There was a time in Bromsgrove when a Midland Red bus would leave every few minutes packed with passengers heading off to work in the big smoke of Birmingham.

Bus services have dwindled in the town but this year the Midland Red company would have been celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Doug Hewitt, of Brook Court, contacted the Advertiser/Messenger with his memories of Midland Red, as many members of his family had worked for the company.

His mother worked as a conductor, or a 'clippie', as they were known, on the 144 route to Birmingham during World War I.

When the 144 climbed Rose Hill up the Lickey Hills in the snowy winters, the clippie would have to jump out and place a heavy brass wedge behind the wheels to stop the bus from sliding back down the hill.

The conductor would take people's money and stamp the tickets, hence the name 'clippie'.

The Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company became known as Midland Red after its slogan 'paint the Midlands red'. The name stuck and was used for the next 80 years.

The company operated bus routes all through the Midlands and offered coach tours around the country.

Malcolm Keeley, collections manager of the Birmingham and Midland Museum of Transport, said: "The company was so big it was able to design and build its own buses. They were frequently ahead of the big manufacturers and well-respected in the bus business."

In fact Midland Red built its own buses for half a century and the bus garage on Birmingham Road, in Bromsgrove, was a bustling centre of activity.

But economic hardship struck in the 1980s and the firm was split into five operating companies and an engineering firm.

At the Birmingham and Midland Museum of Transport, off Chapel Lane in Wythall, there are around 100 buses, coaches, fire-engines and battery-electric vehicles.

Volunteers are working hard preparing and restoring the Midland Red exhibits in time for the centenary celebrations later in the year.

Museum chiefs claim to have the largest collection of restored battery electric vehicles in the world.

The centenary events are due to kick off in September when you can ride a Midland Red bus all across the region.

Malcolm added: "We will have the biggest range of Midland Red buses since the company's heyday on display at the museum on October 10."

For more information visit www.bammot.org.uk or phone 01564 826471.