I940's Meets the 21st Century

A return to Canterbury today for the first of a series of visits over the Easter Holidays.  Our neighbours MacDonald's have been making the most of the great weather by expanding their outdoor seating area.  This meant that we got intimate.  I just hope that they appreciate the increase in trade we obviously brought them.

Meanwhile Josh made his debut as an Air Raid Warden having spent much of the previous night swatting up.  He did a great job.  Thanks also to Ben for filling in and allowing everyone a lunchtime break.

Look out for Home Front Bus in St. Georges Street, Canterbury on Thursday 21st, Bank Holiday Monday 25th, Thursday 28th, Saturday 30th April.  More dates will follow.

Final Poster

I returned from a short break to find the thrid of our Ministry of Information posters has arrived from the printers. This is by far my favourite and is available from Home Front Bus and The Vine bookshop in Folkestone.  All three are available at a special price.

Enjoying the Weather

One of the great things about having a bus as a base is its mobility, which means that you can hold team meetings anywhere you like.  On Friday a few of us met to pray and discuss some issues onboard and so we parked the bus on the East Cliff in Folkestone and gathered in the air raid shelter. 



It felt quite surreal to be in an Anderson Shelter on the top deck of a bus especially as we were afforded a spectacular view with the rear wall removed and the emergency window open for fresh air.



Yesterday we visited the Historic Transport Show at the Kent Showground, Detling. The visitors were mainly interested in old vehicles rather than WW2 stuff so we were not doing great business.  We scrapped our admission charges and simply asked for donations from visitors as they left and subsequently our fortunes changed as people came onboard realised how good it was and put their money in the bag as they left.

The second of our Ministry of Information posters has now arrived from the printers and is available in A3 format on 170gsm paper. We haven't messed with the message this time but leave the interpretation to you.

Catching Up

Since my last blog we have had an excellent day at Beaver Green School in Ashford, a day at Crampton Tower Museum in Broadstairs and another day in Canterbury City Centre.  The bus continues to create interest wherever it goes, it really is its own best advert.

We welcomed Jo Gore to our team who immediately jumped in and made herself at home as an excellent housewife, here seen posing with Ed & Jenny at Beaver Green School.

Having had a fair bit of success selling Keep Calm & Carry On posters we have decided to produce our own.  The difference with ours is that we are offering an answer as to How to Keep Calm & Carry On.  The poster together with our suggestion is illustrated below and will be available as an A3 poster and a T Shirt.  Further designs will follow soon.

Upcoming Dates


April 2011

• Sat 2nd - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sat 9th - Heritage Transport Show, Detling
• Mon 18th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Tues 19th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Thurs 21st - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Mon 25th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Thurs 28th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sat 30th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm

 July 2011

• Fri 15th - Kent County Show, Detling
• Sat 16th - Kent County Show, Detling
• Sun 17th - Kent County Show, Detling

Dover Travel & Liesure Show

We took advantage of a very last minute opportunity to attend the Travel & Liesure Show at Dover Cruise Terminal yesterday.  Whilst most people exhibited indoors we parked the bus outside and attracted passers by.  My son Ben made his debut as an ARP Warden and recieved fantastic reviews from the many visitors.

In the afternoon we were joined by the ever keen Buck family where Isaac volunttered to show people around the lower deck and was also highly praised for his youthful enthusiasm by the visitors.  Thanks to Ben and the Buck family for responding and helping out at such short notice.

Our main purpose in being there was to be seen by event organisers, shcools and other attractions.  We left greatly encouraged by the amount of interest we recieved from all of the above and are looking forward to see how these contacts develop.

Dover Transport Museum brought along this splendid old Leyland open top bus to promote themselves, which looked great alongside Home Front Bus.

Upcoming Dates

March 2011

• Sat 26th - Crampton Tower Museum, Broadstairs
• Mon 28th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm

 April 2011

• Sat 2nd - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Mon 4th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sat 9th - Heritage Transport Show, Detling
• Mon 18th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Tues 19th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Thurs 21st - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Mon 25th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Thurs 28th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sat 30th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm

 July 2011

• Fri 15th - Kent County Show, Detling
• Sat 16th - Kent County Show, Detling
• Sun 17th - Kent County Show, Detling

Our 1st School Visit

Our first school visit as Home Front Bus was undertaken in Whitstable during the week.  Seventy five Year 6 pupils visited each area of the bus in groups of five, spending 15 minutes (ish) in each area.  The team worked hard and with great enthusiasm and we thought it went well.  Initial feedback from the school was positive and we will be repeating the whole exercise in a school in Ashford next week.

Our 1st Weekend

Our first operational weekend was very encouraging, but extremely cold, roll on spring!

Saturday's visit to Canterbury was most notable for the amount of school enquiries we received.  On Sunday we visited the Battle of Britain Memorial in Capel-le-Ferne for the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the Spitfire.  A replica of K5054, the prototype was on display whilst overhead we were treated to a display by a real Spitfire.  Home Front Bus was very well received and we would like to express our thanks to the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and the Spitfire Society for making us welcome.

We will continue to publish the details in this Blog of when and where the public can visit us.  We have lots of dates pencilled in but will only publish the full details as they are confirmed.  Please check back for updates.

March 2011

• Mon 28th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm

April 2011

• Sat 2nd - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Mon 4th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sat 9th - Heritage Transport Show, Detling
• Mon 18th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Tues 19th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Thurs 21st - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Mon 25th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Thurs 28th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sat 30th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm

 July 2011

• Fri 15th - Kent County Show, Detling
• Sat 16th - Kent County Show, Detling
• Sun 17th - Kent County Show, Detling

 

  Mel appears to be smiling above, but is actually just bracing herself against the cold!