A2B Travel VDV 134S at Whittlesey - 21 May 2023 (P1150604)

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1102) – The annual Fenland Busfest is held in the town centre of Whittlesey occupying Broad Street and Market Street with the rally control/bus ride departures centred on the Market Place.

Now operating with A2B Travel Group VDV 134S is a Bristol VR with Eastern Coachworks convertible open-top bodywork that was new to the Western National Omnibus Company Limited in November 1977 later being transferred to sister company the Southern National Omnibus Company Limited.

Open top buses have been popular at holiday resorts for many years. Until the 1960s the buses were usually the oldest vehicles in the fleet which had already completed many years service as covered top buses operating normal services. In their twilight years some were converted to open top for summer service use carrying holidaymakers. For the greater part of the year they would be parked up in the garage not accruing too much expense.

In the 1960s the use of convertible buses caught on where a vehicle could be used on all year round work. The roof modules were removed for the summer season being replaced with guardrail/windscreen modules.

Note the loops on the roof edge above the first and fifth upper deck window pillars which were used to attach cables for the lifting process. Another tell tale sign is the seam beneath the upper deck windows that marks the lower edge of the roof module.

On 9 August 1984 I, together with my wife and daughters during a family holiday in Dorset, travelled on this actual bus taking an exhilarating open top ride from Weymouth to Portland Bill. It was allocated to Weymouth garage.

The bus still carries the name of poet and novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), who was born in Stinsford near Dorchester, and used Dorset as the setting for his works which include Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Nice to see it again!