A Home for King Alfred Buses - TrustNews March 07
Over the 22 years since it started the King Alfred Bus Day each January 1st has brought many visitors to Winchester and carried something like 7.000 passengers free of charge! Whilst the Friends of King Alfred Buses is a registered charity, only the Hampshire County Council has given a small grant towards the restoration of a 60-year-old King Alfred bus located in an Irish field, which we hope, will be returned to full working order and seen again in Winchester. At the moment, the storage of the buses is a major problem as they are scattered in various places.Luckily our good friends at Stagecoach offered the use of their old garage on the Broadway bus station but, with the redevelopment of Silver Hill, the Friends will have to leave. The point of this article is to ask if you know of a suitable piece of land that the Friends could purchase to create a garage, ideally somewhere in the immediate vicinity of Winchester. If you have ever been to Long Handborough railway station yard and seen the amazing Oxford museum workshop, you can see the sort of facility we envisage, complete with educational areas. Recently they have opened a new hall devoted to William Morris - Lord Nuffield - complete with his early push bikes, cars etc. and even pieces of carpet with a Morris Minor car woven into it. Surely we in Winchester can create another asset to add to the City’s heritage for future generations.