11C: Bearwood

Continuing the journey on Birmingham's 11C Outer Circle...

The 11C leaves Birmingham at this point, for a brief excursion into adjoining Sandwell borough. Another mobile phone, and it’s becoming an epidemic, this time with its owner tunelessly moaning along to the music as if he was in the privacy of his bathroom. I punch the uninspiring lyrics into my smartphone search engine to discover it’s a song by O-Town. 11C is starting to develop an anti-social thread and I depressingly notice, yet again, that every window on the upper deck’s been etched. So much for CCTV. The upper deck passenger display monitors have not been working on any bus. Perhaps they only come on at night.

Bearwood seems reasonably prosperous with its mix of Argos and Aldi, takeaways and local shops. I note in the opposite direction one of the competing AMPM double decks. They’re never in the right place for me to try. Passenger numbers are low but it’s early days for them. They started on 17 October. But the AMPM timetable’s too infrequent & confusing for any regular use. On the famous 11C, such an irregular service can only ever be highly speculative.

I note that the NXWM 11C timetable posted at the stop is at odds with that on the webpage. The web shows a bus resolutely every eight minutes; the bus stop indicates one every five to nine.

Strapped to fencing nearby is a rare and overt reference to Christianity, a strange reminder in a land usually bereft of God. I wonder who Michael is and why someone has asked God to bless him.