MidlandRed.net

Harts Hill*

Dudley Road, Harts Hill.

• Built in the 1890s as an electric tramway depot, featuring a large forecourt, three long and narrow steel-framed, brick built garage bays, and a Victorian style tramway office and manager's house to the front.
• Acquired by BMMO in early 1925 and adapted for bus use, with the manager’s house being converted to offices, incorporating a Booking and Enquiry Office on the frontage.
• Depot opened by Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited (BMMO — Midland “Red”) on 27^th May 1925.
• Garage buildings extended in 1931, with the addition of an extra bay over a section of the former entrance to the tram shed, increasing capacity to 58 vehicles.
• Land adjacent to the garage acquired in 1947.
• Depot rebuilt and modernised in 1964, with the original Victorian offices being demolished and replaced by a new brick built detached office block and canteen on the frontage.  A new office block with workshops and stores was built adjacent to the main bay and a rear entrance was added, incorporating vehicle washing and refuelling facilities.  The main building, including the 1931 extension, were modernised and rebuilt with brick frontage and stone facings, while the open forecourt remained for outdoor parking, with further parking provided by unsurfaced land to the rear.
• Full control of the depot, along with all staff and vehicles, passed to the West Midland Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) on 3^rd December 1973, as part of the transfer of services in the West Midlands County.
  See the “Transfer of BMMO Services and Assets to the West Midlands PTE” page in the “History” section of this website for further details of the transfer.
• Closed for operational purposes in 1993.
  
• Used for storage until 1996, then site sold.
• Now used as a car repair building and second hand dealership (Jaywood).

*Note: There is some confusion as to the correct spelling of the depot name.  Many publications use the two-word version, “Harts Hill,” while others use one joined word, “Hartshill.”  It seems the confusion comes from Midland Red engineers getting into the habit of calling the depot “Hartshill,” while the driving staff stuck with “Harts Hill.”  This tradition continued under the control of West Midlands PTE, until the depot closed in 1993.  To add to the confusion the Ordnance Survey calls the area “Hart’s Hill” on their latest maps, with the use of an apostrophe, and original depot name was “Brierley Hill,” after the larger area to the south west!  As the drivers’ two-word version seems to be the most commonly used, I have used this throughout the website.