Imberbus 2024

 

17 August

Imberbus 2024

I had another day out riding buses on Route 23A on a normally closed military road on Salisbury Plain to the "lost" village of Imber and to some other villages around the edges of the military training ranges.
Imber isn't really lost, it was just taken over by the army during the second small disagreement of 1939-1945 and never returned to the former residents. Which means it's off-limits to the public save for a few days a year when access is granted to visit St. Giles Church in the village and the August date has now become a regular event, Imberbus, where many heritage buses from London and elsewhere (and some modern ones too) provide a service from Warminster to Imber and onward to several destinations beyond. It's a fun day out which in recent years has become incredibly well attended, fares are £10 adult and £2 child and it's an "all day rover" ticket with the proceeds going to charity. In 2023 that was £38,000 and judging by the crowds again this year should at least reach something similar.

 

 

There was a very long queue outside Warminster Station when I arrived at about 1130 so having obtained my ticket I joined the back of it and waited for a bus to turn up. The first one up was a modern single decker from the local Beeline operator, lots of people in the queue shunned this preferring to wait for a Routemaster so those of us who weren't so fussy hopped on for a comfortable and not crowded ride to Imber.

 

 

At Imber I decided against joining the long queue to the church - I've seen it before - and caught another modern bus, the LT Museum branded electric double decker bound for the village of Tilshead via the interchange at Gore Cross. The top deck was full but I got the last seat downstairs and when a lot of people got off at Gore Cross quite a few of us dashed upstairs to claim the vacant seats for the rest of the way to Tilshead. I'd never got off at Tilshead before and now I know why. Despite the crowds of thirsty visitors the pub, The Rose & Crown, (with the rather unusual inn sign)) was shut. On a Saturday lunchtime? A Bath City double decker appeared going to Chitterne appeared so I got on it. Chitterne is a good place to watch the buses and have lunch. The village hall does a roaring trade in refreshments and there was room on the green outside to eat my picnic lunch.

 

 

Three buses in and I'd yet to ride on anything that was old enough to buy beer so when an open topped Bristol FS turned up I bagged a seat on that to take me to Gore Cross. But downstairs because I've made the mistake of the open top deck out of Chitterne before. Those trees are low and they hurt!

 

 

Gore Cross is the interchange point for all the routes east of Imber, connecting to Chitterne, Tilshead, The Lavingtons (Market & West), the amusingly named Brazen Bottom, and New Zealand Farm Camp. The first three being villages and the last two being fairly remote points on the Salisbury Plain ranges. Gore Cross interchange itself is a gravelly square on an exposed hillside and being a really good spot for photos and filming is busy with both passengers swapping routes and Men Who Like Buses™ There's a corner of Gore Cross which is a happy haven for neurodiversity and all the better for it.

I got my cheap action camera out here and the result is this 10 minute video.

Comparing 2024 and 2023 crowds with my video from 2022 (see Youtube playlist) where Gore Cross is at times almost empty brings home just how popular Imberbus has become in a short time.

My next ride was on an open top Routemaster but the top deck was full so I grabbed one of the inward facing benches over the rear wheels where knee room is less of an issue and took a ride out through Brazen Bottom and Market Lavington and back to Gore Cross. After spending a bit more time videoing the comings and goings I calculated that i had enough time to repeat that loop, this time on the top deck of Routemaster Coach RMC1485 (roomier and more comfortable than a standard Routemaster) and then remain on board back through Imber to Warminster to get my train home.

 

 

This proved to be a wise move since the queue for buses back to Warminster from Gore Cross was now alarmingly long. On the return through Gore Cross towards Warminster we managed to squeeze on a few more passengers with the last seat, next to mine, being taken by Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on his way back to Imber village. Only fair really given that he's the driving force behind organizing Imberbus. So the few of us at the back of the top deck got a bit of an insight into the running of the event and the history of Imber. And I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping that "I'm never doing this again" was said only in jest ☺

 The journey home was "interesting", I got the last train north from Warminster before the usual GWR Saturday cancellations started, and my connecting service at Bath Spa came complete with half a dozen BTP officers and a couple of hundred drunk/coked-up Milwall FC fans. So that wasn't a tense journey at all. Better than last year though when loads of trains got cancelled and the only way out of Warminster was, it turned out, on a bus!

I seem to have taken relatively few photos this year but there are 20 in this Flickr Album