100 British Bus Routes: Route 16
Stourbridge to Wolverhampton
11 August 2024
ABOVE: National Express West Midlands 4992 (SN64 OBZ), an ADL Enviro400 in National Express Coventry livery, heads along Common Road, Wombourne, Staffordshire, on route 16 to Stourbridge. All photos in this article were taken on Sunday 16 June 2024.
Runs: Daily
Operator: National Express West Midlands
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 30 minutes
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Five buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 58-62 minutes
Estimated Route length: 14-15 miles
Operator: National Express West Midlands
Weekday daytime frequency: Every 30 minutes
Estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement: Five buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 58-62 minutes
Estimated Route length: 14-15 miles
Talk to a historian about the town of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, and they will probably highlight that it has been the centre of Britain's glass-making industry since the early 1600s (the rich natural resources of coal and fireclay for lining furnaces made it the perfect location for the industry).
Talk to a transport historian about Stourbridge and they might mention the Stourbridge Lion, one of the first railroad steam locomotives to operate outside of Britain. It was manufactured by the Stourbridge firm Foster, Rastrick and Company in 1829, and shipped to New York for use by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company.
Talk to a modern-day transport enthusiast (like me) about Stourbridge and they might well mention the Class 139 "Parry People Mover" trains that serve the town's railway station, via the shortest branch line in the UK - the 0.8 mile link to Stourbridge Junction. These little railcars, with capacity for up to 25 seated passengers and up to 35 standees, make the six-minute round trip up to six times an hour, and are probably the most unusual trains on the mainland network. (Have a look at this video from "The Transport Hub" if you're not familiar with these units.)
Stourbridge is 10 miles west of Birmingham, on the western extremity of the West Midlands connurbation, in an area that was traditionally in Worcestershire.
Stourbridge Interchange, where I am waiting for the number 16 bus, is only a hundred yards or so from the railway station. This interchange sprang up a few years ago, replacing an older facility on the same site.
ABOVE: Not much going on in Stourbridge Bus Interchange!
The Interchange is smart and well-equipped (always nice to find toilets that are open at 9.30 on a Sunday morning), and a lift or a flight of stairs take people to a subway under the interchange access road, giving safe passage into the town centre.
The bustling town centre is enclosed on all sides by the town's Ring Road - an extensive one-way system akin to that of Watford (don't get me wrong - it's much nicer than Watford)!
ABOVE: Inside one of the two buildings of the Stourbridge Bus Interchange (the other building is visible in the background). Very quiet on this particular Sunday morning.
There's not much happening in the bus station as I await the 1002 departure on route 16 - the first of the day in this direction on a Sunday (although there is an earlier part-route working starting from Kingswinford Cross). There are a couple of departures on other routes, but there aren't many people around.
The incoming service 16 from Wolverhampton (also the first of the day) has brought in an impressive number of people for the hour and day. There's just one problem - the door to the bus stand won't open!
All of the incoming passengers have to walk around the outside of the bus station from stand C to stand D in order to enter the bus station - not the safest of manouevres and it probably is just as well that it is Sunday morning. There are only two of us to work ourselves round the other way, though. The driver is very apologetic and raises the matter with a bus station official. It's not apparent whether the door is defective or just hasn't been unlocked...
We're heading out of town to the north, which involves us starting off by working our way around half of the Ring Road.
ABOVE: Bath Road, the western side of the Ring Road around Stourbridge Town Centre. We'll be heading into High Street, the road in the distance where the Kwik-Fit stands.
This is an ADL Enviro400 operated by National Express West Midlands (NXWM). The hourly Sunday service means only two buses out on the route.
We pass the village of Wordsley, where the Stourbridge Glass Museum is located, and come to Kingswinford. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, its name reportedly relates to "a ford for the King's swine", or "a Royal Pig Crossing" (rearing of pigs was important in this region in Anglo-Saxon times).
In 1605, at Holbeche House on the edge of town, most of the men who had attempted to blow up Parliament with Guy Fawkes were cornered, and a bloody gunfight ensued, resulting in the deaths of at least four of the conspirators, including their leader Robert Catesby.
Just along the road is the village of Wall Heath, right on the edge of the West Midlands connurbation, where the 'Prince Albert' pub stands. The 'Prince Albert' has been a pub since 1849 and was previously a private home. At one time it had its own brewhouse.
ABOVE: The Prince Albert, Wall Heath
The number 16 now crosses the border into Staffordshire. The territory changes immediately, as we've entered the Green Belt area around the West Midlands region. This land is open countryside, and protected to remain as such.
ABOVE: Enville Road, Wall Heath, just inside the West Midlands boundary. The bus will turn right at the lights ahead and cross into Staffordshire.
Through Hinksford and past the Hinksford Arms, with a striking building next door that appears to be the local Pumping Station.
We're running adjacent to the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal here, and there's an attractive Wharf just down the road; albeit very quiet on a Sunday morning.
We continue into Swindon (no, not that one). Whilst most parts of this route seem fairly quiet, there's plenty of activity at the edge of the village for a Boot Sale:
We cross into Wombourne - a large village with a population of 14,157 (as at the 2011 Census). This very pretty village has Anglo-Saxon origins, and, for most of its history, has been an agricultural village. We're now only four miles from Wolverhampton, and Wombourne swelled significantly in the 1950s when several hundred council houses were built by Wolverhampton Council as part of a council housing overspill programme - perhaps before Green Belt measures were introduced in this area?
ABOVE: I'm slightly cheating here, as this article is short of pictures with actual buses in them... This is another view of NXWM 4992 (SN64 OBZ) in Common Road, Wombourne, a few seconds before the title picture was taken!
This is a lovely area, and the bus is starting to get busier. Even on a Sunday morning, we are going to carry a decent load into Wolverhampton.
ABOVE: Heading north along Bull Meadow Lane in Wombourne. A group of customers has assembled at the bus stop ahead.
I find myself reflecting on what sort of bus service, if any, would be offered by on a Sunday morning by Staffordshire bus operators or the County Council if we weren't on the edge of the West Midlands connurbation. Like NXWM route 6 through Shenstone, NXWM is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for Staffordshire residents here. Indeed, whilst fellow NXWM route 15 (Wolverhampton to Merry Hill) also passes through here, there are no 'Staffordshire' services in the village.
We rejoin the main A449 Stourbridge Road dual-carriageway, which carries us at speed back towards the West Midlands border and the start of Wolverhampton itself.
ABOVE: Heading north along the A449 Stourbridge Road, about half a mile prior to the Staffordshire / West Midlands border.
We pass through the suburb of Penn - attractive enough although, perhaps ironically, I don't see anything here to write about...
ABOVE: NXWM 4598 (BX54 DDA), a Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400, is seen on route 15A (Wolverhampton to Merry Hill), on the Penn Road at the junction of Witton Road, near Goldthorn Hill. BusTimes.org is implying that this almost 20-year-old bus was withdrawn from the NXWM fleet after service on Sunday 4 August 2024.
We reach the Royal School Wolverhampton. The school was opened in 1850 by John Lees, a successful merchant, to provide a secure home and schooling for the city’s many orphans, brought about as a result of the cholera epidemic that was rampant at the time. The need for larger premises was quickly understood, and this magnificent building was opened four years later. The clock tower was added in 1901, and permission to change the name to 'Royal School Wolverhampton' was granted by King George VI in 1944.
We're now less than a mile-and-a-half, as the crow flies, from our destination. Accessing the city centre always takes a few minutes. We cover a section of the Ring Road before turning into the centre streets.
ABOVE: The distinctive arch of the tram route cutting across Bilston Street Island can be picked out in this view of the heart of Wolverhampton. The route to the St Georges terminus (to the right behind us) is no longer in use, and trams now cut across the road in front to terminate at the railway station (a few hundred yards down the road on our left).
Wolverhampton's Bus Interchange is a wonder to behold! Nineteen departure stands are assembled across an M-shaped structure with glass-enclosed waiting areas. Passengers and bus movements are kept safely apart, and the only real problem might be a tight connection here, coming in on Stand A and going out on Stand U (there's no Stand I or O); it's going to take a couple of minutes to work your way around!
There's a good selection of pictures of the bus station here.
ABOVE: A trio of NXWM buses greet our arrival into Wolverhampton Bus Station. On the left, 6779 (SN66 WCA, "Manmeet"), an ADL Enviro400 MMC, ends its journey on the direct route X8 from Birmingham. In front, 5417 (BX13 JPO, "Miya"), an ADL Enviro400H, is about to set off on a trip on local circular service 32 to Northwood Park. On the right is 2112 (BX12 DFF, "Isla Mae"), a Volvo B7RLE Wright Eclipse 2 on another fairly local route, the 59 to Ashmore Park.
I boarded the number 16 in Stourbridge simply because it was a route I had not done before. I had no idea when I set off what an enjoyable ride I was going to have, discovering new bits of Staffordshire that I had not previously been aware existed!
It's also been a joy to see how well used this service is. Even on a Sunday morning, a decent load has been delivered into Wolverhampton. It's easy to see that this is a sucessful service - possibly as much so for the people of Staffordshire as to those of the West Midlands. If franchising comes to the region, it will be very interesting to see what happens with cross-border services such as this one.