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Birmingham buses

I moved to West Sussex some 25 years ago and renovating the garden I came across a salt glazed pipe in the way, so removing it revealed a makers name....I Googled the company and they were in Poole Dorset many years ago and the surprise was....they had a fleet of old Birmingham Corporation buses they used to pick their work force up with....don't ask me now what the name was but I found it a most interesting read and seeing all those old buses with Birmingham registrations
 
Has anybody by chance got any photos of the Bus Driver Competition of the year that took place at the NEC in the middle eights ¿, I participated in this representing Hockley Garage, but dont have any photos, thank you.
 
Hi LLoyd, I walked (or ran) 4 times a day, Morning, Lunch time twice and home again in the evening. Our house was in Bertha Road off Tomey Road home of the 'James.
 
The attitude of some passengers is no better today (not really a surprise!) and was the main reason I was glad to get out of the job when I did. As for 'dud' money, any shortages were taken out of wages.
 
The WM town is not mentioned as usual, but there seems to have been heavy bombardment of Birmingham on the previous two nights.
The number plate of the bus is missing,

“This bus was overturned and smashed during the night "blitz" on a West Midland town, It looks bad-but actually no one was hurt.”
Birmingham Gazette nov 21 1940.

IMG_7175.jpeg
 
Pedrocut said:
The WM town is not mentioned as usual, but there seems to have been heavy bombardment of Birmingham on the previous two nights.
The number plate of the bus is missing,

“This bus was overturned and smashed during the night "blitz" on a West Midland town, It looks bad-but actually no one was hurt.”
Birmingham Gazette nov 21 1940.

View attachment 190795
Click to expand...
Very lucky no one was hurt!
 
This probably was fleet number 814 BOP814 which was parked outside Highgate Road garage. It received a body from these spare to Manchester Corporation as the chassis for their vehicles were destroyed in a raid on Coventry.
Fifty three buses at the garage were damaged by shrapnel and most had windows blown out but most were soon in service within hours with new glass or plywood replacements.
I am sure this is recorded elsewhere on BHF.
 
Radiorails said:
This probably was fleet number 814 BOP814 which was parked outside Highgate Road garage. It received a body from these spare to Manchester Corporation as the chassis for their vehicles were destroyed in a raid on Coventry.
Fifty three buses at the garage were damaged by shrapnel and most had windows blown out but most were soon in service within hours with new glass or plywood replacements.
I am sure this is recorded elsewhere on BHF.
Click to expand...

Here is the report by th Birmingham Gazette on the 22 November 1940, which mentions a Bus Depot.IMG_7215.jpegIMG_7216.jpegIMG_7217.jpeg
 
Pedrocut said:
The WM town is not mentioned as usual, but there seems to have been heavy bombardment of Birmingham on the previous two nights.
The number plate of the bus is missing,

“This bus was overturned and smashed during the night "blitz" on a West Midland town, It looks bad-but actually no one was hurt.”
Birmingham Gazette nov 21 1940.

View attachment 190795
Click to expand...

This was bus 814 (BOP 814) which had been parked in Studley Street at the rear of Highgate Road depot when it was bombed. The corporation were able to acquire some bus bodies intended for Manchester, whose chassis had been destroyed in the Coventry blitz, and 814 gained one of those. Manchester had used a 'streamlined' design and livery, which accounts for the odd window layout.
Pictured are: 814 from the front, in Studley Street: 814 with its 'Manchester body; the devastated Highgate Road depot - most of the buses were rebuilt, and using the 'float' of spare bodies put back on the road - the bombed bodies were, where possible, also rebuilt and added to the 'float' for later rebuilds; A Manchester bus of the period to show the 'streamlined' livery.
 

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I used to do this in a VERY unofficial capacity on the no 9 between my stop on Hagley Road and Five Ways, on my way to school at about half eight in the morning when it was busy. I'd offer to the conductor to 'mind the platform' while he went upstairs to collect the fares. Some didn't allow it, but many were grateful. Quite what passengers thought when the bus pulled up, and a schoolboy in uniform would call out something like "Four inside and six upstairs please!" or "First three only!" then give two rings on the bell, I can't imagine!
 
I did not have the that chance when at school it was only Midland Red in the Solihull area. But I did get the chance once, when employed in Edmund Street, when a former colleague who had worked at Wrensons and now with BCT allowed me to take on the conductors job on the famous HOJ 396 (296) - which as we sadly know was not saved for preservation.
 
1953

Screenshot_20231129_192550_Chrome.jpg
 
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