Today marked the 40th anniversary of the closure of the Walsall trolleybus system and the West Midlands Transport Circle had decided to commemorate the event with a tour of the whole of the erstwhile system in a preserved Walsall Corporation motorbus - ironically, one of those bought to replace the trolleybuses. The vehicle chosen was Walsall 116 (XDH 516G) a 1969 Daimler Fleetline CRG6 with NCME body. I had already decided that I would like to join the tour as six trolleybuses from the Grimsby-Cleethorpes system had ended their days in Walsall and I had always wanted to see the routes they had operated on. This meant a very early start as the tour was to commence in Wolverhampton at 10 a.m. I left home at around 6.30 a.m. in absolutely pouring rain - again! There was little or no traffic on the road and so I made good time reaching my destination in Wolverhampton via the same route I had taken to Birmingham on Thursday. Entering Wolverhampton on the Birmingham New Road I had no trouble finding the Bradmore Community Centre using my updated SatNav and passed through the Fighting Cocks trolleybus terminus on the former Wolverhampton system. The rain was unrelenting as I got on the Walsall Fleetline. Being early I was able to get the upstairs offside front seat although a combination of raindrops on the window and internal condensation made it difficult to see out of without constantly wiping the window. One of the other passengers had been thoughtful enough to bring along with him a window scraper which did help. We set off just after 10 a.m. along the Bradmore Road into Wolverhampton where we picked up some more passengers in Stafford Street. From there we made our way along the new ring road to the site of the Wolverhampton-Walsall trolleybus route and then followed that route (No. 29) as best we could (road layouts have made it impossible to follow it entirely) all the way to close to the Walsall terminus in Townsend Street (again a one way system has made it impossible to replicate the route). We took photos of the vehicle in Willenhall, and at the Walsall terminus before systematically covering the routes as follows - 33 to Beechdale, Dudley Fields; 31 to Mossley Estate; 31/30 to Bloxwich Park - short comfort break - then to Walsall Bus Station stopping off at High Street Bloxwich to see one of only two remaining traction poles on the system. We took some photos in and around the bus station before driving out to Lower Farm Estate (Route 32) where we had lunch at the Saddler's Arms - sandwiches washed down with Banks's Best Bitter - they still serve mild on draft in the Midlands! The pub was on the Lower Farm Estate and is one of the surprisingly few pubs still open in Walsall. Clearly the recession and smoking ban have affected the drinking population of Walsall as we saw literally dozens and dozens of boarded up ale houses. After lunch the bus completed the tour of the routes by travelling along the 15/30 Blakenhall route in a clockwise direction returning to the main Bloxwich run via Proffitt Street to finish the tour at the old Birchills Depot. The bus was posed next to the second last remaining traction pole before returning via Wednesfield to Wolverhampton - thus incorporating one of Walsall's routes which was never built. We were back at Bradmore by 3.30 p.m. and I made my way back to Winterslow arriving home at 6.30 p.m. for a very tasty roast chicken dinner with wine. A most enjoyable day. It is a long time since I did anything quite so "anoraky" - well not since my visit to Sandtoft in July! I took a vast quantity of photos including the one above showing 116 on the Wolverhampton-Walsall route at Willenhall. I shall be writing articles for Trolleybus and Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire Transport Review over the next few days.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Bussing in the Black County
Today marked the 40th anniversary of the closure of the Walsall trolleybus system and the West Midlands Transport Circle had decided to commemorate the event with a tour of the whole of the erstwhile system in a preserved Walsall Corporation motorbus - ironically, one of those bought to replace the trolleybuses. The vehicle chosen was Walsall 116 (XDH 516G) a 1969 Daimler Fleetline CRG6 with NCME body. I had already decided that I would like to join the tour as six trolleybuses from the Grimsby-Cleethorpes system had ended their days in Walsall and I had always wanted to see the routes they had operated on. This meant a very early start as the tour was to commence in Wolverhampton at 10 a.m. I left home at around 6.30 a.m. in absolutely pouring rain - again! There was little or no traffic on the road and so I made good time reaching my destination in Wolverhampton via the same route I had taken to Birmingham on Thursday. Entering Wolverhampton on the Birmingham New Road I had no trouble finding the Bradmore Community Centre using my updated SatNav and passed through the Fighting Cocks trolleybus terminus on the former Wolverhampton system. The rain was unrelenting as I got on the Walsall Fleetline. Being early I was able to get the upstairs offside front seat although a combination of raindrops on the window and internal condensation made it difficult to see out of without constantly wiping the window. One of the other passengers had been thoughtful enough to bring along with him a window scraper which did help. We set off just after 10 a.m. along the Bradmore Road into Wolverhampton where we picked up some more passengers in Stafford Street. From there we made our way along the new ring road to the site of the Wolverhampton-Walsall trolleybus route and then followed that route (No. 29) as best we could (road layouts have made it impossible to follow it entirely) all the way to close to the Walsall terminus in Townsend Street (again a one way system has made it impossible to replicate the route). We took photos of the vehicle in Willenhall, and at the Walsall terminus before systematically covering the routes as follows - 33 to Beechdale, Dudley Fields; 31 to Mossley Estate; 31/30 to Bloxwich Park - short comfort break - then to Walsall Bus Station stopping off at High Street Bloxwich to see one of only two remaining traction poles on the system. We took some photos in and around the bus station before driving out to Lower Farm Estate (Route 32) where we had lunch at the Saddler's Arms - sandwiches washed down with Banks's Best Bitter - they still serve mild on draft in the Midlands! The pub was on the Lower Farm Estate and is one of the surprisingly few pubs still open in Walsall. Clearly the recession and smoking ban have affected the drinking population of Walsall as we saw literally dozens and dozens of boarded up ale houses. After lunch the bus completed the tour of the routes by travelling along the 15/30 Blakenhall route in a clockwise direction returning to the main Bloxwich run via Proffitt Street to finish the tour at the old Birchills Depot. The bus was posed next to the second last remaining traction pole before returning via Wednesfield to Wolverhampton - thus incorporating one of Walsall's routes which was never built. We were back at Bradmore by 3.30 p.m. and I made my way back to Winterslow arriving home at 6.30 p.m. for a very tasty roast chicken dinner with wine. A most enjoyable day. It is a long time since I did anything quite so "anoraky" - well not since my visit to Sandtoft in July! I took a vast quantity of photos including the one above showing 116 on the Wolverhampton-Walsall route at Willenhall. I shall be writing articles for Trolleybus and Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire Transport Review over the next few days.
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