PHOTO: Vehicles expected to participate include this 1959 Guy Arab LUF with Burlingham Seagull coach body new to Harper Bros of Heath Hayes.
With conventional bus rallies and running days off the agenda for 2020, a Midlands Bus & Coach Road Run is being planned for Sunday 23 August, with opportunities to photograph the vehicles along the 80mile route.
There will be no public bus rides, although vehicle owners may invite minimal numbers of guests as passengers and require them to comply with social distancing rules. The organisers ask that participants do not attend on the day if they experience any coronavirus symptoms. They also point out that the vehicle owners are responsible for ensuring that the buses and coaches are safe and Covid-secure.
So far, at least 27 vehicles are expected to take part. A few of these date from the late 1940s and early 1950s, but most range in age from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s, with Daimler Fleetlines, Bristol VRs, Leyland Leopards and Leyland Nationals figuring prominently in the mix.
It will start at 10.00 and finish at 16.00, with the route beginning and ending at the Ham’s Hall Business Park off the A446 near Coleshill. It will take the vehicles through parts of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands County and Leicestershire, passing Coleshill, Meriden, Nuneaton, Hinckley (bus station), Market Bosworth, Atherstone (bus station), Baddesley Ensor, Polesworth, Tamworth, Lichfield, Shenstone, Sutton Coldfield and Minworth.
A 30min break is planned at Nuneaton bus station, a 45min break at Tamworth (Jolly Sailor coach park) and a 20min break at Lichfield bus station. However, vehicle owners have been advised that these breaks are optional and that they may also omit parts of the route.
