VISITORS flocked to the Wythall Transport Museum over the bank holiday weekend for their chance to ride on a piece of history.
Celebrating the 100th birthday of Birmingham’s famous number 1 bus route, visitors were given a glimpse into the history public transport in the borough and ride on a classic bus.
The route between Birmingham, Five Ways and Moseley, was initially served by horse-drawn buses in the 19th Century before primitive Midland Red motorbuses replaced them in 1913.
A deal saw the route transferred to the Birmingham Corporation Tramways (BCT, later known as Birmingham City Transport), in March 1916 which gave it the prestigious ‘number 1’ title.
BCT ran it for over half a century with its distinctive blue and cream buses.
The route still runs today, having been extended to Acocks Green and Gospel Lane estate.
As well as the number 1 rides, there were also miniature steam train rides and the opportunity to see the venue’s collection of more than 100 classic buses, coaches, milk floats and bread vans, including a 1949 Wolverhampton trolleybus – powered by electricity through overhead wires.
