BACKSTREET BRUM: On the trail of hidden gems with my opening stroll round to the Bull Ring. Up past the Mailbox and I find myself on Gough Street where the Craven Arms has an attractive corner frontage and the Gough Arms is just up the road. The Peace Garden and the remains of St Thomas' Church are poignant reminders of wartime on Bath Row, then Great Colmore Street contributes St Luke's Church and the Colwyn pub.
- The Craven Arms, Gough Street -DIGBETH & EASTSIDE: The backstreet theme continues as I dig deeper into Digbeth and Deritend. Digbeth is becoming a regular haunt but this was the first proper opportunity I'd had to do a full trawl of the place, weaving my way back and forth beneath railway bridges and past industrial units. My discoveries include the Spotted Dog, the Old Wharf, the Waggon & Horses and Birmingham Central bus depot before New Canal Street takes me up to Millennium Point and the imposing edifice that is Curzon Street Station. A roam around Eastside features a derelict factory on Cardigan Street and the former Moby Dick's pub on Penn Street, then I have a quick look at the Digbeth Branch Canal for a shot or two of Belmont Row Bridge - fascinating!
- The Old Wharf, Oxford Street -THE 26: All of this on-foot exploring is all well and good but it was about time I got down to business with the buses. The 26 is a route that perennially seems to get tinkered with – I first caught it as the Bromford Bridge Lynx, then as a Metrobus to Kingshurst, and now the service is set to be withdrawn and replaced by the 14 (through Duddeston) and an extended 72 (through Bromford). I board the route just past Moriarty's (formerly the White Tower) for a ride through Duddeston, Saltley and Alum Rock. It's depressing to see the old LDV factory looking mournful on Drews Lane, whilst the boarded up Bromford pub only adds to the gloom. The bus then negotiates Bromford Drive to terminate by the Racecourse pub in the shadows of the M6 motorway.
- The 26 calls on Bromford Drive -BROMFORD BRIDGE: The Bromford estate is never going to be my favourite place in the world but it is still useful to call by from time to time. The Racecourse pub is also boarded up but at least the building is still intact for a photo, unlike the pub that used to be on Collingbourne Road. I thought it wise to make sure I got some photos of the Bromford pub whilst I was in the area, who knows if it will still be around next time I return?
- The Racecourse, Bromford Drive -HODGE HILL & SHARD END: More local exploring now with a couple of places I was quite keen to revisit. Hodge Hill gives it's name to a Birmingham parliamentary constituency yet there doesn't seem to be that much to it, Shard End or Ward End being more of a focal point for local facilities. The main features are Hodge Hill Common, an important area of open green space, and the Hunters Moon pub. Bucklands End Lane brings me down to the Raven at Stechford, itself a nice landmark, and then I proceed up to Shard End where a key regeneration project is underway to transform the shopping parade into an urban village centre.
- Hodge Hill Common -KINGSHURST & THE 54: Back to the buses with another route that is set to disappear from Sunday. Currently linking Birmingham and Kingshurst via Washwood Heath Road, Buckland End and Kendrick Avenue, the 54 is set to be incorporated into a streamlined frequent 55 service (serving Buckland End and Shard End) whilst the new 59 will take over the Kingshurst connection. Today's journey on the 54 is brief, from Shard End shops down to Fordbridge Road terminus via Morrisons at Castle Bromwich, but is handsomely rewarded with a precious photo or two at the turning circle. I can't resist having a little mooch around Kingshurst whilst I'm here, hence adding in shots of the Mountfort and the local precinct.
- The 54 at Kingshurst terminus, Fordbridge Road -CHELMSLEY WOOD NORTH: I still have a couple of photo opportunities in mind and my schedule is starting to look tight. From Kingshurst I need to get a wriggle on, dashing up past the Toby Jug and into Smiths Wood estate where I lose my bearings slightly amongst a multitude of cul-de-sacs, crofts and closes. I eventually navigate my way through to Lanchester Way just in time to capture the 663 bus on camera. This route is operated by Central Connect and is due to be renumbered as the 53, although it will continue to link Smiths Wood with Erdington via Shard End, Stechford and Nechells.
- 663 at Lanchester Way -THE 689: I'm on the home straight now as a well-placed 966 link enables me to get to Park Hill School in time for the 3pm 689. This is another Central Connect route, and a rather convoluted one at that, which currently links Park Hall and Sheldon via Shard End, Lea Village, Glebe Farm and Garretts Green. Under the review it will be replaced by the new 99 route from Lea Village to Acocks Green - I'm not entirely sure about this idea as from what I saw the 689 was an appreciated local community route where the other passengers and the driver all seemed to know each other.
LEA HALL: I enjoyed my 689 journey despite the various meandering twists and turns, alighting in Garretts Green for a picture of the old Chestnut Tree pub (being turned into an Indian restaurant) and then a sprint to Lea Hall Station. Here I have one final route to account for - the 13 - which linked the station with the City Centre via Whittington Oval, Cockshut Hill, Yardley, Heartlands Hospital and Bordesley Green. The service will be replaced by a combination of the 73 (extended into Birmingham from Heartlands Hospital) and the new 59 (covering Whittington Oval en route to Kingshurst), a move that means Lea Hall Station will no longer be a bus terminus although the 59 would provide some future photographic options.
- The 13 at Lea Hall -With that closing photo in the bag, I board my 16:22 train home and reflect on a tremendous day of exploring and another raft of network changes. I remain yet to be convinced about the full merits of these reviews, but at least the day provided what will surely go down as one of the exploration highlights of 2011...
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