The Barry heritage bus group held their third Autumn Running Day event on Sunday 14thSeptember featuring classic buses from Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Blackwood and Caerphilly. Rain marked a feature of the day, as apart from occasional dry spell, wet conditions were set for all day with Wales having yellow warnings out for a storm Sunday night. Our visitors were not disappointed as The Open Day at the heritage bus restoration centre offered the chance for people to talk with members involved with restoration and of course visit a large number of sales stalls there on the day.
Yes it was o.k. early on Sunday, but later rain meant our open top buses didn’t run. Some buses ran full so we ran extras on top of our 20 minute timetable, which was good to see. We did see many enthusiasts and a number of local families and that was good to see as it is part of the reason why we exist, is to allow children to travel on buses of their parents or grandparents day. We operated one of our oldest Cardiff buses a 62-year-old AEC Regent V from 1963 which was re-restored a few years ago but a problem occurred related to hydraulics in the clutch cylinder meant it was today, that was the first time this bus has carried free passengers again in a very long time. Other buses that ran included two 57 year old ones a Leyland Titan and an AEC Swift, our 52-year-old Merthyr Tydfil bus and a 44-year-old Islwyn bus so visitors were not disappointed.
– Mike Taylor (Group chariman)
The Barry heritage bus group will hold their next Open Day on Saturday, 1st November 2025 just after the clocks change, running free tips in the afternoon as a Twilight Event.
(Photo: Glyn Bowen)
