We hope the following will answer any questions to which you have not found the answers elsewhere on the site. If you have any further questions, you can contact us here.
Q. Do you allow visitors to board the buses on display and/or sit inside them?
A. Normally Yes, within reason.
Unfortunately during current covid restrictions we are unable to ensure exhibits are continually sanitised so access to static vehicles and interactive exhibits have had to be stopped.
With over 100,000 visitors a year, we have to protect our precious old buses from excessive wear and we also have to ensure the safety of our visitors. However, we usually have at least one bus open and, subject to the agreement of a steward, it is usually possible to board this. However, please note that, for safety reasons, it is not permitted for visitors to enter the driver’s cab. Please also note that boarding a bus may not be possible during very busy periods when our stewards have to cope with large numbers of visitors and we ask for your understanding in this regard.
Children under 16 must be closely supervised by a responsible adult at all times. Our stewards are instructed not to allow children to board buses on their own.
Q. Is it possible to ride on your buses on the road?
A. Yes. Although it’s not feasible to run precious, and sometimes fragile, old buses on a daily basis, from time to time some of our buses go back onto the road (most of them are roadworthy) and, on occasions, rides are offered. Those occasions are at the Museum’s special events and sometimes when our buses attend other events and running days. Click on the various Events pages under the Events tab at the top of the page for details of forthcoming occasions where our buses will appear.
During summer school holidays and at certain half-terms, short tours on a classic London bus may be available at a small extra charge. Check by phoning the Museum first on 01932 837994 whether this facility is running on the day of your visit.
Q. Do you hire out your buses for weddings, private parties, graduations etc?
A. No. It would not be appropriate for a Museum/charitable trust to use its artefacts for private hire purposes. There are many organisations that do make classic buses available for private hire and some of these can be accessed on our links page.
Q. Are your buses available for film and TV appearances?
A. Yes. Film and TV work is a welcome source of funds for the charitable trust which runs the Museum and our buses are regular screen stars, appearing in films such as Nanny McPhee and TV series such as Foyle’s War. Provided we are satisfied that the subject is appropriate and that suitable care will be taken of these precious artefacts, we can make buses available to provide contemporary background to most periods from late Victorian to the 1980s. For many periods, the Museum is the only source of suitable buses.
For more details and guide prices, see here.
Q. Can you provide a speaker for our function?
A. Yes, this may be possible, provided our criteria can be met. We only have very limited resources for this purpose. You can read more here.
Q. Do you buy and sell old buses?
A. No, this is not part of the remit of a Museum charitable trust. There are some links to bus dealers on our links page here and you may wish to conduct a wider search on the internet.
Q. Can you provide advice to owners of preserved buses about restoration, maintenance, spare parts etc?
A. No, we regret that we do not have the resources for this and this is not part of our remit. We recommend that you join a bus preservation group or society for this kind of information. That said, many of our Members are themselves active preservationists and a certain amount of mutual help is given amongst the regular volunteers so, by becoming a member and getting actively involved as a volunteer, you might well benefit from this. The Membership application form can be found here.