The lovingly preserved buses are part of the King Alfred Collection, provided by the local volunteer-run charity Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB).
On January 1 all Stagecoach services in and around Winchester are suspended for the New Year holiday, instead, the city streets echoed to the sounds of buses from the 1950s and 60s as restored vehicles from the old King Alfred fleet provided their customary free rides.
King Alfred Motor Services was the unique independently run business that ran most of the local services in the city and its surroundings from just after the First World War until 1973.
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Friends of King Alfred Buses vintage bus day in Winchester. Keith Burbidge with his model of a 1930’s Bournemouth trolley bus. (Image: Stuart Martin)
The firm, whose title was R. Chisnell & Sons Ltd, was family-owned but operated effectively a municipal service. It all started when, in 1922, the City Council approached Robert Chisnell (senior) and asked him to provide a bus service to the new garden estate being constructed at Lower Stanmore.
From there, the firm went on to develop a network of services across the city, including Stanmore, Oliver’s Battery, Weeke Estate, Teg Down, Harestock, Springvale, Winnall, Highcliffe and Morn Hill.
FoKAB’s preserved fleet recreated many of those routes on January 1, providing regular services along the main roads out of the city during the daylight hours.
They provided hourly runs each way on the Romsey Road, Stockbridge Road, Andover Road and Worthy Road and there will be country runs to the surrounding villages of Sparholt, Crawley, South Wonston, Sutton Scotney, Wonston & Stoke Charity, Itchen Abbas, Alresford, Morn Hill and Owslebury.
In addition, a free service operated every 90 minutes all the way to Fareham via Fisher’s Pond and Bishop’s Waltham. This provided a link to another network of free bus rides, provided by the Provincial Society across Fareham and Gosport (called Ale’n’Ride!).
The details are all contained in a brightly-coloured souvenir programme available on the day at £6 from FoKAB’s stall in the Broadway.
James Freeman, chairman of FoKAB, said: “Despite everything the weather tried to throw at us today, we still managed to give a lot of people a really good time, nostalgically remembering past times or perhaps exploring a new part of the city and surroundings. There was atmosphere in abundance as the buses splashed through the streets.
“The dire weather warnings in advance of the day definitely dissuaded a lot of people from venturing out, while some people simply looked out of the window and decided to stay in the warm! Despite that, we have experienced far worse conditions than today on some previous events, going back to 1983!
“Sales of programmes were brisk at FoKAB’s gazebo beside the Guildhall and many buses were busy through the day. Although there were a few failures through the day we had sufficient support that almost every trip did in fact operate, though not always with the scheduled buses!
“A huge thank you is needed to all the FoKAB members who stepped up to make it happen again this New Year’s Day and to all those cheerful travellers who filled our buses and provided so much cheerful and generous feedback at the end of the day. The great thing about our buses is that we get to share them with hundreds of people!
“Still, it’s only as we get home and start to dry off that we remember why it is that, several years ago now, FoKAB moved its main event to the first Bank Holiday in May – with much longer days, warmer temperatures and a chance of a beautiful day… The next one is on Monday May 5 – the Original King Alfred Running Day.”