On Sunday 5th May, The Cardiff Transport Preservation Group held its first ever “Running Day” with a Municipal Bus theme from its 1930’s centre The Bus Depot, in Barry.
Buses departed from the forecourt of The Bus Depot giving free travel every half hour throughout the day on a rotation of three different local bus routes. The single deckers which included Leyland Leopards Islwyn Borough Transport 34, and Rhymney Valley 16 ran to Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan and visitors comments from passengers indicated they were particularly impressed at the rural coastal views.
The double deckers included CTPG vehicles: a 1966 Leyland Atlantean (Newport 68); 1982 Volvo Alisa (Cardiff 407); 1969 AEC Regent V (Pontypridd 8), and two Leyland Titans from 1965 and 1968 (Caerphilly 32 and Bedwas & Machen 6) ran on two routes. These included a semi-circular route to Barry Island returning through the town extensive suburbs and a route to Penarth via Sully.
Mike Taylor Chairman of the heritage bus restoration group said “We had a good day. It is always a concern when you organise something different and this was our first Running Day. We were surprised to see a good mix of local people, young families, bus staff visitors and enthusiast. In 2012 there was a big event called Barry at War for 5O years of the American troops coming to Barry Docks for the allied war effort and we ran a shuttle bus to the attractions. Without this, it left a gap in our calendar and we only decided in January that we should try a Running Day”. Mike managed to get suntanned standing outside The Bus Depot, a notable sign when you think of the dreadful weather this Spring – He continued: “It was a real surprise for Martyn Evans, one of our CTPG members to see his ex-Rhymney Valley District Council Leyland Leopard bus with 51 seats come to terminate at The Bus Depot and seeing 51 passengers get off! It was touch and go if we would have our Cardiff Guy Open Topper ready in case the sun came out – it did, and the 49 year old bus ran full and many thanks to John Wiltshire who pressed into service Caerphilly 1, a 1952 Leyland Tiger half-cab single decker as a duplicate! It’s really good to see support from other groups who have privately restored their buses. Getting Caerphilly 32 and 1 together inside our bus depot was a treat and we are now preparing for our bigger Festival of Transport, this year on Barry Island on Sunday 9th June.”
Photos below taken on the day by Paul Hamley and Mac Winfield.
