Jonathan Welch speaks to Chair of Aycliffe & District Bus Preservation Society Alex Willis to hear how the society is growing and expanding, with plans to become a focal point for the community and its heritage
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the heritage sector of the industry over the years I’ve been at CBW, it’s that there’s much more to it than just old buses. Classic vehicle events are a great way for the wider public to engage with the sector, the vehicles represent social and engineering history and archeology, and offer the opportunity to retain and pass on dying skills, and for those who look after the country’s growing and increasingly ‘modern’ (to older eyes at least!) fleet of classic buses, they also represent an important social scene as well. For those of us within the industry, it’s also a nice diversion from the stresses and strains of the present.
The Aycliffe & District Bus Preservation Society is a small but growing group with ambitions to expand its museum and become a focal point for local community activities beyond just buses. To learn more, I spoke to society Chair Alex Willis to find out what Aycliffe & District has been doing, both with buses and beyond.
“I joined the society a year ago,” Alex explained. “I’m not quite sure how, but I became chair at the last AGM. I think it was because until then I’d been saying we needed to do things from the back seat, so at the AGM they said ‘well go on then!’ and that’s how I got involved.”
Small beginnings
“This year, the society is celebrating its 45th anniversary,” Alex continued. “It was founded way back in 1980, but like a lot of other people, until I got involved I didn’t even know it existed. The people of Newton Aycliffe had no idea that there was a bus museum, an accredited museum, in the town, so I started off by seeing how we could change that. We’ve got some very interesting vehicles here, but even people who were into buses didn’t know about us. “Our Darlington Corporation double-decker number 7 is one of only two, or maybe three, of its type still in existence. It’s a Daimler CCG5, which unlike most similar buses has a Guy driveline and manual clutch with non-synchromesh gearbox.
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