Use the link below to read the Midland Red Gazetteer of the Midlands Circa 1961. It has a 148 Midland Locations many of which would not feature in any tourist books these days.
(It is a big book (220 pp) so allow time for it to load.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E6rmPXCeRCEcSGeUNdpaznHzhjeQcz6Y/view?usp=sharing
Did you spot the error ? Abergele is not in the Midlands. (Page 19)
Growing up in Kings Norton, Birmingham the nearest main road to my house was the Pershore Road (A441) which named as such you would think it would link to the town of Pershore sited between Evesham on the River Avon and Worcester sited on the River Severn. If you drew a straight radial line from Birmingham City Centre to Pershore it would pass by my home but the road south of there would struggle to follow such a line although Alvechurch and Redditch would initially not be too far from the direct line. But modern road developments have tended to avoid sticking to such simple radial logic preferring to meet the needs of population centres of concentration by wandering accordingly. With the American’s liking their grid road designs at least you would have thought we could have adhered to some radial logic for the main routes.
Importantly
this Pershore Road was regularly served by the Cream and Blue Birmingham
Corporation buses running up to the Birmingham City boundary but no further.
Less frequently but more strikingly the bright red Midland Red buses, both
single decker and double decker, would be allowed to strike out beyond the
Birmingham boundary heading for distant places like Alvechurch (6 miles) or
Redditch (9 miles). Sometimes a rare Midland Red might be seen headed for
Stratford Upon Avon (21 miles) although these more commonly would be on the
Alcester Road (A435) radial road out of Birmingham to Alcester then on to
Stratford upon Avon. These Midland Bus Routes were advertised in the Midland
Red Gazettee designed to encourage people to travel around the Midlands and beyond.
So
the Midland Red Gazettee of the Midlands especially with its Supplement of
Inland and Seaside Pleasure Resorts in 1961 was as significant “bucket list” brochure as the World Wide Flight Schedules and Timetables would be to the
travelling public these days. Reading it today (2024) its simplicity and
conciseness makes for excellent reading combined with the rare colour
photographs, black and white photographs and the odd pen and ink sketch. The
dated advertisements make for just as interesting reading taking you back to
the bye gone days of 60 years ago.
Strangely
enough an amazing Transport Museum at Wythall is the perfect place to see both
the Birmingham Corporation Buses and the Midland Red Buses.
Take
a look at their website below.
Midland Red Bus at the Wythall Transport Museum
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