Superb classic bus running day in Winchester

Since the 1980s it’s been a tradition in city of Winchester to hold a bus running day. Dave Vaughan was there to cover this year’s event.

It’s to celebrate the history of that city’s long association with its one-time local bus operator R Chisnell & Sons, better known as King Alfred Motor Services, who were one of only a few privately owned bus companies to run a municipal bus service.

The Chisnell family’s involvement in bus services goes back to 1915 when, using a variety of small motor vehicles, he transported troops to and from various military training camps in the area. On Whit Monday in 1915, using an ex-RAF war subsidy Leyland, he ran his first charabanc excursion to Bournemouth.

The firm became a registered company in 1939 and, despite competition from other operators in the area, maintained a staunch degree of independence, personified by the emblem of King Alfred the Great who used Winchester as the centre of his kingdom, proudly displayed on the side panels of its vehicles.

The first regular omnibus services began in 1922 running to a new council housing estate at Stanmore. From these small beginnings an extensive network was built up serving most districts of the city and running as far afield as Basingstoke and Stockbridge. By the time the Second World War broke out R Chisnell & Sons Ltd was acknowledged as the primary local operator for the Winchester area, with an enviable reputation for good service.

Robert Chisnell senior died in June 1945 and his sons ‘Mr Bob’ and ‘Mr Fred’ continued to run a successful business, despite staff shortages, increased use of motor cars, and city centre traffic congestion causing timetable problems. By the start of the 70s the sons had reached retiring age and endeavoured to sell the firm to the local council which, owing to government policy at the time, was not possible. In the end the company passed to the then new National Bus Company in the form of Hants & Dorset, who ran services from the bus station situated on The Broad in the city centre.

29 April 1973 was a sad day for the Chisnell family and their staff as the familiar green and cream buses with their proud emblem of King Alfred were swept away in favour of the rather uninspiring poppy red livery of the NBC. However, the memories of King Alfred Motor Services lived on in the local population and, in 1985, a small but dedicated band of enthusiasts got together to form The Friends of King Alfred Buses.

In company with the editor, I went along to enjoy the New Year’s Day King Alfred Bus running event; in effect a bus rally on the move! I had arranged a meeting with James Freeman, the chair of the friends trust, known as FoKAB, to get an idea of how it all started and what the future held for the group.

New Year’s Day, 2024
The Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) have held a bus running day on or around 1 January starting in the 80s when as many of the fleet of buses owned by the friends are gathered in the centre of Winchester and spend the day running free bus services to various parts of the old King Alfred bus area following, as closely as possible, the routes of some of the old services. I have attended this event in the past when the weather has been typically wintry with below-zero temperatures and even snow on the ground.

This year, however, the weather was fairly mild and the sun shone through a wintry sky until late in the afternoon. The local bus company Stagecoach do not run services in the area on New Year’s Day so, apart from an express service to Southampton run by Go South Coast under the Bluestar brand, it was a case of turning back the clock with the area known as The Broad full of classic King Alfred-liveried buses running in and out all day, centred round the statue of King Alfred himself.

When I arrived at 9am the buses were getting ready to go out on the first of the day’s services and the street was largely free of normal traffic or people shopping, so an ideal opportunity to photograph the fleet as one-by-one eight buses from the collection, plus a couple of visiting vehicles, took up their positions.

The old bus station in the city centre, once the centre of King Alfred operations, is looking rather rundown but provided the perfect lay-over parking area for the buses between services. With parking in the nearby multi-storey car park – free on Bank Holidays! It wasn’t long before the Broad was filling up with enthusiasts who had come from far and wide to this popular event.

Many members of the public were also taking advantage of a free ride into the lovely Hampshire countryside. James Freeman and his band of hard-working marshals were kept busy making sure all the services were running to time and crewed by a PCV-licenced driver and a conductor whose job it was to make sure passengers boarded and alighted vehicles safely.

All rides were free but FoKAB volunteers had a stall where a full-coloured and very informative leaflet and timetable was available for only £5, enabling passengers to get on the right bus at the right time. Altogether there were eleven different services going as far afield as Sutton Scotney to the north and Fareham in the south, where passengers wishing to do so could meet up with buses provided by the Provincial Bus Society. They were running their own ‘Ale and Ride’ services in the Gosport and Fareham area on the day.

Bus crews were turned out in fine style with genuine King Alfred uniforms and even, in some cases, Setright ticket machines of the type once used by the company. Passengers, especially children, were pleased to get a genuine period bus ticket as a souvenir of their trip. Of the sixteen vehicles in the preserved fleet seven were rostered for the day and I enjoyed a ride out on one of two examples of the AEC Renown lowbridge double-deckers in the collection. By the time the Renown appeared on the market in the 1960s rear-engined buses such the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline were becoming the choice of many operators and, as Leyland had taken over AEC in that decade, the half-cab front-engined AEC Renown was dropped from the range.

There were also four visiting buses taking part, one of which particularly attracted my attention as it was making its rally debut and looking very smart indeed. Bearing the bright red livery of Cumberland Motor Services, whose once large fleet was based at Whitehaven in the Lake District, it was a 1936-built Leyland Titan TD4, originally having Massey bodywork but re-bodied by Eastern Coachworks in 1950. The bus had been preserved in the 1960s and rallied extensively in the 70s but was found by the present owners, Steven Morris and Peter Snowden, abandoned in a Huddersfield haulier’s yard and, after extensive restoration, was now back on the road and based at Wiveliscombe in Somerset.

I enjoyed two further trips out on different routes past some of the famous Hampshire watercress beds that give the name ‘The Watercress Line’ to the nearby Mid Hants steam railway. By 3:30 it was time to head home to Sussex and so, with the light fading, I bid farewell to Winchester and the team of FoKAB volunteers who had been working hard to cope with the full loadings on most of the buses all day. My thanks go to James Freeman and his team for a well-organised, friendly and enjoyable event.

The book The Return of the Olympic is available for £12.95 (including postage) from Friends of King Alfred Buses, 13 Ashley Close, Winchester SO22 6LR, and full details of the group can be found at: kingalfredbuses.org.uk

 

 

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