Transport Museum Wythall - Birmingham Bus Celebration on the Road - Sunday 2nd October

Published: 26/09/2022

Transport Museum Wythall’s Birmingham City Transport exhibition goes on the road on Sunday 2nd October. A part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival events programme associated with the Commonwealth Games, the exhibition traces over a century of public transport history in the city, marking the contribution that the city’s transport made to the lives of the diverse population of Brummies, through the travelling public, direct employment and the associated manufacturing of buses in the region. 

On Sunday, this history takes to the road with the chance for the public to ride on many examples of Birmingham buses from the early 1930s until the 1990s. National Express West Midlands will also be supporting the event with two modern vehicles in BCT heritage livery. In addition to the free bus rides running all day, which will include the recently restored TV star, the 1931 AEC Regent, found decades ago in a field in Herefordshire and now restored to its formal glory, two special activities will be re-enacted:

• The afternoon ‘Happy Hour’ service running from 14.00 will recall the line-up of ‘Football Specials’ that ran from Birmingham City and Aston Villa football grounds at the end of every match. Buses leaving north, south, east and west of the city with, depending on the score, happy or sad supporters on board. The museum will run a ‘mass exodus’ of football buses in the happy hour.
• A demonstration by BCT attired driver and conductor of the corporation’s famous Bundy clocks that stood elegantly at every bus terminus and recorded the departure of every service, guaranteeing that buses kept to time.

The BCT exhibition exhibits include a part-restored 1913 Tilling petrol-electric powered double decker (who said electric buses were new?), the recently restored magnificent 1931 AEC Regent and a variety of the ‘Birmingham Standards’, which served the city across three decades, each exhibiting features specific to Birmingham. A BCT single decker procured for low bridge routes is also on display. Visitors can also see a wide range of West Midlands Travel vehicles, taking the Birmingham bus story forward from 1969 when local authorities were abolished and the Birmingham City Transport fleetname was lost. Illustrations show the buses in original settings.

The event opens at 10.30am and runs until 4.30pm. Admission prices are £10.00 adult, £5 child (5-16) and £25.00 family (2+2). Includes free bus rides plus the steam miniature railway will be operating. Parking is off-site with a low floor bus shuttle service, follow the signs. The café and shop will be open all day and hot food will be served.

Full details of the event including the free bus to West Midlands Railway services at Wythall railway station are available at www.wythall.org.uk.