Thursday 29 March 2012

Time In Tamworth

Arriva Midlands North Volvo B6BLE/Wright Crusader 2625 (V225KDA)
at the bus stop in Victoria Road
During the last couple of days I have been spending some time in the North Warwickshire town of Tamworth visiting the in-laws.

Tamworth is one of those towns which grew in the 1960/70s following Birmingham's slum clearance programme and the area continues to benefit from additional  population.

As you would expect, I observed the local bus scene too! Tamworth's principal bus operator is Arriva Midlands North, the successor to  Midland Red North, which in turn was created from the break up of Midland Red. (Or to give it its correct title Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company)

Arriva Midlands North garage at Aldergate in Tamworth
Arriva's operating centre is its Aldergate Garage; although I believe an out of town base has been considered by the company for some time.

I found the garage to be only a very short walk from the centre, with only one vehicle present; that was South Staffordshire College's purple liveried Optare Solo BX04CRV

A fleet of forty vehicles is maintained there including 21 Volvo B6BLEs, 2 Scania L113CRLs, 9 Scania OmniLinks and 8 Volvo B9TL double-deckers.

One of Arriva North Midlands OmniLinks (3801 YN08HZL)
 pictured in Corporation Street
Around the corner from Aldergate is Corporation Street, one of the two main pick up points for buses in the town; the other is in Victoria Road. Apart from town services, there are also routes to Nuneaton, Kingsbury, Birmingham, Birmingham International Airport and Lichfield.

The only other operator in evidence was Heartlands Bus which is also based in the town on Lichfield Road Industrial Estate.

Heartlands Buses Volvo B6LE/Alexander ALX200 HSV658
It also has a fleet of some 40 assorted vehicles with services operating from Corporation Street

All the pictures included in this report were taken on Wednesday 28th March

However, I also visited Tamworth town centre on Tuesday - market day.

Unfortunately there wasn't much time to take pictures then - plus I had left the digital
camera behind!

But I did manage to grab a picture of Heartlands Buses recent arrival on my mobile phone camera. It was Optare Alero W9SMS or 173 in the fleet.

Tamworth has a good deal of history as well, including an impressive town centre church, St Editha's, and also an equally impressive castle.
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1 comment:

  1. Michael Wicks28 January 2021 at 14:48

    Though Arrive have been operating since Midland Red ceased. Midland Red was an excellent service. The main pick up point for all buses was in what is now, the main car park, opposite where pick up points are now, (in Corporation Street. The shelters gave much better protection from the elements on wet days. I was one of the people who moved from Birmingham in 1977, & can honestly say, that Tamworth is not as nice as it used to be.

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