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Bus Photos - Imber, August 2018

Photos

Imber 2018

Imber

All Events

Saturday 18th of August 2018.

31 Photos

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St Giles' Church

18 August 2018

The road through the village of Imber is open to the public on just a few days each year.

On one of these, a group runs bus services from Warminster railway station to Imber and to other villages on Salisbury Plain.

A fleet of old London Transport Routemaster buses is used with some newer buses to give greater accessibility.

The 2018 event was held on a rather chilly and grey Saturday in August, but the weather did not prevent large numbers of people enjoying the day.

Profits from the day's bus fares help with the church's preservation.

Imber Village

The Bell Inn

Council Houses

Imber Court

Nag's Head Cottages

Seagram's Farm

St Giles' Church

Urban Warfare

Imber

The village of Imber is on Salisbury Plain, an extensive area of Wiltshire which has been used for military training since 1897.

In December 1943, as preparations were made for the invasion of Europe, the people of Imber were ordered to leave so that the village could be used to train for the fight to come. The villagers were tenatnts of the War Office and were entitled to only limited compensation. They hoped that when the war ended they would be allowed to return. This did not happen.

The army still use the village which is closed to the public except on a small number of occasions. Most of the buildings are gone with new ones built for urban warfare training. Much of the area is off limits because of the risk of unexploded ordinance.

St Giles' Church is maintained by The Churches Conservation Trust.

Imberbus

461 CLT

464 CLT

485 CLT

510 CLT

654 DYE

ALD 941B

ALD 978B

CUV 344C

JJD 451D

JJD 583D

KGJ 339A

SMK 734F

SMK 735F

VLT 242

VLT 9

WLT 613

KJD 260P

X173 FBB

LTZ 1000

LTZ 1001

LTZ 1264

LTZ 1700

Imberbus

In 2009, a group of bus industry professionals achieved a long standing ambition to run a vintage bus service from Warminster in Wiltshire, to the abandoned village of Imber on the Salisbury Plain. It proved to be so popular that it has now become an annual event, with most journeys continuing across the Plain to parts of Wiltshire rarely seen by ordinary public transport users.

As the buses were operating an ordinary bus service, there was no need for passengers to book in advance – they just turned up and paid the conductor on the bus.

Battlebus

LH 8186

New in 1914 as an AEC B with London General bodywork.

Used by the War Department during World War 1, it returned to London General as fleet number B2737. It was later owned by the National Omnibus Co..

The 'Battlebus' as it is now known belongs to the London Transport Museum and can be seen at a wide range of public events.

This restored version includes the original chassis plus bodywork and mechanical parts from many sources.

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