Earliest memories?

[Ossie]

I'm probably more grizzled than most on this board .....

Early memories include Harborne garage in the late 1950's, mainly Crossley H30/24R working routes 11, 12 (Bartley Green), 21 (Weoley Castle).  The Crossley vehicles lasted until around 1969.

And once I'd started secondary school, trying to catch one of Rosebery Street's distinctive Leyland PD2's, which had a morning rush-hour working from the Ivy Bush to Selly Oak (route 2, if I recall correctly) via the QE.  It arrived at the Ivy Bush around 08:15 from the Inner Circle, and returned from Selly Oak as an 11E back to the depot (Winson Green). The drivers on this working took no prisoners, the object appeared to be to get round the "circuit" and back to the home depot at the speed of light.

If you held out your hand, and got really lucky, it stopped for you.  Usually, it just reduced speed to walking pace, allowing you to catch the rear entrance pole and swing yourself on board, before accelerating away.  Quite often, you just got ignored .....  ;D

Invariably, I was the only passenger - just me and the conductor!  8)

And later on, I remember when the first OMO Fleetlines got allocated to Quinton and Harborne - so different from the standard rear-entrance double deckers. I recall adopting 3438 (QN) as "my" bus ....... :-[

[danny]

Will always remember as a toddler in the early nintys lynxes on the 120 and 88 and metros on the 128/9 and thinking for ages they were the only buses on the road, I did love the lynxes right up until they left the fleet

[hartshill busman 724210]

Blimey! With one or two exceptions the memories on here make me feel old.
My earliest memories of  black country bus  travel was the Midland Red  882/885 working the Stourbridge (Kidderminster 885) to Wolverhampton on the fabulous D9`s.I was always fascinated by the electrical closing doors.My other memories would be catching the 130 to Birmingham.Midland  Red buses had seperate bus stops going into both Wolves and Brum as i remember.The 882/5 also went straight through to Wolverhampton without the fifteen minute detour around Wombourne. Happy days.....

[windy miller]

Long before the b'ham bus station existed most of the warwick/stratford buses ran from a stand in front of St Martins church. If I missed my D7 (or was it a D9) Midland Red service 150 to Henley in Arden I would Walk up The 'slope' between the church and Dale end and be Fascinated by an escapologist. his assistants would fleece their onlookers for pennies at least 20 mins before finaly emerging from a grubby padlocked sack and the process would start again.Happy days.

[4504]

Being on a metrobus on the 82, top deck, pretending to drive it using the rails ahead of the front seats, tying to look down the driver's reflector on the right hand side

I remember when the outer circle was operated by all the metrobuses, MK1, 2, 2A, now that was heaven. How I miss the Mk1s, best metrobuses ever. What I'd do to ride one of those again

[danny]

Green bus run 1 or 2 metros on the 64 from harborne-QE-selly oak-university-northfield-rubery parkway (morrisons forecourt)

[B.C Driver]

My earliest memories were of the fleetlines on the Bristol Rd routes (6597 - 6600)
I have a memory of getting on 4207 at Holly Hill shops too.
I remember the Mk1 Metros on the Bristol Rd (2001 - 2015) and seeing the brand new Mk2s (2550 - 2560).
Also I remember seeing the dual door Fleetlines on the Pershore Rd routes (37XX and 38XX) I'm sure I remember a route 41 which came into town via Bristol St.
I often travelled on the 7 to Newtown and remember getting on the 2275 upwards Metros, but I'm sure of catching 4554 a few times.
My best memory though is of being a young bus fan in the early 80s and encouaging my Mom to take me down to Miller St garage which she did (probably so I'd stop going on about it!). We went to the garage on a sunny afternoon and there was just one bus in the yard, and cheekily I walked in and sat in the drivers seat, I still remember the fleet number to this day - 4172. Just wish I had a camera at the time!

[Roy]

Also I remember seeing the dual door Fleetlines on the Pershore Rd routes (37XX and 38XX) I'm sure I remember a route 41 which came into town via Bristol St.

Yes, in the 70's, the Pershore Road routes were 41 to Sunbury Road, 45 to West Heath and 47 to Groveley Lane.  They came from Pershore Road via what is now the Middle Ringway, then along Bristol Street, Horsefair, Suffolk Street, Navigation Street and terminated at the top of John Bright Street.