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1 — Origin of the steam tram For over twenty years, Birmingham played surprisingly little part in its development — a brief two-part story that follows this general introduction. The advantage of propelling a vehicle on smooth tracks of timber, stone or iron was recognised centuries ago...

A bit off-topic, in that its in Bonnie Scotland — How about this NEW FAVOURITE? Did it ever become an OLD FAVOURITE, I wonder? Petr

My first recollection of the new BMMO 'Wheel' logo was in 1947, I believe. I was in Form 4B at Aston grammar at the time and decided to enter for the 4th Form Art Prize, for which I did a display about the size of the old 'Panora' school photos, with side elevations of all the old Midland Red...

The Victoria County History (aka British History on-line) has some information on Cannon St Chapel. The first Baptist congregation, known as 'General Baptists', was formed in 1729 and met in Freeman Street. They were also called Arminian Baptists. In 1736, Mr John Atwood registered his house in...

Thank you, Dwilly, for putting all those PDFs on the site, which have given me a real attack of deja-vu. I had a copy of that booklet when I was working in the City Architect's Department in the late 1950s. I became so disenchanted with what I was doing I moved to London, but I kept that book...

After a week off-line, it was a very pleasant surprise to see so much more good research done on pioneers of Midland Red and their domestic lives. Thank you all for keeping the standard flying. Peter

Lyn has asked for a replacement picture of this pub. How could I refuse a lady? Sorry I must try again when I have time to get the picture to appear. Peter

Part 8: Conclusion 1959 - Britain’s first motorway coaches In 1958 the first C5 coach appeared. It was similar to the C3 and C4, but based on the lighter S15 bus design. A total of 64 of these coaches (including some variants) was built, mainly as a 37-seater, but the CM5T was a 34-seater...

Part 7: Post-war recovery The early post-war years were very much a period of austerity, with demand exceeding supply in almost every respect. The fifty per cent holding in the BMMO purchased in 1930 by the Great Western and the London, Midland and Scottish Railways, which were nationalised...

Part 6 — World War 2 By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the BMMO was the largest private bus company in the country, with a fleet of 1309 vehicles, all built by the company, operating from 30 depots. As a result of hostilities, long-distance services were suspended...

Part 5 — The later twenties and early thirties 1925 - 1930: Replacing smaller tramway systems Although the Birmingham and Midland Tramways Joint Committee had made a brave attempt to modernise its aging fleet by introducing over 40 progressive ’Tividale’ single deck trams in 1917- 20, by...

Part 4 — Developments in bus design in the early ‘twenties At the start of the decade, Midland Red already had over 200 buses and coaches, but the policy of expansion demanded more and better vehicles, a challenge to which Wyndham Shire, Chief Engineer, rose with ingenuity and diligence...

Part 3 — World War 1 and its aftermath The war had already started when the Corporation formally took over the BMMO routes within Birmingham on 4 October 1914, together with 30 Tilling-Stevens buses and the garage at Tennant Street. The Company would have been left with 20 vehicles, but a...

Part 2: The origin of Midland Red 1903: The first motor bus service The first motor buses came to Birmingham in 1903, when an independent company, the Birmingham Motor Express Company was formed privately (described at the time by Commercial Motor as “the first attempt at a regular...

Part 1: The origins 1731 – 1870: Early stage coach and horse bus services The first commercial stage carriage service to Birmingham was advertised as early as 1731 from London via Warwick, Banbury and Aylesbury. The coming of the canals in 1769 was made it much easier to move heavy goods...

Most of the following text was written six years ago, and some appeared on the Forum. I later updated it and added illustrations, but the result never appeared here. Despite the rather constrained format I am posting this today, in the knowledge that the real experts know better than I, and will...

I can remember as a student being taken round one of the 'big three' blocks while it was being built. I think it was June 1954, but I could be a year out either way. I certainly recall standing on the top of one of the blocks and looking round on that fine sunny day. I also knew Loxton Street...

I'm not sure if you can say the Crystal Palace was made in Birmingham. The general contractors for the original building were Fox Henderson, (until 1845, Bramah, Fox & Co), who had an ironworks in Cranford Street, Smethwick which was rapidly being expanded in the late 1840s to cater for massive...

Aidan, Looking back I think I should have said I didn't agree with the red spot Mikejee had put on his copy of the 1913 OS map as the location of the Lombard Street chapel. I believe the 'Meeting' shown on the 1838 map refers to the Baptist Chapel. The same site on the 1913 map is marked 'Chapel...

Aidan Funny thing, you wait four weeks for an answer and then three come along together! Like the last two writers, I felt thought I would look out what little I could find, and have come up with much the same. I certainly come to the same conclusion as Mikejee about the site location, which...