Four buses from our collection took part in the ‘Devon General Remembered’ Running Day held at Tiverton on Sunday 5th September 2021.

The event was organised by the Devon General Society, with the first departure from Tiverton bus station waved off by the Mayor of Tiverton. The civic party then travelled on town service 101 to Cowley Moor and back.

Making its public debut was our 1957 AEC Reliance VDV 798, the restoration of which had only just been completed a few days earlier. We are incredibly grateful to Sam Merrifield for leading this restoration project, along with Chris Walters and our other volunteers, and it was fitting that 798’s first run was at Tiverton, as this type of single decker ran many of the local services in the area in the 1960s.

It was also the first time for our 1953 AEC ‘Light Six’ ETT 995 to carry members of the public. Acquired by DGOT earlier in the year following a funding appeal, it gave a welcome opportunity for some of the 70 people who had contributed to the appeal to travel on the bus.

Also flying the DGOT flag at Tiverton were our 1952 AEC Regent III NTT 661 and our 1957 AEC Regent V VDV 817.

In all, our buses carried over 500 passengers during the day, helping us fulfil our charitable objective of educating the public about the old Devon General company and bringing back some great memories for the local residents in Tiverton. Thanks to Russell Ayre for these brilliant images of the day:

Issued 9th September 2021