After breakfast in the hotel in Reading (can't say it was hearty, it was worse than anything offered by even budget chains like Wetherspoons), we jumped in the Starship Focus and headed off in search of a free shuttle bus from Reading to Alton, which due to parking issues and roadworks delaying us, we missed by seconds. Resorting to plan B, we set off in chase in the Focus, getting far enough in front en-route to photograph the bus we missed, 'Shillibeer' liveried Routemaster RM2208, as it sped towards Alton.
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| RM2208 (C) Paul Gaunt |
On our arrival at Anstey Park, we parked up and our jaws fell to the floor. Buses as far as the eyes could see - the only thing I can liken it to looking at how everything was laid out and vehicle numbers was Showbus, it was on a scale of its own, like nothing we had seen before. We stood around photographing arrivals, including large numbers of classic cars too, before wandering around the site to get further photographs.
A visit to the bus station area, and a brief consultation of the timetable, and we found ourselves on board preserved Safeguard Leyland Leopard OPC26R, for a round trip to East Tisted and back, stopping for photographs in the picturesque village, before Paul and I boarded ex-Trent Leyland National 421 (GNU568N) to enjoy some quality Leyland 510 thrash as we paid a visit to Alton Sports Centre. After some liquid refreshments (non-alcoholic in this instance), we managed to catch a lift from the local Sainsbury's back to Anstey Park on Shamrock & Rambler Bedford OB KEL94. We also sampled Southampton Leyland Atlantean 133 (TTR167H) for a trip to the Railway Station, the gearchange reminding both Paul and I of when Nottingham reverberated to the sound of Leyland Atlanteans and other such quality motors, rather than the plastic of today.
We also enjoyed a trip on Alder Valley 'Londonlink' Leyland Olympian/ECW coach 578 (B578LPE), belonging to Olympian enthusaist Chris Martin and performing faultlessly (albeit a trifle hot with its fixed windows on an exceptionally hot day, but you can't blame the bus for that one). There was just time left for a trip to the Railway Station and back on Portsmouth open-top Atlantean ERV250D, and time to meet in person the owner of ex-Provincial Bristol RE 112 (ECG112K) and Ulsterbus 2599 Group facebook follower Terry Lawson before returning to the car and heading home.
Once again, on behalf of myself, the two Pauls and Peter, a fantastic weekend all round, great to finally put faces to several names from the facebook page, and hopefully we shall return at the same time next year...
Time to divert our attention away from 2599 for the next two posts now...every year on a Saturday in July, the Hants & Surrey Bristol RE Group organise an excellent weekend of quality Bristol (and some Leyland) thrash around the Hampshire region, based on Alton, running shuttle services linking several real ale pubs along the way. Now this is an event your blogmaster has personally wanted to attend for some years, and sadly for the last two attempts has fallen short at the last minute for circumstances beyond his control. This year however, was 'third time lucky'...and wow! We were certainly not disappointed with what we found...
We set off, at an ungodly hour of the Saturday morning for the long drive to Alton Station, arriving at just after 11am. Upon parking the car in the station car park, we were greeted with the sight of Bristol RE's, VR's, and a solitary Leyland Atlantean, everywhere. Proper buses as far as the eye could see! After a wander around taking the customary photographs, we boarded our first chariot, Oxford South Midlands Bristol VR 105 (NUD105L), a now rare dual-purpose example beautifully restored in the NBC half white/half red livery it was new in, and set off in the direction of Cheriton. Looking at the motely selection of Oxford Bus Company's Plaxton Panthers of varying ages and Van Hool Astromegas of Stagecoach now plying for trade between Oxford and London in 2014, it seems hard to believe that this route was in the hands of vehicles such as 105 back in the early 70's!!
Once at our destination, after the customary photographs of 105, we wandered the few hundred yards to our first pub, The Flowerpot, for a well-earned pint of real cider (in my case) in the sun. After sinking a couple, we wandered back to the bus stops just in time to photograph and board our second chariot, Jason Rayner's Southern Vectis Bristol VR 669 (UDL669S), a vehicle your blogmaster is very familiar with having been owned locally by a good friend of his in years gone by). 669 is now restored into a ficticious Tilling reverse cream and green livery which certainly looks the part, and put in a faultless and spirited performance as our group returned to Alton.
Our focus then transferred to our next vehicle, one which the 2599 group had been following the restoration progress of with much interest, ex-Trent (although new to North Western) Marshall-bodied Bristol RE 337 (SJA352K), making its debut on the rally scene after a thorough restoration by the Hants & Surrey Bristol RE group. We climbed aboard and enjoyed a return trip to Chatwon, stopping off while the bus ran to its terminus and back at The Grey Friar for food and more beverages (another cider in your blogmaster's case) before rejoining 337 to return to Alton. Suffice to say, apart from a couple of teething troubles one would expect from a brand new restoration as we left Alton on the outbound journey, she never missed a beat! Credit to her owners.
We then joined our next vehicle, Ulsterbus Bristol RE/Alexander 2190 (POI2190), preserved in the later Ulsterbus 'Mk2' livery from the 1990's. We enjoyed a spirited run around Hampshire's country lanes, before stopping off at The Star Inn at Bentworth for a couple more beverages, and to take advantage of the barbecue on offer outside in the afternoon sun. Reflecting on the previous journey as the cider (or coke in our leader Paul's case), we all said that we hope our own 2599 looks as good once she is fully restored. Cider/BBQ consumed, and reflective moments aside, we then returned to Alton on board Western National flat-screen Bristol RE 2731 (POD830H), before joining Southern Vectis ECW coach-bodied RE 302 (XDL122L) for the short journey back to The Grey Friar at Chawton, where as the cider flowed and we lost track of time as we got talking with interested parties keen to hear of our progress on 2599, we missed the return on 302, settling instead to return on board 2731 once again an hour later than planned. If Brian 'O Doherty and John Deegan read this, was a pleasure to meet you lads!
After a wander around Alton, and a fish and chip supper, we were asked if we would like a short trip around the local area on Jason Rayner's ex-Southdown Leyland Atlantean/Park Royal 731 (SCD731N) - like we were going to refuse! She certainly went down a treat with all on board, and after returning safely to Alton we set off for our accommodation for the night in Reading (trust me, hotels and B&B's around Hampshire and beyond book up quickly for this event), letting 731 and Ulsterbus RE 2190 head off for the evening on a pub crawl of Hampshire well into the night.
On behalf of the Ulsterbus 2599 group and friends, we had a fantastic day here! Well done to Steve Thorpe and all involved for putting on such a well organised and co-ordinated event for us. Same time next year lads, would be nice if we had an Ulsterbus RE of our own to bring along...
We have now set up an email address for any Ulsterbus 2599 Group-related enquiries. While this is ideal for group shareholders to use when contacting numerous organisations during the restoration process, it is also available to anyone who wishes to make enquiries about the bus, and longer term will be used to inform interested parties about future rallies/events etc. once the bus is roadworthy. The address is:
ulsterbus2599group@hotmail.com
In addition to this, we have also set up a PayPal account for anyone wishing to make a donation into the project. All you need to do is click on the link below, and follow the instructions on screen (similar to the one shown in the photo), its really that simple. Any donations will be gratefully received, and will be most useful in the group's ultimate aim of getting the penultimate Bristol RE built back on the road and doing what she was designed to do, carry passengers, once again.
https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=eK2gcks9FC6oQ1GsKTJx3YB2L-e0DNlObELBKaOMqqUlr4T-E6XCHQUo-KG&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d5402c249c5a2cfd4a145d37ec05e9a5e
We are now well into July, and due to various family/work/holiday commitments, much of what has been happening within the group has been behind the scenes, with discussions taking place about the direction the project should move in next, more new contacts to aid in the restoration process being sourced and fundraising efforts being kick-started.
Up at the farm, Paul and Peter spent a Sunday afternoon continuing where I had left off on preparing the rear wheels for repainting, stripping down many years of Ulsterbus blue and applying grey primer. A quick test on one of the wheels using some blue paint donated to the group earlier in the restoration process revealed that the blue was the incorrect shade, being the later lighter shade of 'Ulsterbus Mk2' blue used in the early 1990's, rather than the darker shade used when the bus was new.
Behind the scenes, negotiations were in place with a company called Comet Dezigns of Clifton (Notts) to have some polo shirts made up for the group in a bid to try and raise awareness of 2599 as we travel around the country. Nicola and her team could not have been more helpful, with many emails and phone calls to discuss our requirements, and even a sample design created for us - the end results are fantastic! More information about Comet can be found here: www.cometdezign.co.uk
Turning our attention back to 2599 herself, Paul and one of his colleagues Nik, a mechanic, paid a visit to the farm to have a look at the damaged latch on the rear emergency door. Eventually the latch was removed, and plans are now being drawn up for the replacement latch and door handle sent by Robert Nogues of the Ards Bus Preservation Group to be fitted at a later date.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the final preparations were being made by myself and Paul to attend the 5th Alton Bristol RE and VR Running Day and Alton Bus Rally over the coming weekend.But more on that one later...
As we celebrate six months of being involved with Ulsterbus 2599, Paul Waplington's 1983 Alexander-bodied Bristol RE, we have all been reflecting on what a fun-filled and emotional journey it has been so far. Its had ups and downs, stressful moments, and there have been times many where we have all wondered what we had taken on. But we have also shared many laughs, created many memories and made some fantastic new friends along the way, as we make small steps ever closer to bringing 2599 upto a roadworthy standard to one day do what she was designed to do - carry passengers once again. Anyway, I digress...
In our previous blog posts, you will remember we were going through a major dilemma about the brake anchor pins, with leads drawing to a dead end and the possibility of having to have new pins manufactured from scratch looking like an increasing reality. However, thanks to the efforts of Carl Ireland, we have the required pins for both front and rear brakes, plus a set of brake springs. Again, we cannot thank you enough for your efforts!
We have also had a brand new throttle support plate manufactured from scratch, as Gary Crosby's efforts revealed that the original support plate was not supporting very much at all, being badly corroded! This has now been collected, and all that remains is to drill the holes for the bolts and to refit it to the bus, a task that will probably take place during our next working party (watch this space).
In other news, we have also managed to source a complete set of front brake shoes which will be of great use to the group once work starts on the front brakes. In the meantime, it is our aim to complete the necessary work on the rear brakes, fit the throttle support plate, and hopefully look at forming a timeline to begin some of the other tasks awaiting completion, including looking into sorting out the problems with the emergency exit. Paul has also been out and about negotiating with BOC gas about hiring a supply of Oxygen Astelene and a blowtorch which will assist us with some of the work that needs doing.
Meanwhile, talks are underway about our next fact finding/fundraising trips over the next month or so. Calum is hoping to be running a stall at the Ruddington open day on Sunday 20 July in a bid to raise funds towards 2599's restoration, while Paul and myself are looking into the possibility of a visit to the annual Alton running day and bus rally over the weekend of 19/20 July in a bid to meet more Bristol RE owners and generate even more interest in the bus.
