22/03/15 pt1: The day we went to Naaaah-ritch, a roight nice city hint et...

Sunday 22 March, one month after our last rally debut, and dawn was actually breaking as we dragged 1321 out of the farm around 6am to attend our second rally of the season, the Norwich Bus Running Day. Apart from a brief stop for stretching of legs and for people to shake hands with Mr Porcelain, we made excellent progress, arriving at our first port of call - Kings Lynn - just before 09:15. It was here the bulk of our passengers transferred to preserved ex-Eastern Counties Bristol RE/ECW RE747 (GCL349N) for onward travel to Norwich, with Paul following in 1321, stopping off en-route at Swaffham services for photos, refreshments and forward propulsion fluids.

(C) Stephen Longmire

(C) Reg Vardy

We arrived at Norwich County Hall about 10:45, and wow! Our jaws dropped, a sea of proper buses - many new to Eastern Counties or operated by independents in the region - as far as the eye could see! The site was thick with people also, eager to take photographs and ride on the motely collection of heritage buses on offer. So after photographing much of what was on offer at County Hall (Paul and the gang had buggered off by this stage on an Eastern Counties VR), I decided to sample Eastern Counties FS LFS125 (GNG125C) for a round trip into Norwich and back, which did not disappoint I am pleased to say. My attention then turned to a lovely Plaxton Paramount-bodied Bedford of Norfolk Coachways 2176MZ, on which your blogmaster and some of his associates took a ride around Stoke Holy Cross and Trowse before our very own 1321 made her second trip of the day around the same circuit as the Bedford, complete with a full load of happy punters, many of whom had most favourable comments about the bus and even more surprisingly about its shareholders, as I found when I checked in on a post about the event on the Norwich Buses Blog where Paul and I were described as "wonderful group of gents with the most amazing sense of humour". Seeing the smiles on people's faces and comments like this all go a long way, and make our efforts as a group worthwhile, and it really is appreciated.

(C) Patrick Munford

(C) Kieran Smith c/o Norwich Buses Blog

And while Paul was out on an open-top VR somewhere in Norwich, there was just time for your blogmaster to squeeeeeze in one more run on Richard Walker's Eastern Counties Leyland National Greenway LG587 (WAH587S) to Mulbarton and back, beautifully restored in post-NBC Eastern Counties red, cream and orange. It is just a shame the post-NBC era around the late 80's/early 90's isn't represented a bit more in preservation.

Sadly, after all this excitement, it was time to head home, and after saying our goodbyes and passing on our thanks to the organisers of this fantastic, well organised event, we headed back in the direction of Nottingham with the sun setting. The journey back was not without its problems, an accident on the A47 adding over an hour onto our journey home, but we arrived back in Nottinghamshire around 21:30 after an excellent day.

And our verdict? Fantastic! We were most impressed with proceedings, and it was great to talk to so many people who genuinely took an interest in 1321 and our group. It was also great to make some fantastic new friends and contacts, many of whom we hope to see on the rally circuit again very soon...