Fenland Busfest - 21 May 2023

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1101) – 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!

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!

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1106) – Convertible open top VDV 134S, a Bristol VR with Eastern Coachworks 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. Now operating with A2B Travel Group and attending the Fenland Busfest at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. 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. Loops were positioned 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!

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1105) – Convertible open top VDV 134S, a Bristol VR with Eastern Coachworks 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. Now operating with A2B Travel Group and attending the Fenland Busfest at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. 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. Loops were positioned 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!

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1208) – On board convertible open top VDV 134S, a Bristol VR with Eastern Coachworks 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. Now operating with A2B Travel Group and attending the Fenland Busfest at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. 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. If my memory serves me right I seem to recall that the usual upper deck front seat configuration on the VR was a three seat unit on the offside and a single seat on the nearside. On this bus it has a transverse double seat on the offside and a longitudinal double seat on the nearside. This seating layout existed in a photograph I took on 9 August 1984. On that day 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. Nice to see it again!

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1209) – On board convertible open top VDV 134S, a Bristol VR with Eastern Coachworks 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. Now operating with A2B Travel Group and attending the Fenland Busfest at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. 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. 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!

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1209) – Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristol VR VDV 134S was new to the Western National Omnibus Company Limited in November 1977 later being transferred to sister company the Southern National Omnibus Company Limited. Having spent a few years in private preservation the vehicle has now passed A2B Travel Group and was attending the Fenland Busfest at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. With road tax discs now being a thing of the past it was interesting to see that this bus displays a tax disc from the summer of 1983. PSVs usually had a unit to hold two additional discs most notable being an operator’s licence disc (empty in this case). Any third disc was optional and the bigger companies, as with the case here, used it to display the garage/depot where the vehicle was based.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1112) – 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. Preserved L102 LRA, a Northern Counties bodied Volvo B10B new in November 1993 to Trent Buses (102)

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1055) 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. MJ 4549 is a Short Bros bodied Dennis Lancet that was new to Smith’s of Westoning in June 1934.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1121) – The annual Fenland Busfest is held in the town centre of Whittlesey occupying Broad Street and Market Street. The rally control/bus ride departures were centred on the Market Place where there were also sales tables to buy bus memorabilia. Preserved former Eastern Counties Omnibus Company LC556 (3003 AH) seen arriving at the Market Place to cover a run to the Fenland village of Turves. It is an Eastern Coachworks bodied Bristol SC4LK new in January 1959. This lightweight model was used by a small number of nationalised former Tilling Group companies on rural services.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1059) – 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. In July 1969 WYP 203G, which has an AEC Reliance chassis, was delivered to Surrey Motors. It had a Plaxton Panorama Elite body. In November 1974 the chassis was rebodied with the later Plaxton Panorama Elite III body as seen here.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1058) – 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. Former United Counties Omnibus Company 654 (H654 VVV), an Alexander RL bodied Volvo Olympian new in October 1990 preserved in the striped livery of the Stagecoach Group. This type of bus in that livery could be found all over the country with the different operating companies.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1120) – 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. W645 FUM is a Plaxton Première bodied Volvo B10M that had been new to Wallace Arnold Tours in March 2000. Preserved in National Holidays ‘livery’.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1103) – 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. Preserved former Citybus, Belfast 2565 (BXI 2565), an Alexander (Belfast) bodied Bristol RELL6G new in July 1983.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1101) – 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. Preserved S629 MKH, a Northern Counties bodied Volvo Olympian new to East Yorkshire Motor Services (629) in October 1998.

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1125) – 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. Preserved R372 LGH, a Northern Counties bodied Volvo Olympian new to London General (NV172) in January 1998. Cue a song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDu7eitZrgw

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1106) – 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. N515 PYS is a Van Hool Alizée bodied Volvo B10M. (N suffix registrations were issued to new vehicles between 1 August 1995 and 31 July 1996). Beautifully turned out in the livery of Robinsons Kimbolton Limited. I think the vehicle is now preserved and not owned by Robinsons (despite it looking very much like one of their own very active and immaculate fleet). Robinson Kimbolton N515 PYS

Sunday 21 May 2023 (1106) – 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. N515 PYS is a Van Hool Alizée bodied Volvo B10M. (N suffix registrations were issued to new vehicles between 1 August 1995 and 31 July 1996). Beautifully turned out in the livery of Robinsons Kimbolton Limited. I think the vehicle is now preserved and not owned by Robinsons (despite it looking very much like one of their own very active and immaculate fleet).