Wythall goes ‘On The Road’

Published: 13/12/2021

2022 sees all-new themed events and a new bus festival as Wythall goes ‘On The Road’

• All-new Wythall Busfest@Gaydon featuring the 50th anniversary of the Leyland National
• London comes to Wythall featuring a wide selection of the Capital’s buses
• A new museum exhibition of Birmingham City Transport across the decades
• Birmingham City Transport celebration event with ‘Happy Hour’ services
• The Queens’ Jubilee bank holiday celebrated in red, white and blue
• Wythall ‘On the Road’ visits to rallies and events across the UK
• The debut of BCT Regent V 486 following its extensive restoration
• Summer steam gala event on Miniature Railway Wythall
• ……….and much more

Transport Museum Wythall brings new event ideas and a fresh new look to its displays in 2022. Revised museum displays and all-new themes will ensure a new and wider variety of things to see and do for the visitor, from families and children to the die-hard transport enthusiast.

Wythall Busfest @ Gaydon with Leyland National 50th – Saturday July 2nd 
The main event of the year is Wythall Busfest@Gaydon, an all-new event organised by TMW in partnership with the British Motor Museum and featuring Leyland National 50th, displaying the history of a new bus design that became one of the best known but surprisingly least popular of the 1970s and 80s. Working with the Workington Transport Heritage Trust (home of National bus production) we will attempt to gather as many variations of the National design as possible.

This summertime event, ideally located at the crossroads of England, welcomes a wide range of buses from across the decades and regions with themed displays by area or manufacturer and plenty of free bus rides on the site and roads around Gaydon. Wythall’s collection will be represented plus trade stands and visiting museum displays are welcome. If you have a bus to exhibit please complete the application form at www.wythall.org.uk/busfest. For trade stand enquiries please email: busfest@wythall.org.uk. 

BMM houses the largest collection of historic British cars and offers lots to interest the whole family.

London comes to Wythall – Saturday and Sunday June 18th and 19th 
Another special event, this time in partnership with the Routemaster Association is a two day affair. Resulting from a successful visit by a small number of members of the group to Wythall in 2021, this new weekend event will bring a wide variety of the capital city’s buses to the Midlands – and not just the Routemaster! For many this will be an ideal opportunity ‘north of Watford’ to see and ride on some of the country’s most successful vehicle designs that operated in the arduous conditions of the capital across decades.  Members and visiting vehicles will be joined by Wythall’s very own London RF and RT. 

Birmingham City Transport exhibition throughout the year
With the Commonwealth Games taking place in Birmingham in 2021, TMW is holding an exhibition celebrating the City’s transport across the decades. AEC Regent V 486 will make its public debut following its extensive restoration, alongside the story of the ‘Birmingham standards’ over the decades – all the same but also all different. The social history of the contribution that the city’s transport made to the lives of the diverse population of Brummies, through direct employment and the associated manufacturing of buses in the region, will also be told.

Birmingham Bus Celebration –Sunday October 2nd
As part of the 2022 season BCT exhibition, the Autumn Running day pays tribute to the buses that served the city of Birmingham for over 100 years. Buses from the museum’s BCT and West Midlands Travel collection will be running, including a Happy Hour service in the afternoon.

Other events
The main event calendar will also include Easter Sunday and Monday (April 17th and 18th) with visiting buses, the annual Bristol spring gathering and of course, an Easter bunny hunt. Spring Bank Holiday (June 2nd 3rd and 4th), this year incorporating the Queen’s Jubilee celebration, will see the museum turn red, white and blue with bus rides from BCT, Midland Red and other West Midlands fleets.  The August Bank Holiday event (August 28th and 29th) is The Great British Bank Holiday with a taste of the seaside. Devon cream teas, Devon General buses and open top bus rides will be the order of the day. The season will end with the traditional end of season Twilight Running Day on October 30th.

Wythall on the road
In addition to the Wythall BusFest@Gaydon, TMW will be on the road in 2022, visiting some of the country’s bus and transport rallies, promoting the museum and raising its awareness with interesting exhibits from its collection. Information on these visits will be updated on the Transport Museum Wythall Facebook page.

Museum developments
Visitors will experience some major changes to the museum for 2022 with a Power Hall ‘reshuffle’ facilitating the BCT exhibition.  The new extension to the Scania Hall (underway right now) allows the museum to exhibit some of its’ barn find’ restoration projects for the first time in decades alongside a reorganisation of the museum’s unique collection of electric delivery vehicles.

Miniature Railway Wythall
The miniature railway continues to grow in stature every year, putting happy smiles on children of all ages every day. New developments and a summer steam gala will be the subject of a separate announcement. 

Important information
Further information on all of the above events including entry forms for visiting vehicles and trade stands, plus ticket prices and opening times are available at  www.wythall.org.uk. More details will be announced via the enthusiast press and the museum Facebook page.