david.humphrey
Conductor Humphrey!
Imberbus - a one day a year service through the village of Imber in Wiltshire, on one of the few days that the roads through the Army training area on Salisbury Plain are open to the public. Every half hour, buses to and from four different destinations connect at Gore Cross Interchange (so named by the Public Transport department at Wiltshire County Council, who entered into the spirit of the day). It is otherwise in the middle of nowhere! The service was started in 2009 by a group of enthusiasts from within the bus operating business, and the scale of operation has grown each year.
Proceeds from ticket sales all go to charities, this year raising almost £25,000 shared between the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and St Giles Church at Imber, with £2,000 going to Stagecoach's charity of the year, Macmillan Cancer care.
Imber village and great swathes of the surrounding countryside were requisitioned by the MoD in 1943, to accommodate the build up to D-Day. The villagers were evicted. Most of the original village has long gone; a small housing estate was built for training purposes. St Giles C15 church remains, and within it is a great deal of information about the history of the village, and is open to the public on Imberbus day.
Photo by David Hussey.
Conductor Humphrey!
Imberbus - a one day a year service through the village of Imber in Wiltshire, on one of the few days that the roads through the Army training area on Salisbury Plain are open to the public. Every half hour, buses to and from four different destinations connect at Gore Cross Interchange (so named by the Public Transport department at Wiltshire County Council, who entered into the spirit of the day). It is otherwise in the middle of nowhere! The service was started in 2009 by a group of enthusiasts from within the bus operating business, and the scale of operation has grown each year.
Proceeds from ticket sales all go to charities, this year raising almost £25,000 shared between the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and St Giles Church at Imber, with £2,000 going to Stagecoach's charity of the year, Macmillan Cancer care.
Imber village and great swathes of the surrounding countryside were requisitioned by the MoD in 1943, to accommodate the build up to D-Day. The villagers were evicted. Most of the original village has long gone; a small housing estate was built for training purposes. St Giles C15 church remains, and within it is a great deal of information about the history of the village, and is open to the public on Imberbus day.
Photo by David Hussey.