Latest journals available to members:
May 2021 Trolleybus + Wheels + Bus Fare
From December our traditional 'first Friday of the month' meetings will resume using Zoom. An advantage will be that these meetings will be accessible without the need to travel.
“Doors open” at 19.15 when you will be able to chat online with other members. The presentation will last for one hour, starting at 19.30. Dave Hall will present the story of the first 50 years of municipal transport in Reading (1901 – 1951). This will include the end of the horse trams, the entire electric tram era and the trolleybus system including its major post-war expansion, as well as motor buses from 1919.
To register to attend please email chairman@britishtrolley.org.uk and you will be sent joining instructions.
The following Zoom meeting will be on Friday 8 January 2021, when Mike Russell will present “Blackpool Tramways Retrospective: the Last Fifty Years”.
At present 301 is at Keighley Museum where it has received electrical repairs. It is to be repainted before returning to the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft next year and being launched into service.
Following the expiration of the five year loan agreement with the London Bus Museum at Brooklands, 1812 was moved into temporary accommodation in the Reading area on 7 November 2020. In the near future it will be taken to Dorking for a mechanical overhaul before returning to The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft in 2021. 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, hopefully during the Society’s 60th anniversary year in 2021, and certainly 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
Copyright British Trolleybus Society 2012 - 2019 - Registered Charity 1033666
Why not join the BTS?