THE M & D AND EAST KENT BUS CLUB
The
West Midlander 31st May 2003
Tour report by David Burrin
(first published in Invicta 611 June '03)
Saturday
31st May saw another beautiful day of fine weather for those who boarded our New
Enterprise air-conditioned coach for a trip to the West Midlands.
We were well ahead of schedule by the time we stopped at the Watford Gap.
From there we moved up the M1 and M6 to Erdington in East Birmingham for
a visit to the North Birmingham Busways depot!
The firm sports a livery based on the old Blackpool livery, and there was
also a preserved Routemaster on site.
From
there we travelled across a few miles to the depot of Flights coaches, with only
a few operational vehicles on site, but with two preserved coaches and one
“preservation project” for us to see. Our
next port of call was the Aston Manor Road Transport Museum, where lack of
quantity was more than made up for by the quality of exhibits, some fully
restored, some still under restoration. There
was time for a leisurely break in the premises before we boarded another
air-conditioned vehicle - former Guide Friday open-top Leyland PD3A 264 ERY, for
a ride across to West Bromwich, where the rebuilt and resited bus station was
our focus, with the Midland Metro station just across the road too.
Boarding
the open-topper again, we travelled to eventually find Pete’s Travel depot,
full of mainly yellow vehicles, mainly modern, but with a collection of unused
and damaged vehicles too. From
there we went a few miles along the road to Tividale, to the modern and
well-equipped depot of Birmingham Omnibus, still containing a few Leyland
Nationals as well as several recycled London vehicles and a variety of coaches.