News & Dates

With the bus now complete and ready for action, this Blog will be turned over to an online calender listing the dates and locations where the public can visit the bus and news of our travels.  Please keep checking back for updates and come and find us.

 Our location in Canterbury City Centre will be St. George's Street (outside WH Smith)

February 2011

• Sat 22nd - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm

March 2011

• Sat 5th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• Sun 6th - Battle of Britain Memorial, Capel-le-Ferne, Folkestone
• Sat 19th - Canterbury City Centre, 10am - 4pm
• 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

Role of Honour

It is time to reflect on the last six months and the many people who have helped get Home Front Bus on the road.  Everyone involved has given us excellent service and we want to give credit where credit is due.  So listed below is a list of those who have helped out and how:

Firstly the foundation of this business is our faith in the living God, so He gets first place.

'In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths' (Pr 3:6). 

• Jason Carter - Website & Art Work
• Dover Transport Museum - Storage & Helpful Members
• Crosskeys Coaches - Mechanical Work
• Wood's Garage - Structural Work
• South East Coachworks - Body Overhaul, Repaint & Air Conditioning
• Sign Graphics - Vinyl Graphics
• Hythe Electrical - Mains Electrics Overhaul
• Bryon Homer - Audio/Visual Improvements
• Green Smoke Productions - Sound System Overhaul
• East Kent Components - Sourcing Rare Parts

 



Training Day

We were treated to another sunny day for our visit to Oakwood School in Folkestone.  The school allowed us to park in their playground for the morning in order for our team to practise setting everything up including our new market stall and to get used to all the artifacts on the bus.  The only glitch was a couple of temperamental MP3 players meaning we may have to invest in better quality products which are more responsive to my clumsy thumbs.

In the afternoon the children came onboard and acted as guinea pigs whilst we all practised our lines.  Many thanks to the staff and pupils of the school for hosting us for a very useful training and familiarisation day.

It was good to leave the camera work to someone else and the following pictures were all taken by Brian Haines in between his ARP Warden duties.

At Last, A Sunny Day

There was just time this afternoon to take the bus down to Dover Castle and get a few quick shots in the sunshine.  The red paint is strange, it can vary greatly depending on how the light is shining. 

Trial Fitting in Canterbury

Today we took the bus to Canterbury for a trial fitting in the High Street.  I am pleased to report that it was a perfect fit and that we have a green light to start operating there as early as the next half term.  Getting out wasn't quite so straightforward as our exit wasn't clear.  This meant performing a 3 (and a bit) point turn outside WH Smith whilst trying to avoid suicidal pedestrians.  Its at time like this that I yearn for power steering!

Following this visit, the bus returned to Dover Transport Museum after a six month absence, now looking very different.  I can't resist reprinting a picture of it when it left last August.

  

In the past week the new visual effects in the Air Raid Shelter have been completed and look amazing.  We can now produce images on the corrugated walls that are mysteriously projected from the rear - all very atmospheric!

Crosskeys have also expertly completed their list of mechanical jobs, which included a full service, replacing a leaking brake valve, persuading the troublesome indicators to work, fitting a reversing horn and coaxing the original speedo back into life.

More Pictures

Despite the absence of any sunshine we had another stab at taking some photos of the newly finished bus.

Ed made a valiant effort to get into the cab, but it was Norman who took it for a test drive around Cheriton.  Despite the gloom we proved that the bus definitely turns heads and that the newly rewired original speedometer works well.  The newer, ugly tachograph unit was consigned to the bin!

VG Day

VG (Vinyl Graphics) Day was selected for today as the weather forecast looked good.  As it was, the sun struggled to appear for most of the morning and it was bitterly cold.  However it did put in a proper appearance by lunchtime.  George from Sign Graphics beavered away with his dad for hours applying the new graphics to the bus and did a first class job.  I hope you like them as much as I do.

Unfortunately by the time the job was complete the light was fading and the mechanics were keen to get the bus inside the workshop to carry out some outstanding mechanical repairs.  Just as soon as we can we will find an attractive location and some decent weather and undertake a proper photo shoot.  In the meantime the photos below will have to do.

As might be expected with a project this big there is a mistake with the graphics, which was spotted by Rebekah, my eagle eyed 7 year old daughter.  See if you can find it and post your answer in the comments box.