A surprise debut...21/06/15

Sunday 21 June dawned, and it was time for your blogmaster to dust off his Trent Buses blazer and Setright and prepare for a leisurely day of conducting at the Peak Park rally at Rowsley, organised jointly by Peak Rail and the Chesterfield 123 Group. Now I should point out that myself and Paul were conspicuously absent amongst the small band of travellers on board 1321 attending this event, but our moment in the limelight would come later.

Behind the scenes, I had been plotting with a select few trusted people to plan a special surprise, and at around 09:40hrs in a lay-by just outside Ambergate on the A6 the plans fell into place. Calum and Gary with 1321 had met up with John Ashton and Damien Gardner with ex-London Transport/Chase Leyland National OJD868R, and had been sat for around 20mins when Paul and I turned up to a sea of surprised faces...you see, it had been arranged for 2599 to attend its first rally in nine years now it was mobile and had passed its MOT, and the sight of all three buses together was something to behold! We pressed on, stopping for a group semiar with all three buses at Matlock Railway Station before making a surprise entrance to Rowsley to be greeted with exciteable crowds and clicking cameras.

(C) Martin Arrand

(C) Martin Arrand

(C) Martin Arrand

We had done it. the star of the show, the bus the group is named after, 2599 herself, was finally out on the rally circuit. Due to ongoing alternator charging issues with the RE it sat out as a static exhibit, but 1321 was once again pressed into action carrying enthusiastic passengers around the Peak District on three trips from the Peak Rail site at Rowsley. It was a delight to see so many happy faces and hear so many positive remarks about both buses. Even better, 1321 and 2599 were not the only Ulsterbus vehicles in attendance, as Thomas Mitchell had brought his Alexander N-type Tiger 1250 along, and the three buses made an impressive sight when lined up at Rowsley Station yard - big grins all round from all parties!

It was also nice to get the shareholders and owners together with 2599 and 1321 for a ceremonial cake-cutting ceremony, baked kindly for us by friend and member of the group Justin Wyatt, after which the cake was quickly demolished (very nice it was too!). After this it was time for yours truly to actually do some work (shock, horror), conducting a round trip to Bakewell and back on London Transport AEC Routemaster RM1449.

Day's end, we set off in convoy from Rowsley once again, proud to have exhibited 2599 on the rally scene for the first time in almost ten years. And the story does not end there...as this event falls on Father's day, I felt a little bad that I had not spent time with my Dad. Now without getting too personal, both of us had been through the mill of late, with his own father being extremely ill and the death of my Dad's Auntie, it was no surprise he had been a bit down. Paul very kindly gave up his own time (and time with his own kids and partner) on the way back to 'HQ' to surprise my family with a short ride around the local area on 2599, and a stop off at a local ale establishment for a quick pint. I have to say, it was fantastic to see my Dad's face light up and smile after all the heartache of the previous weeks, and even now I cannot thank you enough Paul for that moment.