Issue 62
(OBP-278)
Tuesday 13th
January 2004
next update
week ending 23rd January 2004
Please note that any comments made in this news page are those of the
Editors' and in no way constitute
any official points of view from the bus companies
mentioned, or indeed any other official body.
As a news page we reserve the right to
make valid comments as seen from an editorial point of view.
If you wish to be included on a
mailing list where I will advise of any mid week news please
let me know on
malcolmhc@aol.com
Well I hope everyone enjoyed the special issue nr 61 which introduced all of you to the new branding for the Oxford Bus Company's oxford espress to London. This week's issue includes further pictures of the new livery and coaches in service. All reports suggest that the introduction has been very successful and I have only heard one negative comment on the livery.
This issue is even more than the day late advised to my mailing list last Sunday but I hope it is worth waiting for as there is much to read. I didn't realise how much material there was.
One of the most interesting developments are new supported services in The Chilterns by Bucks County Council. Quoting from a press release this release reveals that :-
rider day… Monday 12th January 2004
It’ all going to be happening when public transport takes off in Buckinghamshire on Monday 12th January… that’s next Monday!
The County Council has listened to what the people want and is launching FIVE new quality bus partnerships all over the County… there will be something for everyone whether it’s a trip to or from the railway station, a shopping trip from deepest Bledlow or the Hambleden Valley, even that vital trip to Heathrow airport for that holiday or business trip.
So… look out for “county rider”, “silver rider”, “rider on call”, “cressexpress” and A40 from High Wycombe to Heathrow.
You will surely see at least one of these new high quality and distinctive vehicles somewhere in your area next week and look out for a full report on all of the services in next weeks newspaper with hopefully some action shots!
“silver rider” The day starts at Aylesbury railway station where the ribbon will be cut to highlight the fact that this 15 minute service serves the station. We will also highlight the fact that you can travel for free if you show a current “Chiltern Railways “ season ticket…otherwise fares are £1 single and £1.50 return (or travel all day), “silver rider” will get you there…at your service. A promotional pack containing the timetable, brochure and questionnaire will be sent out to residents of the estates towards the end of the week.
Aylesbury Train Station at 8.30am with coffee and pastries.
Photo opportunity for the press when ‘cutting the ribbon’.
Giving out promotional pens, notepads and balloons along the route.
“rider on call” A fantastic innovative brand new service for Buckinghamshire. Demand responsive means that all you need to do is make a call for any trip you may need to make within the area. This will be launched by the cutting of the ribbon and the launch will emphasise just how important this demand responsive service is….”rider on call”…at your service. The brochure containing information about the service will be sent to households in the areas the week before the launch. Posters will also be distributed along the route to raise awareness before the launch.
Saunderton Train Station at 10.15am.
Marlow Court Garden at 12.00pm (with County Rider).
Photo opportunity at both locations.
Giving out promotional shopping bags, pens and notepads at locations.
“cressexpress” A concerted advertising campaign accompanies this brand new and innovative service operated by a fleet of high quality mini buses all with distinctive liveries and operating every 15 minutes between the railway station, hospital and the cressex business park. The teaser campaign will consist of silver balloons and posters highlighting the route. The launch will take place at Wycombe railway station with ribbon across the road to be cut by partners in the service. A ‘newsletter’ style leaflet will be distributed to all businesses the week commencing the launch and promotional information cards and gifts will be delivered door-to-door throughout the week of the launch.
High Wycombe Train Station at 11.00am.
Photo opportunity for the press when ‘cutting the ribbon’.
“High Wycombe to Heathrow” A new service taking people between High Wycombe and Heathrow airport in partnership with BAA (British Airports Authority) the operator, “Carousel Buses” and “Buckinghamshire County Council”.
More ribbons will be cut extolling the virtues of this new service aimed at reducing congestion and pollution on roads to and from Heathrow airport. “Public transport really has taken off in Buckinghamshire”.
Beaconsfield Area Office at 2.00pm for photo opportunity.
“county rider” These are the newly refurbished bright green vehicles that will be serving the country areas on regular published timetables. Distinctive with their new liveries, these will be launched in Chiltern & South Bucks districts. Again by the cutting of a ribbon across the road by local Councillors, “county rider” will get you there…at your service. Timetable leaflets have been available since October for this service, and posters have been distributed around the County.
Beaconsfield Area Office at 2.00pm for photo opportunity.
Giving out timetables and balloons to members of the public.
If anyone can take advantage of the photo opportunities for inclusion in next week's News Page, I would really appreciate their efforts. A timetable leaflet has dropped through my door and gives details of the 400A which operates in the evening and on Sundays between Stokenchurch and Cressex via High Wycombe. A note encourages people to use the service and notes usage will be reviewed after July 2nd 2004. It does mean that villagers can go to the cinema, leisure centre and hospital and offers a much improved facility.
The Cressex service is to be operated by 8 seater "express minibuses" which are Fords in a silver livery. The operator is Ambassador Travel. During the day they will operate from Cressex to Wycombe Rail Station. In the evenings and on Sundays they will operate between Mill road, Stokenchurch and Cressex Filmworks.
Stokenchurch
Even more is forthcoming on the subject of Stokenchurch. I've certainly started something here!!
Ed Maun notes that.. reference Newman Morgan’s notes in Issue 60, the registrations of the KSW6Bs 730/731 were JRX805/806.
Ed goes on to say "Thanks to Newman Morgan for adding to my notes on Stokenchurch operations. I well remember the two Saturday departures at 1030 pm to Radnage and Ibstone in the 1950s. Two double deckers were required on Saturdays to get all the cinema goers home (There were four cinemas in High Wycombe at that time!) and I was often among them! They departed from the rail station yard and by the time they left Frogmore it was standing room only. I don’t recall a late Watlington journey at this time as the two Saturday 1030 pm departures were always the two buses allocated to Stokenchurch and no Wycombe allocated buses operated at this time of day. Wycombe did provide morning peak extras on weekdays as three arrived in High Wycombe about 8.30. One was a 41 from Ibstone which went the normal route via Marlow Road and New Road (This was my normal school bus and then work bus) and was operated by Stokenchurch, another was a 39 starting from Stokenchurch and went straight down the Wycombe Road passed the dormy shed and the third was a 40 from Radnage direct to High Wycombe and not via Stokenchurch; that is, it turned left at the top of Muds Bank! The 39 and 41 were operated by Wycombe Marsh depot who could still field a utility Guy in the late 1940s/early 1950s on these timings. If my memory serves me right (I must find my old timetables!!) a COMS service 75 also went into High Wycombe at about the same time (COMS always stuck to the A40 road, not going via New Road. I believe the other Stokenchurch allocated vehicle would be heading for Watlington at this time."
We a note of thanks to everyone who has contributed on Stokenchurch. I would also appreciate any old photos of operations in the area.
Gloucester Green Coach Station in the news again.
Following problems with the surface in Gloucester Green last year, the station has hit the news again in two ways. First of all as noted below in a report from Andrew French, the surface is again a news item and in the second case rumours abound regarding the introduction of 13.7 metre double deck coaches by Stagecoach on their Oxford Tube service to London. Exactly when this may happen is again only rumour but their appears to be much discussion as to how to accommodate such long vehicles in the coach station, which is already often over crowded and difficult for all operators to use and retain a blemish free record. It will be interesting to see how matters may be resolved but I cannot see The Tube being alone in the future use of such long vehicles. Equally there is potential for 15 metre coaches and they really would make things difficult if an operators wished to use Gloucester Green!!
Anyway on to a report from Mr French.
"Resurfacing work at
Oxford's Gloucester Green bus station has not come up to scratch, leaving a
£20,000 repair bill.
According to Colin Cook, the city council's executive member for planning,
asphalt used by contractors to pave parking bays off George Street was not tough
enough, and the work will now be re-done.
Water has also leaked from the bus station into a private underground car park
used by a solicitors' firm, damaging a vehicle belonging to a member of staff.
Mr Cook said: "You need something fairly robust, which is capable of taking the
weight of the buses drawing up.
"The firm sub-contracted to lay the surface did not use the right methods."
Mr Cook said discussions were now taking place with the firm, and with lawyers
to ensure that the council does not face any extra costs.
Resurfacing the bus bays was part of a £120,000 package of improvements carried
out by the council last year.
The bus station needed repairing because heavy buses caused the floor surface to
weaken, threatening the roof of the underground car park.
Emergency repairs were carried out in 2000 after it was revealed that concrete
blocks, laid in the late 1980s, had started to slide sideways, but more major
work was still needed, and last summer coaches were redirected to a temporary
bus station at Oxpens while it was carried out.
This year, the council also plans to erect a number of safety barriers at the
bus station along with a pedestrian crossing at the entrance to the station.
The bus station paving problem is minor compared to difficulties experienced in
Cornmarket, where a scheme to repave the shopping street with granite was
abandoned last year due to cracks in the surface"
Well, now on to the reports for our area. Your contributions continue and I am pleased to receive them each week. My thanks to everyone who sent information.
Malcolm Crowe, 12th January 2004.
Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002
Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002
News of the local companies – 12th January 2004
Some current notes plus historical reference material from Ed Many and Peter Cartwright.
Ed Maun writes "Three
new Transbus MPD Darts have been delivered and
are in London red for service U9. They should have been in service from Sat 3/1
when the new contract started but they were all parked up today (5/1) and
Mercedes 2197 and 2198 were rostered. One was
registered KE53NFC and interestingly was showing blinds for service 33
Totteridge (the red route branded service). Couldn’t see
registration numbers of the other two as they were blocked in. As only
two are required for service the “spare” no doubt will be used on various
services which will look a bit odd in red. The dedicated
Mercedes were of course in Arriva national colours.
Observing red route 33 today (5/1), at least three of the route branded Darts were out of service and route branded 3178 was operating on service 231. Has 3178 been transferred to Aylesbury as that depot operates the 231? Has 3482 been transferred to Wycombe now that a new MPD Dart has been delivered for the 231/232 services? If so it would have been more logical to transfer 3823 back to Wycombe where it rightly belongs, being one of the 7 Darts originally delivered for Quality Bus routes 303/313 in 1996 and now subsumed into red route 33! It is longer than an MPD and would make up an identical batch for the 33 once again. There were three double deck Olympians on the red route 33 today! – 5129, 5132 and 5109. Interestingly, 5109 had been parked up, but a long gap appeared to have opened up in the headway Desborough Castle bound and a long queue of waiting passengers had gathered at the Bus Station. The duty inspector (?) duly moved 5109 onto the stand and it absorbed the queue without any tickets being checked or fares taken! The inspector then drove off; however I guess he met an incoming 33 at the exit to the Bus Station or even along Desborough Road, as he was back in the Station within 10 minutes and there was a “33” Dart out side Tesco’s with Bus Station as the final destination. I assume he had swapped with the driver of this parked Dart! All this does not bode well for a re-launch of red route 33 next Monday (12/1)!!!!!!!!!"
Another correspondent, Peter Cartwright emailed saying "Hi , I've been reading some of your web pages recently and perhaps could comment on some of the issues raised: Thames Valley route 30 High Wycombe - Aylesbury and route 20 High Wycombe - Windsor were linked in, I believe July 1959. I have a local road/rail timetable issued by LT in May 1959 which shows them as separate routes but by October 1959 they became a through route. Route 20 became Windsor - Fifield - Maidenhead - Wycombe - Butlers X - Aylesbury & Route 20a became Windsor - Hatch Bridge - Maidenhead - Wycombe - Little Kimble - Aylesbury. Both Maidenhead and Wycombe Marsh together with Princes Risborough outstation operated these routes. Maidenhead crews , however, only went as far as Wycombe and there was a change of crews at the Rex Cinema in Oxford Street. Arrival times there were 22 and 52 minutes past the hour and then the Maidenhead crews left Wycombe bus stn at 30 and 00 mins. Due to traffic congestion the schedules were often not adhered to and in December 1965 , I believe, the routes were split again at Wycombe to become 20/20a to Windsor and 21/21a to Aylesbury , the "a" variants on the former 20a routeing. Some through journeys on 21/21a went through Wycombe to Wooburn Green and Bourne End. The 323/324 came into existence on 13 April 1980 when Chilternlink was launched.
Peter goes on to say "Further to my e-mail yesterday I've tried to research a little more into the route between Wycombe and Aylesbury over the last 30 or so years. My Thames Valley timetable for 5 September 1971 shows that 4 return trips on Route 31 were extended from Lacey Green through Risboro' to Longwick (Red Lion) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays only. This, no doubt, was a partial replacement for Route 80 between Wycombe and Aylesbury. This was the date for introduction of one-man vehicles on Routes 39/40/41 in the Stokenchurch area. The timetable for 1 October 1977 shows route 21 operating hourly from Wycombe to Aylesbury and Route 31 via Naphill, Lacey Green , Little Kimble ( replacing the 21a) also running hourly - giving a 30 min joint headway. This became every 2 hrs for each route on Sundays to give a joint hourly headway. There were also hourly shorts between Wycombe and Lacey Green on service 31. In addition there was: Route 21a High Wycombe - Chinnor Mon -Fri 1 a.m. single journey via Saunderton, Princes Risborough and Pitch Green , returning as service 31a via Pitch Green, Risboro' and Lacey Green, Naphill. Route 21b High Wycombe- Chinnor Mon-Sat 4 round trips Mon - Fri and 3 on Sats via Saunderton, Princes Risborough and Longwick Village. Route 21c High Wycombe- Chinnor Mon - Sat 3 round trips via Saunderton, Princes Risborough and Bledlow Village.During much of the daytime this gave 2 buses per hour in each direction between Wycombe and Risboro' via Bradenham and Saunderton. The local timetable for 30 June 1979 shows that the 31 "shorts" had been extended from Lacey Green via Pink and Lily and Great Hampden to Speen. returning to Wycombe as 34/34a. Conversely routes 34/34a from Wycombe to Speen returned , in the main, to Wycombe via Hampden, Pink & Lily, Lacey Green etc as route 31. This provided 23 buses a day Mon-Fri and 24 on Sats from Speen to Wycombe. Today there are just 5 Mon-Fri and none at all on Sats. Within 10 months however there was dramatic change with the introduction of Chilternlink from 13 April 1980.
On the Arriva fleet
situation Peter Cartwright advises that "Arriva 3482 has been allocated to
Wycombe depot to serve as the spare vehicle for the U9 but
today 06/01/04
was on Route 33 in the morning,
Carousel Buses, High Wycombe.
Carousel continue to
provide an excellent service on the 336. Seen at Amersham on the Hill Saturday
10th Jan.
Photo by Colin Cooke
Cressexpress
Peter Cartwright says "Cressexpress
is launched on 12 January between the rail station and the Cressex area. Details
will shortly be on the website -
http://www.cressexpress.co.uk. and bookings can be made on 0845 600 50
60.The operator is AMBASSADOR TRAVEL who have a fleet of minibuses/minicoaches.
Their operating base is off
Bellfield Road
in Wycombe. They will as stated be running route 400a on Mon - Sat evenings and
Sundays but there are also short Sunday workings and fares. Arriva/Carousel and
Red Rose return tickets WILL be accepted. A public transport guide for
Stokenchurch Jan 12 - July 2 2004 has been printed here at Wycombe District
Council and is now being distributed. The vehicles are Ford Unique Cabs with air
conditioning and when the offside passenger door is pulled back it reads
Sexpress! - A good selling point?
For Wycombe 6 please read Filmworks - the new name for Wycombe 6. The Bledlow
Rider on -Call and Hambleden Rider on - Call also start on 12 Jan operated by
Walter's Limousines of Bicester. There are 7 scheduled departures from Marlow
Station between 07.45 and 19.10 Mon - Fri with 6 scheduled arrivals. The route
can serve Hambleden. Skirmett, Fingest, Frieth, Bovingdon Green as well as Lane
End and Fawley on certain journeys only. The terminus in Henley is White Hart
Street. First pick up is Hambleden at 06.30 on route to Marlow. Final trip from
Marlow Station 19.10. Bledlow rider has trips from Bledlow Ridge P.O. to
Saunderton Station at 07.20 and 07.55 and then at 08.10 to Risboro'
Market Square
via Station. There are then 3 trips from Wycombe to Risboro' at 09.55, 11.55,
andf 13.55 plus Wycombe to Saunderton Stn at 17.15. Bus serves Bledlow,
Bradenham, Saunderton Lee, Saunderton and Routs Green areas upon request. Deps
from Risboro' are 09.00,11.00, 13.00,16.30 to Wycombe and 15.00, 15.50 as far as
Bledlow Ridge if required. Shorts from Saunderton Stn to Bledlow Ridge are
17.55, 18.45 and 19.25. Booking tel no. is 0845 082 0845. I hope this is of
some use to you.
Last week saw an opportunity to sample a duty on one of brand new Scania/Irizars on a commuter run up to VCS. I can only say how very nice the coach, nr 4, was and what a very pleasant trip was experienced by both passengers and driver alike. Indeed the passenger comments were most positive concerning leg room and facilities. Equally the overall response to the new livery was very positive.
Scania n4 r awaiting the return working to Oxford
last Friday
This notice appears in the toilets on the new Scanias and make for something to
read
if one is availing oneself of the facility!
Each coach has a message on the rear in cartoon form
During last week
nr 5 received its message and is seen here in Gloucester Green last Saturday
Seen on the M40 on Sunday last, one can see that
each refurbished coach, this is nr 23,
has received a complete repaint including the roof which is so often left on
repaints, though
not by Oxford Bus..
My apologies for eulogising about the new image but it is the greatest change to this service in the past 20 years plus. Coach nr 2 which has been delivered to Cowley Road, should enter service very soon and the remaining two coaches 1 and 3 will enter service in the next 10 days. Coaches 14, 16, 24 and 25 are now away for refurbishment and 15 will follow very shortly. As a result some older coaches remain in service to cover for those away.
Coach nr 19 is seen in New Road on the first day in
service when the blinds also displayed Happy New Year!
Photo Chris Maxfield.
A rear shot of coach nr 20 loading at Headington
on an outbound journey.
Photo by Richard Griffin
Last Monday (5th January) I posted the special page relating to the launch of the new oxford espress identity. Ed Maun wrote to comments on the historical notes contained therein saying "It could be argued that the origin of the service was the Varsity Express Motors Oxford to London service that started in the 1920s. This service routed via High Wycombe which equates more to the X90 than the 1920s South Midland service which routed via Henley. When the 190 was in operation there was a separate 390 Oxford to London service which routed via Henley. The Varsity Express service was taken over by Eastern Counties Omnibus Company in 1933 who then transferred it to United Counties Omnibus Company in 1934 on an area agreement, both being Tilling associated companies. It was further transferred to South Midland Motor Services in 1952, South Midland by then being a part of the Thames Valley operation having been sold to the British Transport Commission along with other Red & White group companies. South Midland was transferred to COMS in 1971 when the BET Group sold out to National Bus Company; and the rest as they say is history!"
As a reminder of those early 190 days mentioned
above I include a shot of Leopard
COMS 1 (YFC11R)
in April 1977 when
gleaming and brand new, when leaving Gloucester Green having come in from London
on 190.
Photo by Steve Annells.
Of the other types operating the service in the '70s
and '80s the Bristol REs are fondly remembered
by both drivers and passengers alike. I well recall travelling from Uxbridge to
Stokenchurch on one such
bus in the late '70s on a 290 working and thinking what a lovely warm trip it
was, seemingly with power
to spare, especially on the A40 climb from West Wycombe to Stokenchurch.
In January 1978 COMS
87 (RBW87M) loads at Victoria on 190 back to Oxford. How
times (and fashions) have changed in this photo
provided by Steve Annells.
Ed Maun goes on to say "I well remember UCOC Bristol Ls with ECOC/ECW bodies and Leyland Tigers with Burlingham bodies travelling through Stokenchurch in the late 1940’s/early 1950s. What was then Palmers Stores by Bates’ furniture factory (now an industrial site), just along from the Marlow Road/Wycombe Road junction, was the local booking agent for the service." (Now some photos of those would be welcome Ed.)
Steve Annells, in sending the above photos also recorded some recollections saying "The Oxford-London service has come a long way. When a student in South East London, I used the 190 regularly. That was in the days when it existed purely as a motorway relief service for the 290 via High Wycombe and 390 via Maidenhead/Heathrow. Sunday nights would sometimes see two 190s supporting a 290 into London. I would ride through to Victoria Coach Station, then walk to the other side of Victoria Bus Station to pick up a London Transport MD-class Metropolitan on 36 or 36B out to New Cross. It was much cheaper than getting the train from Didcot, and in any case I'd have caught the same 36 or 36B on its way from Paddington through Victoria! The dual purpose Bristol RELHs were the mainstay, with a sprinkling of RE coaches, although it wasn't unheard of for a dp Reliance to appear. It wasn't until after the first Leopards arrived that route branding began, and of course the REs never received route branding. When COMS (or Oxford-South Midland) started promoting the 190 as a service, this ruffled British Rail, and a Traffic Commissioner's hearing was called. I was lined up to speak for Oxford as a satisfied customer, but in the event BR's objection collapsed on a technicality before things got started. Because 190 was a relief service it didn't have a licence, so they couldn't object to it. 290 and 390 did have licences but weren't taking business from the railways, so there were no grounds for objection
It has been noticed that low floor Volvo B10BLEs are in use on 4 road on Sundays.
Citaro 834 seen on the X3 on its way to St Aldates and then Abingdon.
Unusually a Dart, 515, appeared on 5 road last
Saturday and is seen here in Castle Street.
Although showing the Rail Station it was eventually turned and worked back to
The Leys from Queen St.
Coaches 5, 6 and 7 were renumbered 69-71 earlier in the month and have all now
lost their X90 branding. It is understood that this to make the more useful for
varied use
as the multi use coaches, 14-17 have now gone way for refurbishment.
Held in service ex coaches 1-4 are now renumbered
96-99 and will be the first to leave
the fleet when all the new X90 coaches are in service. 99 is seen here turning
into New Rd.
Motts
Trevor Wilson reports on Wycombe last Sunday.
A change today (Sunday 11 January, Wasps vs. Celtic Warriors) for the shuttles buses (High Wycombe station <> Causeway Stadium) supplied by Motts
The usual vehicles are any 3 from:
F763EKM 1989 MCW Metrobus Mk2 70 seater (Ex East
Kent)
F766EKM 1989 MCW Metrobus Mk2 70 seater (Ex East
Kent)
E153OMD 1988 Leyland Olympian/ECW 76 seater
CUB539Y 1983 MCW Metrobus 76 seater
CUB540Y 1983 MCW Metrobus 76 seater
Today it was:
one of the ex East Kent Metrobuses (763 I think - Editor)
E27UNE 1988 Leyland Tiger/Alexander N 57 seater
LIL7230 1985 Leyland Olympian/ECW 73 seater
Adam Rideout, now Marketing Manager of the company sent the latest attached fleet list (period 10 - January 2004) to be published in this week's page. you will need Adobe Acrobat to view this file. Click here to view. (you will need to rotate one of the pages to view)
Olympian 16417 is seen on a 21 working last
Saturday and due to the masking
seemingly has difficulty in showing its destination and route number
clearly.
Another shot of 22053 with its branding for the BMW
contract. This time it is pictured on route 3.
Ex Cambridge 22057 (KV53FAA) was conspicuous by its absence last weekend when I look to get a photo of it in service. It did not appear on the City Centre Controllers sheet anywhere in the system.
As a comparison to the picture of Oxford 23
above, here Tube 56 passes the same spot on the M40 last Sunday morning.
The changes at Thornhill have seen the 600 stop moved further back than before.
Here 40110 waits time
Ross wrote on the Domeus site "Apparently, according to a mate, 18052 turned up outside Aston Uni (Birmingham) last week on a private charter (before the timetable change). I think that this was on Monday. Does anyone know what it was doing?"
Last week Chris Maxfield advised that Olympian 16141 operated the 1600 departure to London, today Sunday 4th January. I incorrectly noted 16141 it should have been 16144.
Rain or shine the tour buses look for business.
Last Saturday 7854 waits time at Christ Church in St Aldates.
Last week Michael Wootten wrote "please can you help me, has anyone got any photo's of a coach which I have been told it was once owned by Armchair from new, I assume the fleet number was 5/77 the registration number is SNM69R." - so far no response Ed. however
Michael went on to say "....interesting to read Richard's notes in the last issue. Does anybody know if Iveco Eurorider\Beulas T285GCU in Grayline livery? I ask because this is one of the ex-Redwing examples we had on loan at Woottens earlier in the year. Pete Leyman sent the picture below so 50% complete to Mr Wootten's question.
The coach in question seen in the last week at The Grayline yard in Bicester.
Photo by Pete Leyman
PHOTO CORNER
If you have a digital camera and wish
to submit photos for this page please send them to the me at
malcolmhc@aol.com
Steve Annells went to Winchester on New Year's Day.
He says "The
third shot is of Roger Burdett's Midland Red 5056 (5056HA), a 1962 BMMO S15,
picking up at Marcham Road, Abingdon on its way to take part in the King Alfred
Running Day in Winchester, 1 January 2004. Despite the breakdown returning
home, we had an excellent day out, and most uncharacteristic Running Day
weather, also the first rally we'd not taken a pushchair with the children!
William is a big fan of WCG104, James Freeman's Tiger cub, while we had tears
from Sarah when she found she couldn't have a second ride on the superb Silver
Star Atlantean! There's always next time. I think I have a photograph of a
Stagecoach Merc in Churchill Park and Ride livery at Abingdon Regal cinema on
44, but it's on William's film, which hasn't
been developed yet. He's a good little photographer for a five year old, he has
the eye, which is why he has a proper 35mm compact instead of a toy. All I have
to do is persuade him that the whole bus is more interesting than the badge on
the front."
I welcome your photos for
inclusion on this page. Please send them to me at
malcolmhc@aol.com
This is a most interesting site which I do recommend
Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002
Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002