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buses

A

angeleyes

Guest
hi does any one recall the no 56 55 14 buses i worked at henrys and the 56 bus used to stop outside oh how i miss them.
 
Hello angeleyes, what year are we looking at my husband drove all these buses back in 1958/60 he says the 55 and 56 came from Washwood Heath garage and the number 14 from Kits Green garage.
 
Hi Angeleyes, the 55 and 14 buses are still running, but not the 56. The 55 no longer comes into town via Alum Rock Road due to congestion of cars parked either side of the road by Asian shopkeepers, about two years ago the route was changed it now goes via Washwood Heath Road into and out of the city.
 
:angel: Wish I had a 1d penny for every time I rode on all three of those routes.
14 mostly though up and down Gt Lister street to school and to visit two of my friends who lived in Alum Rock and another one at Castle Bromwhich. Also going to the pictures in town and Alum Rock, there was also a dance hall we used to go to at the Castle Bromwhich end of the Route.

Great link here for over 300 pic's of Brum Bus fleet...
https://my.bus.photos.fotopic.net/c775801.html
 
My exhusband drove the 56 buses 1960-1988
In the 60s the 56 went from Clock Garage Castle Bromwich to town.
and the 55 went from Shard End to town.
If you wanted to go further than the Clock you had to catch a Midland Red.
 
:angel: Ok so I've been away from Brum far too long... Your right Alberta 'The Mackadown ' sounds right. :cool:
 
Of course it was the Mackadown Chris.According to my husband all the good looking girls went to the Mackadown dance.

Sadly now a Lidl supermarket.
 
Seems so long ago since I drove those Birmingham Buses and it is:rolleyes:
 
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Doe,s Anybody recall the jigsaw club ,
I Believe It WAS An Old Picture House Before It Became An Irish Dance Hall
Way Back In THE Late Fifties And Early Sixties
They Used To Hve Bands And Rock And Roll
The Number 14 And The 55,And The One 60 To KingsHURST
Used To Stop Outside ? .
HAVE A NICE DAY EVERYBODY , ASTONIAN ,
 
Didn't the 56 go to the Fox & Goose.

I recall going to Hodge Hill Common on either the 55 or 56 to fish for tadpoles.

The jar tipped up on the way home and sent the tadpoles all down the deck on the upper floor much to the conductors wrath.
 
washwood heath bus depot almost gone 31/03/07 oh and the pub next door
 
Thanks for the photo's Pete. Michael liked to see the photo's but was sad to see it gone.
He said it was the 56 that went to The Fox and Goose
 
There was a road that was just south of that garage and a familliy lived there whose father drove his own bus, Stilgoes Tours I think. Can't think why I remember that now.
 
My exhusband worked at Washwood Heath as a conductor from 1961-1963 and then driver of the 56 from 1963-1988.

My sister was a conductress and had her wedding reception in the Cross Guns next to the depot in 1971.

Rumours that the depot site is to be a supermarket.
 
My husband was there about that time I beleive. I wll ask him when he gets back from work.
 
I don't suppose any of you remember the trolleybuses for the Nechells route that were kept at Washwood Heath depot? The finished during the second war, as the buses used to travel to start and finish service by having one pole up on the tram wire, and dragging a chain in the track as current return. The sparks contravened blackout regulations!
 
Alberta, sorry I forgot to reply to your post my worked at Washwood Heath garage 1963/64 as a conductor then left and went back in 1966. He can't remember when he left but it was before 1972, so I would think they would have known each other.
 
Hi Folks, the #14 bus did indeed go to Tile Cross still does but at one time the terminus was at Crossfield rd, Kitts Green bus garage. But as Kitts Green grew it when on down past the Macadown (sigh happy days)to Tile Cross, incidently there is also a #14a that goes through Marston Green and into Chelmsley Wood now.
The Jigsaw, Alum Rock, I remember it well ... in fact I was in there the night Ireland won the Eurovision song contest with Dana's All Kinds Of Everything. Great dancehall.
 
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coopbill7 said:
I travelled on the trolley bus from cuckoo bridge to great lister street in1939, was it number43?
Click to expand...

If it was 1939, then it was a trolleybus but was a number 7, possibly one of these: https://www.g4orx.btinternet.co.uk/Brum02.jpg which looked like motor buses but had the electric motor and control gear was under the bonnet. The radiator was just a dummy!
On 1st October 1940, the trolleys were taken off that route because of the sparking I referred to, and replaced by bus service 43. Strangely, the replacement buses and drivers came from Liverpool Street depot, but the conductors from Washwood Heath (presumably the ex trolleybus staff).
 
jude said:
Hi Folks, the #14 bus did indeed go to Tile Cross still does but at one time the terminus was at Crossfield rd, Kitts Green bus garage. But as Kitts Green grew it when on down past the Macadown (sigh happy days)to Tile Cross, incidently there is also a #14a that goes through Marston Green and into Chelmsley Wood now.
The Jigsaw, Alum Rock, I remember it well ... in fact I was in there the night Ireland won the Eurovision song contest with Dana's All Kinds Of Everything. Great dancehall.
Click to expand...

Can anyone shed some light as to where this is on the No 14 route? The vehicle is 2898 JOJ 898, a Daimler CVG6 with a Crossley H30/25R body built in 1953 and was allocated to Barford Street garage until closure in 1955 after which it went to the newly-opened Lea Hall garage.
 
Gosta Green...... Degsy , you can see the Sack of Potatos in the background.
I must say it a lovely photo which i have not seen before.
thank you for sharing it ..... ragga :)
 
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And wasn't the bus in tip-top condition? Gleaming paintwork we don't see any more. I remember that in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Corporation Bus were repainted every 21/2 years. It's hard to imagine today how cheap manual labour was in those days.
Peter
 
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