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Birmingham buses

In 1956, before I got my first car in 1957, I used to catch a Devon General bus, usually one of the older 1934 Regents of the OD 74XX series, from the Torbay area bound for Plymouth. This was a special which left at 5 am. and was full of cigarette smoking Army, Navy and Air Force types, all bound for their respective stations/barracks. As the journey was over an hour duration I suggest the Villa Park buses were just a faint mist in comparison.
Anyway, fresh air awaited at Plymouth when I walked to North Road for the train to my base in Cornwall. Actually the whole trip took just over four hours; it can be done in a car in less that two now.
At that time of the morning alcoholic aromas were few. ;)
 
Lady Penelope said:
Thank you gentlemen. The reason I asked is that we went to the pictures on Tuesday to see 'The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society'. In one scene they are just getting off a London bus and a man was seen smoking downstairs. I vaguely remember men smoking on the platform but not in the seats.
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Saw this film last week but missed that scene, too busy spotting the local sights as much of the film shot around where we live, Guernsey was Clovelly, Saunton and Bideford, Weymouth was Bristol.
Thanking the driver is "derigeur" here in Barnstaple even the children do it!
 
That's interesting Devonjim. Very gullible me, I thought it was filmed on Guernsey. How lovely it must be to live in those surroundings. We're in the Clwyds at the moment, in glorious sunshine and it certainly lifts your spirits.
 
Lady Penelope said:
That's interesting Devonjim. Very gullible me, I thought it was filmed on Guernsey. How lovely it must be to live in those surroundings. We're in the Clwyds at the moment, in glorious sunshine and it certainly lifts your spirits.
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Lady P
The street that all those German soldiers marched down was High Street, Bideford and the Dakota landed on Saunton Sands. I am preparing a book on Saunton, it's sands and hotels and there is a modern photograph I would love to put in, it shows one of the RAF Hercules cargo planes doing a touch down amd take off (one of the ex RAF men will know what it is called. However the photographer will not allow it.
Bob
 
Perhaps you could get 'someone' to do a painting from it - is that allowed? I'm never sure what's what but I believe that if you copy anything from the archives you can't share it but if you do a drawing yourself, you can.
 
Lady Penelope said:
Perhaps you could get 'someone' to do a painting from it - is that allowed? I'm never sure what's what but I believe that if you copy anything from the archives you can't share it but if you do a drawing yourself, you can.
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Lady P
Thank you, but I think the same would apply that they have to ask for permission because of copyright rules etc. Anyway it would not be the same, but thanks for the thought.
Bob
 
Bob Davis said:
Lady P
The street that all those German soldiers marched down was High Street, Bideford and the Dakota landed on Saunton Sands. I am preparing a book on Saunton, it's sands and hotels and there is a modern photograph I would love to put in, it shows one of the RAF Hercules cargo planes doing a touch down amd take off (one of the ex RAF men will know what it is called. However the photographer will not allow it.
Bob
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We used to call them 'touch and goes' in the RAF. There is an image of a C130 landing on Saunton Sands available under Open Government Licence. Unfortunately it does not have the hotel in the view ... :)
There are images on other aviation websites which do not look as if they were all taken by the same photographer.
Brief terms Open Government Licence.
You are free to:
copy, publish, distribute and transmit the Information;
adapt the Information;
exploit the Information commercially for example, by combining it with other Information, or by including it in your own product or application.
You must, where you do any of the above:
acknowledge the source of the Information by including any attribution statement specified by the Information Provider(s) and, where possible, provide a link to this licence;
ensure that you do not use the Information in a way that suggests any official status or that the Information Provider endorses you or your use of the Information;
ensure that you do not mislead others or misrepresent the Information or its source;
ensure that your use of the Information does not breach the Data Protection Act 1998 or the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
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oldMohawk said:
We used to call them 'touch and goes' in the RAF. There is an image of a C130 landing on Saunton Sands available under Open Government Licence. Unfortunately it does not have the hotel in the view ... :)
There are images on other aviation websites which do not look as if they were all taken by the same photographer.
Brief terms Open Government Licence.
Click to expand...
OM
To save going off theme, thanks and further reply sent on separate mail

Bob
 
In the flood pictures of Pershore Road, Selly Oak on my tablet news reports, which include Birmingham because I used the tablet when i was on the canal, behind the flooded road is a blue and yellow bus ex CBT colours although the yellow is a bit eggy. Is there a bus running in the old City colours at the moment for any reason? It's BBC news.
Bob
 
Bank Holiday weekends is when Wythall Transport Museum run there heritage buses, but that's up the Alcester Road not Pershore Road.

Is also rail replacement buses this weekend too.


Most of the buses I've seen on the photos are of the no 45 or 47 routes. Red and white with orange for the route colour. Similar to this.

 
ellbrown said:
Bank Holiday weekends is when Wythall Transport Museum run there heritage buses, but that's up the Alcester Road not Pershore Road.

Is also rail replacement buses this weekend too.
Most of the buses I've seen on the photos are of the no 45 or 47 routes. Red and white with orange for the route colour. Similar to this.

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The photo is on the Birmingham and Black Country BBC news feed. It does not look like a modern by s, more 80s or 0s. The colour makes me also think of Johnson's. Last time I was up there the buses were an almost Midland Red red or Platignum.
Bob
 
Bob Davis said:
In the flood pictures of Pershore Road, Selly Oak on my tablet news reports, which include Birmingham because I used the tablet when i was on the canal, behind the flooded road is a blue and yellow bus ex CBT colours although the yellow is a bit eggy. Is there a bus running in the old City colours at the moment for any reason? It's BBC news.
Bob
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Perhaps you could upload a screenshot for us to look at. There are differences in colour display on different devices.
oldmohawk
 
Yes, old BCT buses (and others) have been running through Kings Heath today from Wythall museum, where there's been an 'operating day'. The red & white ones are National Express West Midlands older current fleet, newer ones are in a red/maroon with cream bands livery.
 
oldMohawk said:
Perhaps you could upload a screenshot for us to look at. There are differences in colour display on different devices.
oldmohawk
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The picture now headlines the news story and the bus has changed colour slightly, the yellow is now orange/yellow. It certainly looks like the flat fronts in Ellbrowns photo, but it has a top blue band under the upper saloon like the Daimler. I am sorry, I can't help with a screen shot, I don't know what it is, sorry.
Bob
 
The only buses I see on the BBC News Birmingham or Birmingham Live sites are of National Express West Midlands buses.

Some screenshots for you.

The bus below is on the Pershore Road and was on the 45 or 47 bus routes. BBC Birmingham.

bbc news 45 bus.jpg

Bus below on the 35 on the Kings Heath High Street. Birmingham Live.

bham mail 35 bus.jpg
 
On an iPad a screenshot is produced by pressing the 'home' button and the 'switch-off' button at the same time. The buses shown by ellbrown are the ones I saw in BBC news but they did not look like the old BCT colours to me.
 
Interestingly enough, the colour has now completely changed on the current entry and is the bus at the top on Ellbrowns post, but seriously when I first saw this, the bus certainly looked as if it was the old BCT colours. However, why is the colouring different from the NEx bus below? Now lost the original picture, you certainly suffered up there didn't you? Trust no members were flooded or badly affected by the rain, thunder and floods.
Bob
 
Bob, the bus colours are different due to certain routes now having a colour splash around the destination boards on the front to easily identify certain bus services from a distance. Blue on the 35 service, yellow on the 11 services and other colours for various other services. Buses also have livery on the sides with route number in big lettering. The idea seems great, you see a bus in the distance with the colour of the service you want, run to the bus stop only to find out the bus has "Not in Service" all displayed with a nice colour around it. Seriously, it must help the elderly and partially sighted however it must be a nightmare when garages need to substitute a bus onto another service route.

I don't think any colour the buses have been recently painted will ever look so regal and tasteful as the old black and cream of the Birmingham Corporation buses of yesterday.
 
BCT colours were cobalt blue and cream. Glasgow trams had route identification colours, I always thought it a good idea.
 
Dave Riley said:
Bob, the bus colours are different due to certain routes now having a colour splash around the destination boards on the front to easily identify certain bus services from a distance. Blue on the 35 service, yellow on the 11 services and other colours for various other services. Buses also have livery on the sides with route number in big lettering. The idea seems great, you see a bus in the distance with the colour of the service you want, run to the bus stop only to find out the bus has "Not in Service" all displayed with a nice colour around it. Seriously, it must help the elderly and partially sighted however it must be a nightmare when garages need to substitute a bus onto another service route.

I don't think any colour the buses have been recently painted will ever look so regal and tasteful as the old black and cream of the Birmingham Corporation buses of yesterday.
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I agree all the way and nowadays you have no idea who built the bus, what chassis, bodywork or engine it ha. Covered with lurid abstracts of colour or worse still wrapped in vinyl you can hardly see through. Yes the old CBT buses without adverts were always a fine site.
Bob
 
Bob Davis said:
I agree all the way and nowadays you have no idea who built the bus, what chassis, bodywork or engine it ha. Covered with lurid abstracts of colour or worse still wrapped in vinyl you can hardly see through. Yes the old CBT buses without adverts were always a fine site.
Bob
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Having difficulty editing should read CBT and of course sight.
Bob
 
I am sure I remember black and cream buses Eric or was it a very dark shade of blue? Maybe my eyesight has gone along with my memory.
 
upload_2018-6-2_12-42-49.png
If you look at the bonnet of the bus Dave it shows the dark blue well. It was, as I mentioned in an earlier post, called cobalt blue but can appear in photos as black.
The bus in the background is a West Bromwich corporation bus. The WMPTE, after taking over the bus sytems in the West Midlands initially repainted buses in a lighter shade of blue and cream, similar to that used in the bottom panels of the West Brom bus.
 
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Thanks everyone for putting me right on the blue colour. I was only about 4 or 5 years of age when these particular buses were phased out but I still remember them has magnificent. The sound of the engine when they were pulling away was a joy to hear. A few months ago I was walking in Edgbaston and I heard that bus engine noise again, sure enough looking behind me I saw one of these old buses approaching, a wedding special bus it was. Strange how that particular engine noise was recognised by me after all those years.
 
Radiorails said:
View attachment 125384
If you look at the bonnet of the bus Dave it shows the dark blue well. It was, as I mentioned in an earlier post, called cobalt blue but can appear in photos as black.
The bus in the background is a West Bromwich corporation bus. The WMPTE, after taking over the bus sytems in the West Midlands initially repainted buses in a lighter shade of blue and cream, similar to that used in the bottom panels of the West Brom bus.
Click to expand...

The BCT in the picture bus was on route B85 Birmingham to Spon Lane. My recollection is the there was only ever one working each day on this route around about 1.30pm. It was quite a surprise to see a BCT bus on Smethwick High Street as this was Midland Red territory with a few West Brom Corporation buses on joint services to West Bromwich
 
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