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Highlights 2012 |
    
 
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Highlights 2012The first outing for the bus in 2012 was on Sunday 29th January for the Chinese New Year. This is the Year of the Dragon which is the fifth of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. People that are born in the Year of the Dragon are said to be free spirited, dominant, ambitious, driven, unafraid of challenges and risk takers. Famous people born under this sign include Al Pacino, Salvador Dali, Joan of Arc and Bruce Lee! The bus looked amazing with the dragon on top parading around the city. Check out some of the photos and if you would like to see some footage from the day look at the CNY12 website.
Tuesday 28th February 2012 My favourite tour again for the bus - two outings for Paget Primary School in Erdington. Here is a wonderful photo of the event
Sunday 11th March 2012 St Patricks Day Parade in Birmingham - what a fantastic day - the weather was amazing. Michael, Suzie and I went to join Mick the bus driver to decorate the bus with ribbons of orange, green and white -it looked stunning! Muriel joined us - a true celebrity and I think she really enjoyed dancing along to the beat of the drums. We met St Patrick and Bob Brolly and the middleweight boxing champion of Ireland - you could not have asked for more. The crowds were absolutely amazing and I was very impressed with the whole event - role on next year.
Monday 26th March 2012 Another wonderful school tour entitled Brilliant Brum for Highfield School in Saltley. Two year groups enjoyed the tour one after each other on an amazingly sunny day in Birmingham - Brilliant Brum is born!
Sunday 8th April 2012 - Easter Sunday A phone call out of the blue and suddently I was live on air with Ed Doolan. As I said to Ed watching Saturday morning kitchen on a Sunday! and cooking the lunch I was able to invite Ed to the 4th year launch of the Big Brum Buz and let everyone know that the bus will be up and running for another year - thank you. Friday 13th April 2012 The bus will be taking a group of 21 year olds from Four Oaks to Propaganda - the bus can be used in all sorts of ways! Saturday 21st April 2012 After a very early start to the day being interviewed by Mollie Green (thank you) we had a wonderful launch for the 4th year of the Big Brum Buz. Although the weather forecast was very doubtful the sun shone and we were able to have a very enjoyable tour at 11am for invited guests. As part of the St Georges Day celebrations we were able to offer free half hour taster tours at 1pm and 2pm which took up every last bit of space on the bus. Thank you to Ian our guide, Mick especially, dressed as St George and everyone who came to support the bus.
Sunday 22nd April 2012 The bus continued to be part of the St Georges Day festivals
Tuesday 24th April 2012 Our regular outing on the Big Brum Open Top Bus for Christ the King School Wednesday 25th April 2012 Promotional tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Open Top Bus for the Quality Group starting from New Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield. Sunday 13th May 2012 The bus took part in the Walk for Harry - what a fantastic day and the Johnsons double decker took over the normal fixed time tours from Victoria Square.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 16th, 17th, 18th May 2012 Amazing tours for Highfield School in Rowley Regis - we screamed under the bridges and had excellent informative educational tours. Thursday 24th May 2012 Ghost bus tour on the Big Brum Open Top Bus for Cocaine Anonymous which finished with a fabulous curry at Al-Frash in the Balti Triangle. Friday 25th May 2012 Slide show and talk for the Birmingham Contact Lens Association conference at the ICC. Sunday 27th May 2012 Walking tour of Birmingham with a German speaking guide for a motorcycle assocation group from Germany. Monday 28th May 2012 Tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Open Top Bus for a group of agricultural students visiting Birmingham. Thursday 31st May 2012 Tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Open Top Bus for a corporate drinks company to show off the city. Saturday 2nd June 2012 We were the lead bus for the Pride celebrations - what an amazing day.
Monday 4th June 2012 The bus took part in the Jubilee celebrations in the city with free tours at 12 noon and 2.30 - the bus was absolutely packed. The bus looked amazing in its Jubilee ribbons of red, white and blue.
Wednesday 6th June 2012 In conjunction with Women4Business we ran a tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Open Top Bus finishing at Chamberlains Restaurant for a fabulous fish and chip supper and entertainment including a picture and general knowledge quiz about Birmingham. Saturday 9th June 2012 Tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Open Top Buz with a tennis twist in the tale! for the Barber Institute as part of a special tennis festival day following on from the award winning Court on Canvas exhibition. Friday 15th June 2012 Tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Open Top Buz as part of the launch for the Birmingham Made Me Design exhibition at the Mailbox. An excellent tour of the city with photos on the bus of Lord Digby Jones, Albert Bore and Beverley Nielsen from Birmingham City University.
Later in the day we were booked to do a tour of the architecture of the city for the Love Architecture Festival 2012. Unfortunately, the rain took its toll and no one turned up! Never mind we live for another day when we can show off the architecture of the city at its best. I am trying to create a book designed for primary schools in particular, of the fascinating shapes of the buildings in the city. Monday 18th June 2012 A tour for Southside on the Big Brum Open Top Bus for VIP Chinese visitors finishing at the Wing Wah restaurant in Nechells. Tuesday 19th June 2012 Tours for Aston University Open Day. Wednesday 20th June 2012 A Tolkien themed tour on the Big Brum Open Top Buz for Bromsgrove School - this is what they said. Hello Sue, Thursday 21st June 2012 Tours of the city on the Big Brum Open Top Buz for Birmingham University Open Days - extremely popular and a lot of fun. Friday 22nd June 2012 Tours of the city on the Big Brum Open Top Buz for Birmingham University Open Days - extremely popular and a lot of fun. Saturday 30th June 2012 & Sunday 1st July As part of the Olympic torch festival the Big Brum Buz was proud to transport the Conservatoire Folk Ensemble to Summerfield Park for a Festival of Colours, the Mailbox for Arts at the Heart and Calthorpe Park for Birmingham to Brazil. Finally on the Sunday we joined in Sunrise in Sparkhill Park.
Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th July This weekend was really good with sunny weather! On Saturday 14th July we did a tour at the end of the day as part of the Colmore Business District Food Festival. The bus was heaving and it was very interesting to see how many restaurants, cafes and food related businesses are in this area. I also sampled some of the cuisine in Victoria Square and it was excellent. On Sunday the Lord and Lady Mayoress took a ride on the 12.30 tour. Mary our guide was fabulous as well as our driver Mick. Visitors on the bus not only included Brummies but from as far away as Germany, the Czech republic, Kazakhstan and Tasmania - we are a truly international bus promoting Birmingham to the whole world! Check out the photos on the right hand side. Friday 27th July Our first Asian wedding - what an amazing spectacle in fabulous weather.
Wednesday 5th September 2012
The recommendation below speaks for itself - we did a fabulous architectural tour for Weinerberger. Dear Sue, Best Regards, Saturday 8th September 2012 The bus was packed as we offered a free tour at 12.30 as part of Heritage Open Days. The weather was brilliant and I am sure Artsfest a huge success. Again we did a tour for Birmingham University as part of their Open Days package which as well as unique was extremely popular.
Thursday 13th and Friday 14th September 2012 Tours for St Brigids School in Northfield - hugely popular, exciting and informative - no better way to develop pride in Birmingham.
Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th September 2012 Aston University Freshers tour on the Monday and on the Tuesday Open Day for future students and families - essential promotion of the city.
Saturday 22nd September 2012 On a really sunny day in Birmingham we had a private booking by Ian Yorke and Councillor Waseem Zaffar joined us on the bus. Councillor Waseem has been involved in finding out what it is to be a Brummie and working on social cohesion in the city - where can you find the answer - on the Big Brum Buz!. As you might guess I invited him on the bus to show him Birmingham and to emphaise that we do school tours. I believe that every school in the city should have a guided tour of Birmingham to develop pride and unity in the place where they live. Tuesday 25th September 2012 St Edmunds and St Patricks School did a combined school trip on the Big Brum Open Top Buz - they took some amazing photographs and it did not rain after all - they must have had some divine intervention!
Saturday 29th September 2012 Mick the bus driver's birthday was a total surprise for him - his biker mates arrived to see Mick cut the cake plus some youngsters who just happened to be passing!
Wednesday 3rd October 2012 Elgar Court hired the bus for a tour of the city for Freshers Week - I hope they all enjoyed getting to know their new home. Although the photos are not very good you can see that Mary the guide was definitely up for the trip!
Friday 5th October 2012 Plantsbrook School in Sutton Coldfield enjoyed a wonderful school outing to show off Birmingham to their French student friends - I hope they were impressed with their visit. Monday 8th October 2012 I was absolutely thrilled that they decided to do an open top bus tour from Aldridge to Walsall for Ellie Symonds - our para olympic two times gold medal swimmer. When we arrived at the school were they had named the pool after Ellie, the kids made such a noise it was brilliant. I shook hands with Ellie, met her Mum and Dad and sister Kate and held a very heavy gold medal - amazing!
Tuesday 9th October 2012 Halesowen College hired the bus for a tour of Birmingham for their tourism students. The guide emphasised the points they had to cover on their syllabus. We looked at Birmingham's appeal to visitors with regard to location, natural features, built attractions, range of accommodation, eating out, where to go shopping, local transport, sport and leisure, famous people.... Birmingham has it all! Hi Sue, Yes, we had a fab day thank you! Exactly what we were after and the weather was kind to us too. The guide was fantastic and very accommodating, please pass on our regards. Many Thanks Tuesday 16th October 2012 St Clements School Year 1 school children are reading a book called `The Naughty Bus' so they did a tour of Birmingham on the Big Brum Buz - they all had a fabulous time.
Sunday 21st October 2012 It was the half marathon at last - with 3 sons and my adopted daughter training for this event it seemed to take forever. The bus was stationed as a cheering platform on the Pershore Road/Priory Road corner and we all made lots of noise to encourage nearly 18,000 runners enjoy this fantastic day. If you want to see some pictures of the team check out our news page.
Friday 26th October 2012 What a fantastic night - our free spooky Big Brum Bus took spooky looking customers to the Museum Collections Centre for `spooky happenings in the stores'!
Sunday 28th October 2012 Our amazing ghost bus tour was as amazing as ever with the best ghostly stories from around the city with our intrepid travellers visiting the catacombs in the Jewellery Quarter.
Tuesday 30th October 2012 Liverpool John Moores University organised a field trip to Birmingham with around 150 students. We provided two guided tours covering the whole hospitality offering of the city - I am sure they will have been very impressed with what Birmingham has to offer - check out the photos on the right hand side. Thursday 1st November 2012 Great Barr Primary School enjoyed a tour on the Big Brum Buz. Saturday 3rd November 2012 The bus provided transport for a great night out organised by Edgbaston Priory Tennis Club. The event to raise money for their chosen charity included a viewing of Skyfall at the Electric Cinema - the latest James Bond film and a fabulous meal at the Bank restaurant. Wednesday 5th December 2012 On an absolutely freezing day the planning department of Birmingham City Council used the bus to look at sights around the city. Friday 7th December 2012 As usual we finished the year with our Christmas Lights special tour. Well done to all those people who braved the top deck - some wrapped up in sleeping bags and thank you to Mary and the little girl from Bournville School who entertained us all with their carol singing - check out the photos on the right hand side. Saturday 29th December 2012 Bikers for Heroes supporting the military ward of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital On a very very wet morning the bus met the bikers at the Swan Pub in Long Lane, Halesowen. It was fantastic to see such a great turn out on such a wet day. We then headed off for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for the presentation. Aardvark Promotions were kind enough to donate mugs, key rings, notepads, etc., for the soldiers with the emblem Bikers for Heroes. A great way to end the year - check out the photos opposite.
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