Penzance & West Cornwall Vintage #Busflyby 18 APRIL 2021

The Cornwall Bus Preservation Society (CBPS) in association with the Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust (TV&GWOT) has been inviting visitors to sunny, warm West Cornwall for vintage bus running days since the original Final VR Running Day on 9 December 2006. Although it was not possible to stage our usual Penzance Running Day in 2021, we offered an alternative Penzance & West Cornwall Vintage #Busflyby on Sunday 18 April. This socially-distanced run for locally-based vintage buses and coaches will brought well-deserved smiles to the people of West Cornwall as they passed by. For the safety of all, we regret that passengers could not be carried but followers enjoyed the run from their homes, both via our Facebook page and by following the hashtag #Busflyby. Take a look now at the event videos and photos. Some 22 vehicles took part with buses passing at 15 minute intervals through Helston, Penzance, Hayle, St Just and Marazion from 10:00 to 16:00. We hope to return to Penzance for a traditional running day on Sunday 17 April 2022 with free rides around the West Cornwall Peninsula in these vintage vehicles.

(C)  Luke  Farley	All other event photographs © Helen Billington

 Support

Selling programmes at the Penzance Running Days is a principal way CBPS and TV&GWOT raise funds to cover the upkeep of these preserved vehicles so they can be enjoyed by others.  Covid restrictions meant the traditional event had to be cancelled in 2020 and although the 2021 flyby format brought the opportunity for wide enjoyment, there was no busy bus station in which we can sell programmes to cover the costs.   This is challenging for CBPS and TV&GWOT and we should be very grateful if you would consider making a donation to contribute to our costs and preservation funds in recognition of the work put in to bring the vehicles to you for #busflyby.  You can donate via Paypal below or go to the donations page for a Gift Aid form or postal details.

Thank you sincerely to those who have already, or now, donate!

Routes

The routes are illustrated in the animation below. The Penzance-St Just-Penzance and Penzance-Hayle-Helston-Penzance loops operated with an approximately 15 minute headway between 10:00 and 16:00 when a grand finale cavalcade processed through Penzance. This created an ever-changing exhibition of passenger road transport heritage with all vehicles covering every stretch of the routes at least once in the course of the day. Timetables can be downloaded in the pdf pack here.

Some buses travelling from South Devon and East Cornwall passed through Truro en route to Helston and Penzance to help fly the flag for the event.

Vehicles

The following locally-based vehicles listed below took part.

(C) Copyright The Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust

Company Registered in England No. 5035702.  Registered Charity No. 1125980