W H Auden
'Lets go round again.
Maybe we'll turn back the hands of time.'
The Average White Band
Or maybe we won't. It's circular reasoning. Does history repeat itself? Does whatever goes around come around?
Well it does on the longest urban circular bus route in Europe. Yes, I am talking about the number 11 Outer Circle bus route in Birmingham. 27 miles (44 km.) and 266 bus stops. (Purists may insist that Coventry holds the record but its '360' route is partly rural).
Frank Skinner condemned it to Room 101. Simon Le Bon wrote 'Hungry as the Wolf' on it. Tolkien may have written bits of The Hobbit on it sitting next to his pal WH Auden (who lived on the 11 bus route next door to Harborne Swimming Baths). Auden may even have been composing 'On the Circuit' at the time, with the Number 11 Bus Route in mind:
"Or blessed encounter, full of joy
Unscheduled on the Giesen plan.
With here, an addict of Tolkien......"
Or blessed encounter, full of joy,
Unscheduled on the Giesen Plan,
With, here, an addict of Tolkien,
There, a Charles Williams fan.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15552#sthash.EDlAPQzw.dpuf
On the Circuit. W.H Auden
Or blessed encounter, full of joy,
Unscheduled on the Giesen Plan,
With, here, an addict of Tolkien,
There, a Charles Williams fan.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15552#sthash.EDlAPQzw.dpuf
In 1926 when world governments were considering ' going round again' with another world war and a week before the start of The General Strike, Birmingham completed its Outer Circle Bus Route The Number 11c (clockwise) and Number 11a (anti-clockwise).
The Outer Circle Bus Route. (11a and 11c)
Having nothing better to do, I decided to take a rotary romp on the Number Eleven. The anti-clockwise route appealed most, so off I headed, notebook,pens camera and map in hand and boarded an 11a outside the shops at the bottom of Swanshurst Lane.
The journey should take 2 hrs 20mins., taking in many of Birmingham's world class attractions and historical landmarks. Indeed I only had time to take my seat at the front of the top deck when Sarehole Mill, named by a lover of anagrams no doubt and built in 1542, appeared on my left.
Sarehole Mill
Apparently JRR Tolkien lived near here and wrote The Lord of the Rings in the The Hungry Hobbit cafe just up the road whilst nibbling his favourite cheese and beetroot sandwiches.
This highly succesful formula was later adopted in Edinburgh by another author of fantasy literature with an uncannily similar name, JK Rowling, and, as a result, the unfortunate multi-millionairess has been unfairly accused of plagiarism.
See. You thought I was kidding
Before I knew it we had crossed the Stratford (Home of the Bard of Avon ) Road and were hurtling towards The Church of the Ascension on the corner of School Road. Built in the then popular 'Queen Anne' style it cost £2,200 in 1704, which was a lot of money in those days. It used to be called 'Jeb's Chapel', and then Hall Green Parish Church which would have been my choice too.
Jeb's Chapel
The windows on the top deck were all steamed up at this point so I missed the sights of Fox Hollies Road. Acocks Green wasn't very interesting either. At Yardley, we passed the office block where The Swan Inn used to stand. It either had the longest bar in Europe or was the biggest pub in Europe or perhaps both. I remember seeing it in the Guinness Book of Records. It lasted less than 30yrs. It would be a listed building now, if it had survived.
The Swan at Yardley
After passing a sign for 'Blakesley Hall' (built 1590, fine timber framed yeoman's house but not visible from the top deck)
Blakesley Hall
we encountered a traffic jam which resulted in us being told to leave the bus at The Fox and Goose. By this time I was in need of a 'comfort stop' anyway. and so I ventured out into the windswept urban bomb site which is the Stechford Shopping Centre in search of a cosy cafe or tea shop or even a public lavatory. Desperation led me into the pub which kindly lends its name to this bleak concrete desert.
The Fox and Goose
It turned out to be a warm, friendly, welcoming place. I ordered a coffee and headed for the toilets. Returning to the bar I saw this intriguing notice on one of the 'cubicles'.
The coffee was good and warming. 'I'm sorry it took so long' said the friendly 'barista', 'The coffee machine ran out'. 'You should have run after it then'. I quipped. How we all laughed.
I must have dropped my notebook and pens as I hurried from the pub. The driver of the next 11 bus changed the 'A' to an E'' and I got on. 'How far is this one going then?' 'Bearwood'.
Number 11 folklore tells us the older, almost clapped out buses were used on the route in the early days. These were difficult to drive and tiring for the drivers. There were 'SP's (designated Smoking Points) along the route and waiting points with 'Bundy Clocks' where the driver had to 'clock in' to prove he was on time. (being early was a more serious offence than being late).
A Birmingham Corporation Transport 'Bundy Clock'
The novelty was quickly wearing off as we headed north, passing under the M6 to Six Ways Erdington where we turned left up the hill to the reservoir on Reservoir Road and then back under the M6 to Witton and Aston and west and then south to Handsworth and across Soho Road (a famous Birmingham road).
You can catch a glimpse of the now notorious James Turner Street from the top deck. I resisted the temptation to get off the bus and try to make friends with White Dee, Fungi and co.
On the left loomed the tall unscalable walls of HMP Winson Green where Ozzy Osbourne spent six weeks for breaking and entering, Fred West committed suicide and Oswald Gray was hanged for murder on 20th. November 1962, a few weeks before the Beatles released 'Love Me Do'. (More about the Mersyside Mopheads later).
HMP Winson Green
By this time I was looking forward to going past George Dixon School on City Road where Michael Balcon, head of the old Ealing Studios had been a pupil.I was also looking forward to getting off in Bearwood for a wee.
Michael Balcon produced many of the famous 'Ealing Comedies', but also 'The Blue Lamp' featuring PC George Dixon who went on to become 'Dixon of Dock Green'. Only readers over the age of 60 will have any idea what I'm talking about.
Dixon of Dock Green ('Evening All')
Bearwood at last and a compulsory break. No cafes or toilets in sight so I went into the Kings Head on Hagley Road. What a surprise! The place has been tarted up, does posh nosh and charges far too much for a pint.
On the home stretch now. Down we went into 'Fortunate Harborne', one of the posher areas of Brum and the place to live if you want to get your kids into one of the Birmingham Grammar Schools. On my right the new Harborne Swimming Baths gleamed in the early afternoon sunlight. Most of Birmingham's other swimming baths have been closed or reduced in size. WH Auden's family lived next door to the old Baths.There's even a plaque.
Not far now. Down to Selly Oak, over The Bristol Road and into Bournville, home of 'The Factory In A Garden', now owned by Mondeléz International, and Cadbury World.
I used to think that Bournville was just the name of a dark chocolate bar. I preferred Dairy Milk which had 'a glass and a half of milk' in every bar. How did they do it?
John Cadbury started selling cocoa from a shop in Bull Street, Birmingham in 1824 but it was George Cadbury who created the famous 'factory in a garden' and Bournville Village four miles from Birmingham city centre.
For a nineteenth century factory owner, George was a remarkable man. I have not been able to find a bad word written or spoken about him except that he was a Paternalist (which was legal in those days).
As a Quaker he opposed the Boer War and the First World War. He joined the anti-war Independent Labour Party and built the 313 house Bournville Village.
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I used to think that the village was named after the chocolate, but it was named after the Bourn Brook which ran through the area. The houses were well built, in the Arts and Crafts style, had gardens and modern interiors.
There were no pubs in Bournville (Quakers!) and still aren't, although I believe you can get a drink in the Bournville Social Club. I remember going to a party in Bournville and driving round the area looking for somewhere to buy a Party Seven. About 26,000 (thirsty) people live there now.
"I have for many years given practically the whole of my income for charitable purposes, except what is spent upon my family. Nearly all my money is invested in businesses in which I believe I can truly say the first thought was of the welfare of the work people employed."
Kings Heath next. We crossed over the path of the July 2005 tornado as it ripped its way down the High Street before turning right and heading for Moseley.
July 29th. 2005. Kings Heath High Street
Greggs escaped without a scratch. If the tornado had turned left instead of right it might have gone down York Road and demolished the Ritz Ballroom where the Beatles appeared on February 25th. 1963.
They were billed to appear on January 11th., before they became known as the fab four, but couldn't make it through the winter blizzards. (That was a bad winter wasn't it?) There is a scurrilous story going round that they did turn up but nobody came. I didn't start the rumour. The Rolling Stones appeared there too, but not until September when the weather was a bit better.(for Kings Heath no blizzards or tornadoes defines 'better').
The Ritz became a bingo hall,then a Cash Converters and went up in smoke on 27th. March 2013.
Nearly home. After 4 hours of top deck rotary revelry I felt a bit dizzy as we hurtled down Swanshurst Lane to my point of departure. I thanked the driver in true Brummie style, ('Thank you droiver') and congratulated myself on saving £4.49 which a daysaver would have cost me without my Centro bus pass. 27 miles of free travel which I am sure you will agree was worth every penny.
Juanito Sánchez
February 6th. 2014
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