Kings Heath, old bus routes

[Barmad]

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?

[Walsall1955]

165 and 185 were not taken over from Midland Red. They came about in the 1975 reorganization. Before then the ex Midland Red services covering parts of the route were:-

170 Wythall Church and Acocks Green via Grimes Hill, Maypole, Shirley, Kineton Green Rd and Olton
172 Wythall (Barkers La) and Acocks Green via Alcester Rd, Maypole, Shirley, Kineton Green Rd and Olton
175 Shirley Station to Chelmsley Wood via Solihull and Yardley

The 170, 172 and 175 were reformed as the 165 and 185 with one going via Haslucks Green Rd and the other via Shirley Station.

In October 1974 the only services thru Kings Heath were:
WMPTE 2, 11, 35 (Kings Heath to Brandwood Park Rd only), 48, 49 (Rush hour only), 50
MROC 148 (Birmingham - Evesham), 348 (Birmingham - ?) and X8 (Birminghma - Redditch - Matchborough limited stop).

Thank you for correcting my errors.
Here are some 1974 timetables and route map extract which confirm what you say:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/walsall1955/33591396524/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/walsall1955/33591397194/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/walsall1955/33623211433/in/dateposted-public/

[busfan2847]

165 and 185 were not taken over from Midland Red. They came about in the 1975 reorganization. Before then the ex Midland Red services covering parts of the route were:-

170 Wythall Church and Acocks Green via Grimes Hill, Maypole, Shirley, Kineton Green Rd and Olton
172 Wythall (Barkers La) and Acocks Green via Alcester Rd, Maypole, Shirley, Kineton Green Rd and Olton
175 Shirley Station to Chelmsley Wood via Solihull and Yardley

The 170, 172 and 175 were reformed as the 165 and 185 with one going via Haslucks Green Rd and the other via Shirley Station.

In October 1974 the only services thru Kings Heath were:
WMPTE 2, 11, 35 (Kings Heath to Brandwood Park Rd only), 48, 49 (Rush hour only), 50
MROC 148 (Birmingham - Evesham), 348 (Birmingham - ?) and X8 (Birminghma - Redditch - Matchborough limited stop).

OK it was more complicated than I said above!
170/172 and 174 (Acocks Green - Sheldon) weer replaced by 167 Sheldon - Acocks Green - Shirley - Maypole - Kings Heath on 1st June 1975.
The 175 (Chelmsley Wood - Solihull - Shirley) was extended via Maypole to Wythall.

It was the 167 (and the 175) which was replaced by the 165/185 from 16th November 1975. The 165 went onto Cotteridge from Maypole, the 185 to Kings Heath. From that date WMPTE buses did not serve Wythall. 165/185 were later cut back to start and end at Maypole.

[Busmapper]

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.
I don't believe service 69 ever served the QEH.

[fleetline6477]

Correct the 69 didn't serve QEH. It truned along Gibbins Road and terminated at Weoley Castle Square.

[Barmad]

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?

[Mike K]

I think it was around 1994. By then the 27 had been extended to become the 'South Circle' - Kings Heath - Bournville - Northfield - West Heath - Hawkesley - Brandwood - Kings Heath.

This was then replaced by extending the 35. The new route was city - Balsall Heath - Moseley - Kings Heath - Brandwood - Hawkesley - West Heath - Northfield - Bournville - Kings Heath. Returning via reverse of the above route, not circular.

I'm surprised the 35 lasted as long as it did in that form.

[sonic84]

I think it was around 1994. By then the 27 had been extended to become the 'South Circle' - Kings Heath - Bournville - Northfield - West Heath - Hawkesley - Brandwood - Kings Heath.

This was then replaced by extending the 35. The new route was city - Balsall Heath - Moseley - Kings Heath - Brandwood - Hawkesley - West Heath - Northfield - Bournville - Kings Heath. Returning via reverse of the above route, not circular.

I'm surprised the 35 lasted as long as it did in that form.

Yes, I used to have a timetable back in the 90's for the 27A and 27C.

I seem to remember there were a number of shorts on the 35 that only ran to Pool Farm. Possibly numbered 35S which had a slightly different route between Kings Heath and Parsons Hill.

[Busmapper]

Throughout the 'd' shaped route years the 35 ran regular shorts, generally every other service, to Pool Farm. At the start of the 00s Travel Your Bus ran their version of the 35E but via Doversley Rd rather than Allens Croft Rd. When TYB was dissolved soon afterward the 35Y became the 35S for a time.

[Pete50492]

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  ::)

If memory serves the 77 came about ion the South Birmingham route changes of summer 1980. hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong but as I recall this was the first use by WMPTE of numbers in the 70s that were not Soho Road routes. This gave us the 72 City - Kitwell (which later became the 22) the 73 which I believe was a variant of the 20 and the 77 a variant of the 27. The same changes also did away with the old BCT 22 & gave us the 29 Birmingham - Harborne - Northfield

[Mike K]

If memory serves the 77 came about ion the South Birmingham route changes of summer 1980. hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong but as I recall this was the first use by WMPTE of numbers in the 70s that were not Soho Road routes. This gave us the 72 City - Kitwell (which later became the 22) the 73 which I believe was a variant of the 20 and the 77 a variant of the 27. The same changes also did away with the old BCT 22 & gave us the 29 Birmingham - Harborne - Northfield

That sounds about right for the 77. It disappeared at deregulation in 1986. The 73 was indeed a variant of the 20 operating via Swarthmore Rd and Weoley Castle between Northfield and Woodgate Valley, the 20 becoming a peak only service.