Harborne routes - old and modern

[j789]

I have been thinking about the routes in Harborne as it is where I grew up and would like a list of all the routes that have run through there in the last 50 or so years.

So far I have:

3/103/24 - City to Woodgate Valley North
10 - Quinton to City
12/22 - Kitwell to City
20 - Quinton to Green Man/City
21 - City to Bartley Green
23 - City to Woodgate
25 - City to Woodgate (?)
29 - city to Northfield/ Frankley
30 - Quinton to QE hospital
48/448 - QE - West Brom
82 - Harborne - City
99 - City to Halesowen
102 - Blackheath - City
004 - Green Man - Merry Hill
142 - QE - Stourbridge
244 - QE to Dudley
440/443 - City to Brandhall/ Perry Barr
626/636 - City to Quinton
647 - Moorpool - Weoley Castle

These are mostly from the 90s and 2000s so any others further back would be helpful. Thanks.

[j789]

Forgot the 11A/C too!!!!

[Mike K]

A few others:
15 Harborne Green Man to Quinton Rd West - predecessor to the 20.
22 (old version) City to Selly Oak via Harborne and Weoley Castle - replaced by the 29 in 1980.
72 City to Kitwell via Green Man and Quinton Rd. Short lived and replaced by the modern day 22 in the early 80s.
637 QE to Blackheath, alongside the 636
110 City to Blackheath, the 102 was another short lived route that was a variation on the 10 and terminated at West Boulevard via Four Dwellings.
SWL - South West Link (Bearwood to Kings Heath)
653/4 (?) Hamstead to Harborne - my memory of these is sketchy

There were a few iterations of the 20, one combined the old 460 route to go Harborne to Smethwick via Worlds End.

The 25 was City to Woodgate sharing the same Wood Lane terminus as the 23  although invariably showed Bartley Green on the front (it is in Bartley Green)

[winston]

Wasn't there also the 86 South Woodgate - Weoley Castle?

[Mike K]

Wasn't there also the 86 South Woodgate - Weoley Castle?

Indeed there was, I thought it went all the way through to Longbridge although technically this didn't serve Harborne, the closest it got was the Barnes Hill / Stonehouse Lane roundabout.

[winston]

Indeed there was, I thought it went all the way through to Longbridge although technically this didn't serve Harborne, the closest it got was the Barnes Hill / Stonehouse Lane roundabout.

It may well of done, I remember the 86 originally being operated by MRW then moving to Pete's Travel etc

[j789]

Thanks for replies. Can anyone remember the Stevensons route that ran down croftdown road (similar to the MRW 440) route)? Would have been in the early 90s.

[sonic84]

It may well of done, I remember the 86 originally being operated by MRW then moving to Pete's Travel etc

Yes, the 86 ran from Woodgate South through to Longbridge when it was operated by MRW. Think it was extended to a Rubery Great Park once it was transferred to Petes & Diamond.

Also the 64 Green Bus service briefly ran Rubery Great Park to Harborne.

[barry]

Didn't the number 2 go from there to Kings Heath. Certainly as a kid in the early 70's the buses operating this route were based at Harborne Garage. Vividly remember the double door batch of 'G' registered fleetlines 3872-3878 working the service, although for a short period some of the 385* batch appeared.
Yes school day memories! i'd get off at the Dogpool where I'd catch one of Cotteridge's 38** batch that worked the old 41 45 and 47. I also remember 3842 embedded in the shop next to Selly Park school. The bus was out of service for months but you could always tell it from the others as it had a lighter couloured replacement floor.

[Mike K]

Harborne garage did run the 2 using NOV---G Fleetlines before it transferred to Selly Oak garage but I'm pretty sure it just ran from Kings Heath to Selly Oak (extended later to Weoley Castle when Selly Oak ran it). Happy to be corrected on that if someone knows better.

[Walsall1955]

Harborne garage did run the 2 using NOV---G Fleetlines before it transferred to Selly Oak garage but I'm pretty sure it just ran from Kings Heath to Selly Oak (extended later to Weoley Castle when Selly Oak ran it). Happy to be corrected on that if someone knows better.

Here is a 1976 photo that has 3811 (NOV811G) on service 2:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walsall1955/6960640836/

[Mike K]

And here's 3874 having just left Harborne garage to take up service on the 2:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23207961@N07/6132368265

[Justin Tyme]

Back in Birmingham City Transport ("the Corporation") days, the 2 ran between Kings Heath and Edgbaston (Ivy Bush), via Selly Park, Selly Oak, QE Hospital and the Green Man.

In 1967 it was shortened to Kings Heath - Selly Oak only.  In 1968 some journeys were extended to QE Hospital, but the is extension was withdrawn in 1972.

In June 1976 the service was transferred from Harborne to Selly Oak Garage - which meant a change from mainly NOV-G Fleetlines to mainly SOE-H Jumbos.

--------------------------------------

Other services in the Harborne area 50 years ago were: -

3 City - Harborne - Ridgeacre Lane (Four Dwellings School)
10 City - Augustus Road - Croftdown Road - Quinton Road West (Gorsy Road)
11 Outer Circle
12 City - Harborne - Bartley Green (Wood Lane/Field Lane)
22 City - Harborne - Barnes Hill - Weoley Castle - Selly Oak

These were all operated by Birmingham City Transport, all double deck.  The 3 and 10 were operated by Quinton Garage, the 12 and 22 by Harborne Garage (which closed in 1986).  The 11 was operated by Acocks Green, Perry Barr and Harborne, plus Quinton on Sundays.

When the 2 was cut back to Kings Heath - Selly Oak in 1967, the 21 was rerouted via Five Ways and the QE instead of Bristol Road between City and Selly Oak.  The 22 was rerouted via the QE and Quinton Road (instead of Harborne), but returned to Harborne while still serving Quinton Road (the current 29 route) in 1968.

The network remained stable for several years.  In 1974 the 3 was extended to Woodgate Valley North, in 1975 the new 23 started City -  Harborne - Woodgate Valley South, and also in 1975 the 11 became 11A anticlockwise and 11C clockwise.  I think that was it for the 1970s.

[busfan2847]

Back in Birmingham City Transport ("the Corporation") days, the 2 ran between Kings Heath and Edgbaston (Ivy Bush), via Selly Park, Selly Oak, QE Hospital and the Green Man.

In 1967 it was shortened to Kings Heath - Selly Oak only.  In 1968 some journeys were extended to QE Hospital, but the is extension was withdrawn in 1972.

In June 1976 the service was transferred from Harborne to Selly Oak Garage - which meant a change from mainly NOV-G Fleetlines to mainly SOE-H Jumbos.

Even further back the 2 was originally Midland Red route 10 from Handsworth Wood to Ivy Bush, taken over by Birmingham Corporation in October 1914. This became the 2 on 1st March 1916. In April 1926 the 2 was extended from Ivy Bush to City via Broad St but the extension was withdrawn in Oct 1926. On 1st Feb 1932 it was extended from Handsworth Wood to Hamstead Village.

From 1st January 1939 2 was extended from Ivy Bush via Chad Rd, Harborne Rd, Richmond Hill Rd, Pritchatts Rd, Vincent Dr, Harborne La and Bristol Rd to Dawlish Rd, then as #26 which was discontinued to Kings Heath as 2B. (The 26 (and 27) had started in Oct 1935 from Kings Heath to Bournbrook via Dogpool). The 2 north of Ivy Bush was curtailed 25 Sep 1939 as a wartime economy, never to return, with the 2B running the remaining Ivy Bush to Kings Heath section.

The 2B became the 2 in July 1957, was further cut back to run between Selly Oak and Kings Heath only from 3 Sep 1967, but was re-extended to Queen Elizabeth Hospital from 28 Apr 1968 until 15 Jan 1972.

The route was at Hockley for many years as single deck until converted to double deck in 1949. Harborne took over the route in Oct 1949. Harborne continued to operate the shortened route after 1967 using Ford R192 3658-3662 - they proved unsuitable and double deck OMO buses took over from 13 Oct 1967.  I believe the route passed to Selly Oak in 1972.

[barry]

Here is a 1976 photo that has 3811 (NOV811G) on service 2:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walsall1955/6960640836/

Interesting to see 3811 on the 2 as this was definitely a Cotteridge bus and I can't recall seeing any of their batch interloping. Lovely to see the picture of 3874 as this one always seemed a permanent fixture on the 2, along with 3872-78.
Besides the 2 what other routes would these 7 buses have worked as the 2 only had something like a 30 minute frequency. I never saw them on anything else radiating from Harborne as at the time the main Harborne routes had gone over to the K Reg YOX fleet and the earlier 37** fleetlines