As it was supposed to be SHOWBUS this weekend I thought I would include this picture of one of the vehicles I was looking forward to seeing. It is the beautfully restored AEC Regal III of Soudley Valley Coaches fitted with a Harrington dorsal fin body. It is thought to have only attended SHOWBUS once before during the pandemic, when it took part in the SHOWBUSflyby and is seen en route from Thame Services to Beaconsfield Services primarily along the A40. At an early stage in planning the route had to be diverted via Thame due to part of the A40 being closed! Because of COVID I was stuck in Australia for twenty months so never got to see the Regal, having organised the whole event from my armchair in Melbourne! So despite the world being paralysed by COVID SHOWBUS went ahead, albeit in modified form. It nearly got cancelled the following year by a jobs-worth official at Hertfordshire Council wanting every bus to have hand sanitiser on board and upteen other stupid regulations which would ceasing to be "law" the day after the event. We survived riots in Brixton, floods in Bedfordshire, a nation wide fuel shortage and most recently a boycott by BUSES magazine! However HS2 is responsible for the first cancellation of the event.
|
