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parents owned many years ago and featuring, even then, a sunshine ro<strong>of</strong>.<br />
I can just about remembering standing on the a seat with my head out in<br />
the fresh air ...<br />
In a shed at the far end <strong>of</strong> the site was the Willowbrook-bodied DP32F<br />
AEC Regal III NJO 703. Unfortunately it was being worked on and looked<br />
unlikely to be running at all that day.<br />
Parked alongside the museum building was the Northern Counties-bodied<br />
AEC Renown FWL371E with its rear emergency door open. Behind it,<br />
slightly incongruously, stood a Citaro, bringing a taste <strong>of</strong> modernity to the<br />
whole show. What made me laugh was the large photo on its rear <strong>of</strong> a<br />
young couple kissing rather passionately. Well, I suppose sex will sell<br />
almost anything, but give me City <strong>of</strong> Oxford’s old livery any time!<br />
The museum building itself, funded by a handsome lottery grant, has<br />
plenty to fascinate even those least interested in buses. Apart from the<br />
vehicle there are plenty <strong>of</strong> old photographs and examples <strong>of</strong> old signs and<br />
so on <strong>–</strong> a really good collection <strong>of</strong> memorabilia. Human interest is added<br />
by having models <strong>of</strong> people placed here and there, including inside some<br />
<strong>of</strong> the buses themselves. I stepped into an OB, JVF 528 ex Bensley <strong>of</strong><br />
Martham, and was startled to find I wasn’t on my own as I’d supposed.<br />
There was a very life-like ‘driver’ at the wheel.<br />
At the entrance to the building, incidentally, there’s an unusual exhibit, an<br />
ex-City <strong>of</strong> Oxford Duple-bodied AEC Regal III OFC 205, pretty much as if<br />
it had been left on a farmyard and allowed to deteriorate slowly in the<br />
wind and the rain. Just inside the open door stands a hen (a plastic one,<br />
naturally) but every now and then a recorded squawk gives some added<br />
atmosphere (and frightens and delights the visiting kids) ...<br />
As I stood there waiting to photograph the coach, a mother was busily<br />
explaining the exhibit to her young daughter and it was great just to listen<br />
to her, as a non-enthusiast, describing how people used to travel and<br />
what kind <strong>of</strong> buses they used. The museum was obviously justifying its<br />
existence and its heritage lottery grant.<br />
Other interesting exhibits included JO 5403, a Brush-bodied open-top<br />
AEC Regent 661 looking old but dignified and the chassis <strong>of</strong> JO 5032, an<br />
AEC Regal 642 with ‘Regal 4’ (not ‘IV’) on its radiator.<br />
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