HERITAGE buses will once again be rumbling around the Winchester district as part of the nationwide Heritage Open Days. 

King Alfred buses will be offering free rides on and have a grand display. 

James Freeman, chairman of Friends of King Alfred Buses, said: “The three themes for this year’s events, routes – networks – connections, could have been set specifically for our participation.

“Once again, we will be supporting the Heritage Open Days on Sunday September 15 with a grand display of our unique collection of King Alfred buses and coaches at St Catherine’s park and ride site between 9am and 10.30am, followed by another of our renowned classic running days, when the King Alfred buses will be providing a range of free rides to the villages around the city between 11am and 5pm.”

In addition, the popular Leyland Atlantean open-top double-decker HOR 590E will be running a free shuttle service between Winchester Broadway and Hyde Street for the Hyde900 celebrations on both Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15.

READ MORE: King Alfred bus owners plan restoration after fire

Another innovation will be a special poetry bus, leaving the Broadway on the Sunday at 11am. There will be poetry readings as the bus takes a trip westwards to Crawley and back.

The main event has two elements. Early on Sunday, from 9am, 15 of FoKAB’s collection of vehicles will be displayed side by side at St Catherine’s. This presents a unique opportunity to see the whole fleet and compare the different styles of vehicles from the 1929 Leyland Lion through to the massive Leyland Panthers dating from 1970. A free shuttle bus will operate to and from the Broadway to get people to and fro.

From 11am, free rides will be on offer from under the shadow of King Alfred’s statue in the Broadway, in the traditional way. This time they will concentrate on the country routes operated up to 1973 by King Alfred Motor Services. 

Buses will be going to: Twyford, Colden Common, Sparsholt, Crawley, King’s Somborne, Stockbridge, Broughton, Sutton Scotney, Stoke Charity, East Stratton, Morn Hill and Owslebury.
In addition, the three pre-war buses in the collection will be providing shorter trips, all for free, around the city centre, providing a most unusual chance to sample bus travel from the 1930s. The FoKAB information and sales stand will be positioned as usual outside the Guildhall and there will be a transport bazaar in Busket Yard, just beside the bus station and directly accessible from the Broadway.

A programme, giving full details of the event, will be available on the day at £6. Sales of these programmes go towards the costs of conserving and operating the old buses. “Every sale makes a difference”, said Mr Freeman.