THE archives of a city transport charity have been boosted by a recent donation.

The Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) keeps alive the memory of the local company that transported countless numbers of people across the district from the 1920s to the 1970s.

A collection of cuttings from local newspapers including the Hampshire Chronicle have been donated by FoKAB member Dave Smith.

Since he joined FoKAB in 1987, Dave from Teg Down has been collecting cuttings mainly from the Chronicle but also from the Daily Echo and News Extra.

David and his wife Joyce will be leaving Winchester in the New Year so he decided to make a very significant donation to FoKAB, in the shape of handing over his treasured collection of four scrap books, containing a comprehensive chronological display of press cuttings covering all the activities of FoKAB and its members since 1987 to the present day.

Month by month, year on year, David has been spotting and collecting up all references to FoKAB events in the papers and sticking them into his albums. His work now comprises four scrapbooks, to which new cuttings can still be added.

To turn the pages of these books is to read through the gradually unfolding story of FoKAB, step by step, as each old bus was found (somewhere in the world - two in the USA, one in Eire) and brought back to the city for restoration to start. It’s completely fascinating and an essential part of capturing the history of FoKAB itself.

The rich variety of cuttings together illustrate how, at every turn of events, the Chronicle has been there to document what was happening in words and pictures. With no more commentary than the cuttings themselves, almost thirty-five years of collecting, restoring and preserving King Alfred buses is laid out for the reader to marvel at and for FoKAB members to be proud of.

The second discovery happened recently, when FoKAB chairman James Freeman was checking through the Omnibus Society’s “Osmart Service”, which offers surplus archive material for sale. He looked up “King Alfred” and to his surprise two original timetable booklets were available for sale, for 6 May 1940 and for 1 April 1941 respectively. They are quite fragile but complete and unmarked.

In format, they are quite different from each other, with the 1941 edition having clearer timetables, but no map. Despite the war, the information contained in both booklets includes full timetables and lists of fares as well as the parcel agents, of which there were many.

The agents included for example, Mrs Eve at the Stores in Flowerdown or Mr Astridge at the Stores in Wonston or Hills Cafe in Twyford.

The difference in services provided was limited to the fact that late journeys listed in 1940 - last buses were usually around 10pm from the Broadway - had been removed by 1941, presumably in the interests of fuel economy.

What is amazing is that the times of many of the services were identical to what was still running right up to the end of King Alfred in April 1973! Equally, route numbers that FoKAB members would instantly recognise, such as the No 7 to Sparsholt, were in use, even though they weren’t displayed on the buses until 1949.

Anyway, James bought both booklets, at £20 per copy, for addition to the Archive.

The King Alfred buses will be giving free rides from the Broadway on the New Year Bank Holiday, 3rd January 2022 - Covid permitting, of course!