FROM SUNSHINE TO SNOW
The Editor is demanding I get up-to-date. I'm looking out of the window at the surprisingly early snow - what event did I report last? Ah yes, the Leicestershire tour - drifting around the countryside out to Melton Mowbray with D9 5399. A wonderful June day - what came next? Super-efficient Phil Ireland has produced a list of all the major public jobs we did - amazingly there's almost forty items, things like private hires that never get reported in 'Omnibus'. This is the opportunity to thank the unsung heroes who staff the hires, the biggest being the Classic Car Show, and whose efforts contribute so much to the improved finances of the Museum.
Next up was Midland Red In Action on 31 July, celebrating the centenary of the actual commencement of operations. You've seen the pictures so you know the highlights already but we were happy to achieve the things that eluded us on the 2004 Midland Red event. The three oldest Midland Reds posed together. Public rides on the D10. Film show. Such activities made the event different to 2004. But would visitors come on a day with competing events to what they may perceive as a re-run? The 2004 event was the busiest day at Wythall ever. We couldn't really expect to exceed that but, happily, I can report that 31 July was the second busiest day ever; making the special effort worthwhile alongside the satisfaction the presentation gave to so many hard-working volunteers.
The August Bank Holiday weekend featured two operating days, that on the Monday being promoted as the Big Operating Day, promising rides on lots of different vehicles. Private owners kindly joined in the spirit of the event and I reckon we had nineteen different buses on offer at various times of the day. Enthusiast visitors must have found some of these to their taste and they also benefited from the number of sales stands on site. Now you would think this was bad news for the Museum shop but sales stands encourage more enthusiasts so everybody wins. In fact, Dave Potts and his colleagues in the shop have had an excellent year. Bank holidays attract the family market too so, not surprisingly, the cafeteria staff again came under serious pressure. The ability to extract any one of the nineteen buses to give a ride or three also caused pressure, the pre-planning was a bit fraught although nothing compared to events I have attended elsewhere when they haven't been able to extract the desired vehicle. Talk about tension!
A spate of late summer/autumn private hires was punctuated by the last event, on 9 October, which revived the title Pre-Hibernation Day. There were two strands to this, buses built by Bristol and 55 Years of Birmingham's 55 bus route. Bit obscure, said certain people of the latter, but it was a jolly good excuse to bring out the BCT and WMPTE buses and dress them with appropriate destination displays, thanks to some concerted changing of blind rolls by Bob Williamson. The resulting presentation looked really good, thanks, Bob. The D9 ran the first trip to town in case its seating capacity was needed but, after that, the Bristols ran alongside the blue and creams, producing a real Gardnerfest until Adrian Hunt kindly ran his immaculate Bristol-engined KSW6B.
Thus ended the event days. Hard to believe we could beat the visitor figures for 2004 with its mighty Midland Red event. Figures are still to be finalised at the time of writing but it is already clear that 2005 has beaten the record year of 2004 with most events exceeding their equivalent days last year. Market research indicates that much is due to the friendliness and enthusiasm of our staff. Thanks to everybody who participated - to our own members, of course, some of whom have worked unbelievably hard, but also to private owners of buses resident on and off the site. Thanks for your superb support.
Malcolm Keeley
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
