Barry is a small town in south Wales, alongside its well-known coastal neighbour Barry Island. Broad Street in Barry is home to ‘The Bus Depot’ where the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group is based in this former Western Welsh bus depot. In June they hold a ‘Festival of Transport’ when ‘The Bus Depot’ is also open to the public and there is a large display of buses at ‘The Show Ground’ at Barry Island together with a display of classic and performance cars along the promenade. Both sites are connected with a regular bus service using heritage buses and coaches. The Group care for some 90 vehicles of which most have a connection to south Wales, especially Cardiff.
The independent transport videos cameras attended the events in 2022 and 2023 featuring the buses and coaches. Our programme begins at the 2022 event at ‘The Bus Depot’ where we film some of the exhibits. We take rides on three different buses for visits to the Show Ground. First is on board a former Southdown Bristol VRT/SL/510 with ECW bodywork, 583 (GNJ 583N). Here we see a good selection of buses from a number of operators past and present such as Cardiff and Newport Corporations, Bedwas & Machen UDC, Caerphilly Council, Red & White, Western Welsh and many more. We take a ride on former City of Cardiff Guy Arab V with an East Lancs (finished by Neepsend) body, 434 (ABO 434B), that was converted to open-top, for a circular tour to Barry town and back with our camera in the front lower saloon window capturing the sites and sounds of this lovely bus. We return to ‘The Bus Depot’ on board 500 (WNO 484), a 1953 Bristol KSW with an ECW, converted to open-top by Eastern National, body in the livery of United Welsh. We conclude with more scenes at ‘The Bus Depot’ as we see the buses arriving and departing in service including Cardiff’s latest battery-electric Yutong E12 single-decker in a red and cream livery celebrating 120 years of buses in Cardiff.
Our visit to the 2023 event also begins at ‘The Bus Depot’ where we see some of the exhibits both inside and outside of this superb museum. Our cameras take a ride on 258 (G258 HUH), a 1990 Leyland Lynx mark 1 in Cardiff Bus livery for a ride to the Show Ground at Barry Island. After a review of some of the buses and coaches assembled we travelled back to ‘The Bus Depot’ on board 72 (BJK 672D), a 1966 Leyland Titan PD2A with an East Lancs body formally with the fleet of Eastbourne Corporation in its smart blue, yellow and white livery. Back at ‘The Bus Depot’ we film the buses in service and travelling over Gladstone Bridge before a ride on former Red & White Bristol RESL6L with ECW bodywork, RS.167 (LAX 101E), built in 1967 for another ride to the Show Ground. Our return to Barry is on board 36 (LNY 536D), a Leyland Titan PD2 with a Massey low-bridge body formally operated by Caerphilly Urban District Council. Our cameras make a final visit to the Show Ground to see the buses and coaches leaving the event at the end of the day. We end the day filming at ‘The Bus Depot’ bringing to a conclusion a most enjoyable day. A visit to ‘The Bus Depot’ is recommended - as you will see!
Produced by - Independent Transport Videos
Duration - 74 minutes approx
Region - 0 (worldwide) PAL
Aspect Ratio - 16:9 Widescreen
DVD only
Released - January 2024
