Kingsbridge Running Day

Returning for our 14th year (the 13th having been a Covid compliant trip shared virtually via Facebook), the Kingsbridge Running Day on Saturday 18th September will, once again operate a range of routes with a variety of vintage buses and coaches for the public to enjoy.

Special features will be:

 ● SU60+1 A celebration (delayed a year due to Covid) of the Bristol SU, 60 years after the first vehicles entered service

Just 7’6” wide the marque was ideally suited to the narrow lanes of the South Hams – at the peak 9 were based at Western National’s Kingsbridge garage in Rack Park (in 1968 and then again just as the depot was being closed in September 1971) – remarkably that total is set to be matched at the running day with a special display by the former depot

● Rail-Bus Connections: Totnes-Kingsbridge-Salcombe. Opportunities to sample the whole or part of the route

As of summer 2021, this is once again a through bus route now operated by Tally Ho connecting the rural South Hams to the mainline railway, part funded by South Hams District Council and GWR. It was GWR who introduced a Kingsbridge-Salcombe motor bus service on 21 July 1909 (when Kingsbridge was served by rail by the branch line from South Brent) and a Totnes-Kingsbridge bus service on 12 July 1927.

These became Western National (WN) services in 1929 when the GWR and National Omnibus & Transport Company (NOTC) formed this joint venture as part of the wider rail/bus consolidation. Western National created the through service but it split again into Kingsbridge-Totnes (Service 164) and Kingsbridge-Salcombe (Service 105) portions on 1 November 1971. So history repeats in 2021 as they are joined once again as a through service – the new 164.

The Running Day will be centred on Kingsbridge Bus Station on the Quay, operating services from 11.00 until 18.00 – note a slightly later start than normal.