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Chelmsley Wood buses

J

jude

master brummie
Hi Everyone, can anyone remember the buses that used to service the Chelmsley Wood area when it was first built please? I know the Midland Red ran a service that ran up to Pine Square terminus but I dont recall Birmingham Corperation -as it was then- running any. One of my customers says the #53 and 54, one terminating at Shirestone Rd Tile cross but the other one came onto the Wood but I dont remember that at all. A pint is resting on this guys so your help is much appreciated .
Jude:rolleyes:
 
I lived on Chelmsley from 1969 and my (now ex) husband was a driver with BCT /WM on the 55s.,birmingham/Saltley/Alum rock/Shard end..

My youngest son was born in December 1973 and at that time no 'corporation' buses came to Chelmsley.

Later the 56,Birmingham/Saltley gate/Washwood Heath/Castle Bromwich,which previously turned at The Clock Garage ,had a terminus in Arran way and became the 94.

The 55 which previously turned in Shard End came to the lake at Kingshurst as the 93.

The 14 came from town to Tile cross and never came to Chelmsley

It was definateley in the mid 70s that the WM brought buses onto the estate.
 
My parents moved to Chelmsley in January 1968 and we used to catch the No.97 outside the Police Station just off Station Road, Stechford, the first few months the terminus was just past The White Hart, but then the Corporation buses used to run down either Craneberry Road, or Bosworth Drive.
 
The only Nos. that come to mind from my time living in Chelmsley where the 169 and the 193. I remember that when we first moved to Chelmsley the one bus only went as far as Pine Sq., because from there on, they where still building the estate. Cant recall the 53,54,55,56 etc. Barry.
 
Hi

No 53.
Ran from Carrs Lane via Fazeley Street Garrison Lane
through Bordesley Green Terminated at Stechford.

No 54
Ran from Carrs Lane through Bull Ring via Deritend
Up the Coventry Road via Cattell Road then the same route as
the 53.

No 55
Shard End Bus.
Ran via Saltley Waswood Heath Newport Road
to Shard End. One of my mates lived at the Terminus.

No 56
Ran as the 55 to Newport Road into the Firs Estate.


Mike Jenks.
(Bus Spotter as well what a sad Life)
 
Well done Mike, we don't see that many Buses in week around here (true)

From one Bus spotter to another:rolleyes:
 
hey jude

just dropped in to say hello.
can,t add much to you search,only that one bus used to turn,round outside our flat at the top of chelmsley road and the corner of your road,greenwood ave,that was about 1971 when we moved back to the wood from tamworth.
catch you later dereklcg. redditch.
 
In the mid 70s the 199 ran along cooks lane turning into 4th drive then up to bacons end island and terminating at the local pub.( about as reliable as a polictition or for that matter my spelling.)
 
In 1970 you could get a Midland Red bus from Chelmsley Road to Sheldon via the shopping centre. I'm not sure of either terminus but I think it was the 165 service. I can say no buses ever ran down Craneberry Road as someone suggested.
At that time the MR bus was the only one I remember servicing that part of Chelmsley and the nearest Birmingham bus stop was either the terminus of the 54 at Shirestone Road, or the 14 at Tile Cross.
In 1974 the boundary changes came into force and Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst, Smiths Wood, Fordbridge, Marston Green and Castle Bromwich were all relinquished by Birmingham to Solihull as part of the latter getting Borough status. Chelmsley then had Birmingham buses running from the city to Pine Square via Chelmsley Road or Bosworth Drive. Some residents of the vast estate had been waiting over 6 years for a bus!!!
 
4 Hours in our village at the present, there one every 15 minutes if you walk 25 to 30minutes from our House to the Main Road.:(
 
Because it was outside of the city boundary, the Corporation could not run bus services to Chelmsley Wood when it was first constructed.
Midland Red obtained the necessary licences, and were running services as soon as tarmac'ed roads were laid, while the houses were being built. Only after the boundary revisions and the take-over of bus services within the West Midlands county by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority (WMPTA) did the 'blue and creams' start appearing there.
There were a few instances of Corporation vehicles operating outside of their area, principally when the leases held by private tramway companies expired, and local authorities like West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Dudley had Birmingham Corporation trams run the routes on their behalf, and later in many cases ran the replacement bus services as well. Does anyone remember having to pay again at the Albion ground on the B'ham-West Bromwich-Dudley route?
That was to ensure that fares paid for travel within West Bromwich went to that council, who paid for the operation of the buses on their behalf (and shared the operation with their own buses, too).
Another was the wartime extension, on the orders of the Government, of the Coventry Road trolleybus services to Lode Lane Rover works, in Solihull. When the trolleys finished, Midland Red buses ran the replacement cross-boundary services.
 
Alf, talking about that bus stop by the Albion ground, two things occur to me - one was the long time you had to wait at the Bundy clock, because the schedule always allowed some reserve for delays. The other thing was the bus stop signs in West Brom, which were quite different from the Brum ones, but were the same as the Woverhampton Corporation signs. They were rather like some pub signs, with a plate which hung by a hinge, so that it would sway with the wind.
Oh, and something different, my high-spot there was the former tramshed building, which has since rebuilt at the Black Country Museum. After the trams finished in 1939 it was used by a transport company, but from the top deck of a bus you could still see the cobble paving and the old tram track. It's marvellous that it became a tramshed again!
Peter
 
chelmsley buses

just found a couple of pics that i took in the early seventies the top of chelmsley road they did,nt make it back .
the kids loved it . regards dereklcg
 
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Having lived in Kingshurst for the early years of my life, the Midland Red ran all the buses in the area, 160 came into Kingshurst, the 166 went from Sutton to Solihull along Cooks Lane to Tile Cross then to Marston Green and back to Tile Cross to the Wheatshief and into Solihull as the 71 does now, the 169 went to Bacons End and was extended to Chelmesley Circle as the place was built, originally it was only a peak time service till it went to Chelmesley, the 168 went to Coleshill via Bacons End, all BCC buses terminated at the City boundry except the 58 and which went to the Airport, the 59 terminated at the Sheldon Boundry, 56 terminated at the Clock Garage and the 55 at Shard End the Harlequinn and then extended to Hurst Lane, the 165 was from North Chelmesley to the Maypole via Chelmesley Town Centre,Solihull and Shirley. Then when West Midlands County was formed and transport came under them when WMPTE was created Midland Red on these routes were converted to the Yellow and Cream and renumbered and new routes inorgorated and extended with some, the 199 previousley mentioned was a joint partnership with the NEC and WMPTE, Castle Vale to the Metropole via Chelmesley Town Centre along the Collector Road to the Local Pub then up to Chelmesley TC via Bacons End as a limited stop service using the buses from the NEC Car Park service. With the decimation of its extensive routes the Midland Red on Privatisation became ripe for its break up and eventual sell off and demise as a once proud and profitable Company stretching from Stoke to Oxford and Nottingham to Hereford and from being the first Company to run a service from Birmingham to London along the M1 to just a memory.:(
 
Bobbyb was it the 177 that came from Birmingham and just past the Clock garage it turned left into the road that is now closed off(Birmingham Road?) past Castle Bromwich Hall and went to Coleshill via Water Orton.
 
Alberta
Yes it did go into Castle Bromwich that way and came out onto Bradford Rd passed the Bradford Arms and the other way went the Clock and on into Minworth before the Vale was built it went Tyburn Island, Kingsbury Road and did a right Turn onto Forge Lane down to the Railway Bridge and into Minworth and crossed the Kingsbury Rd over the Canal Bridge and on into Sutton.
 
Peter Walker said:
Alf, talking about that bus stop by the Albion ground, two things occur to me - one was the long time you had to wait at the Bundy clock, because the schedule always allowed some reserve for delays. The other thing was the bus stop signs in West Brom, which were quite different from the Brum ones, but were the same as the Woverhampton Corporation signs. They were rather like some pub signs, with a plate which hung by a hinge, so that it would sway with the wind.
Oh, and something different, my high-spot there was the former tramshed building, which has since rebuilt at the Black Country Museum. After the trams finished in 1939 it was used by a transport company, but from the top deck of a bus you could still see the cobble paving and the old tram track. It's marvellous that it became a tramshed again!
Peter
Click to expand...

Sorry Peter some how I missed your Post. I remember there was a Cafe not far from the Bundy Clock and the Conductor would run in there and get their enamel Can filled with Tea or Coffee and usually a Sandwich. They always sat on the long seat just insde the Bus to eat it.When I was a Rep in the Midlands I would drop in there and get a Sausage and Tom Sandwich.
 
Pam I think the thread is reffering to Midland red. My hubby drove the 55 in the late 60's this was a Birmingham bus
 
let me put this matter to rest. the first bus (actually it was a coach) to go to pine square was the 163. it only ran every 1/2 hour ! Then as Chelmsley grew, the 169 came, and went to Berwicks lane. then the 193 was introduced, which went up Greenlands Road. There was also the 171 which went from c/w to town, via Cov Rd. The 53 terminated at Shirestone Rd and the 54 at Stechford.
 

Thought be interesting to post this... BBC footage about Birmingham being modernised in 1971 shows what looks like Chelmsley Wood near the beginning, I noticed a 193 bus which a boy runs out of his house to get it looks like Bosworth Drive near where the old Prince Al pub used to be
 
letsgetmoney said:

Thought be interesting to post this... BBC footage about Birmingham being modernised in 1971 shows what looks like Chelmsley Wood near the beginning, I noticed a 193 bus which a boy runs out of his house to get it looks like Bosworth Drive near where the old Prince Al pub used to be
Click to expand...
It is indeed Chelmsley wood. Great video! 1.44 shows a view from Winchester drive looking towards the shopping centre (you can see the still standing Mail building in the background). Haven't found any other locations yet.
 
poker_pete82 said:
It is indeed Chelmsley wood. Great video! 1.44 shows a view from Winchester drive looking towards the shopping centre (you can see the still standing Mail building in the background). Haven't found any other locations yet.
Click to expand...
Yes Indeed I clocked Winchester Drive when the group of men were walking, behind that out of shot would have been close to where the Roundhouse pub used to be....I knew around there very well as a child as my Dad used to live Ipswich Walk up until the 90s
 
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