Wythall Busfest@Gaydon and Leyland National 50th Update

Published: 08/04/2022

• NEW: Conference and Q and A featuring Leyland National celebrities from across the bus industry
• NEW: Stunning photo portfolio of the Leyland National on display
• NEW: DVD on Leyland National history in production
• NEW: National Express Coaches 50th anniversary gathering
• NEW: National Express West Midlands Heritage Fleet on display
• Entry list building by the week – all buses welcome 

Wythall Busfest@Gaydon on Saturday July 2nd 2022 is gaining momentum with a strong entry list featuring all bus types and companies and significant interest in the Leyland National 50th celebration. Adding a new dimension to the day will be a presentation and Q and A on the Leyland National featuring five executives from across the bus industry, including Leyland Bus and vehicle operators. A new DVD is also in production tracing the development and history of the Leyland National with filming in action during the day. 

Working in partnership with the Workington Transport Heritage Trust, which is holding its own event on May 1st on the original factory site, we have identified a wide cross-section of Nationals running today, many of which will be attending either or both events this year. 

The event will also focus on the 50th anniversary of National Express Coaches.

Conference and Q and A
For Wythall Busfest@Gaydon we have assembled a key group of National celebrities who will join us conference style (free to join) to share their thoughts and involvement in the Leyland National project, with a Q and A for those keen to dig deeper. The group will comprise:

David Quainton: Former director of Leyland Bus Workington and Park Royal Coachworks. David oversaw the Gardner engine fitment programme for National 2 and worked closely with BREL on the Railbus projects.

Ken Hargreaves: Production superintendent for Leyland National Ltd at Workington under British Leyland. Ken was responsible for test and development of the assembly lines, body in white, prototypes and power units. He was general manager under VL bus and ended his career as consultant engineer UK and Europe under the Volvo Corporation.

Barrie Wills: Leyland National procurement and supplies manager from 1968 to 1971. Barrie worked directly under Marcus Smith (executive director, Leyland National Ltd) and negotiated all parts supplies and production equipment to set up the plant and get the vehicle in production.

Andrew Freeman: A time served fitter/engineer who worked for a number of companies in the midlands including Metrowest, North Birmingham Busways and Chase Bus, the latter known for their fleet of Nationals and their engineering capabilities.

Sam Ayling: The owner of Sussex Coaches in Billingshurst and former owner of pre-production national FRM 499K and ex-LRT/Chase THX193S (both in preservation). He ran 193 in daily use after light restoration and fitting a new engine. Sam was a former employee of London Country and Tillingbourne.

Basil Hancock
A large display of captioned photographs, many unique and unpublished, has being provided by former Leyland Bus senior executive Basil Hancock. Images show pre-production vehicles, test vehicles, developments, exports and even the double-ended tunnel National proposal. Basil now lives in Australia so will sadly be unable to attend. 

Basil Hancock was born in London in 1953 and worked in engineering and design for Leyland Bus and its predecessors from 1976 to 1987. His position as Product Planning Manager for Leyland Bus brought involvement in many bus and coach projects, including various Leyland National variants. He moved to Australia in 1987 and, after a long engineering and project management career in bus, light rail and heavy rail, he retired from full time work at the end of 2021.

National 50th DVD
This production has already commenced and sets out to tell the story of the National’s development, production and ongoing service. Love it or hate it, the National established a watershed moment in the bus industry, described as ‘a bus aimed at meeting the future needs of a revitalized urban transport system’ – we will hear the tale, warts and all!  The video is being produced by John Clancy at Triumph DVD and will be hosted by motoring journalist and co-editor of AROnline, Mike Humble. Interviews and background will be recorded at both of the National 50th events - Workington and Gaydon.

National Express Coaches 50th Anniversary
This iconic British brand celebrates 50 years on the road in 2022 so we intend to gather as many NE coaches from across the decades as possible at Wythall Busfest@Gaydon. If you have an example, this is a unique opportunity to display it so please come along by booking in here: Wythall Booking Form for Visiting Buses (www.wythall.org.uk/busfestbusform.asp). 

The company has clocked up 3.8 billion miles in the last 50 years. National Express is urging staff, customers and coach enthusiasts to get in touch with their memories for presentation in an online storybook, a commemorative hardback book is also planned. Stories can be shared via the National Express website (www.nationalexpress.com/en/share-your-stories) or by email to: 50years@nationalexpress.com.

National Express West Midlands Heritage Fleet 
National Express will be displaying a number of vehicles from its heritage fleet painted in the various colourful liveries from the west midlands’ pre-privatisation era.

Tickets to the event can be booked on the British Motor Museum website here: 
Tickets to Busfest@Gaydon (www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/whats-on/wythall-busfest-gaydon).

All vehicles planning to attend subject to availability on the day.