Imberus 2025

16th August

August means at trip to Salisbury Plain to ride bus route 23A to the “lost” village of Imber, requisitioned by the military during the second world war and now only accessible to the public on a very limited number of days each year. Imberbus began in 2009, initially attracting mostly Men Who Like Buses but now also attracting large crowds of other people as well to take a ride on vintage and modern buses to Imber and other villages nearby.

Most arrive by train at Warminster where long queues form past Lidl to get on the buses to Imber and then on to the other destinations. I have previously done so too but last year and in 2023 those crowds returned to Warminster in the evening to find that GWR had cancelled most of the trains, leading to long delays at the station or trying to find another way home. This year I decided instead to repeat what I did in 2022 when the railways were on strike and there were no trains at all, I stayed overnight Friday and Saturday at the Green Dragon in Market Lavington, catching the first bus from that village at 1025 on Saturday morning having breakfasted well. This was a much less stressful way of doing things.

There was already a bus load of passengers waiting at the temporary bus stop when I arrived at 1010. At about half past ten a brand new double-decker appeared and began loading. It was joined a couple of minutes later by a vintage Routemaster so I got on that and both buses departed for Warminster via the interchange at Gore Cross and Imber village, where I alighted.

I have been inside the church at Imber before (I’ve been coming to Imberbus since 2018) so didn’t need to join the very long queue to see it again.

Instead I took some photos and video of the village, and the various vehicles either parked or in service and then joined the queue in the hot sun to get a bus to the village of Chitterne via Gore Cross, correctly estimating that it would arrive about midday and that the King’s Head would be open. It’s important to keep hydrated after all on such a sunny summer day 😏

The pub was doing a roaring trade but I found a shady spot in the garden to drink my beer. Refreshed I walked back to Chitterne Church which is where the buses stop and turn around. I didn’t need to wait too long before I was on another Routemaster back to Gore Cross. It was an open top bus but I know how low the trees are coming out of Chitterne so wisely rode inside - I like my hat to remain on my head 😃

Gore Cross is a roughly square patch of dust and gravel set amongst open fields on the edge of Salisbury Plain. It can be a bit windswept and there’s no shelter. Wearing a hat or bringing a parasol is recommended. Here is the interchange where the buses to and from Warminster and Imber, Chitterne and Tilshead, New Zealand Farm Camp, and Brazen Bottom and The Lavingtons converge. This makes it a good place to photograph and video buses and there were a lot of people doing just that.

Including me until I took a ride on an open top RT to New Zealand Farm Camp - inside to get some respite from the sun. There is nothing much at New Zealand Farm Camp apart from an opportunity to look at the view and or hop off for a photo opportunity before returning to Gore Cross.

I had intended to go to Warminster and back, mindful that I’d need to be on a bus back to Market Lavington not too late but a different opportunity presented itself. For a couple of years I’d seen the blue and white British European Airways Routemaster KGJ 602D visiting Imberbus as it was being restored. This year it appeared to be in service albeit not displaying a route number or destination blind. Enquiries confirmed that it was running and that it was going to Brazen Bottom and The Lavingtons.

Ideal, I could ride back in comfort - there are not many Routemasters with so much leg room, and on what is now a very rare vehicle. It’s in terrific condition and inside carries notices in English, French and German advising passengers to fill in their boarding card before arriving at the airport because these buses used to carry passengers from the West London Air Terminal in Cromwell Road where they would check in, to Heathrow Airport. Their luggage was carried in a closed trailer towed behind the bus. Having been born and lived near Heathrow I can actually remember seeing these buses with their trailers running on the M4 motorway before the Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow Central in the late 1970s, after which the central London check in and bus service was ceased.

No motorways here, or luggage trailer, but some narrow lanes across the military training areas to the remote temporary bus stop at Brazen Bottom (which is actually quite high up) and then down a long steep narrow hill to Market Lavington. Here I alighted and after watching BEA2 depart and a couple of other buses come and go I finished my Imberbus adventures for 2025 and headed for a cool shower, dinner, and beer. A much more civilised end to the day than waiting ages on a crowded station platform to board an packed two carriage train hoping none of my connections would be cancelled. I might do it again next year.

There’s a lot more photos in this Flickr Album.

 

7 minute Video uploaded to Youtube 28th August 

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 

 

East Grinstead Classic Bus Running day.

21st April

For my birthday this year I went for a ride on this:

and this:

and this:

and this (which as far as I can recall is the first time I've ridden on an RF, certainly a Green Line one):

and this:

and this:

and had a rather good day in and around East Grinstead, seeing a bit of the country I'm not that familiar with.

I also got to meet, albeit briefly, Pete of Pete And His Bus fame.

Bus running days are a rare occasion when you can actually ride other people's classic vehicles rather than just look at them. For free too, although I made sure to buy the programme/timetable the tenner for which goes towards the costs. You don't want to think about the mpg figures for these vehicles! 

I'm not sure that the planned timetable "survived first contact with the enemy" but there were plenty of different buses of varying ages to see and I'm sure I missed some of them but here's the

Flickr Album

Not-so-super Superloop

 21st March 2024

I'm late to the party as usual but have finally ridden on part of the new Superloop branded TfL express bus service. The experience was ... well not that super to be honest. I was in Kenton early evening and wanted to get back to Hounslow West, not in any huge hurry, and the TfL Go app suggested a number of different routes involving combinations of Overground, bus, and Tube and then a step-free suggestion of the Superloop.

Well it was new and shiny and I had the time so why not? It started off well, the 18:10  SL10 rocking up on time for the one stop to Harrow Bus Station and lightly loaded enough to get a top deck front seat. We arrived at Harrow Bus Station with more than enough time to catch the next SL9 Harrow to Heathrow departure and there was an SL9 laying over at the back of the bus station ready to go. Which is where it stayed for the next 10 minutes - despite the app showing it as "due" at Harrow Bus station Stop B - while a large, jostling crowd gathered on the narrow foot-way at Stop B. Eventually it came out of the bus station and... drove straight past. The route indicators no longer displaying "SL9 Heathrow Airport Central" but simply "Transport for London". The crowd continued to swell, scrums forming to board other services at Stop B until another SL9 appeared about 10 minutes later behind a 114 that was already occupying Stop B. The British have a reputation for queuing which at this point they decided to disprove and there was a general melee for another 5 minutes or more until the "New Routemaster" bus was full. I mean full too, standing room only full, and as became apparent when we moved off, scraping the humps and bumps in the road full because these buses have very little ground clearance. 

Off we went into the evening traffic. By Northolt Station I had at least got a seat due to a few passengers alighting albeit not with a window view. Those who alighted were replaced by as many boarding so it was still a full load. Through Yeading and the bright lights of Hayes we went, delayed at several points and now running about 10 minutes late although no longer as tightly packed in. Then it happened. I could hear the conversation between the driver and the control as they told him to terminate at Harlington Corner instead of going all the way to Heathrow Airport, which he questioned, as was told there was another SL9 two to three minutes behind which would pick up any passengers wanting to continue. There was no announcement of the change and the on board displays and audio continued unchanged stating SL9 to Heathrow Airport Central. As we approached Harlington Corner a passenger who had evidently had a good afternoon in the bar went forward to ask if this was the last stop before the airport then returned to inform us "we're all being turfed off here" and sure enough, still without any announcement, the bus pulled into Stop J at Harlington Corner, the hazard lights went on, and the remaining passengers were indeed turfed off.

Sure enough two or three minutes later another SL9 bus rounded the corner... and drove straight past without stopping. Now this wasn't a problem for me as Harlington Corner was where I was to change to the 81 to Hounslow but it did leave quite a few people standing at the side of the road consulting the timetable on the bus stop pole or on their phones and trying to work out their next move to continue their journey. I wonder how many of them were late for work at Heathrow? At least no one had the sort of baggage that indicated they were on their way to catch a flight.

So the Superloop isn't that super and I'm sure it's very useful - as the loading on this SL9 showed - but it still suffers all the uncertainties of other TfL buses but stops in fewer places.

Anyway, that's SL10 and SL9 ticked off.

• Route SL1 - North Finchley to Walthamstow
• Route SL2 - Walthamstow Central to North Woolwich
• Route SL3 - Thamesmead to Bromley
• Route SL4 - Canary Wharf to Grove Park
• Route SL5 - Bromley to Croydon
• Route SL6 - Russell Square to West Croydon (peak services only)
• Route SL7 - Croydon to Heathrow Airport
• Route SL8 - Uxbridge to White City
• Route SL9 - Heathrow Airport to Harrow
• Route SL10 - Harrow to North Finchley

Though I've no intention of riding it all the way round like Geoff Marshall did.

My 2023 in Review

 

2023 was my first whole year as an idle sod (officially) so I've taken a look back through my calendar to see what I actually did and pick out some highlights.

January Started with a week of Rail Strikes so travel opportunities were a bit limited but after that managed to get out and walk from Catford to the Thames along the River Ravensbourne. I also paid a Sunday afternoon visit to Hanwell, and managed a trip to see the Winter Lights at Canary Wharf and made my only visit to the Tower of London thanks to a Christmas present of a year's Historic Royal Palaces membership.

February Saw a boat trip around Portsmouth Harbour, a visit to the shopping mall that is Battersea Power Station, a day down at the Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and a trip to Hackney for the great Urban Good relocation map giveaway from which scrummage I bagged a decent number of maps of London and a couple of other cities. The big highlight of the month was my Hidden London tour of Shepherd's Bush Underground station, which turned out to be a personal tour since by coincidence I was the only customer to book that particular time slot on that day.

 

To finish the month I had a belated Xmas Drinks with some of my former workmates where vast quantities of drink were taken, resulting in a rather uncomfortable ride home by rail Replacement Bus!

March saw my first trip away of the year and despite a weather warning for snow had a good stay in a working water mill in Wookey, Somerset. From which I visited Wells Cathedral, Burnham On Sea, and a spectacularly wet Glastonbury. The HRP membership got me inside the spectacular Banqueting House on Whitehall and LT Museum Friends membership into the Depot Open day at Acton.

April 5th saw me take a midweek afternoon ride route 465 - Transport for London's most un-London Bus Route. On the 21st I hit the big six-oh and took my HRP membership card for a ride to Kensington Palace

May was the month for my big rail trip to the far north of Scotland which had been delayed since March 2020 when something screwed up my careful plans. It was worth the wait, nine days away stopping in Edinburgh, Inverness, and Thurso and finally setting foot in my original target of Wick on a very quiet Saturday 13th. Second highlight of May was going to Worcester to see Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp in concert. 

June brought another bus trip, the Route 65 and 71 Heritage Event between Ealing and Kingston and Leatherhead. I also went away to Happisburgh in Norfolk to explore childhood holiday territory and visit the North Norfolk Railway again and the East Anglian Transport Museum for the first time, the latter fulfilling an ambitions a good fifty years old.

July Featured a trip on the LT Museum's Heritage 1938 Stock Tube train from Acton Town to Oakwood and back. 

 

In between industrial action on the railways I managed to squeeze in a "pick a random city you haven't been to" trip away. Which this time was Nottingham for the trams, the Trent, and the castle.

August began with the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's and then majored on buses, with a visit to the Oxford Bus Museum followed by an incredibly busy Imberbus Day

 

 

Right at the end of the month into the beginning of September I got away for a long weekend in Paignton for some seaside walking and of course a seaside steam train.

September brought my second Hidden London tour of 2023, the newly introduced one at Baker Street station. I had to share this one but it was still good.
September saw Open House London run over two weekends and this year I managed visits to The City Churches: St Mary-le-Bow, Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene Church, Paddington, and Fitzrovia Chapel on the first and National Audit Office (former Imperial Airways Terminal) and Lewisham Arthouse on the second. I went to the second LT Museum Depot open weekend of the year and finished off the month with a trip to the Chelsea Physic Garden which was having a free entry day as part of Chelsea Festival.

October was a bit quieter. Not entirely quiet as I went to Basingstoke and saw Toyah and Robert in concert again. Also a visit to Gunnersbury House to see the rather good Exhibition "Set to Stun: Designing & Filming Sci-Fi in West London". The end of the month marked the 1 year anniversary of my exit from wage-slavery.

November was mostly car related things. I spent the 5th standing at a Sussex roadside taking pictures of the VCC London to Brighton Run and at least this year it didn't piss down with rain.
I went to the Classic Car Show at Birmingham NEC for the first time in years, travelling up by train and staying in Coventry as it was easier - and cheaper - than finding a suitable hotel in Brum. Finally I saw Show Of Hands on their last tour, in Basingstoke again.

December is never up to much. The highlight of the month might have been putting four new tyres on the car but was edged out by meeting some former colleagues for beers in Reading. Lots of beers but fortunately no rail Replacement Buses this time. I made the LT Museum Friends AGM at Covent Garden and Barry Le Jeune's entertaining talk afterwards. In fact now work doesn't get in the way I've been able to attend many more of the Friends' meetings this year. Xmas? Meh. I had a good lunch on the day with family but I'm not really a Christmas person.

So ends another trip around the sun. Skimming the calendar to write this blog post I realize I've done more than I first thought. I've only included the more notable events here, there have been many other minor excursions. 2024 will likely be similar.

Carlisle and the Lake District by Public Transport

17th to 21st June 2019

A week off to go somewhere. Can't be arsed to drive long distances. Got a train to Carlisle and a room at the Hotel ibis Carlisle, in Botchergate, a short walk from the railway station.

Monday

GWR train from Sandhurst to Reading. On time, good start.

GWR train from Reading to Paddington. Had booked the 1111 train but that was delayed so just hopped on the 1107, plenty of empty seats. Handy that there are now frequent fast trains Reading to London. Very fast too now that it's all electric IETs. I'll still miss the HSTs though as I grew up with them.

Hammersith & City Line to Euston Square and the short but crowded walk to Euston  Station. People, you really don't need to walk 4 abreast 😒

Virgin Pendolino* to Carlisle. Actual legroom in my booked seat! I'll admit to having gone via London despite it costing slightly more mainly to avoid several hours in CrossCountry's cramped Voyager trains even though I booked via CrossCountry's web site as I've found it to be the least aggravating to use.
Arrived Carlisle a few minutes late to find unexpected sunshine. I seem to have neglected to photograph any of the above trains 😀

(* The spelling checker suggests Gwendoline for Pendolino, I think they should rename them forthwith. 🤣 )

Settled into the hotel and went for a walk and to find food. I was a bit worried to see that the hotel room faced a number of clubs and bars but as it turned out they were all shut so nights were undisturbed. No mobile signal (Three UK) but good free wifi.
Dinner at The Griffin, standard Greene King stuff, explored a quiet Carlisle city centre, and had a couple of swift ones in The Fat Gadgie where you could count the customers on the fingers of one hand. With spares. It's quiet in Carlisle on a Monday evening.



Tuesday

A trip around the Cumbrian Coast Line. Tickets bought via Trainpal but picked up at the station rather than on the mobile app as it would be a long day battery-wise. Better safe than sorry.

A small group of mostly train enthusiasts gathered on the platform awaiting the arrival of a Northern train crew.
Who appeared at exactly the time it was supposed to depart.
Almost everyone sat at the right hand side windows 😀

This line is in every list of the UK's most scenic railway journeys with good reason. Once out of the city it's countryside all the way until it reaches the coast south of Maryport.

Then it hugs the coastline nearly all the way to Barrow-in-Furness.
In places it runs along the sea wall and there are views out to sea along most of the route.

There are some quite remote stations such as Nethertown and some oddly named such as Aspatria and the for some reason amusing Corkickle.

It runs a bit further inland towards Barrow giving views of the southern Lakeland Fells on the other side of the train.

The line also crosses the head of the River Duddon estuary, flat countryside you don't normally associate with the Lake District, you could be in East Anglia or Hampshire.

Barrow was hot and sunny. It's not what you'd call a tourist town though.
Unless you're interested in the Naval Dockyards and they're mostly behind high walls and security gates. I did spot a submarine but too far away to identify it. I suppose it must be one of ours though 😀

The train back was in the rush hour. Which meant that it was lightly loaded leaving Barrow and then very full from Sellafield as all the workers from the nuclear processing and decommissioning site knocked off. Contrary to rumour none of them appeared to have extra heads or other appendages. ⚛

Wednesday

There are no trains to Keswick. The line closed in 1972 so the choice now is drive or bus. The car was at home so at 0900 I joined the other "bus wankers" at Carlisle bus station to get the Stagecoach 554 to Wigton where it becomes the 554 to Keswick. Something to do with drivers shifts and hours I think. Anyway you just stay on the bus and after a fairly scenic drive (top deck front seats are a must) it deposits you in Keswick outside Booths supermarket. Now Keswick really is a tourist town which is probably why it costs you 40p to take a leak and the public toilets accept contactless payment!

My word it was busy but I've been to Keswick before staying at the Camping Club site near the lake side, it always is busy.

Followed the trail along the edge of Derwent Water for a bit, which was also busy then climbed up through the woods to the viewpoint at Castlehead. Steep but worth it for the view over Derwent Water. Only half a dozen other slightly more energetic visitors up there.

The 554 is not a particularly frequent bus route at 4 runs per day which meant plenty of time in Keswick.

So I took a boat trip around Derwent Water which was glorious, then ambled around the shops and had a pint in the Dog & Gun which had quite a few of the former but none of the latter as far as I could tell. The beer was good though and was as welcome as the seat in the shade. Before getting the bus back to Carlisle I did a bit of  shopping in Booth's and save myself 40p while I was there. The bus got back to Carlisle a little before 7 pm so I had a quick freshen up in the hotel and then went a few yards down Botchergate to the Shaha Tandoori for a well deserved (well I thought so) curry. It's one of those places which are upstairs so you don't know what it's like until you get inside. A traditional curry house and very good was the answer.

Thursday

Windemere does still have a railway. A short but scenic branch line runs from the West Coast main line at Oxenholme The Lake District station.

This is a busy little station being as the name suggests the main access to the Lakes for tourists travelling by train.

I got a ticket on my mobile using the Trainpal app which does split ticketing so saved about £3 on the return fare.

Alas the Transpennine Express was late arriving at Oxenholme so I became better acquainted with the station than I'd hoped with a 50 minute wait until the next departure to Windemere. The Northern train arrived and everyone piled on, glad to be on the move again.  Windemere station is nice but of course Windemere town isn't where the lake is.

That's at Bowness-on-Windermere so you have to walk (or get a bus) a mile or so to get there. I walked. It rained. I had looked at the forecast and decided not to take my big waterproof coat. It rained some more and continued to do so every 15 minutes for the rest of the day. I now have (another) new lightweight waterproof jacket. Thankfully Mountain Warehouse had a sale on (Don't they always?) 

I took shelter in The Flying Pig and dried out a bit. Went and got chips by the lake and watched the ducks and
geese getting rained on, and suitably fortified walked back up the hill to Windemere station to get the train back to Carlisle.

The sun came out.

Back in Carlisle and it being only just past 4 pm I visited the castle. Got to try and get the most out of my year's English Heritage membership (otherwise it's £7.50 for an adult) and I can tell you 4.20pm on a Thursday is the ideal time to visit, there were less than a handful of people exploring the extensive castle buildings and grounds.
Carlisle Castle is unusually intact having been in use as an Army base until the 1960s - in fact still used by the Territorials.



Friday

Hmm, train doesn't depart until 1249. Fortunately don't have to check out of the hotel until 1130 so had a lie in and then packed and read for a bit (Kate Williams' Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots if you're wondering.) then wandered down to the Market Hall where I found the most traditional market "caff" I've seen in ages and had a full English. 'Cos I'm still officially on holiday and it's allowed.

I found a seat at Carlisle station to wait, to read, and to desperately hope that the hen party also waiting would be at the other end of the train as they'd obviously got on the giggle-juice early. (They were 😌)

At 1249 eleven coaches of Pendolino from Glasgow pulled out of Carlisle and only lost around 9 minutes by the time it arrived at Euston. It's a long walk from the back of an eleven coach train to the ticket barrier, then fight your way across the concourse and down to Euston Square. Circle Line to Paddington arriving about twenty to five.
A curiosity: I had an Off Peak Return with a seat reservation on the 1700 train from Paddington to Reading. The departure boards were clearly displaying a big flashing message that said Off Peak tickets were not valid on this service.

I wasn't up for that argument on a Friday evening so got on the 1652 to Bristol Temple Meads, first stop Reading, and plenty of available seats instead. The train from Reading to Sandhurst was standing room only and unfortunately the part I was standing in contained The Child From Hell who screamed and swore at the other passengers and demanded they move so he could sit down and demanded of his father(?) that he "give me some f*****g chocolate". He got his way on both counts 😒

There are many, many more photographs from this trip in this Flickr Album

4 Buses

29th September 2018

On the piazza outside the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden four B Type London buses, each around 100 years old went on display for the day. 

They certainly picked a nice day for it - and a nice day for wandering around experimenting with a new small video camera.

Imberbus 2018

18th August 2018

Salisbury Plain, "Abandoned" village, vintage buses. The village of Imber on Salisbury Plain is not usually accessible to the public being part of the MOD training area. But on a few days a year the road through the village and training area is opened. Since 2009 a group of bus industry professionals have run a vintage bus service to Imber and some other parts of the area normally closed to the public. This is Imberbus and these are the photos I took on Imberbus Day 2018:

Epping & Ongar Railway 12th August 2018

New video. Trains, Buses, and Traction Engines.

Experimentally shooting with my Panasonic bridge camera rather than mobile phone. Except for one clip - see if you can tell which 🙂