Coventry Running Day & Transport Fair

For anyone interested in Coventry Transport or old buses, there is a transport fair on the new year holiday, Monday, 2nd January at the Butts Rugby ground. See this poster for details.

There are 15 vehicles running on Jan 2 plus 14 transport stalls under the Rugby Club stand. Buses are running between 10.00am + 16.00 on 2 routes including at least 3 ex Coventry Corporation Buses and 1970s vehicles allocated to Coventry Garages

The bus rides are all "FREE" for this event and I believe you only have to pay to get in where the sales stalls are, which will be selling things like models, books, photo's and basically any transport collectables.

Unfortunately the bus illustrated on the poster, EKV 966, will not be present at the event as it is still undergoing an extensive restoration. Nevertheless it is hoped there will be at least 15 other buses, both formerly from Coventry and also from further afield.

Been told that there are now 20 buses of all ages booked in to attend the event, so there'll certainly be something there of interest to go for a "FREE" ride on, depending on what era of transport you're interested in. I think there's about 14 or 15 sales stalls now booked in as well, which will all be found located inside the grounds of the Rugby Club!

There are two circular bus routes for tomorrow's transport event at Coventry Rugby Club, with the first bus departing at 10.00am and running up until the last one's departure at 4.00pm. They go from the Rugby Club up to Coventry Railway Station, then to Coventry Transport Museum and then back to the Rugby Club! The second route starts its buses running at 10.30am, up until 3.30pm and those buses will go from the Rugby Club, up to the Electric Railway Museum and Midland Aeroplane Museum and then back to the Rugby Club again!

The Electric Railway Museum will be open from 11:00 until 16:00 and as always admission is free. The 457 will be open and Spondon No. 1 will be in operation as well as the regular features of the Museum coach and the chance to grab refreshments in the Clacton Café.

A few photos from yesterday

The Coventry Running Day & Transport Fair on Monday fortunately turned out to be a huge success, with most of the buses that went out on trips being fully loaded! Quite a few heads were turned, as the many old buses travelled along the city's streets and everyone who attended really seemed to enjoy the day. The bright sunny weather was an added bonus, although it was still very cold mind you! lol. Warmth was soon to be found where all the sales stalls and brilliant cafe were, located inside the Rugby Club itself and from what I've been told, the stallholders themselves all had a good days trading too! Fingers crossed that a similar event can be held again in Coventry next year, but in the meantime, my thanks must go to everyone who helped to make the event happen and to all the many people who attended as well, as you all helped to make it a fantastic day out and the success that I'm really pleased it was!!!!!!!!!!!

Next year January 1 is the available date as January 2 will be a working day. Will we get as many people/buses if we hold on January 1. Interestingly there were more long distance visitors than locals and despite press releases neither Cov paper chose to pint them.

Following on from the successful event on Jan 2 2017 there is another Bus & Coach Event on January 1 2018 at Coventry Rugby Club Butts Road. As well as around 20 Buses & Coaches running there will be stalls and a cafe open inside the Rugby Club stand. Most of the vehicles entered are different to 2017 and 3 routes will be in operation. These are:- City Centre Circular. Butts-Midland Air Museum and return. Butts-Motorcycle Museum and return. As last year all bus rides are free. A programme will be available with timetables in and this also gives entry to the Transport Fair. Jan 1 can be a dead day so I ask as many people to come out and support the event and wallow in some nostalgia riding vehicles from the 1940s through to the 80s

Hi Busman, Do you know when the Rugby Club is open and when the last buses depart? I may be able to get along in the afternoon. Peter.

Thanks Busman, My wife, my two grandsons aged 7 & 10, and I all enjoyed ourselves. We saw all of the preserved buses, had a ride on a coach to the aviation museum, and a ride around the city centre on a double decker. We had hot dogs and chips in the warmth of the grandstand and my grandsons spent their Christmas money on a selection of model buses and other bits and pieces - they even bought me a nice new mug for the bargain price of £1. A good way to spend a cold and damp bank holiday afternoon without having to drive far, and without spending a fortune. The grandsons learned a bit about buses and how they used to be. They thought you just changed the route indicators by pressing a few buttons until I showed them the handles to turn the destination blinds and the steps to enable the conductor to reach them. Roger

I somehow managed to miss that this was on but did do a double-take when I saw the WMPTE bus going up Leamington Road

Peter Only read the question on Jan 2 sorry