Margaret Hanson

"The Girl in the Pink Helmet" is a children's book about a little girl named Claire and narrated by her friend, Zippy the turtle. It is an amazing story about a families journey through surgery and the people they meet along the way. Zippy reminds Claire to be brave and use her imagination through the scary moments. After surgery, Claire has to wear a Pink Helmet to help her head get better. This book is warm and sweet; it tackles a child's illness in a positive light and with a honest approach.

The No. 11 bus route journeys around a twenty-six mile perimeter of Birmingham, following the Outer Circle through many of the city's suburbs including Harborne, King's Heath, Acocks Green, Yardley, Stechford, Bromford, Erdington, Stockland Green, Handsworth Wood and Bearwood. It came into operation in April 1926 and has changed en route during the eighty years in which the service has been running. The buses too have changed, from solic tyres and conductors to double-deckers and suspension. This superb new selection of over 200 old photographs, many published here for the first time, have been drawn from David Harvey's own collection and that of the Local Studies section of Birmingham Central Library. These rare images recall local street scenes, important buildings, shops and pubs, including The King's Head, The Swan and The Yew Tree, which served as destination points along this popular and busy route. This book is a fascinating accompaniment to the author's publication The Inner Circle: Birmingham's No. 8 Bus Route and is sure to appeal to transport enthusiasts, commutes and anyone else with an interest in the history of Birmingham.

This superb new collection of over 200 archive images, while guaranteed to fascinate bus enthusiasts, will also have huge appeal to the many thousands who have travelled the inner circle route or who simply have an interest in the history of Birmingham. Known in its time as the ‘Workmen’s Special’ the number 8 route served the workers for some of Birmingham’s best known employers, such as Lucas, Ansells Brewery, HP Sauce, B. S. A. and Bulpitts. Many will remember the Victorian back-to-backs on the route, demolished years ago, where many of those same workers lived before moving away to newly built estates. Not only do the scenes and the buses show just how much times have changed, the informative captions that accompany each picture remind us of a different era. Instead of radios and CCTV the standard equipment on the first buses included rope, spark plug, whistle, matches and a candle! This was a time when conductors would actually escort younger passengers from the bus right to their front door. Recalling the history of Birmingham through this novel perspective makes for a truly enthralling read.