Nick Larkin reports on a vintage bus expected to attract lots of attention in Winchester this spring
Fifty years after legendary Winchester-based independent King Alfred closed down, a dozen of its former buses will be running on old routes. Winchester-based Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) has confirmed details of its Original King Alfred Buses Running Day in and around the city on Monday 1 May.
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Buses from other operators will also be present and 1929 ex-Hants & Dorset Leyland Lion single-decker RU 8678 will head the line-up in King Alfred guise. Free bus services will operate routes based on Winchester Broadway and the St Catherine’s park & ride car park between approximately 0900 and 1630hrs. There will be the usual King Alfred sales stand, open between 1000 and 1600hrs, while at St Catherine’s there will be a static display of historic vehicles with a frequent free bus service to and from central Winchester.
Said FoKAB’s founder and chairman James Freeman: “It’s time once again to give our many friends and supporters a chance to re-live the best years of King Alfred buses. On 1 May it will be almost 50 years to the day since the last King Alfred bus ran into the depot – who would have believed then that so many buses would have been rescued and brought back to the city to remind us all of their past service?”
King Alfred was established in 1922 and served the city for 51 years.
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