The Heritage Weekend, 2 events in 2 cities and then our last outing of the year

As 2014 starts to draw to a close and the buses rest for the winter there still time for a few events. On Saturday 13^th September we took part in the Heritage Open Days. A free bus service linked heritage venues in Southampton, with the free bus starting at SS Shieldhall and then going via Tudor House and then to the Southampton Old Cemetery which is located on Southampton Common. As always there were inevitable problems and one of the main problems was our Swift 1 – JOW 499 sadly being unable to take part, so 133 – TTR 167H took over the duties. Unfortunately this meant that the bus couldn’t go down Cemetery Road as the trees are too low. Altogether though, a morning of getting back on time and a good day was had by all, 71 LOW 217 was also out at the event doing free guided tours of the City from Tudor House. It is hoped that the event will be repeated in 2015 with more things to do.
 

(133 - TTR 167H at Southampton Old Cemetery)

   (71 - LOW 217 outside Tudor House)

Another busy weekend for us was over the weekend of Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th October, where we had 2 events taking place in 2 different cities!

We had one event taking place in Southampton on Saturday 4^th October, that being Music in the City where a number of venues were open including Castle Vault, Westgate Hall and SS Shieldhall, and music was being played. 71 – LOW 217 & 133 TTR 167H were out in the City providing the free shuttle service between the venues. A great time was had by all and the buses were well used. The event is being planned for 2015 and it's hoped the buses will be out again helping with the event.

(133 - TTR 167H at SS Shieldhall in Southampton Docks)

(71 - LOW 217 at Guildhall Square)

The other event we were at over the weekend of Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th October was the Fareham & District Model Railway Club 'Railex 2014' which took place at 1000 Lakeside, Western Rd, Portsmouth, Hampshire. We provided a free shuttle from Cosham Railway Station to the event via Hilsea Lido Bus Interchange. 289 - E289 HRV was used at the event and an enjoyable weekend was had by all.

(289 - E289 HRV at North Harbour, Cosham)

Sunday 19th October saw us head overseas for the last event of the season for us, as we attended the Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum for their last event at their Newport home before they move to their new home in Ryde. The day started with getting on the 10am ferry from Southampton and heading out and over to the island. Arriving at East Cowes at 11am 289 - E289 HRV & 367 - BTR 367B headed in convoy along with another ex Southampton 274 - KOW 274Y to Newport. 289 was in service at 12pm on a Myster Tour whiles 367 & 274 were on static display. We would like to take this opportunity to wish them well at their new home.  

 

(289 - E289 HRV in East Cowes)

(274 - KOW 274Y & 367 - BTR 367B)

Introducing our models Steve & Roger, modelling fleeces with the Trust logo on. The fleeces, along with many other products are available from Carolines T-Shirts in Portswood. Contact us for more information about the fleeces or other products with the Trust logo on.

(Our finest models)

There's always room for the fleet to get bigger and when a deal comes up sometimes it has to be taken, and that was certainly the case with 167 - EOW 400L which has been bought by two of our youngest members. 167 has been off the road for many years and it's hoped it will be back on the road in the near future.

 



So 2015 is fast approaching and planning is already under way for another busy year. There's plenty of work to do over the winter for us to be getting on with, buses to tinker with, events to plan and of course, putting our feet up. Keep a check on our website for the latest news and also our Facebook & Twitter pages, which are updated regularly to show what we're up to. Coming soon will be our 2014 review.

July & August

Since our last blog June, June, June we have been very busy attending numerous events, which has left us no time to write a blog but as it's quietened down a bit now seems the perfect time to report what we’ve been up to:

 

On Saturday 5^th & 12^th July 133 – TTR 167H took part in the Hedge End and Totton Carnival respectively. On Sunday 13^th July 289 – E289 HRV & 432 – NLP 389V attended Fort Nelson where CPTTD were having a rally. Both buses were used in service with 289 going to and from Cosham Bus Station and 432 to Fareham Railway Station. The event at Fort Nelson was the first to be held there and a great day was had by all.

(133 - TTR 167H at Totton Carnival)

(Buses at Fort Nelson) 

The biggest rally to take place in the south is the Alton Bus Rally, which took place on Sunday 20^th July. The event saw 6 Southampton buses on display at the event. The buses which were on display were: 71 - LOW 217, 133 – TTR 167H, 274 - KOW 274Y, 335 - 335 AOW, 353 - 373 FCR & 367 - BTR 367B. 133 was used in service on the Alton Town service.

(Southampton Buses at Alton Bus Rally)

 
Friday 22^nd & Saturday 23^rd August saw the Southampton Maritime Festival take place at Southampton Docks. A number of buses were used on the Park & Ride service which linked the Festival to the Railway Station and City Centre and the tour bus. Southampton buses that were at the festival were: 1 - JOW 499E, 64 - FTR 511, 71 - LOW 217, 133 - TTR 167H & 367 - BTR 367B. There was also a number of visiting buses: 748 - JRX 823 (Thames Valley), 1224 – 274 KTA (Western National) and 1577 – LLJ 443F (Hants & Dorset).

(Buses at the Southampton Maritime Festival)

 

1 – JOW 499E passed its M.O.T on Friday 29^th August at IM Services in Romsey. As winter is fast approaching it will give us time to get around to jobs that need to be sorted ready for next year, so while there may be no events over the winter, we will be busy behind the scenes sorting out the buses, planning events for 2015 and sorting out other bits and pieces.

The next event we will be at is the Southampton Heritage Weekend part of the Heritage Open Days, which is taking place on Saturday 13th September. A FREE bus service will link heritage venues in Southampton; the free bus starts at SS Shieldhall and then goes via Tudor House and then to the Southampton Old Cemetery (Via City Centre - Castle Way) which is located on Southampton Common. A FREE guided tour bus will also operate from Tudor House.  

 

A busy weekend for us is going to be Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th October, where we have 2 events taking place. One event taking place in Southampton on Saturday 4th October is Music in the City where a number of venues will be open and music will be played. The other event we will be at is the Fareham & District Model Railway Club 'Railex 2014' which is taking place at 1000 Lakeside, Western Rd, Portsmouth, Hampshire. We will be providing a FREE shuttle from Cosham Railway Station to the event via Hilsea Lido Bus Interchange.

Then we’re off to the Isle of Wight on Sunday 19th October for the last event of the season for us, as we attend the Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum for their last event at their Newport home before they move to their new home in Ryde. We wish them well at their new home.  

Our last photo shows our new information board at the Southampton Maritime Festival and our chairman David making sure everything is under control.

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.

Spring Update...

After our first blog of the year “It may be wet but there's still plenty to do...” a few weeks ago , we have had a lot going on, and as ever we're still busy doing bits and bobs.

 

So what have we been up to? As usual we were at the Solent Model Railway Group Show at Fleming Park in Eastleigh over the weekend of Saturday 22^nd & Sunday 23^rd February, providing the free shuttle bus between the show and Eastleigh Railway Station and Southampton Airport Parkway Station. As it always is, it was a good weekend and around 300 passenger journeys were made. 1 – JOW 499E was used for the shuttle and since then it has had its ‘PAY AS YOU ENTER’ and ‘NO ENTRY’ signs applied to the exterior and work has also been carried on the interior where it's had a interior mirror and a sun visor fitted. There are still many jobs on the Swift to do but slowly they're getting done.

289 – E289 HRV, which is now owned by members of the Trust, successfully passed its M.O.T on Friday 7^th March at I M Services in Romsey. An M.O.T station that comes very highly recommended. For the time being 289 will stay in its green livery which it gained whilst at Xelabus.  The cab has had a lick of paint to tidy it up and the number destination blind, which is a Flip-Dot on 289, has been fixed and is now working for the first time in many years. Over time it’s hoped that the seat frames can be painted. We will of course keep you updated.

On Sunday 16^th March, 289 went on a member’s trip to the Swanage Railway which was holding a London & South Western Railway Event. A great day was had by all after what has been a wet winter; it was nice to have a day out in the sun.

133 – TTR 167H which has been off the road for a few months is slowly being put back together after its front offside spring needed to be repaired due to cracks in one of the leaves. It’s hoped 133 will be back on the road soon and ready for the coming show and rally season.

It may be wet but there's still plenty to do...

We’re just over a month into 2014 and it’s already been a busy few weeks behind the scenes here at S&DTHT. Planning is well underway for 2014 with many events being planned and dates confirmed.

 

Our first event was on the very first day of the year, where we went to Winchester for the first event of the year; that being the Friends of King Alfred Buses running day. Sadly 2014 was to be the last one to be held on New Year’s Day as Fokab are going to try something different in 2015. As always we went along and this year it was a very good one. We took 1 - JOW 499E to the event and it was used on the park and ride service from St Catherine's site to the City Centre. 432 – NLP 389V was also due to attend the event but due to continued electrical problems it was decided to leave her at home. Over the day we carried 360 people on the service, and despite the poor weather we had a good time.

 (No. 1 waits at St Catherine's Park & Ride site)

The next event we will be at is the free shuttle bus to the Solent Model Railway Group's Annual show at Fleming Park in Eastleigh. This is another event we’ve been doing for many years and is always a good one to attend. The bus is always well used and last year was a particularly busy year with around 300 journeys on the bus. The route starts at the show at Fleming Park and then heads into Eastleigh for its first stop at Eastleigh Railway Station, before heading down Southampton Road towards Southampton Airport Parkway. Here it turns around and heads back via Chestnut Avenue to the show. It's a simple route that only takes about 20 minutes to complete. For a few years 71 – LOW 217 was used on the service but last year a change was had when the new boy on the preservation scene 1 – JOW 499E was used. following its recent return back to the road after 20 years. Once again, 1 – JOW 499E will be used on the service for this year.

 

(Timetable for the Model Railway Show)

 

Our Facebook Page is still going from strength to strength with nearly 300 likes! Something we never thought would happen when we set it up just under a year ago. The page gives us the ability to share news, events and pictures from our archives, as well as raise awareness of the Trust on a much larger scale than ever before. Another of our social media outlets is our Flick Group which now has over 2000 pictures of Southampton and the local area's buses from over the years - well worth a browse if you've a few minutes to spare. Also our Twitter page is growing well. If you are on any of the platforms we mention and you don’t like us or follow us already then please feel free to do so and let your friends know about us as well.

There’s been plenty going on behind the scenes as planning is well underway with organising events and shows we hope to attend later on in the year. This year we are hoping to attend a few different events than we usually attend. For details on events we're currently planning on going to, check out our 2014 Events Page on the website. For various reasons some of the events listed may be subject to change at any time, or additional events might be added, so it's worth having a quick look every so often to keep up to date.

Work has also started on a new project as well and we hope to bring you some more news on this project soon, so keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages in the coming weeks and months, where we'll be giving details in the future.

Guest Blog: A Southampton Bus Tour 2

Just one day after the start of the new year, Website Manager Tom Lingwood and Website Editor Steven Briers wasted no time in making the most of Southampton's buses once again as they embarked on their second bus tour of the city and its surrounding areas, and as they both explain, their day saw a few interesting surprises.

Anyone who has kept an eye on events in the bus world in our area will know that a lot has changed in recent months in terms of routes, frequencies and vehicles themselves. Among them include the introduction of brand new buses for Unilink and Bluestar 1 (more of which later); the introduction of new routes (and the withdrawal of old ones), and more buses than ever operating on Boxing Day and New Years Day. To encapsulate some of these changes, we decided to have a second bus tour, following on from our last one in May last year, with the main intention of going on routes that had changed (or were due to change) in some way. Here is what happened.

Our first leg of our journey involved the First 13 from Burgoyne Road in Thornhill to Central Station. One of the first surprises we encountered was on the bus shelter, where we saw a piece of history in the most unlikely of places. Along the top of the shelter, underneath where a bus flag had been attached previously, were faded remnants of the original Solent Blue Line logo, of which there are a small handful still around in certain places, so this wasn't too much of a surprise. What did amaze us was that underneath this, again faded and extremely worn, was the original sticker for Hampshire Bus when they operated in the 1980's (picture below).

(The bus stop in Burgoyne Road

 

The route 13 now no longer serves Thornhill and instead terminates in Harefield, reinstating the loop around Moorhill Road and West End Road that was once done by the 4 when it served the area a whole 8 years ago. For this reason, we made this a must on our tour. One of London's former double deckers (32256 - LT52 WWB) did the honours and it was a pleasant journey all round. Thankfully the roadworks by Itchen Bridge caused no delay; something we feared because of our tight schedule.

From Central Station it was straight on to a route which is now sadly history; First's service 10 to Totton College. As this was the last chance to ride the route, we chose to do the whole length of it (excluding the short section from Vincent's Walk to Central Station). Again a double decker in the form of 37165 - HY07 FSX (one of the batch of 5 introduced in Southampton as brand new in 2007 for the then 8/8A route), we sat on the top and enjoyed the variety of landscapes that the route went through, from the quiet residential Luccombe Road in Upper Shirley, to the busy General Hospital, through to the extremely busy Redbridge Flyover. Alighting at Totton College, our next step was to wait for the first of 3 Bluestar buses in our trip.

(37165 - HY07 FSX)

 

The 11 was our next port of call and once it had completed its loop of West Totton, it arrived (3414 - NK04 FPA; previously one of the many Cadets that operated the 18 for so long). Reminiscing about the times that these buses were on the 18, it wasn't long until we arrived at West Quay. Tom spotted across the road the recently started Velvet 300 to Ringwood, and was keen to take the potential opportunity for a photo, but time was against us so we had to leave it this time. More important things awaited us; namely lunch.

Walking up Above Bar Street Tom quickly saw something that we simply couldn't miss the chance of experiencing. One of the brand new buses for the Bluestar 1 pulled up to the bus stop as we passed, and we decided in less than a second that we had to ride it; even if it was only to London Road to get our lunch. Nonetheless we were impressed by what we saw; even the standard "No Smoking" sign on the bus intrigued us as it also mentioned the banning of electronic cigarettes. How times have changed. After a quick bite to eat we headed back into the centre of town on a U1C (again one of the newest of buses in the Southampton area), and then it was a very quick visit to the First Travel Shop for a new timetable booklet before boarding our next bus.

Our next destination was Romsey, but via the newish W1 from Wheelers; one of the newest operators on the scene. This was one of the key routes of our tour, and everything else we did centred round the inclusion of this, as it was a route we have been keen to sample since it was registered on VOSA. The journey was pleasant and timely, and looked like it was quite popular amongst the public from what we observed, although admittedly after it had left Chilworth we had no idea where we were going. This remained the situation until we reached Romsey Bus Station. It was a minute or so before this that Tom saw another unique opportunity.

(AE56 MDJ & SF08 ROU at Romsey Bus Station)


 

It was a race against time as we stepped off the W1 and ran to the back of the queue to make sure we definitely boarded the Bluestar 4 that was loading at the stand. We agreed that we simply could not afford to miss riding it, as it turned out to be not a Bluestar bus, but a Unilink double decker (1198 - HF58 GZN). This is an extreme rarity, as the route is nearly always Citaro-operated. A massive photo opportunity indeed. Our journey was to Lordshill (in an extremely heavy downpour), to meet our final bus and our final journey of the day.

Stopping briefly in Sainsbury's for refreshments, we made the perilous journey in the pouring rain and wind to the bus stop for the First 3 (rebranded as "the three" shortly before Christmas). For this reason, we were extremely keen to ride one of the newly refurbished vehicles (recently transferred to Southampton from Portsmouth where they would be found on the Zip services to Waterlooville and Clanfield etc.). The weather was dire, it was getting dark, and rush hour was looming, but we were in luck. Taking the risk to not board the 3 that was actually waiting at the bus stop when we arrived (due to its lack of red livery), it wasn't long until what would be the next bus pulled up on the opposite side of the road, and to our delight it was a freshly branded one. A minute or so on and the 3 we could have boarded departed and we excitedly waited the 10 minutes until the next one was due to leave. When it did we were nothing short of impressed, and we had a lovely (reasonably traffic free to our surprise) journey back to Thornhill.

 

(69401 - HY09 AZG with it's new look)

 

All in all we had a great day. The weather was rubbish but it didn't matter; we achieved all we wanted to and more. We now need to come up with some more ideas for our next one, which we are looking at doing in the summer maybe. Who knows, maybe the weather will be nice too?