Historic buses set to tour streets on ‘ Centre Circle Day’
ABRIDGETON bus garage is planning to take Glaswegians on a tr ip down memory lane next weekend. The Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust is planning a “Centre Circle Day” and its team will operate around 20 of their vintage buses on a circular route around Glasgow city centre.
The event is set to take place on Saturday, October 24, from 11am until 4pm.
Passengers will not be able to ride on the buses as a result of coronavirus restrictions. However, there will be plenty of vantage points to view the buses from.
The route will start from Cowcaddens Road and go in a clockwork direction around the city throughout the day.
Older Glaswegians may remember the original “Centre Circle” service that ran in the 1970s.
Chairman of the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust Steven Booth said: “The route wasn’t very successful. We weren’t able to exactly recreate it but it will go down all of the main streets.”
Like many organisations, the trust has not been able
to run the activities it would normally be able to in recent months.
Steven said: “We would usually have open days where people can come and see the buses and we would run a service into the city centre. We usually have a lot of visitors who come and see our buses. If we can’t have visitors, we’ll bring the buses to them.”
The trust is hoping for a big turnout both from bus enthusiasts and members of the public.
Steven said: “When people see something that looks a bit old, it’s out with the phone to take a picture.
“If people see the hopefully they will buses, look
into more about what we do. There are two things that happen here: one, we have people interested in fixing up old buses; and two, people are really interested in the social history behind it.”
The trust occupies the old Glasgow Corporation bus garage in Bridgeton where it has around 100 vintage buses from the 1930s right up until the 1990s.
It recently completed the sale of the garage from City Properties.
Steven believes the future for the trust looks bright.
He said: “Going forward, now that we own the building, we want to open on a limited basis and develop what we do.”