If you like vintage buses in action then this film has plenty. The Leicester Heritage Transport Trust held its annual running day on a mostly cool cloudy day in early September. Sorry about the wind in some shots. A huge variety of buses were either in service on on display at the Birstall Park & Ride Site.
With regular trips to the Great Central Railway, Stoneygate Tram Depot, local circular tours, stalls and an opportunity to drive a double decker bus there was plenty of interest.
Perhaps the highlights were some of the visiting vehicles which attended such as the 1947 Northampton Transport No. 154 Daimler, the 1953 Eastern Belle AEC Regal or the Huddersfield 1966 Daimler No. 472. There were so many rides to choose from. It was also the first opportunity to ride on Leicester Dennis Dominator 240 making 3 of this type in operation.
It was also a rare chance to capture a shot of the 1939 AEC Renown CBC 921 in action. Look out for Shrek on one of the buses.
Filming took place mostly at Birstall and the Great Central Railway at Quorn with a couple of shots at St Margarets Bus Station and London Road Train Station.
Many thanks to the organisers and volunteers for their hard work in bringing us such an enjoyable day and of course to all the owners of the buses who brought them for us to see and ride on.
The buses in service were:-
90 HBC 1964 Leicester City Transport Leyland PD3A/1 No. 90
ARY 225K 1972 Leicester City Transport Scania BR111 No. 225
BAH 809X 1981 LCT/Gibson No. 1 Leyland Leopard/Plaxton
C100 UBC 1986 Leicester City Bus Dennis Dominator No. 100
FUT 240V 1980 LCT Dennis Dominator No. 240
TBC 50X 1982 LCT Dennis Dominator No. 50
DBC 190C 1965 Leicester City Transport AEC Renown No. 190
FJF 40D 1966 Leicester City Transport AEC Renown No. 40
GJF 301N 1975 LCT Scania BR111DH/MCW No. 301
S350 MFP 1998 First Leicester No. 350 Scania L113CRL/Wright
RHA 919G 1968 Midland Red No. 5919 BMMO S23/BMMO
KLB 596 1950 Brown's Blue AEC Regent RT/Weymann
ANH 154 1947 Northampton Transport Daimler CVG6DD/NC3
HVH 472D 1966 Huddersfield Corporation No. 472 Daimler CVG6L
NXL 847 1953 Eastern Belle AEC Regent III/Duple
WLT 655 1961 Confidence AEC Routemaster
PFE 542V 1980 Bristol VRT Lincolnshire.
Plus many others in action with captions for identification. If you enjoyed this film then please check out www.ltht.org.uk for more information about the buses and the work of the trust.