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The current 27 does indeed date from ~2003/04 time, prior to which the service number had had a decade in hibernation while an extended and  single decker operatored service 35 covered the route. The extension to Maypole dates from the final withdrawal of the 69 in July 2010.

Thanks, I never knew this! A pretty big gap in my knowledge! The mid-90s up to about two or three years ago is my blind spot...
So did the 35 go something like City - Kings Heath - Bournville - Northfield - Hawkesley? From the mid-90s, maybe?

Thanks for the continued posts...

I found the 76 page very interesting, touching on plenty of other queries :) The challenge now is to try and simplify that information for the casual local historian!

Now I know how the 69 and 76 were born; and so I'm guessing the 27's re-imagining was around 2003/4..? I know it's changed a few times but I really want to know when it first made its transition from one of Birmingham's most iconic inter-suburban routes? And did the the 69 still visit the QE Hospital?

Thank you everybody for your contributions. Final request: can anybody link me to the picture of the 50 wearing its party hat on its 50th birthday?

Thanks for the great information...

I remember the 77 following the 27 quite closely, but I couldn't remember the details. I know it stopped around deregulation, with WMT launching a new 77 service along the Soho Road, but do you happen to know when the Kings Heath 77 started?

I'm intrigued by the SWL oddball; thanks for the link to the picture. I'm interested in its route - why follow the 11? Only a historian like me would find it fascinating that Kings Heath to Bearwood was the route of the original 10, which was merged with sister route 11 to form the Outer Circle in 1926... How frequently did the SWL run?

I thought that the 163 was a daytime-only shoppers' service in the last days of WMPTE?

Am I right in thinking that the 2 finally disappeared in 1989 when the 69 was introduced?

My era was late WMPTE / early WMT so I'm at a loss with more recent changes; when did the 27 begin its metamorphosis into the snaking monster it is today? Every street in south Birmingham seems to have a 27 on  it, or a 76!

Sorry for all the questions  ::)

Hi there

I'm after a bit of help with old bus routes if anyone can help?

I'm working on a project looking at the history of some of the bus routes serving King's Heath operated by BCT/WMPTE/WMT/NXWM. I'm a member of King's Heath Local History Society, and I'm looking at this in relation to the development and expansion of the city over the last century.

I've already covered the major routes - 2, 11, 27, 35, 48/49/50; now I'm after a bit of information on the 'lesser' routes. I'm after anything about the 69, 76, 77, 163, 164/185 ... and any others? I'm told there was once a route numbered SWL?

Thanks in advance

Hello all
Just dipping my toe into these waters again...
My bus-following days were the WMPTE/WMT early 80s to mid 90s, filled with (mostly) blue and cream or blue and silver Metrobuses and Fleetlines. I'm afraid I just can't get excited about today's multi-coloured buses that all look almost identical and these mammoth routes that go on forever (there seems to be a 27 wherever I go in south Birmingham!).
Am I allowed to get all nostalgic here, or have I just damned myself by saying that...?