Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway: Bus Rally
We've been dying to do a post on the RHDR for ages.
As members (albeit silent ones as we never actually take advantage of being able to ride the railway at a discount), this is a place close to our hearts. This railway is our childhoods, and we wanted to contribute so we became members. But we've been itching for a reason to visit other than just day to day, and thus the annual Bus Rally rolled around and we had found our reason.
The Bus Rally is a yearly event where the station at New Romney hosts vintage busses and taxis for rides between there and their Dungeness station. Loads of busses turn out for this even each with their own little slice of history on how they came to be. We even got a helpful little program to tell us about it.
So very early on Sunday the 7th of September we headed down to get the second train up to New Romney at 9.50. We got a cheeky bacon roll while we waited for the train to arrive at Hythe's Vintage Tearoom and then the three of us boarded the heritage carriages ready for the journey.
Yogi has had a very limited experience with trains. His first one was a wood burning steam train in Sittingbourne and to be fair to him he'd only been with us for a month or so, he didn't like it at all, but was calmer when he was on our lap. His second train visit was when we were on holiday in Dorset and we visited the Swanage Railway. He was calmer, but the theme was the engine itself and the crowds that upset him. So we've been hesitant to take him to this environment again as we dont want to stress him out, but we thought our local 'little train' might be the perfect visit to get him used to it, and we were right.
Yogi absolutely adored the train ride itself. He liked the gentle sway as we went down the line, he liked being able to look out of the window as he was tall enough for once! He also loved the smells of the sea and countryside so this was a winner. Again he wasn't massively keen on the crowds but they were a bit scary for us too as no one seems to understand personal space and just shove their hands out to stroke him without asking. He's a rescue, he's fearful of new people especially when fast or aggressive, you HAVE to ask us before touching our dog, you don't just touch peoples puppies it's rude and wrong.
Anyway, that aside, we had a lovely day. Let's move onto the busses and their histories.
This London Transport Bus, owned by Peter Haining, is an AEC Regal 4 from 1953. It was in service from its building year to 1973 then was used as staff transport. Vintage to its core, this was Ren's personal favourite.
This is of course only a sample of the busses on display that day, but they certainly caught our eye. It is always a good turn out at the bus rally.
We didn't explore the railway stations like we usually do, but we'll do a full post on the RHDR soon when we take advantage of our memberships and have another trip. We were a bit rushed on Sunday due to other things going on family wise, but we fully intend to go back and rectify that. We hoped you enjoyed our post on vintage busses!
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
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