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Birmingham buses

I am not sure of the location of the Priory Cycles mentioned in the previous post but one. I do recall a Priory Perambulator and Cycle Co. (or maybe cycle came before perambulator;)) which was in Priory Road near to Trittiford Park. I assume the origin of the company name was from that roads name.

Both bicycles which I owned, a 22" wheel when I was eight years old and a 26" wheeled Dawes racer at the age of ten years old came from their shop. This latter cycle saw good service for me during the late forties and early fifties: it took me to many parts of the Midlands almost the whole of the Midland Reds territory. ;) It came with me to Devon and saw use until I joined the RAF.

The cycle shop was affectionately known, by we youngsters who used the shop and admired the latest bicycles, by the sobriquet "priory pram".
 
View attachment 69044

I have a lot of fond memories of this terminus as i spent 10 years of my life around here .
no 16 was to hamstead via the city , no 15 was the return journey back to the Oval .
ragga :)
 
AH yes Ragga Whittington Oval one of my sisters used to live in one of those houses in the photo when she had just got married some 30 odd years or more ago. Dek
 
I knew the other end of the route better the no 16 terminus at Hamstead. The terminus in BCT days was in the layby which gave a turning circle and the bus stop by the side of the road was for the West Bromwich Corporation bus to Scott Arms and West Bromwich. In WMT days the 16 continued up the hill saving people like my aunt and uncle from having to take two buses when travelling into Birmingham.
View attachment 69047
 
Fantastic picture ragga,
i used to deliver the papers round there from the shop in lea hall rd,
plus i used to help the co-op milkman and the baker over the years,
my Mom used to get the bus there at daft o,clock she was a cleaner in brum Mapstones wholesale newspapers.
We lived in Kelnmead rd by the old meadway pub,happy days regards Derek. ( p .s another view )
 
dek carr said:
Yes Ragga Just out of shot on the left was a shop I often used Priory Cycles there was another cycle shop just 200 yds down the road on the Robin Hood island can,t remember that ones name.

Regards the Arden Oak Pub extensive road works were carried out between the Wheatsheaf and the airport I think the original pub may have been demolished and a new one built late 60s early 70s. Dek
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The cycle shop on Robin Hood island was Hopkins, and it was still open 6 years ago when we moved to Somerset, with the same old chap running it.
 
Cheers derek for your input & photo , which papershop on lea hall road ??
was it the one next to the barbers , just down from the station ? i had my
first crewcut in there around 1962/63.
ragga :)
 
Where on the old 27 route is the Horse and Hound pub? You may well ask, but it wasn't. This photo is of preserved Birmingham City Transport single deck Daimler Fleetline 3472 and was taken last Sunday (10/7/11) in the lovely village of Broadway in Worcestershire. It was giving rides for the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWR) between their Toddington station and Broadway which is to be the tempory northen terminus of the GWR in the near future. (They hope to bring steam trains up to Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse eventually).

If anyone has photos of 3472 in particular or any of the single deck Fleetlines in service I would be really pleased to see them
 
ragga said:
View attachment 69475

Im quite sure this is Washwood heath garage but correct me if im wrong .
ragga :)
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Yes it is the yard alongside Washwood Heath, for a while withdrawn buses were put there awaiting the scrapman's lorry to tow them away. Note the enthusiasts have removed the "Crossley" and "Leyland" makers badges from the radiators. Moi? Oh, I couldn't possibly admit to such a thing!

Agree with Mike - any of those vehicles would be welcome at Wythall now - we just couldn't afford them at the time! (Even at £150 each - but without tyres, the buyer had to supply his own as the Corporation's were leased on a mileage basis from Dunlop, or Goodyear, or whoever had the contract that year.)
 
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Ragga, I suppose it could be Washwood Heath but the sad looking busses in the picture seem to be Leylands and I don't think that era of Leyland was used on the Washwood Heath route. Maybe they were in storage there prior to going to the breakers yard.
Ah, I see this question was answered above.
 
Lloyd said:
- but without tyres, the buyer had to supply his own as the Corporation's were leased on a mileage basis from Dunlop, or Goodyear, or whoever had the contract that year.)
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I think that this might well have been a common practice amongst the larger operators and maybe still is. In 1964 I approached Western National regarding buses which were stored at their garage in Dartmouth, Devon. These were Bristol K6A and K6G types both with double deck ECW bodies. I was informed that the bus sale did not include the types which had to be negotiated with the owning tyre company.
 
I tried to add this to my previous post - but, as they say, it went 'pear shaped' hence a second post. :(

The mention in an earlier posts reminds me that as far as I know the only BCT Leyland engined buses which are preserved are HOV 685 (1685), which is at Wythall, together with one, or maybe two, of the PS1 saloons of the 2231 - 2260 JOJ 231 - JOJ 260 series.
* Many years ago one of these saloons was in use in the Torquay area, owned by a special school.

The types of BCT Leyland engined buses which, as far as I know, sadly eluded preservation :cry: were the pre-war 1938/1939 TD6(c) torque converter- aka gearless buses - of the series 211 - 295 EOG 211 - EOG 295 and 1270 - 1319 FOF 270 - FOF 319.
Other post war classes of BCT Leyland buses, also escaping preservation :cry: were the 2131 - 2180 JOJ 131 -JOJ 180 PD2/1's plus 2181 -2230 JOJ 281 - JOJ 230 also designated PD2/1 but, in my view, having a much more handsome body (Park Royal) than the preceding class of 50 which were an all Leyland product. I don't recall any of the Weyman bodies Olympics being preserved. Those who used, or lived in the direction of Elmdon airfield will remember them. The five vehicles 2261 - 2265 JOJ 261 - JOJ 265 were, I gather relegated to more menial duties in their later lives.

I am not sure if any of the ten 3231 - 3240 231 DOC - 240 DOC Leyland Atlanteans are preserved but, in my view anyway they were not distinctive BCT buses as they looked quite similar to other Atlanteans in use in Britain - excluding livery of course but even then the livery was compromised with thin blue bands between decks and the cobalt blue rising up to the lower windows thus omitting the primrose waistrail. :shocked:
 
On the matter of the tyres these were always a contentious issue when I worked for a transport company with 400 vehicles. The hire company nearly always claimed against us for replacement of damaged tyres claiming driver abuse kerbing the tyres etc. The manager of one of our depots always insisting on having the tyres back for examination. I asked him one day how he proposed to get rid of the pile of tyres in the corner of the depot. The most we could usually recover was an allowance for the unworn tread on the old tyres against the price of the new tyres.
 
Radiorails said:
The mention in an earlier posts reminds me that as far as I know the only BCT Leyland engined buses which are preserved are HOV 685 (1685), which is at Wythall, together with one, or maybe two, of the PS1 saloons of the 2231 - 2260 JOJ 231 - JOJ 260 series.
* Many years ago one of these saloons was in use in the Torquay area, owned by a special school.
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PS2 saloons 2231 and 2255 are preserved, 2257 also survives but is not yet restored. It had been a tow bus at Perry Barr garage.

Radiorails said:
The types of BCT Leyland engined buses which, as far as I know, sadly eluded preservation :cry: were the pre-war 1938/1939 TD6(c) torque converter- aka gearless buses - of the series 211 - 295 EOG 211 - EOG 295 and 1270 - 1319 FOF 270 - FOF 319.
Other post war classes of BCT Leyland buses, also escaping preservation :cry: were the 2131 - 2180 JOJ 131 -JOJ 180 PD2/1's plus 2181 -2230 JOJ 281 - JOJ 230 also designated PD2/1 but, in my view, having a much more handsome body (Park Royal) than the preceding class of 50 which were an all Leyland product.
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Park Royal bodied PD2 2222 (JOJ 222) is at Aston Manor museum, under active restoration. See below.

Radiorails said:
I don't recall any of the Weyman bodies Olympics being preserved. Those who used, or lived in the direction of Elmdon airfield will remember them. The five vehicles 2261 - 2265 JOJ 261 - JOJ 265 were, I gather relegated to more menial duties in their later lives.
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Sadly no, none survive.

Radiorails said:
I am not sure if any of the ten 3231 - 3240 231 DOC - 240 DOC Leyland Atlanteans are preserved but, in my view anyway they were not distinctive BCT buses as they looked quite similar to other Atlanteans in use in Britain - excluding livery of course but even then the livery was compromised with thin blue bands between decks and the cobalt blue rising up to the lower windows thus omitting the primrose waistrail.
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Again, all were scrapped.

2222 at Aston Manor Transport Museum.

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I am indeed delighted Lloyd that 2222 JOJ 222 exists and is being restored. Maybe I should have looked at the Aston Manor web site.
 
Thanks for more nice views, ragga -

2243, a Leyland 'Tiger' PS2 with Weymann 34 seat body. These replaced pre-war Daimler single deckers, and were used on routes which passed under low bridges e.g. Bournville Station on the 27. Selly Oak or Hockley depot: more likely Hockley, as the second bus behind is one of 2181-2230, Park Royal bodied Leyland 'Titan' PD2's. I'm not aware that Selly Oak had any of those.

2921, one of 100 1952 Guy 'Arab' / Metro Cammell 56 seat double deckers shown brand new on Pershore Rd immediately after the tramway abandonment there on 6 July 1952. The overhead wire was cut down days later and the track lifted soon after. 2976 of the same batch is preserved at Wythall museum.

2874 towards the end of its days on part of the Queensway now built over: Moor St station in the background behind the bus.

Early Daimler Fleetline 3248, one of the first batch of 10 the City Transport bought in 1962, photographed from outside of the 'Kings Arms' in Harborne Park Road, Harborne, working a winter morning 'extra' to Perry Barr.
 
2921 Nice to see a Midland Red bus stop in the Birmingham round form as used outbound from the city. Midland Red I remember had their own stops outbound but observed BCT stops inbound.

3248 The bus behind is at a bus stop I don't remember as the Duke of York stop was just a few yards further on the other side of the roundabout.
 
DavidGrain said:
2921 Nice to see a Midland Red bus stop in the Birmingham round form as used outbound from the city. Midland Red I remember had their own stops outbound but observed BCT stops inbound.

3248 The bus behind is at a bus stop I don't remember as the Duke of York stop was just a few yards further on the other side of the roundabout.
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Not so David, Midland Red had their own stops in both directions inside the City boundary, fewer in number over BCT routes and usually located some yards away from BCT stops. The reason round plates and and ironware were used inside the Birmingham boundary was that BCT provided the complete bus stops on behalf of Midland Red, although Midland Red Publicity Department maintained them.
 
Both Lloyd and I have a picture of 2243 suggesting it is at Hockley, since right behind it is a PD2,of the 2131-2180 series and to the left of 2243 is 2143, a Hockley bus
 
ragga said:
View attachment 69820View attachment 69819

Two different depots in Birmingham , do i need to say which ones ?
ragga :)
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3867 is the Fleetline that was converted into an open topper after hitting the bridge in Colebrook Road Shirley one morning, I saw it going towards the bridge that day after the driver forgot to turn right into Aquaduct Road off the High Street Solihull Lodge and hoped he would stop before he hit the bridge, but it was not to be.
 
That's the first photo of 3867 with it's roof that I have seen. I had never heard the circumstances of it's open top conversion before either. Does 3867 still exist?

They are some lovely photos of the inside of Quinton Garage ragga. That was such a great looking garage, such a shame it was demolished.
 
Definitely would have been Hockley ragga with the Leyland of the 2181-2230 series in the background. Also Selly Oak didn't have any buses which featured the Martell advert.
 
john70 said:
3867 is the Fleetline that was converted into an open topper after hitting the bridge in Colebrook Road Shirley one morning, I saw it going towards the bridge that day after the driver forgot to turn right into Aquaduct Road off the High Street Solihull Lodge and hoped he would stop before he hit the bridge, but it was not to be.
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Not a common occurrence but it had happened at least a couple of times beforehand. Sadly I missed all the excitement as it was a weekday and I was at school.

During the early 1950's I had the pleasure of riding on the Leyland PS2 single deckers which ran on the 27 route. They were a smooth ride and made a pleasant change from the double deckers of BCT and BMMO.

However, the BMMO S5, S6 and S9? were equally a smooth ride.

* The definition 'smooth ride' of course was a reference to the vehicle: not the way it was driven. :D
 
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