The angle piece over the wire is to hide the sparking when they run the current pickup pole round and engage with the power line, if you look it is inline with windows in pub.At the terminus on Birchfield Rd the trams stood in the middle of the road with traffic passing both sides. Some interesting things in this pic ... a Vee shaped object on the wire above the tram, a 'two tone' Bundy Clock, and what look like flags hanging on the pub. The tram conductress appears to be having a chat to the right of the clock and two women sitting on the tram's front balcony seat. Maybe a tram expert will know what the Vee shaped object is.
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Map attached shows 296 in red
They weren't safe. I don't remember them but my Mother did tell me about a lad from our road who was killed in Perry Barr. He waited for the bus to pass and dashed across the road to be run over by the trailerHi Oldmohawk. Never heard of those before. Can't say I'm totally surprised they had a short life! How on earth could they've been regarded as safe? Bus failures must have been a common winter sight on the hill near the Golden Hind. I've been on the # 29 bus, going towards Hawthorn Rd in bad weather and seen the the buses just refusing to go up the hill. It was quicker to walk. Must have been a bit of a nightmare for bus drivers. Viv.
The No 6 Perry Barr tram service ended in 1949 and 4 years later in March 1953 they were taking up the tracks.
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Hi Lyn, I thought it was Birchfield Road by Chain Walk. The road was narrow there and the tram track went to single line as shown on the map below. Also, what I think is the pub is shown on the map although marked as a hotel. I could however be wrong and maybe other members can comment.nice pic phil...now where on that route was it taken ..looks like a pub on the left but it rings no bells with me and i dont think its birchfield road...
lyn
I can remember having some scary moments with tram lines when I cycled in Birchfield Rd. With regard to the fog in those days, it was so thick and smoky (smog) bus drivers could not see the kerbs. One foggy night going home from Handsworth Tech, I managed to catch a No 5 tram from Villa Cross to Six Ways but then had to walk from there to Great Barr because no buses were running.The tram lines had a lot to answer for, how many cyclists got their front wheels stuck in them. But on a dark foggy night, or even day when the fog was at its worst, how many of us followed them to get us home when the bus's wern't running.