04 April 2023

Penzance Running Day

Plenty of notice for this event which I know many of you will be attending..

16 April 2023

The Cornwall Bus Preservation Society (CBPS) and the Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust (TV&GWOT) are collaborating to organise a 15th vintage bus day in Penzance on Sunday 16 April 2023.  Vehicle entrants and passengers alike can enjoy spectacular scenery while travelling authentic service routes across the West Cornwall peninsula on a variety of preserved buses and coaches.

The Bristol VR is a favourite marque as the first ‘VR Running Day’ on 9 December 2006 coincided with withdrawal of this once omnipresent vehicle in Cornwall. Its low gearing and sympathetic profile equipped it well for the steep terrain and wooded valleys encountered daily.  There is a record entry of VRs for 2023.

The vintage bus services will operate out and back from Penzance Bus Station (adjacent to the main railway station) from 10.00 until 17.00. Free bus services** will link Penzance with Camborne, St Ives, St Just, Hayle, Helston, Marazion/Perranuthnoe, Goldsithney, Paul/Sheffield, Sennen Cove and Land’s End (and the airport), with small vehicles going into Mousehole - a highlight for many.

**Passenger rides are free and privately owned vehicles and crews are provided in accordance with national guidelines for the operation of free bus services issued by NARTM (the National Association of Road Transport Museums).

On 17 August 1903 Great Western Railway Road Motors operated the first service from Helston to The Lizard, not far up the Cornish coast.  120 years on, there is a resurgence of interest in such integrated transport and the souvenir programme explores this important heritage in terms of the changing vehicle styles and technologies, and lessons offered by past practices for operations today.

The lavishly illustrated colour programme not only explores the evolution of integrated public transport in Cornwall but also has a feature on the history of a Helston based Truronian Dart recently acquired and restored by CBPS which will make its debut back in original guise at the event on 16 April.

The programme gives timetables and details of the vehicles attending, making it an invaluable resource to help you to plan your day.  There are exciting new routes for 2023 including to Helston (and Porthleven) in celebration of the Helston-The Lizard service’s 120 year anniversary later this year.


More Info HERE

672COD

672COD is just one of those listed as hoping to attend. 

1 comment:

  1. Sad that there are no Leyland Atlantean buses attending.

    ReplyDelete

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