In the second part of his feature, Adrian Morton continues his conversation with heritage vehicle owner and organiser of ChesterBus Fest Matthew Davies about the growth of his fleet and the event itself, held on 13 July
Last week, we heard about the growth of Matthew Davies’ fleet of Chester buses up to the 2000s. Continuing the story of how he acquired so many Chester vehicles, and moving on into the 2010s, Matt explained that whilst at one of the North West Museum of Road Transport (previously the St Helens Transport Museum) events, he was chatting with John Cherry of Aintree Coachlines and North West Vehicle Restoration Trust. John asked him if he would like to acquire Chester’s first Leyland Olympian, number 1 (B201 EFM). Matt initially said he wasn’t that invested as this was a little ‘new’ for his interest in Chester City Transport but after John stated the price, well, it had to be a yes. After taking delivery of the Olympian, two months later Matt received a phone call from a Morris Dancing group in Skelmersdale. The person enquired his name and asked if he was interested in Chester Buses. Although Matt didn’t know the person calling, he knew exactly what bus he was about to talk about. Chester 4 (B204 EFM) was purchased from the Corporation after its demise and although the group ran it for a few years, it was still as it left service and they were looking at moving it on.
He went to view the bus, with the purpose of purchasing it as a source of spares for Olympian number 1. This was done with the idea of dismantling it quickly so the space which he was renting didn’t exceed what the parts were worth. Two years later, the bus was still complete! It was then that Matt made a bet with himself, that the vehicle would only be kept if it went straight through an MOT, but if it failed, even if just a blown bulb, it was for the chop! On the day of the MOT, the tester came from underneath the bus saying that he hadn’t seen one this good in a long time. It duly passed and became another to hit to his bank balance!
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