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April 2022 Trolleybus + Bus Fare
Our postponed 60th anniversary celebration has now been rescheduled for Friday / Saturday,
1st & 2nd April 2022. Here’s the programme:
Friday : At the regular BTS monthly meeting Dave Hall will look back at our achievements as a Society over the last 60 years, to include some of the mad things we have done and some embarrassing photos of when we were much younger. We will also remember those people who did so much for our Society who are no longer with us.
Saturday : Join our afternoon tour covering all the former trolleybus routes in Reading on preserved Reading Bristol VR No, 38 and hopefully our preserved RCT AEC Regent 47. The tour will start at 14.00 outside the Town Hall and finish around 16.30-17.00. Your place on the tour must be pre-booked.
In the evening, there will be an anniversary dinner at the Penta Hotel, Oxford Road, Reading, located on the west side of the town centre. Meet at 18.30 with the meal at 1900. This is not a formal dinner and so smart casual dress is advised. Our new Prsident, Nicholas Owen, of BBC fame will be attending and saying a few words and also Gul Khan, former Reading trolleybus driver and former Mayor of Reading.
A three-course meal plus tea/coffee is on offer for £35. Other drinks will need to be paid for at the time. This is the proposed menu:
STARTERS
Smoked salmon, capers, roquette with limoncello dressing
Caprese salad
Butternut squash & truffle oil soup *
Chicken rillette, roquette, grilled brioche & cornichons
MAIN COURSE
Pan fried rump steak, creamy mash, green beans & red wine jus
Grilled chicken breast, potato cake, tenderstem broccoli & wild mushroom jus
Oven roasted salmon, lentils, kale & herb butter
Wild mushroom risotto, vegan parmesan & chives *
DESSERTS
Chocolate tart & berry compote*
Eton mess
Vanilla cheesecake & raspberry coulis
Sticky toffee pudding & vanilla ice cream
* Vegetarian / vegan
Places are limited so book now!
Dinner: A £10 deposit is required. Book using the BTS website and pay by PayPal (below) or send a cheque for £10 made out to British Trolleybus Society to Dave Hall, address below. We will also need to know your choice of meals from the selection above please as the Hotel requires us to let them know 2 weeks before the event.
Bus tour: please advise Dave Hall by email at wiltshireman@aol.com, or write to him at
9 Hanover Court, Fieldfare, Swindon, SN3 5BG.
Now that monthly meetings in Reading have resumed, Zoom meetings will continue but will be moved to mid-month, Details of the next Zoom Meetings will be published here once arranged. Zoom meetings are open from 19.15 and the presentations, which last for around one hour, start at 19.30
If you do not receive the monthly newsletter but wish to register to attend, please email chairman@britishtrolley.org.uk and you will be sent joining instructions. All are welcome to register.
“Doors open” at 19.15 when you will be able to chat online with other members.
At present 301 is at Ellesmere Port where it is receiving finishing works after its recent repaint. It is expected to return to the Trolleybus Museum At Sandtoft early to mid 2022
1812 was transported to Dorking on 24 February 2022 for a mechanical overhaul before returning to The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft later in 2022. It is estimated that this work will cost around £20,000 and so the Society has launched an appeal to fund this work.
It is an exciting prospect that 1812 will return to service at Sandtoft in time for the 60th anniversary of the closure of the London trolleybus system in 2022, once again providing “Queen of the Road” riding quality.
Make a donation to support the 1812 appeal
Use this link, which allows you to specify the amount you wish to donate using PayPal or a credit or debit card. You may also set up a regular payment.
https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=E7RCH69YE3X76
By Post Please send cheques made payable to British Trolleybus Society to the BTS Treasurer, Roy Fawcett, 57 Sutcliffe Avenue, Earley, Reading RG6 7JN. Please also include a note to say that your donation is for the 1812 fund.
Donations can be Gift-Aided if you are a UK taxpayer, and this adds 25% to your donation at no extra cost to you. If you have not already registered for Gift Aid you may either do this by sending an automated declaration via the BTS website Members’ Area or download a form, which is accessible from the BTS Membership/Gift Aid page.
All donations of whatever size will be gratefully received. Each donation will take us a step nearer to having the work completed.
Between 2011 and 2013 Dave Hall serialised the history of the BTS in the days when we were known as the Reading Transport Society. It also traced the history of the trolleybus preservation movement generally up to the time when museums at Carlton Colville and Sandtoft became a reality. If you would like to read the history again or are new to the BTS and would like the chance to read it then click here
BTS has a popular Facebook page
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