#AYearOfBuses 226: Merry Hill – Dudley

Today, we’re heading back to the West Midlands on #AYearOfBuses, to take a look at one of many bus routes connecting surrounding towns with Merry Hill.

Merry Hill is a gargantuan shopping centre located in Dudley, just west of Birmingham. Built on the site of the former Round Oak Steelworks, Merry Hill is the site of the UK’s first standalone Pizza Hut, and the UK’s first drive-thru McDonald’s!

The 226, from Diamond, links Dudley’s town centre with the Russells Hall Hospital and Merry Hill. Taking a bit of a winding, round-the-houses route between the two places, it was once branded – in a suspiciously Trent Barton-esque style – rather ironically as ‘The Swift’. It now features a small fleet of two-tone blue short Streetlites wearing somewhat more subdued ‘226’ route branding.