Former tram stop on Chester Road

Birmingham, like many of Britain's towns and cities, once had an extensive tram network. Like most places the tram network was closed down in the 1950s by short sighted transport and city planners who thought the motor bus was the way forward. Now little remains of the once city wide network. However here and there are unexpected traces and survivors.

At Wylde Green near Chester Road is a former shelter for tram passengers. The trams reached here in 1908. The shelter (rather more ornate and substantial than the type of shelter provided for modern day public transport users) still bears the name "Erdington Tramways" which can just about be made out (though Photoshop can help here) below the clock. After the trams were closed down the building was taken over by the gas board. Nowadays it is a barbershop.