Adrian Morton reports on an annual enthusiasts holiday taking in a number of interesting Midlands operators
This week’s Industry Heritage takes on a slightly different form as we follow the long-established Merseyside Bus Club on its 2024 holiday tour. The inaugural holiday first took place in 1981, then organised by the South Yorkshire Transport Trust, subsequently followed by another, the jaunt finally moving into the hands of the Merseyside Bus Club, where it has been since 1994.
A holiday has taken place each year since 1981, the only exception being 2020 due to the global pandemic. The duration is now four nights, but it was previously a week, and this year most notably all spent in the same hotel. Historically the holidaymakers would move to a different location each night, principally in the same area, defined by the title of tour, such as Devon and Cornwall. Bill Barlow is the principal organiser, suitably assisted by Tim Newins, David Leigh and Les Scott.
I’ve known Bill since 2017 when the group visited my own former company, Mortons Travel. Since our regular contributor for this column, Nick Larkin, is away at present, in addition to stepping into his shoes I wish to dedicate this article to Bill, whose wife sadly and unexpectedly passed away just two days before the trip commenced, understandably removing the opportunity to see the fruits of his labour come to fruition.
Tours are essentially UK based but have previously encompassed Ireland, the Isle of Man, Channel Islands and the Outer Hebrides. The group encompasses long-standing friends who come together each year for a holiday, essentially a very close knit number of individuals known to each other for many years, so little opportunity exists for newcomers to participate, unless very well known to one of the organisers.
The Merseyside Bus Club was founded in 1976 and has for 48 years provided day tours, monthly meetings in Liverpool and a bi-monthly review for its membership of around 150. In 1994, the holiday tours encompassing a different part of the British Isles each year were added.
This year’s tour marked 30 years being organised by the Merseyside Bus Club, encompassing the East Midlands and most notably the first tour not to touch the coast. There were 26 participants. It takes a great deal of commitment from the organisers and a huge degree of generosity and engagement from operators, individuals and other organisations for the format to work.
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