2023 was yet another busy and very enjoyable year with Ruby.

We attended 18 great rallies, road-runs and festivals with her.

We covered 2,148 miles and used 148 gallons of diesel fuel.

Cost of operations in 2023:

Storage           £1,742

Fuel                   £928

Insurance         £387

Maintenance    £979

Restoration      £502

Total :            £4,538

January

Entry forms for rallies and running days were submitted.

February

Maintenance: Faulty CAV fuel injector repaired, cleaned & reinstalled.

March

19 March, Cotswolds Tour.

Ruby joined the route in Burford town. We then ran via Minster Lovel, Witney, Long Hanborough and Woodstock to the Worth Motors garage at Enstone for lunch. Ruby returning to base via Aynho.

April

16 April, Spring Gathering, London Bus Museum.

Always a pleasure to be at Brooklands, which is a superb location, packed with interesting buildings & vehicles relating to the early years of British motor sport. The London Bus Museum on site gives a fascinating history and a great display of classic London buses.

Maintenance: Engine oil changed & oil filter centrifuge cleaned-out.

May

14 May, Bristol RELH 60^th Anniversary ‘South Midland’ Road Run

May 2023 was 60 years since the prototype Bristol RELH/ECW coach (reg. 521 ABL) went into service with ‘South Midland’ on their Oxford-London express routes. So, a select number of Bristol/ECW coaches re-created a significant part of the two routes. We travelled from Oxford along the A40 via Wheatley, High Wycombe and Beaconsfield returning along the A4 via Slough, Maidenhead and Henley.

29 May, Bus Rally, Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, Quainton.

A short drive from Ruby’s storage is this great preserved rail line. The main exhibition building on-site is the old Oxford LMS railway station.

June

3 & 4 June, Vintage Nostalgia Festival, Stockton Park, Wiltshire.

As well as classic bus rallies, we also like to attend vintage vehicle and music events with Ruby. This was our first time at this small, but most enjoyable weekend festival. A highlight was Saturday evenings entertainment, which included a troop of Can-can dancers - not the sort of thing you expect to see in Wiltshire!

15 June, CTPG Festival of Transport, Barry Island.

Always a great pleasure to be back in South Wales at this excellent rally. Ruby gets to meet-up with restored buses and coaches from all the main South Wales fleets from the 1960's - ah childhood memories.

16 June, Tintern & Chepstow visit.

My grandparents ran the Anchor Hotel, (opposite Tintern Abbey) from 1920 to 1953. My father was born there in 1925. I like a visit back to enjoy a meal and to indulge in some nostalgia. A drive through Bulwark (past the RED & WHITE Head Office and CWS) is also an essential part of Ruby's trip to South Wales!

18 June, SHOWBUS Fly-By

A second opportunity to run along part of the Oxford-High Wycombe-London route that the proto-type Bristol RELH/ECW coach ran for much of her 10 years in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

26 June, Steam & Country Fair, Bloxham.

This is a charming festival of vintage vehicles and steam traction engines in the heart of Oxfordshire.

Maintenance: Engine oil changed & oil centrifuge cleaned-out (again) after it was discovered that a fuel return pipe was leaking fuel into the rocker cover.

July

1 July, Wythall BusFest, Gaydon Motor Museum.

Taking over from where the BUSES Festival left-off, this is a great rally, always with a fabulous assortment of preserved buses and coaches.

2 July, Bournemouth Bus Rally, King’s Park.

A lovely rally beside the seaside and a destination Ruby often visited in her express service days.

9 July, Bristol 40^th Event, Transport Museum Wythall.

To mark the 40^th anniversary of the closure of the Bristol Commercial Vehicle factory in October 1983, Wythall arranged this day to celebrate survivors of this great bus and coach chassis manufacturer.

(Scroll-down to see a great line-up of Bristol's)

Maintenance: Annual MOT inspection undertaken, tyre pressures and wheel nuts checked/tightened and all grease nipples topped-up.

August

6 August, Gloucestershire Vintage Extravaganza, South Cerney.

Always a fabulous rally, with large displays of steam traction engines, lorries, tractors, motorbikes, cars and of course classic buses and coaches.

13 August, RetroFestival, Newbury Showground.

If live music from the 1940’s through to the 1970’s is your thing, then this is definitely the best event of its kind in South East England. Many of the bands here are brilliant and the wide selection of vintage stalls makes it a retail paradise.

20 August, Cotswolds Bus Rally, Stow-on-the-Wold.

A very pleasant family-run rally in the heart of the Cotswolds, always with an interesting selection of classic buses and coaches.

26 August, Gloucester Goes Retro, Gloucester City Centre.

Gloucester, a City Ruby once travelled through very regularly to/from Cheltenham Coach Station on express services. It was of course the eastern edge of the RED & WHITE stage carriage (i.e. local bus) network. So, it’s great for Ruby to participate in this marvellous one-day retro event in the city centre streets.

27 August, National Transport Trust Festival, Fawley Hill, Henley.

About 12 years ago, I had an early morning hot air balloon ride taking-off from Henley. We flew over a large park with a railway line across it. It turned out that this “park” was actually the garden and home of Sir Robert McAlpine! A keen steam railway enthusiast and collector of transport memorabilia, the McAlpine family organise an annual open-day for steam and vintage vehicle owners to show-off their treasures. 2023 was the first time that we attended this event with Ruby and really enjoyed every minute of it.

September

3 September, BUSES Festival, Sywell Aerodrome.

Our first time at this venue, a fabulous day, made all the more special as Ruby was awarded the ‘Best Preserved Coach 2023’ trophy!

October

3 October, Sunday Scramble at Bicester Heritage, Bicester.

November & December

With no rallies to attend autumn and winter is a quiet time.

If the weather is dry and sunny, I’ll take Ruby out for a short drive.

Restoration: Fitted new chrome ash tray into one seat arm rest and a pair of seat-back handles installed. New chrome filler strip for the window rubbers has been purchased (ready to fit this winter).

To find out where we'll be going with Ruby in 2024,

please visit our rallies page.