Author Topic: bus garages in brum  (Read 76952 times)

roy one

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bus garages in brum
« on: November 22, 2009, 10:31:23 AM »
when b.c.t used to own and run the bus services in brum it seems that each district had its own garages

sally oak Mosley perry bar to name but one or two in them days driver and guards would some times do the last bus in at night and the first bus out in the morning may be with just a short sleep and they would work a 14 to 16 hour day it was not a job it was away of life folk would say they had a well paid job no they did not they would work some times 80 hours per week

 did your dad or any of you re family drive a bus or work for b.c.t

can you name all the garages in and around brum
each day is a blessing and I bless each day when it comes

Abt

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2009, 03:23:07 PM »
Washwood Heath
 Crossfield Rd ,Lea hall
Miller street Aston
Perry Barr
Liverpool Street
Acocks Green

roy one

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2009, 03:47:02 PM »
hi abt
         welcome to the forum thanks for the input I'm sure there are a few more around brum and we will see members adding to the list Roy
each day is a blessing and I bless each day when it comes

denise

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2009, 03:59:45 PM »
I know the Acocks Green one well.have to negotiate a queue of buses sometimes going in there. :)

Phil

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2009, 04:13:54 PM »
Hi Alberta

Glad you have thought to pay us a return visit, I think the first time you visited us there was some misapprehension to what your stated intentions were. We are always glad to receive new members and we do try to make them as welcome as possible. The problem is we also get a lot of people who join trying to sell services or whatever. It seems that you somehow were included among those. I hope you can forgive us.

Additional depots I can remember are,

Cotteridge
Trafalgar Rd
Silver St
Highgate Rd
Harborne Lane
Coventry rd
Yardley Wood
Kyotts Lake Rd
Roseberry St
Washwood Heath
Hockley
Birchfield Rd

I'm sure there were very many more than this, but I can't remember them.

Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

9teen48

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2009, 06:33:00 PM »
Phil,

Birmingham City Transport was a great employer in the city and I'm sure many of us have family connections with the buses.  As Roy said in his opening post, it was a way of life for the staff, who sometimes worked several turns, sometimes without enough time to go home between turns.  This is where the staff canteen came in at the garage.  After the war my Dad worked as a conductor and then a driver on the trams from Moseley Road depot.  He then became a bus driver and worked at Yardley Wood depot, then Selly Oak depot and finally Harborne depot, which I remember best during the mid to late 1950s.  He finished on the buses around 1959.  There were a lot of sports events and as you know, BCT had their stadium at Wheelers Lane, which still exists.

During his time at Harborne he mostly worked the Outer Circle route, which was fed from Harborne, Perry Barr and Acocks Green depots.  I often went with him to Harborne depot from home in King's Heath and have lots of memory of the pay office, mess room and the canteen, where they played cards and snooker or could get something to eat and drink between turns.  I often used to meet my Dad's bus in the early evening at Vicarage Road by All Saint's church, to bring his sandwiches.  They also had a mobile canteen which used to be parked at this location in the evening, so crews could get tea, cake etc.

I also travelled the entire outer circle route during school holidays and the routine of pegging the bundy clock and the crew standing drinking their tea is evoked by this picture at Stockland Green.  I can't be sure, but the driver about to climb back into the cab looks very much like my Dad.

Brian

9teen48

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2009, 06:56:11 PM »
Phil,

I can only think of one other bus garage in addition to the ones you have listed, and that is Quinton.  Harborne Lane in your list was Selly Oak depot and Harborne depot had one entrance in Lonsdale Road off Lordswood Road, and the other end of the depot was off Serpentine Road.  The depot is long gone and the site re-developed.

Brian

roy one

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #7 on: November 22, 2009, 07:24:48 PM »
hi 9teen48

                 i was told that the conductor was in charge of the bus he or she told the driver when to go and stop by ringing the bell and to keep the bus on time at its timing points he also told me that they was called guards unless I'm getting mixed up with the reds i used to have a girl friend that lived at bartleygreen(45 rout) and most nights you would see the driver and conductor sitting on the bus with a can of tea that they would get from a cafe in harbourne on the way out and if i remember right there was a clock that they put a key in timing point  roy
each day is a blessing and I bless each day when it comes

9teen48

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #8 on: November 22, 2009, 08:11:03 PM »
Hi Roy,

You are absolutely right.  The conductor was in charge of the bus and controlled the stopping and starting.  I can also remember that my dad always referred to the conductors as "the guard".  You probably remember the sign in the bus "push once to stop" on the bell push, and the conductor  gave two rings for the driver to go and when the bus was full he would give the driver three rings, which meant he could get his foot down and didn't need to stop unless the next bus stop was a stage, or until the guard gave him one bell, which meant someone wanted to get off at the next stop.

On all the routes I was familiar with, you would see favourite cafe's that the bus would stop at so that the conductor could go and get the white enamel jug of tea and the cups, which would be stowed away until they got to the terminus.  The empties would be taken back on the return trip.  The clock you recall was known as the Bundy and the turning of the key recorded their timing.  It was known as "pegging the clock".  I did it for my Dad once or twice !

Brian

Phil

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #9 on: November 22, 2009, 08:15:16 PM »
Brian

You will no doubt know that many of the Birmingham City Transport depots that I mentioned previously started out as Tram depots. I have a few photos of them as such and some later ones when they were converted to bus depots.

These four are, Hansworth, Hockley, Moseley, and Rosebery.

Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Phil

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Re: bus garages in brum
« Reply #10 on: November 22, 2009, 08:17:21 PM »
Another 4 depots,

Small Heath
Sparkbrook
Witton
Yardley Wood.

Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.


 

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