After a devastating fire, Friends of King Alfred Buses is bringing its 1950 Leyland Olympic to Buses Festival to gather support in its restoration, as JAMES FREEMAN explains
One of the things that vehicle preservationists most fear is that their precious restoration projects will be destroyed by fire. On the night of December 8 last year, that nightmare became a reality for the vehicle owners whose precious buses and coaches were stored in a yard near Andover, rented by the Winchester-based charity Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB). Seven of the eight vehicles in the shed were destroyed beyond redemption, but one bus did survive in recognisable form, though badly damaged.
This was the 1950 Leyland Olympic HR40, one of only two in the UK, that ran in Winchester for King Alfred Motor Services until 1965, before a second career in the Republic of Ireland with Jimmy Glynn of Craigue-na-Spidogue in County Carlow until about 1977. Thanks to the efforts of Andrew Saunders, who had been keeping tabs on the vehicle as it slumbered in a field opposite Mr Glynn's garage for more than ten years, its location was brought to the attention of FoKAB and a mission was launched to rescue it and bring it back to Wi…
