant, junior and senior level.
I remember the inner circle 8 well. Between the years 1961 to 1965 (age 10 to 14 ) me and my best friend William used to ride the no. 8 all the way 'round on a Saturday (and often weekdays during school holidays)- just for the fun of it. I think our parents were glad to see the back of us for a few hours.
We did this often, depending on if we could scrounge up the fare, and always bags'd the upstairs front seats if we could. We'd do our fair share of secondary smoking and have a crafty fag of our own if we could afford one (3 old pence for two Woodbines or Park Drive with two matches purchased from one of the local Papershops) and enjoy the view. we would take a few sarni's and a bottle of cold tea to share on our journey. It was great fun and nobody ever bothered us - not even the conductor. Our biggest decision was which direction to travel round the route in, though often this was dictated by whichever bus came first.
I once saw a photo' of a no. 8 bus approaching a junction in a book about Birmingham, and there at the front on the upper deck were two young lads, one to each double seat, gazing out of the windows. it's not a brilliantly clear photo' so I can't say for sure, but it could have been us.
Wish I'd still got that photo'.
 
Well what do you know!
Many, many thanks David - this is the very phot'o I spoke of - and I'm still convinced in my own mind that it is William and I at the upstairs window.

William would be on the left as you look at the front of the bus and me on the right. Our usual positions on those journeys.

If anybody has a larger or better definition copy of this photo' I would love to see it.
 
dpeden said:
Just joined the site - so my input to this thread may seem a bit late.
I lived in Benacre Street most of my childhood life and went to school at Hope Street at infant, junior and senior level.
I remember the inner circle 8 well. Between the years 1961 to 1965 (age 10 to 14 ) me and my best friend William used to ride the no. 8 all the way 'round on a Saturday (and often weekdays during school holidays)- just for the fun of it. I think our parents were glad to see the back of us for a few h

We did this often, depending on if we could scrounge up the fare, and always bags'd the upstairs front seats if we could. We'd do our fair share of secondary smoking and have a crafty fag of our own if we could afford one (3 old pence for two Woodbines or Park Drive with two matches purchased from one of the local Papershops) and enjoy the view. we would take a few sarni's and a bottle of cold tea to share on our journey. It was great fun and nobody ever bothered us - not even the conductor. Our biggest decision was which direction to travel round the route in, though often this was dictated by whichever bus came first.
I once saw a photo' of a no. 8 bus approaching a junction in a book about Birmingham, and there at the front on the upper deck were two young lads, one to each double seat, gazing out of the windows. it's not a brilliantly clear photo' so I can't say for sure, but it could have been us.
Wish I'd still got that photo'.
Click to expand...



Hi depeden, this post took me back,my cousin and I often travelled on the number 8 bus, from Hockley to Balsall Heath, and visa versa, she lived in Handsworth and I lived in Balsall Heath, one day we were catching the bus from Hockley we had to run but the driver didn't wait for us, we like you always got the front upstairs seat, cut a long story short we had to wait for the next bus, we went a couple of stops, and the bus we would have been on had crashed, the upstairs front was wrecked, it had gone straight into what I seem to remember was the front of a cafe, on a corner, I think we would have been seriously injured had we been in our usual seat.
 
Thanks John,

William had light red hair (his mom called it strawberry blonde...) and mine was a dark brown, so the colouring would be right on a old B&W photograph.
We both had the common fringe cut (like the lad bottom right of photo' who is walking with his mom), so that would be also be right.
We'd be about 11 when we first started our round trips and around 14 when we last did one, so the age would appear about right too.
Okay - not quite case proven, but certainly a very real possibility.

Oddly strange, but also trhrilling to think that it really could be us and that I might be seeing my (somewhat blurry) self as I was all those years ago.

Thank you so much for the help.
 
Hello Liz,
A narrow escape – sometimes luck rides with you, sounds like it was your turn to have a bit of the good stuff that day
 
dpeden said:
Hello Liz,
A narrow escape – sometimes luck rides with you, sounds like it was your turn to have a bit of the good stuff that day
Click to expand...
I was at Hope St 61,65, were you there then
 
I was at Hope Street from infants right through until 1965.
I was in the same class/stream as Michael Ladlow, Billy France, Robert Day, Sofffik Meah, Shagufta Aziz, Michael and Stephen McGuinness (twins), Timothy Feeley and many others.
 
Concerning the boys on the top deck of the no 8 bus. I saw a blown up version of the photo on Sunday at the Birmingham Lives Fair. There are actually three boys on the front seats. There is a third boy who has fair hair to the far right as we look at the picture. The gentleman who took the photograph tells me that the location is the junction of Monument Road and Icknield Port Road and the picture was taken the week that President Kennedy died.
 
Hi David,

Thank you for the information - I wish i had seen that photo!
Still sounds right to me - the third lad would be Williams younger brother George (Not Ben as I may have inadvertently called him in a previous post). We were often 'bribed' to take George with us when we went on our rambles, though it wasn't that bad as George had blond hair and very blue eyes and was a magnet for the girls whenever we went down the local parks.
The timing would be right too (Nov 1963) as we did all our travelling on the 8 between 1962 and 1965.
Thanks again - now I have a date and a location to add to the information I have gatherewd so far.
 
Hi everyone
My dad, Frank Basnett, drove the Number 8 bus from 1933 until 1965 when he died. He took great pride in his job, turning out in all weathers and he never had a day off sick or an accident (I have several of the medals he was awarded by Birmingham City Transport for safe driving!) He worked out of the garage in Perry Barr. I used to love walking down to the garage with him to collect his wages when I was young. He often found it difficult to "switch off" from the job though - when we were out driving in the car he used to pull up at the bus stops out of habit and embarrass my mother no end!
Barbara
 
sasha507 said:
Hi everyone
My dad, Frank Basnett, drove the Number 8 bus from 1933 until 1965 when he died. He took great pride in his job, turning out in all weathers and he never had a day off sick or an accident (I have several of the medals he was awarded by Birmingham City Transport for safe driving!) He worked out of the garage in Perry Barr. I used to love walking down to the garage with him to collect his wages when I was young. He often found it difficult to "switch off" from the job though - when we were out driving in the car he used to pull up at the bus stops out of habit and embarrass my mother no end!
Barbara
Click to expand...

Lovely story Barbara. thanks:)
(Shame the drivers today haven't got your late dad's pride.)
 
Re: Bus Routes

have internet have no life BUT yes but we would not all be enjoying this ride of nostalga without it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
No 8 bus was the inner circle, there was 8A anticlockwise, 8C clockwise, 8E not completing the circle. The route was (8A) Small Heath-Bordesley Green-Saltley-Aston-Hockley-Ladywood-Highgate-Sparkbrook-Small Heath.
 
The post Sasha made regarding her father (which was last year) refers to the BCT days when the route was just 8 whichever direction it took. I don't know when the A and C suffixes came in but I am sure it was into the WMPTE jurisdiction.
 
Hi All
I worked at Hockley Garage from Nov 1963 to Nov 1971 ... The No 8 route in those days was a killer for the "Guard" (Conductor) you would start a shift at 5am and not get off the platform after the first half hour in service until you returned to garage after 9 am. The A C & E number was not used under BCT and was something that I think was started in the late 70's .
Regards
Rich
Keep smiling
 
hi mrpastry..were you a conductor on the no 8..if so you must have given me me ticket more than once..

lyn
 
Hi Lyn
Worked the number 8 for a short time them went on to the 15/16 Hamstead to Whittington Oval before becoming a driver ... was a happy 8 years at a great garage and with some of the best people you coulsd wish to meet.
Regards
Rich
Keep Smiling
 
glad you enjoyed the job rich...i would have caught the no 8 from outside and opposite the sally army in nursery road..lived in villa st...

lyn
 
Bill123 said:
Would I be right in thinking the trip around the number 8 was about 1 hour?
Or did I imagine it.
Click to expand...
It's about an hour and a quarter now and I doubt it's changed much. Might be a little quicker than it used to be if anything.
 
Hi Bill123 & Lyn
The travel time was 1hr with a Bundy Clock at Saltley and that was also a smoking point I think there were two Bundy clocks the other being at Five Ways ? Whoo be tide any driver that was running early and the Road Inspector caught you.If you were more that 5 min early you would be reported and disciplined ... which meant attending in front of the Garage Superintendent and receiving a warning and if you continued to do the same you would be "Put back on the back" in other words you were back conducting .
Remember Nursery Rd well and Villa Street my family had strong links to the area all though I lived in Handsworth off Booth St.
Regards
Rich
Keep Smiling
 
Hi Rich.
I remember the clock on the bridge at Monument rd.
We used to climb up it to look at the barges on the "cut" and I think we could just about see the trains as well.
 
thanks rich...dont know why but i had it in my minds eye that there was a clock kind of outside tubes in rocky lane..mind you it was a long time ago and me memory is not what it was lol.

lyn
 
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