Aldridge Spring Running Day-21/4/24

So, after a visit to the Aldridge (formerly Aston Manor) Transport Museum’s Twilight Event in February (see blog “Aston Manor Twilight Running Day”), my wife Lynn and I found ourselves free to visit the Museum’s Spring Running Day, making up for us not having the opportunity to visit this small museum that’s within a short distance from our West Bromwich home last year.

Because of that short distance, we decided to visit after our usual Sunday attendance at church, where I unexpectedly got asked by our Pastor to be Goliath during his sermon!

Then, we drove out to Aldridge,  making use of the museum’s usual Park & Ride site at Aldridge Community Centre, served by the half hourly museum run 57 from Walsall Town Centre to the museum, with the next journey being Trent SON RC 7927, built by the Birmingham Midland Motor Omnibus company (BMMO,  more commonly known as Midland Red) in the pre war years, before rapid expansion after WW2 caused Midland Red’s Carlyle Works in Edgbaston, Birmingham, caused Midland Red to cease selling buses to other British Electric Traction (BET) subsidiaries. 

This lovely little pre war coach took us the short distance to the museum;

Another Carlyle Works built coach was also present, with 1948 vintage BMMO C1 3301 looking absolutely splendid, standing here next to BMMO D9 5370:

More recent preserved buses featuring today included 2002 vintage NX Coventry ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 4370:

….and prototype West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) Metrobus 6832, bought by current owner Lee Hobson;

We paid our £6 each admission and went into the museum, looking at today’s timetable in the programme that comes with the ticket.

Three services were operating, the aforementioned 57 to Walsall,  the 5 to the Chasewater Railway and the 53 Barr Beacon Circular, with the bus on the next departure on the latter being of interest to me, so we decided to ride it.

Chase Bus Services Leyland National OJD 858R

Originally known as Chase Coaches, this was a Chasetown based independent run by a Gentleman named Graham Dodd, who diversified into bus operation following the introduction of bus service deregulation on Sunday 26th October 1986. Their local bus service operation actually began a month early, in September, upon winning the tendered operation of some Saturday journeys on otherwise Midland Red North operated 860/862 Cannock-Lichfield services, using an ex Eastbourne East Lancs bodied Leyland Leopard that the company had previously used on various contracts. Deregulation itself would see the company win the tender for former WMPTE operated service 381 from Walsall-Lichfield via Aldridge, Stonnall, Shenstone & Wall, a service that Chase would continue to run throughout the rest of the company’s lifetime. A few ex Greater Manchester PTE Leyland Nationals would be purchased for this, these entering service in their previous owners orange & white livery, which Chase would adopt as their own livery.

The National would prove very much to the company’s liking, with Chase eventually collecting the largest number of second hand Leyland Nationals of any operator and would continue to operate them well beyond most other operators had moved on from the marque, still forming the majority of the fleet when the company sold out to Arriva on 25th February 2007. Arriva would run a Leyland National day on 28th April 1987, after which the former Chase operations would move to Arriva’s former Midland Red North garage at Cannock, with six Leyland Nationals transferring over for another month until sufficient replacements were available.

Initial growth would be fairly slow, the company beginning to compete with Stevensons 12 Birmingham-Burton On Trent service between Lichfield & Burton for a while in 1987, whilst further tendered work would be won following the April 1987 cutbacks that Midland Red North made due to a perilous financial situation, taking over the X55/X56 Burntwood-Birmingham services. As well as these routes, Chase also bought three 1973 vintage Marshall bodied Dual Purpose Leopards off Midland Red North (originally Midland Red 201, 207 & 209) at the same time, whilst later, East Lancs bodied Leopards from Lancaster City Transport would also enter the fleet, but the National would come to totally dominate the fleet. Other tender gains came from West Midlands Travel (WMT) Chase winning Staffordshire tender 863 from Cannock-Hednesford via Huntington Terrace Road, which the company renumbered 303, as well as WMPTE tendered service 374 (Sutton Coldfield-Streetly).

But it would be Walsall where the company would really begin to grow, starting with tendered services 2 to Palfrey and 3 to Delves Road, designed to replace the remains of Midland Red North’s 1987 introduced Walsall minibus network in November of that year. September 1988 would see the company win new tendered service 563 from Wolverhampton-Little Bloxwich, following this up the following year by winning off WMT tendered 562 Wolverhampton-Bloxwich service along a similar route. 1989 indeed, would see Chase win more PTE tenders off WMT, namely,  the following;

326-Bloxwich-Willenhall

327-Wednesbury-Ashmore Park

355-Walsall-Pheasey via Aldridge

356-Walsall-Aldridge via Redhouse Industrial Estate (peaks only)

WMT though, decided to fight back! They extended their 527 (Goldthorn Park-Willenhall) onto Ashmore Park via the 327 route, prompting Chase to cut their Monday-Saturday daytime 327 back to Willenhall. Meanwhile, WMT registered the 355/356 commercially between Walsall and Aldridge, as well as a more direct 376 from Walsall-Pheasey, operating all there with brand new Leyland Lynx single deckers.  Chase fought back on here, though after around a year, they let the Pheasey section of the 355 go, briefly operating a minibus connection (using a Sherpa) from Aldridge-Pheasey but this would subsequently become part of Stevensons 655.

I’ve often wondered whether Chase’s next move was as a result of WMT hindering their operation of tendered services, or whether operating commercial services from Walsall, competing with WMT routes, was on the agenda for Chase anyway. Whatever was the case, late 1989 would see Chase introduce four new services that would overlap various WMT services, with the 4 running from Walsall-Wednesbury via Sandwell’s Friar Park estate, served mainly by WMT’s 410 from West Bromwich-Wednesbury, whilst the 5 & 6 would provide two different routes from Walsall-Bilston, the 5 heading via Willenhall, competing with WMT’s 529 to Wolverhampton, then onto Bilston competing with WMT 525/525A, whilst the 6 ran via Darlaston, competing with WMT’s 333/334 from Walsall and the 78/79 Birmingham-Wolverhampton routes from Darlaston-Bilston.

Lastly, there was the 364 from Walsall to the mid eighties Coppice Farm estate that Chase already served with the 562 & 563, with the 364 quickly becoming a thorn in WMT’s side, as it served the Beechdale council estate, where WMT Circulars 370/371 had recently been converted from double decker to Leyland Lynx single deck operation , which had caused a degree of overcrowding on the route, with Chase being so encouraged by loadings on the 364 that they soon introduced a 365, which made up a quarter hourly service to Beechdale, then continued via Bentley to the Wolverhampton estate of Ashmore Park. Not long after that, the 365 was rerouted to follow the 364 all the way to New Invention, competing with WMT’s 341, with Bentley covered by a new 363 to Willenhall, competing with WMT’s 331 midibus route.

Such growth would continue into the early nineties, with two overlapping WMT & Chase networks developing in Walsall, meaning that most parts of the town had a choice of services run by the two operators. Plus, where Chase didn’t operate, another independent stepped in to give WMT passengers another Choice, this being Midland Choice!

WMT would gradually fight back, Walsall being but one battle ground in the West Midlands at that time, with independent activity in most parts. 1994 in particular, would see WMT register several services competing directly with Chase, with DAF engined Nationals from the reserved fleet and, most notably, East Lancs bodied Leyland Fleetlines from Coventry being allocated to Walsall garage to operate these. Chase would return fire by starting on the 529, as well as competing with the 51 Birmingham route as far as Perry Barr with route 50 and the West Bromwich 404 as far as Stone Cross with the 54. It was after this that the competition began to die down, with the 50 & 54 both being very shortlived, though the 529 would last a while longer.

Despite the arrival of Ikarus bodied DAFs and low floor UVG bodied Dennis Darts, the National would continue to dominate the fleet right up until the end. So it was nice to see this example on it’s former patch;

This bus was number 2 in the Chase fleet, and was one of several 10.3 metre Nationals that the company bought from London Transport, this particular example being subsequently rebuilt to remove the centre exit giving a slightly higher seating capacity. The bus would be one of the six to pass briefly to Arriva following the end of Chase operations. Today, very little of the former Chase network survives, with Arriva subsequently pulling back from Walsall.

Not surprisingly, this journey was quite popular but Lynn & I found seats quite easily. As we set off, the clatter of that distinctive exactly when was this heyday? A bus that has something of a marmite factor amongst both enthusiasts and industry professionals, you either love or hate it! Me? I think that, over time, the National evolved into a good bus.

The product of a partnership between British Leyland and the then recently formed National Bus Company (NBC), the National broke the mold, as an integrally constructed (no separate chassis and body) chassis, constructed on an assembly line at a new factory at Lillyhill, Workington in Cumbria. It’s timing wasn’t brilliant, with the industry drifting back to double deckers by the time of the National’s 1972 introduction but NBC’s investment meant that it’s subsidiaries would be “persuaded” to purchase the National to meet it’s single deck needs, some, such as London Country & Midland Red, enthusiastically buying the type, gaining the first and second largest National fleets respectively, Others were less keen, particularly those which had come from the former Tilling Group, such as United Automobile Services, who would buy the Bristol RE for as long as they could, before Leyland removed it from the market and even then, United carried on buying the lightweight, higher floored Bristol LH, not receiving it’s first National until 1978.

By this time, the rather clattery early examples had been replaced by the Phase Two (not to be confused with the 1980 introduced Mk 2, which replaced the 510 engine with a Leyland 680) which saw a slightly quieter version of the 510 introduced. Number 2 is just such an example, it’s R registration suffix indicating that it dates from either the year of the Phase 2’s introduction, 1976, or early 1977, when London Transport would adopt the National for the vast majority of it’s single decker needs. This would also be true of the various Passenger Transport Executives, as well as several municipal operators, although the less charitable could say that, once Leyland had withdrew it’s other rear engine saloons, such as the Bristol RE, from the market and the rival Metro Scania saloon disappeared, there was no other choice for a single decker with a reasonably low entrance.

From 1980, the new National 2 would gradually sell in reduced numbers, largely due to the fall in the new bus market, with double deckers largely taking those orders that were around, leading to the National ceasing production in 1985, to be replaced by the rather more flimsy Lynx. Then deregulation came! And in my opinion, this was the time when the National came into it’s own. With loads of operators, such as Chase Bus Services, looking for reliable second hand buses to operate tendered and commercial services with, the National found itself with a new fanbase, it’s indestructability helping many operators who were then simply unable to afford to buy new!

So we had a nice clatter out to Barr Beacon and back, bringing back memories of rides on Chase Nationals in the area!

We then went and had a look around the museum, which was today host to the Great Barr Brass Band, quite the first time that I’d heard such a band play Madness’s “Baggy Troussers!” We also visited the museum shop. In the last blog that I wrote about the museum (“Aston Manor Twilight Event”) I’d wrote that “Buses” magazine had reported that there were issues about staying in the present premises, to which I’d got a response from the museum saying “don’t believe all that you read in Buses!” Nevertheless, I know that funds are tight for the museum so, with the shop possessing an impressive array of second hand books at very reasonable prices, I decided to buy a few to help with those funds. In truth, they were all volumes that I have somewhere at home but which I’m unable to put my hands on at the moment! They’re also books which provide an invaluable reference to my various blogs, so I was happy to buy them again.

The seminal “Midland Red Volume One” from around 1977 set me back just £10. Some years ago, you’d struggle to get a copy for under £30! From the same stable was “Birmingham Corporation Tramways”, which was just £5. Smaller books were Ned Williams “By Road & Rail To Tettenhall” for £2.50, and “An Album Of WMPTE Buses” by John P Robinson for a mere quid!

Then, it was time for our next bus, also on the 53E Barr Beacon Circular and also on a Leyland single decker, but one of a rather earlier vintage than Chase 2!

BCT 2231

As would be expected of the big city fleet of what was then the UK’s largest municipal bus operator, Birmingham City Transport (BCT) was  predominantly double decker based but a small number of saloons was also required, for Special Needs Transport plus a small number of services that passed under low bridges, most notably the 27 which, from July 1952 ran from Kings Heath-West Heath via Bournville Station bridge and which, for the next eleven years, would be BCT’s only regular single deck service (the blog “Feeding Birmingham’s Estates ” tells more of BCT single deck operations).

1950 saw the remaining pre war fleet of Daimler COG5 single deckers replaced by a batch of 30 Leyland PS2 half cab single deckers with 34 seat Metro Cammell (who would pass this order onto their Weymann subsidiary) bodies. There should have been 35 but Leyland persuaded BCT to swap the last five for new fangled underfloor engine integral Leyland Olympics, which would be the only mid underfloor engine buses BCT would purchase.

The purchase of 24 Marshall bodied single deck Daimler Fleetlines in 1965 was supposed to see the PS2s off but the growth of the one man estate feeder services described in the “Feeding Birmingham’s Estates ” blog meant that the PS2s were still needed, with several having the rear of the cab opened up to allow rather awkward one man operation. Their time would finally come to an end when the 1967 vintage AEC Swifts that were bought to convert the 36 (Sparkbrook-Stechford) to single deck one man operation were transferred to Selly Oak for the 27 in 1969, allowing most of the PS2s to be withdrawn, with just a few hanging on long enough to pass to WMPTE following the October 1969 takeover.

Three are preserved, Wythall Transport Museum’s 2245 and 2231 & 2235, with 2231 being here today and operating the 14.45 53E Barr Beacon Circular;

Lynn has a fondness for old fashioned looking single deckers like these and I’ve always enjoyed my occasional trips on a BCT PS2, so we got in the queue early to ensure that we were two of the thirty four who were able to board. 

2231 is a full PSV spec bus, being used in 2019 by Quantock Motor Services for a revival of their earlier 300 from Minehead-Lynmouth,  including the steep climb up Porlock Hill,  which must have produced some marvellous sound effects! A return for the 2020 season was thwarted by the pandemic and a possible return in 2021 was deemed unprudent in the face of First introducing their Exmoor Coaster open top service over the same route. (Correction, I’ve since found out that the bus used on the 300 was actually 2257! So another one is around! Thanks to Roger Burdett for clarifying.)

Today, the bus is owned by Special Day Services, registered to an address on nearby Barns Lane,  on the museum’s 57 route into Walsall;

The driver had an amusing repertoire of banter, stating in his thick Black Country accent that there was no power steering,  so could we all lean to the side when turning corners! He also told us not to worry as he was due to take his driving test tomorrow morning!

So we sat in the typically opulent BCT interior enjoying the sound that the Leyland engine made climbing up to Barr Beacon, even though it was no where near as steep a climb as it’s previous jaunt up Porlock Hill!

To finish our day, we decided to head into Walsall on the next 57, returning on it as far as the car park. The next bus just happened to be another fifties vintage example from the BCT fleet, a bus that, on the surface. looked far more typically a traditional BCT bus……but all was not what it seemed!

BCT 3002

Yes, BCT 3002 looks very much at first sight to be one of the many “New Look” concealed radiator buses delivered to the undertaking in large numbers between late 1949 & 1954, featuring Metro Cammell or Crossley bodywork on Crossley, Daimler CVG6 or CVD6 and Guy Arab chassis and that would have incredibly long lives, the last Daimler CVG6s & Guy Arabs not bowing out until October 1977.

Once you get on board 3002 though, you can see all isn’t what you expect it to be, for the brown interior finish isn’t wood, but plastic! With plastic and fibreglass featuring heavily in 3002’s construction.

As wonderfully solid as the Standard’s construction was, BCT management were concerned as to their level of fuel consumption, particularly after a siginificant increase in fuel tax in 1951 (this was year’s before the 1968 Transport Act introduced the Fuel Tax Rebate for the bus industry, this evolving into today’s Bus Service Operation Grant, which despite the misleading wording is still exactly that, a fuel tax rebate!) which spurred many manufacturers to look at reducing the weight of their rather solid early post war models!

BCT would order three separate buses to a lightweight specification, the first of these, 3001, consisted of a Guy Arab 4 chassis that was identical to that featured under many Standards, but featured a Saunders Roe body with a pressed metal interior, thus saving considerable weight. The bus made it’s debut at the 1952 Commercial Motor Show, as would 3002…..though only it’s chassis! This chassis was a Daimler CLG5, lighter than the traditional CV range of Daimlers, although for some reason, Daimler would ultimately pull this from the market, preferring to concentrate on CV chassis that would remain in production until the late sixties, the last Daimler CVG6s entering service with Northampton Corporation in 1968. Whilst 3001 would have entered service just after it’s show appearance, it would be sometime before 3002 received a lightweight Metro Cammell body (who would produce what is probably regarded as the most successful lightweight double decker body with it’s Orion) and wouldn’t enter service until October 1954.

The third lightweight bus would be 3103, the first numerically of BCT’s final batch of Crossley bodied Daimler CVG6s but 3103 featured an aluminium body as opposed to steel, this alloy going on most noticeably to feature on London Transport’s Routemaster, with it’s inability to rust contributing to that iconic type’s long life. Entering service in 1954 though, 3103 would remain unique.

And that would be it for BCT lightweights, as the sheer number of Standards and earlier post war exposed radiator buses delivered to BCT between 1947 & 1954 meant that the undertaking didn’t need to buy anymore new buses for a while, by which time, lightweight bodywork would be more universal but would feature for BCT on Daimler Fleetline rear engine chassis.

3001 & 3002 would spend their entire lives at Acocks Green garage, mainly being used on the 31 & 32 Gospel Lane Circulars. 3103, meanwhile, would enter service from Hockley in June 1954 but would join 3001 & 3002 at Acocks Green in that November, returning to Hockley in 1968, being withdrawn in November 1971.

3002 would be involved in an accident in June 1972, the damage not being severe but felt to be beyond economic repair for such an non standard bus, so it was decided to withdraw the bus, with 3001 going at the same time, this being some six months before the two buses regular 31/32 haunt was one manned in 1973. Both 3001 & 3002 would pass into preservation.

So we grabbed the upstairs back seat and we set off, heading along semi detached clad Barns Lane, then heading into Walsall along the Lichfield Road, terminating at the museum’s usual Hatherton Road terminus, right opposite Walsall bus station, where I took this photo. Yep, seemingly a typical Birmingham Standard but look a little closer and you’ll see that it dosen’t look quite right!

We then returned to the car park, where I was able to get a shot of 3002’s most distinctive external feature, it’s very upright rear dome! Note also the rather charming, of the period Heinz Tomato Ketchup ad!

So, day at an end, we returned to the car for the trip home.

Future events at the museum are scheduled to happen on the following dates;

Sunday 19th May-Art In The Museum

Sunday 23rd June-Annual Open & Running Day

Sunday 21st July-Models In The Museum

Saturday 14th/Sunday 15th September-Heritage Open Days

Sunday 20th October-Autumn Leaves Running Day

Sunday 24th November-Collectors Fair

I won’t be able to get to all these dates but I’ll see about some of them. If any of you are free for any of them though, you’ll have a good little afternoon of vintage buses, plus will be helping this small museum to keep alive!