June, June, June

Our busy month of the year so far has been June with no less than 7 events taking place throughout the month. The first event of the month was on Sunday 1^st June, where we provided a free bus from Alton Train Station to Jane Austen’s House in Chawton with 64 - FTR 511. With 54 being in store in the Alton area after the event, 64 was brought back to Southampton as it was needed for events in and around the city.

(64 sits outside Jane Austen’s House in Chawton)

One such event it was needed for was the Commonwealth Games Baton Relay celebrations that took place in Guildhall Square, Southampton on Wednesday 4^th June. As 64 is still owned by Southampton City Council along with 71 – LOW 21 and looked after by us on behalf of them, they occasionally need the use of it and on this occasion it was used as a viewing platform for VIP's at the celebrations. Part of BBC South Today was filmed live from the top deck of the bus!

(64 at Guildhall Square, Southampton)

On Sunday 8^th June, the Copythorne Steam & Vintage Rally took place; an annual event we go to every year with buses. 64 – FTR 511 was used to do tours of the New Forest. Whilst 1 – JOW 499E and 432 - NLP 389V were both used on the Park & Ride service to and from the event. During the day around 1,000 people were carried on the Park & Ride service and tours of the New Forest. 432 hasn’t been out much of late due to a number of problems but these are slowly being fixed but she is still fit for use.

(64, 432 & 1 at Copythorne Steam & Vintage Rally)

With such nice weather in June, on Thursday 12^th we met up with the local Fire Engine Preservation Group, where we had an outing starting from Eastleigh and then making our way throughout Southampton and then The Forest Inn, Ashurst. 133 - TTR 167H was used for the trip. A nice evening was had by all.

(133 - TTR 167H at the Forest Inn, Ashurst)

 

2014 is the 50^th years of Southampton becoming a City and on Sunday 22^nd June a party was organised at Bedford Place in the City Centre. The event was organised by the Bedford Place Traders and the event was themed as a Vintage Family Festival. 64 was on display at the event and a good day was had by all.

 

(64 - FTR 511 in Bedford Place)

 

On Saturday 28^th June, 133 - TTR 167 made a visit to Wordsworth School, who were having a summer fete and invited us to bring a bus along to the event. The day after on Sunday 29^th June, 289 - E289 HRV was out and about this time; making the trip to Ringwood where the Wessex Transport Society were having a bus rally in the town.

(133 - TTR 167H along side the Mayor's car at Wordsworht School)

 

(289 - E289 HRV at the Ringwood Bus Rally)

 



 So the busy month of June is over and now the slightly less busy month of July starts. We will be at Hedge End (Saturday 5^th July) & Totton (Saturday 12^th July) carnivals. The buses will also be at two bus rallies. Fort Nelson on Portsdown Hill, which is being organised by our friends at the CPPTD - The City of Portsmouth Preserved Transport Depot on Sunday 13^th July. Then on Sunday 20^th July the buses will be off to one of the biggest bus rallies in the south of England, The Alton Bus Rally, which takes place in Anstey Park in town.

Busy times

It’s been a few weeks since our last blog. We’ve been very busy over the last couple of months getting the buses ready for the season ahead including M.O.T's and attending and planning for many events. Here's our summary of what's been going on.

April was a very busy month with no less than 4 buses gaining their M.O.T, those buses being 64 – FTR 511, 71 – LOW 217, 133 – TTR 167 and 402 – KOW 910F , and all of them passed at I M services in Romsey.

In other news, 289 – E289 HRV's number flip dot destination screen is back working after a few years of being broken. 111 – G111 XOW, 141 – WOW 531J and 268 – FTR 268X which all for many years have been stored next to the M27 at Jct 3 have been moved to a new location so that work can be undertaken by their owners. 274 – KOW 274Y has also got a new owner after being sold by its original owner. The coach seats that were recently saved by us from The Newport Inn, Braishfield, Hampshire have gone to a new home in Leicestershire, where it's hoped they will end up back in a restored coach.

289 displaying a route it would have done many times

Since the trip to Swanage on 289 in March, we have attended more events. Saturday 12^th April saw 64 – FTR 511 head to Riverside Park in Bitterne for a community event. 71 – LOW 217 was on display at the Watercress Line for the Thomas the Tank Engine railway also. After being off the road for much of last year 133 – TTR 167H attended its first event of the year where it went to Berrywood Primary School in Hedge End on Friday 2^nd May, where they were having a Car Fest to help their pupils learn more about vehicles. Tuesday 6^th May 1 – JOW 499E attended the unveiling of a Red Wheel plaque at the former Southampton Terminus Station, which is now a casino but was once the main station in the City. No 1 was out again over the weekend of Saturday 17^th May and Sunday 18^th May where it attended the Bill Target Steam Rally

 No 1 at the Bill Target Steam Rally

 

We get all sorts of requests sent to us for us to attend events. We do try our very best to attend as many as we can but as we are all volunteers we give up our own time for these events, which sadly means that if nobody is available then we have to give it a miss. With this in mind we are always on the lookout for more volunteers to help look after the buses and attend events. If you think you can give up some of your spare time to help then all you have to do is drop us an email.

Even our website manager Tom, has been busy passing his PCV test in April. Do look out for him driving one of the old buses soon.
 



Tom proudly holding his newly-acquired certificate

 

Planning is well under way for this year’s Southampton Maritime Festival where we will be out and about providing the free heritage shuttle bus; and new this year is a tour of the town. The timetable is nearly finished and it’s hoped it will be released soon but basically buses will run every 30 mins and more buses will run if required (this will be decided on the days). Tickets for the free tour of City can be booked online here.
 

Looking ahead to the coming months, we will be at many events throughout the summer so check out our Events List on our website for the full list of events we will be at.