Imber bus day

[whole diary]

[CyclingSid]

Pedant mode!

The event was at New Zealand Farm Camp. This is what the MoD calls it, and what the Ordnance Survey called it until its most recent edition. Not sure why OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) suddenly took to transposing the last two words.

[ChrisB]

From the Wiltshire Times

THE organisers of the bus trips to Imber for the open days on August 17 and 18 say the event has raised nearly £25,000 for charity.

Martin Curtis, managing director of the Bath Bus Company, which supplied some of the modern buses for the weekend, said he was “absolutely astonished” by how much they have raised.

“We have nearly doubled what we raised last year when we collected £13,000 for charity,” he said.

“No-one is more surprised than me at how successful it has been this year. I have been absolutely astonished by the reaction from the public this year.”

 "We organised 12,000 passenger journeys and had an excursion train come in from London with 200 people on board. It's difficult to say how many visitors we had because some people came in cars."

The proceeds will be split between the Friends of St Giles’s Church and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, with £2,000 also going to Macmillan Cancer Support.

[martyjon]

From the Wiltshire Times

THE organisers of the bus trips to Imber for the open days on August 17 and 18 say the event has raised nearly £25,000 for charity.

Martin Curtis, managing director of the Bath Bus Company, which supplied some of the modern buses for the weekend, said he was “absolutely astonished” by how much they have raised.

“We have nearly doubled what we raised last year when we collected £13,000 for charity,” he said.

“No-one is more surprised than me at how successful it has been this year. I have been absolutely astonished by the reaction from the public this year.”

 "We organised 12,000 passenger journeys and had an excursion train come in from London with 200 people on board. It's difficult to say how many visitors we had because some people came in cars."

The proceeds will be split between the Friends of St Giles’s Church and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, with £2,000 also going to Macmillan Cancer Support.

A fantastic amount on a fantastic day.

Haven't seen it mentioned on this forum that the £2000 donation to Macmillan Cancer Support was to recognize Stagecoach's contribution to the event as Macmillan Cancer Support is their charity of the year.

[grahame]

Imber Bus Day 2020 will be Saturday 15th August.

From the Imber village Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/ImberVillage/posts/1254778324715792

NOTE!!! (needed to happen due to numbers)
Saturday 15th August: Imber Bus Day. BUT for this day only access to Imber will be by the timetabled buses only. No cars, bicycles or pedestrians. This rule will be rigorously enforced.

 

[ChrisB]

I hope everyone doesn’t wait to travel on the last bus then. Wonder how they’ll handle that?

[martyjon]

This years event will take place on Saturday August 15th and this year it will be an Imber Car Free Day with only the buses a
llowed around the roads around Imber. Further details Google IMBERBUS.

[grahame]

I hope everyone doesn’t wait to travel on the last bus then. Wonder how they’ll handle that?

Logically "no problem" ... in previous years there's been no issue with overcrowded final buses to my knowledge - so I don't see there will be this year.   Or are the displaced car drivers forced onto the bus a completely different breed to those of us who use the buses each year?   Planning a firework event at the end of the day would cause an issue, but no-one is suggesting that, I don't think.

This years event will take place on Saturday August 15th and this year it will be an Imber Car Free Day with only the buses allowed around the roads around Imber. Further details Google IMBERBUS.

Indeed.    Some doubt around the "only" - it's a simplification.  Military vehicles will still be allowed. Not sure about people who volunteer to open/close the church; almost certainly emergency services on a call should and will be allowed if necessary, and I would suspect St. John's Ambulance and routine police will be allowed.

For the visitors, at this point sources vary.   One suggests "no vehicles other than buses" and another "no pedestrians, no cycles, no cars".  So not sure if you can walk in/out. I wouldn't be surprised to see cycles allowed.

[rogerw]

This year's event now cancelled

[grahame]

This year's event now cancelled

Thanks for the alert. I have taken the event off the diary ... here's the full email from the Imberbus people.

Imberbus is taking a break this year

by Webmaster

Although we are obviously hoping that Coronavirus restrictions will have been relaxed by the summer, it is obvious that the Covid-19 pandemic is going to have a serious effect on all our lives for many, many weeks.

It is clearly impossible to predict what the exact position will be in August and during the next few months, most of those who help us put the event on will have more important things to do, both personally and at work.  In addition, many of the organisations that support us with money, people’s time, vehicles, fuel and supplies are going to find it difficult to survive, let alone be as helpful and generous as they normally are.

It is therefore with great regret that we have taken the decision to cancel this year's Imberbus event now, so we can give plenty of notice to everyone concerned.

Rest assured, however, that we only view this as a temporary break and we will certainly be pursuing the concept of a car-free day at Imber next year. Once we have been able to agree suitable arrangements with the MoD we will, of course, contact you again to let you know the new date and publish details on our website - http://www.imberbus.org .

Regards

The Imberbus Crew

[CyclingSid]

No Imber bus in 2020, but a coffee table book to make up?

https://www.dewilewis.com/products/the-plain

Photographs are excellent. Only one actually in Imber, but others you might remember if you did the various bus routes. Covers West, Central and East parts of the Training Area. Apart from the cover, virtually all are sunshine or clear skies, none of that all to common Salisbury Plain rain. Life has obviously advanced since I was in; Portaloos! we just irrigated the undergrowth.

Waterstone's in Salisbury has copies in stock.

No, I guessed very few of the pictures on the web site.

[Marlburian]

Impressive. I can't place where the photograph of the water tower was taken - I'm guessing that it's in the eastern sector, between Everleigh and Bulford Camp.

(I've cycled and walked on most of the rights-of-way on the Plain.)

 

[Marlburian]

I posted my query on the Great War Forum, where two people informed me that the water tower is close to Tilshead, with one providing this link to Google Maps.

It's 30 years since I cycled along that stretch of road, since when I've had no cause to drive along it.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Yes - exactly there.

(I cycled past it a couple of months ago while riding the new King Alfred's Way.)

[rogerw]

Now confirmed that Imber bus will be running on August 21st only. No Sunday running this year. No car access to Imber that day. www.imberbus.org

[rogerw]

This year's event will be on Saturday 20 August. Similar format to last year with no cars permitted to Imber.