Transport Museum Wythall Easter Weekend starts the main event season
Published: 11/04/2023
The Easter weekend signalled the start of Transport Museum Wythall’s main event season with 830 people and a variety of visiting vehicles attending the running days, but the weather refused to play ball on Easter Monday’s main operating day.
After two days of sunshine, the day began dismally with dark skies and heavy rain, reminiscent of similar bank holidays in 2022. But the afternoon saw bright and sunny breaks amongst some heavy showers, enabling rides on members of the museum fleet and from several interesting visitors.
The low floor duo of NXWM Alexander Trident 4321 and Optare Spectra 4001 provided unhindered step-free accessibility for visitors, particularly those with pushchairs or wheelchairs, on the Phoenix car park shuttle service. The museum’s collection running the free rides included Cheltenham Bristol RE 1000, BCT AEC Regent 486 (always fully-loaded) and Midland Red SON 2418, joined by Kevin Hill’s WMPTE Bristol VR 4413.
Visitors also provided variety with their own vehicles out on service. Roger Burdett, a regular museum supporter, brought his most unusual Seddon Pennine IV, Perkins V8 powered Plaxton Panorama Elite FLY 755J of RHMS Coventry, heard arriving many minutes before it came into view, along with Bristol Omnibus Company Bristol/ECW RE. Another regular supporter of TMW is James Eastwood who continues to develop his eclectic fleet, arriving with his recently acquired 1930s Leyland Titan TD5. This former Lothalmond vehicle carries an Alexander body on a Leyland frame and was acquired from Stephen Morris. It struck a chord, running nicely alongside its period sister BCT Regent 486, dodging the showers and both carrying full loads.
The next main event at Wythall will be running days over the May bank holiday weekend (April 30th/ May 1st) and don’t miss the Harrington Gathering 2023 on May 21st when we welcome coaches and cars from the famous Harrington stable.
