Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust

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A day out in the late 1960s

TAVISTOCK MINI-RUNNING DAY – 14 July 2019

Join us for a time warp in this historic Devon market town, as a specially invited selection of vintage buses and coaches recreate scenes from some 50 years ago.

Radiating from the former Western National Tavistock Bus Station, free vintage bus services will operate to Princetown, Two Bridges, Yelverton, Calstock, Gunnislake, Milton Abbot, Plaster Down, Lamerton, Lydford and others, taking in the beautiful scenery of Dartmoor and mid-Devon.

A feeder service from Plymouth will depart from Royal Parade (Stop A21) at 0910 (arr. Tavistock 1000), with return departing Tavistock Bus Station at 1645 (arr. Plymouth 1735). This service will run via Plymouth Railway Station in each direction. Another feeder service will operate from Okehampton, departing Fore Street Arcade (Stop C) at 0900 (arr. Tavistock 1000) with return departing Tavistock Bus Station at 1700 (arr. Okehampton 1800). Travel on all services will be on a first come, first served basis.

Service buses now connect with train services at Gunnislake.

Vehicles have been assembled to represent the allocation of Western National’s Tavistock depot in the late 1960s, plus one or two representatives of local independent operators, all giving free rides on authentic routes.

Vehicle owners: Please note that, because of the nature of this re-creation and limitations on layover space, participation in this event is by invitation only. However, we’d be delighted to welcome your vehicle to our other running days throughout the year and hope that you'll enjoy the opportunity to come along to Tavistock as a passenger, perhaps taking advantage of our feeder services as detailed above.

Tavistock stalwarts: Bristol LS saloon 1723 and rebodied Bristol LL 1206 form a typical 1968 depot scene. © John Barley

The proliferation of green and cream in Tavistock bus station at the first mini-running day – was it 1968 or 2018?

© Colin Billington

Bristol SUL 420 re-creates the service to Calstock. Much admired as passengers await the steep climb back to Tavistock. © David T Sheppard

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Programmes

To accompany this event a fully illustrated colour programme has been produced. In addition to timetables and details of the vehicles attending, the programme includes photographic comparisons of the Tavistock bus scene some 50 years ago. It also examines the significant changes in vehicle design emerging in the late 1960s and takes a look at the bus of the future….. as it appeared in 1969. So you can plan your day, programmes can be purchased in advance as follows:

BY POST for £7.50 including p&p (programmes will be despatched from 3rd July) by either

- Sending a cheque payable to ‘TV&GWOT’ to Ledger Farm, Forest Green Road, Fifield, Maidenhead SL6 2NR, or

- Paying by Paypal (including any postal / delivery instructions in the notes)

IN PERSON from 5th July for £6 from Wendy’s Kiosk in Tavistock Bus Station

Vehicles attending

Fleet No.	Registration	Chassis	Year	Body	Original Operator
959	KUO 972	Bristol K6B	1950	ECW	Western National
1943	VDV 760	Bristol LD6G	1958	ECW	Western National
2019	824 KDV	Bristol FLF6G	1963	ECW	Western National
1218	JUO 983	Bristol LL6B	1948	ECW	Southern National
1613	LTA 772	Bristol LWL5G	1951	ECW	Western National
1376	OTT 85	Bristol LS6G	1954	ECW	Southern National
603	675 COD	Bristol SUS4A	1960	ECW	Western National
420	270 KTA	Bristol SUL4A	1962	ECW	Western National
425	275 KTA	Bristol SUL4A	1962	ECW	Western National
1234	286 KTA	Bristol SUL4A	1962	ECW	Western National
495	LOD 495	Albion Victor	1950	Duple	Carmel Coaches
	100 VRL	AEC Reliance	1964	Harrington	Hawkeys Tours
1157	AFJ 764T	Bristol VRT/SL3/6LXB	1979	ECW	Western National

Information about previous events can be found here.

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