The last week in September has always meant one thing in the industry rally calendar, and that is Showbus. Richard Sharman reports from the 2024 edition of the this iconic and revived UK coach and bus event that everyone thought they had seen the last of
It is, without doubt, the behemoth of the coach and bus rally calendar, and back in 2022 we thought it was all over with the announcement that the 50th edition of this popular yearly rally at the Hertfordshire County Showground was to end. CBW was there and it was, we thought, a great final event to end on, with rally organiser Martin Isles even rolling out Australian soap star Alan Flectcher, AKA Karl Kennedy from ‘Neighbours,’ to hand out the awards at the end of the day… although that would never top Stephen Lewis, AKA ‘Blakey’ from ‘On the Buses’ handing out the awards in 2004, including to me for winning the ‘Best Open Top Bus’ prize with a brand new City Sightseeing Ayats-bodied Volvo B7RLE; what an honour it was to be presented with an award from Blakey!
Whilst 2022 was meant to be the final show, Martin Isles had also planned to hold the ‘Showbus Flyby’ road run on 18 September, the Sunday prior to Showbus 50, an event to celebrate the very first edition held in January 1973 at Brunel University in Uxbridge, with a selection of coaches and buses running between High Wycombe and the University for enthusiasts to watch and photograph. This was however put off until June 2023 due to the passing of Her Majesty the Queen and the funeral being held at Westminster the following day. So by default we did have a Showbus related event in 2023.
A new era?
There was never any doubt that an event that had been held every year for five decades was always going to be missed, so it was to the delight of many that the following press release was put out: “After many months of discussions, we are thrilled to announce that an agreement has now been reached and the show will go on! Buckinghamshire Railway Centre in Quainton will be hosting Showbus from now on, starting with Showbus 2024.
“You will be no doubt be pleased to hear that Martin will be involved initially to ensure Showbus continues to embody all the traditional ingredients that have made it the number one bus event in the UK for so many years.
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre (also known as Quainton Railway Society) has its own team who will take on the work of registering vehicles, selling visitor tickets, preparing the site and ensuring the event runs smoothly on the day. The emphasis, as ever, will be on providing a fabulous display of buses and coaches.
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