Overcast weather and occasional light showers didn’t put a dampener for most people who clearly enjoyed the first day of the Classic, Buses, Beer and Walks weekend. There was much interest in the buses, lots of beer consumed, but the weather didn’t seem conducive to much walking.
Spirits were high and comments on the official Facebook page praised drivers and all the other volunteers for providing a great day out with many people saying they couldn’t wait to try out a different route today (Sunday).
However, event organisers from the Isle of Wight Bus Museum in Ryde and the Isle of Wight branch of CAMRA had a more trying time, with several buses breaking down and a beligerant attitude from some.
They issued an update for Sunday saying: “We’ve had an extremely difficult Saturday with some 8 vehicles unavailable for service on Sunday, resulting in a number of changes. It is likely that there could be further journey cancellations and amendments during Sunday – please have patience and remember that ALL drivers, conductors, marshals and loaders are volunteers who have given their time (and in the case of the vehicle owners, their own money) to provide this event for you. Please could we ask that you respect the vehicles and their crews as we have had a number of incidences on Saturday where this was not the case and we are unhappy to have had this happen at our event.”
David Robertson, visiting the event from London for the first time with his partner gave his reaction to the statement: “Given the age of some of these vehicles it’s hardly surprising there’s a few hiccups. I can’t believe that some people are being rude to others who’ve given up their time and money to put on such a great community event. People – think before you say something nasty!
“Personally I’ve only seen kindness and good humour, including in some queues waiting quite a long time for the buses to arrive. The weekend has an amazing atmosphere and is fantastic value. I’ve not been before but I’m really looking forward to today and I’ll be pulling together a large group of friends to come down next year.”
You can find out full details of the service changes and post your own photos and experiences on the event’s official Facebook Page?