Great Western Coffee Shop

Runs from ... Brazen Bottom...

Saturday, 20th August ONLY.  From Swindon at 08:36, Chippenham at 08:53 and Melksham at 09:02 by train to Warminster at 09:46 (changing at Westbury).  Then on with the "Imber Bus" - a retired London Routemaster - to the village of Imber on Salisbury Plain. The bus leaves Warminster at 10:15 and arrives Imber at 10:45.

The village of Imber was taken over during the second world war to provide an exercise area for troops, and the residents evicted. After the war, villagers were not allowed to return to their homes. The village, which is now part of the civil parish of Heytesbury, remains under the control of the Ministry of Defence despite several attempts by former residents to return. Non-military access is limited to several open days a year.

The only building to survive in a reasonable condition is the church, with the rest becoming derelict or demolished by the Army. Still standing are a pub (the Bell Inn) the manor house (Imber Court), a farmhouse and cottages, schoolroom and four housing blocks built in 1938. The church will be open on Imber Bus day, and you'll be able to puchase tea, coffee, hot chocolate, squash and biscuits at modest cost.

Catch the bus back from Imber at 13:15, 15:15 or 17:15, reaching Melksham via the same route at 15:21, 16:48 or 18:47 via the same route as you took on the way out (changing at Warminster and Westbury). These return trains reach Chippenham 10 minutes and Swindon 27 minutes after Melksham.

Day return train fares on these trains - £4.40 Melksham to Warminster. £6.20 Chippenham to Warminster. £7.20 Swindon to Warminster. Railcard and Groupsave discounts available.  Bus fare - £2 per journey (or £10 for all day ticket to explore beyond Imber too); sorry - senior passes are not accepted on these buses.  No need to book - buy your train tickets at the station or if not available there on the train. Pay your bus fare on the bus.

I will be going using the 0927 from Trowbridge

For those arriving by public transport, Warminster Rail Station is on the Cardiff-Bristol-Portsmouth rail line which operates approximately every hour, with connections available from London and the West Country at Westbury and Salisbury and also from Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon at Westbury

I met up with quite a few of our members (and saw the odd lurker or two :D ) today, and there was quite a bit of otter interest ...

Any squirrels?  ;) :D ;D

One slightly concerning moment came as I was walking to church and a remote controlled drone flew over my head.  It was certainly closer than 50 metres!  They do get some spectacular pictures but having seen a couple of near misses when they crash, it did make me feel a little uneasy.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/ (https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/)

One slightly concerning moment came as I was walking to church and a remote controlled drone flew over my head.  It was certainly closer than 50 metres!  They do get some spectacular pictures but having seen a couple of near misses when they crash, it did make me feel a little uneasy.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/ (https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/)

One slightly concerning moment came as I was walking to church and a remote controlled drone flew over my head.  It was certainly closer than 50 metres!  They do get some spectacular pictures but having seen a couple of near misses when they crash, it did make me feel a little uneasy.

https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/ (https://www.caa.co.uk/Consumers/Model-aircraft-and-drones/The-Dronecode/)

BBC Wiltshire have tweeted an aerial photo of Imber. Was it them?

'Ghost village' on Salisbury Plain opened to public

(http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/7B76/production/_90860613_hi034858266.jpg)
Roads through the MoD-controlled village are opened to the public on a handful of occasions

Passengers have been taken by bus to a Salisbury Plain "ghost village" which was abandoned in 1943.

The deserted Wiltshire village of Imber was cleared during World War Two and later taken over by the military.

Vintage Routemaster buses have been used to take passengers to the village, for one day each year, since 2009.

The area is normally closed to civilians as it sits in the middle of a Ministry of Defence training zone.

(http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/13EC6/production/_90860618_hi034858228.jpg)

Villagers were given a few weeks' notice to pack their bags and leave before the community was abandoned in December 1943.

It was needed by the army to provide an exercise area for US troops preparing to invade Europe.

In the 1970s, several empty houses were built for use by UK soldiers taking part in training exercises.

(http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/12F26/production/_90860677_hi034405816.jpg)

St Giles Church, the only original building left intact, was also opened to visitors for the weekend.

(http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/165D6/production/_90860619_hi034858281.jpg)

(http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/6BD6/production/_90860672_hi034858258.jpg)

(http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/B9F6/production/_90860674_hi034858210.jpg)

Note for next year ... should probably set up a time & place for forum members to meet if they wish.   Lunchtime pint at the Green Dragon, Market Lavington?

Time to amend the thread title?

Access to a "ghost village" church which was taken over by the military in World War Two is to be restricted.

The village of Imber was abandoned in 1943 and has been closed to civilians ever since as it is sited on the MoD's training zone on Salisbury Plain.

St Giles Church, the only building left intact in Imber, is normally open to the public for two weeks each August.

This year the MoD has reduced it to three days due to visitors "attempting to access restricted areas".

It was just before Christmas 1943 that Imber villagers were ordered to pack up and leave to provide a training area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe during World War Two.

They were never allowed to return and the village vanished off the map.

Since then, up to 50 days of public access is granted each year by the MoD.

But this year it has been "significantly reduced", according to Neil Skelton, custodian of the church, because visitors have been "trespassing in the restricted areas" of the deserted village.

"Last August, we had probably around 4,000 to 5,000 people over the two weeks and at Easter it was manic," he said.

"It's the sheer numbers, we're attracting so many people but if you reduce the number of days, you'll be squeezing more people in to fewer days."

'Public in danger'

It is feared people are putting their lives at risk by trespassing in to areas where there could be "unexploded ordnance".

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said keeping visitors to Imber village safe was a "top priority".

He said: "Unfortunately we have received numerous reports of members of the public placing themselves and others in danger during previous open days by attempting to access restricted areas.

"Following these reports a risk assessment was carried out which resulted in the decision to reduce public access periods to the village."

From the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-40415434)

Imberbus will be running on the 26th August
by The Imberbus Crew
This year's Imberbus event is being held on Saturday 26th August and it is already looking like it will be the biggest one yet, with people coming long distances to ride on a Routemaster bus across the Salisbury Plain to the lost village of Imber and beyond.

To cater for the extra passengers, this year we will be using more than 20 old and new Routemasters to provide our service, some of which have not ventured across the Salisbury plain before. We will also be enhancing the timetable to provide departures every 10-15 minutes from Warminster Station to Imber from 9.45am onwards. On arrival at Imber, some buses will then carry on to our interchange point at Gore Cross, from where they will continue at least once an hour either to Tilshead & Chitterne, or to Brazen Bottom, Market Lavington and New Zealand Farm Camp, with extra journeys operating during the afternoon.

In addition to the 16th century St.Giles' Church at Imber which will be open over the Bank Holiday weekend, this year there will also be a couple of new attractions for our passengers to visit. The Market Lavington Museum, situated next to Market Lavington Church, is opening specially for our event and in addition to exhibiting local artifacts, will be serving cream teas. Refreshments will also be available at our Chitterne terminus in the village hall, which will also house the UK Transport sales stall selling a variety of transport orientated books and models, including a limited edition Imberbus model of Routemaster RM1005.

Further details about this year's Imberbus event can be found on our website at www.imberbus.wordpress.com (http://www.imberbus.wordpress.com), including maps, timetables, fares and details of how to get to Warminster Station. If you have not been to Imber before, you might also find it useful to take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page, which provides important information on where you can and cannot go, where you can get something to eat and also the location of public toilets (which are few and far between on the Salisbury Plain!).

IMPORTANT - If you are planning on bringing a group of people to Warminster in a bus or coach, please contact us immediately as there are very few coach parking facilities available in Warminster.

The Imberbus Crew posted: "If you were one of the hundreds of people who joined us at Imber last Saturday, please check your bag to see if your camera is still inside it. If it is missing, please send a description of it to imberbus23a@gmail.com , as we may have found it on one "

Anyone lost a phone on those buses this year?

It reminded me that this year's event is on Sunday Saturday 18th August - https://imberbus.wordpress.com/ (https://imberbus.wordpress.com/)
Edit - Saturday not Sunday - grahame

Train from Swindon at 08:36, Chippenham at 08:53, Melksham at 09:02 to Warminster at 09:46 (changing at Westbury) to ride on an old London Routemaster bus to the abandoned village of Imber on Salisbury Plain. Buses run every 15 minutes from Warminster Station to Imber and various destination beyond.  Train fare £7.70 return from Swindon to Warminster, £6.60 return from Chippenham or £4.70 return from Melksham. Imber Bus fares from £2 single up to £10 for an all day rover - see https://imberbus.wordpress.com/imberbus-2018/ for details of routes and timetables.

Return trains from Warminster at 14:12, 16:01 and 18:01 - again, change at Westbury.  No need to prebook - buy your train tickets just before you board the train, and your bus tickets at Warminster Station.

There's even a railtour going to Imber this year - should be busy at Warminster when it arrives!
http://www.ukrailtours.com/product/by-routemaster-to-the-lost-village-of-imber/

Indeed - 66779 was the last of it's class to be built for the UK, and has been named "Evening Star" after the last steam locomotive to be built at Swindon in 1960. It is to be donated to the National Railway Museum at the end of its working life.

What a parking palaver they're expecting!    Let the train take the strain.   Personally, travelling on the 09:02 from Melksham and changing at Westbury ... that's the 08:36 from Swindon and 08:53 from Chippenham.

You're travelling via Westbury on a weekend? Good luck with that based on previous attempts to reach a destination at the weekend via Westbury.

Insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results - possibly Albert Einstein.  ;D

Bright yellow Y shirt not one that hides in the crowd

Hoping to be there today. Although GWR have already made my journey difficult as the 0957 arrival at Westbury (0835 from Paddington, 0903 from Reading) has been cancelled due to a shortage of staff  >:(

And in the evening the same applies to the 1653 from Westbury towards Paddington.

Can I offer you a sliver lining ... 07:58 from Reading (if you're up in time) ... add a trip on the TransWilts calling Melksham at 09:02.  There's a return via the same route at around 4 O'Clock.   No longer listed in PSUL  ;D http://www.psul4all.free-online.co.uk/2018.htm but still an excellent side trip

First visit and very enjoyable too. The buses were so well organised

I didn't catch sight of the yellow shirted Sir Ellis of Melksham...wondered if he was still stuck on the platform waiting for a train...... ???

Thank you


Development.  Doing similar things over and over, tuning to make them more reliable - certainly Graham E   ::)

How was the train journey back to Melksham?  :P

The near-perfect performance of the Imber buses yesterday provided a stark contract to the operation of public transport services between Melksham and Warminster, with public transport providers seemingly scoring far too many needless own goals.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/im18_06.jpg)

Grahame, good day also for First to promote their "D" Discovery routes and vehicles, pity you didn't photo that bus with "Imber" up front, now that would have been a "discovery".

I cannot add any more commendations to those already made by yourself and others on this thread. The other person you were talking to at Imber when I met you is an old acquaintance of mine from South Glos Council / Yate Station Group.

My 5 family members who were with me thoroughly enjoyed the day especially the 11 year old whose day was made when he was invited to sit in the police cars drivers seat.

As you may have noted, the bus we arrived on at the Imber, St Giles Church stop also conveyed DR and I volunteered my nephew, who is less than half my age, to give him a "booster push" up to the inclined path to and into the church in his wheelchair where we left him deep in conversation with others. He would have had "natural assistance, gravity" to return to the Imber St. Giles Church bus stop.

DR narrated to my nephew the role of the police in the first IMBERBUS. He told him that over a hundred officers were deployed from the MOD, BTP and the local constabulary as there were fears the public would ignore the warnings and no entry notices and go where they weren't supposed to. Yesterdays event had just six officers present.

It was also nice to see that the access path to the church had been greatly improved which seems to be a virtually new construction since I last visited the church area 2 years ago, I presume funded by the donations of previous IMBERBUS days particularly the handrails up the steepest part of the path leading to the church porch itself which was particularly helpful to the older visitors.

Have to join others in noting the excellent organisation, much commented on by Her Indoors. She was likewise intrigued by the variety of buses.
Interesting to see the changes since I was last there 40 years ago, when taking the role of ditch/trench digger in the army (strange things they get engineers to do, who they had spent a lot of money training) The plain itself never changes much.
Must admit that I was a bit dubious about the descent into West Lavington on the brakes (distinct smell of brake linings), army beat it into you that you went down such hills on the gear box, but if you have an automatic or semi-automatic there aren't the same options.
Not sure why MoD Police felt they needed an Armed Response Unit at Imber (perhaps they have no other)?
Good to meet the eminence grise of Community Rail. I did think, on Bath station, it could be one of those days when the Cardiff-Portsmouth train shrank to two or one coaches, but fortunately not.
All in all an excellent day. Be interesting to know the final numbers.

But given that they were driven by volunteers, perhaps this wouldn't have been possible?

The near-perfect performance of the Imber buses yesterday provided a stark contract to the operation of public transport services between Melksham and Warminster, with public transport providers seemingly scoring far too many needless own goals.

Though not as disturbing as it would have been in the open top bus  >:(, which I assume wasn't used for this route.

Just picked up this article in todays Independent ;-

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/on-the-road-to-nowhere-a-routemaster-trip-to-remember-9692436.html

If you look at the date on the article it is clear why the reference to rain is there.  It is dated August 2014

If you look at the date on the article it is clear why the reference to rain is there.  It is dated August 2014

I didn't realise that the roads across the Imber Range are open all this week until the 25th so I might drive over one day this week and take photos of my Ford Fusion with hulks of the tanks, the danger signs, the Imber buildings and the church as backgrounds to my piccys. 

If you watch the above little film from Geof and Vicky you can play spot Western Pathfinder!..

Also the LT 4TC unit will be visiting Warminster on a UK Railtours special.

GBRf class 73s front and back are probable.  No push-pull working.

Imber is on TV as I type Michael Portillo hidden history of Britain channel five 7 till 8 pm .

   
Imberbus is running next month !
by The Imberbus Crew

This year, the Imberbus service to the lost village of Imber will be running on Saturday 17th August and it is already promising to be a popular event, with a charter train and an overnight music festival expected to bring extra people eager to travel on our buses across Salisbury Plain.

We therefore have more than 25 old and new Routemaster buses lined up to provide this year's service which will run every 15 minutes from Warminster Station to Imber from 9.45am onwards. On arrival at Imber, some buses will then carry on to our new interchange point at Gore Cross, from where they will continue twice an hour either to New Zealand Farm Camp,.Tilshead & Chitterne, or to Brazen Bottom and Market Lavington.

In addition to the 16th century St.Giles' Church at Imber that will be open that weekend, there will again be the opportunity for our passengers to visit the Market Lavington Museum, which is located along side Market Lavington Church and opening specially for our event.  In addition to exhibiting local artifacts, the museum will also be serving cream teas which have proved to be a popular attraction in previous years. Light refreshments will also be available at Imber Church and the buffet at Warminster Station and in the village halls in both Tilshead and Chitterne.

This year our event also coincides with the Delaware Road festival, which is an overnight event for electronic music lovers that is being held at New Zealand Farm Camp.  Imberbus will be providing transport to/from Warminster for those attending this event and this means that we will also be able to operate a small number of journeys between Warminster and Imber only on Sunday 18th August. Therefore if you are unable to join us on the Saturday,.or simply wish to spend an hour wandering around Imber village and its Church when there are fewer people around, please join us at Warminster Station on the Sunday at 10am, 11am, 12noon or 1pm and we will be happy to carry you up to Imber on one of our buses.

Further details about this year's Imberbus event can be found on our website at www.imberbus.wordpress.com (http://www.imberbus.wordpress.com), including maps, timetables, fares and details of how to get to Warminster Station. If this is your first visit to Imber, we strongly recommend that you take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page, which provides important information on where you can and cannot go, where you can get something to eat and also the location of public toilets (which are few and far between on the Salisbury Plain!).

IMPORTANT - If you are planning on bringing a group of people to Warminster in a bus or coach, please contact us immediately as there are very few coach parking facilities available in Warminster.

I would be interested to know the final figure of profits donated to charity. It would be nice to think they could break the £15k barrier for the first time.

Re Grahame's first Pix - I hope that queue wasn't for the porta-loos !!!

No, but not much shorter.

How many of "us" were up there? Graham was there, martyjon said he was going, but I didn't see anybody I knew!

Sat:    Automatic counting system was just overwhelmed with the numbers entering the church. Estimated to be 5000 +.

I think the general 'advertising' on various fora caused the peak in numbers - glad (not) to see any complaints about the queues. But I doubt many more could be realistically 'comfortable', and would suggest that little 'advertising' next year. or numbers will swamp available loos/buses/etc.

THE organisers of the bus trips to Imber for the open days on August 17 and 18 say the event has raised nearly £25,000 for charity.

Martin Curtis, managing director of the Bath Bus Company, which supplied some of the modern buses for the weekend, said he was “absolutely astonished” by how much they have raised.

“We have nearly doubled what we raised last year when we collected £13,000 for charity,” he said.

“No-one is more surprised than me at how successful it has been this year. I have been absolutely astonished by the reaction from the public this year.”

 "We organised 12,000 passenger journeys and had an excursion train come in from London with 200 people on board. It's difficult to say how many visitors we had because some people came in cars."

The proceeds will be split between the Friends of St Giles’s Church and the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, with £2,000 also going to Macmillan Cancer Support.

From the Wiltshire Times (https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/17863132.2019-imber-bus-tours-raise-nearly-25-000-charities/)

NOTE!!! (needed to happen due to numbers)
Saturday 15th August: Imber Bus Day. BUT for this day only access to Imber will be by the timetabled buses only. No cars, bicycles or pedestrians. This rule will be rigorously enforced.

I hope everyone doesn’t wait to travel on the last bus then. Wonder how they’ll handle that?

This years event will take place on Saturday August 15th and this year it will be an Imber Car Free Day with only the buses allowed around the roads around Imber. Further details Google IMBERBUS.

This year's event now cancelled

Imberbus is taking a break this year

by Webmaster

Although we are obviously hoping that Coronavirus restrictions will have been relaxed by the summer, it is obvious that the Covid-19 pandemic is going to have a serious effect on all our lives for many, many weeks.

It is clearly impossible to predict what the exact position will be in August and during the next few months, most of those who help us put the event on will have more important things to do, both personally and at work.  In addition, many of the organisations that support us with money, people’s time, vehicles, fuel and supplies are going to find it difficult to survive, let alone be as helpful and generous as they normally are.

It is therefore with great regret that we have taken the decision to cancel this year's Imberbus event now, so we can give plenty of notice to everyone concerned.

Rest assured, however, that we only view this as a temporary break and we will certainly be pursuing the concept of a car-free day at Imber next year. Once we have been able to agree suitable arrangements with the MoD we will, of course, contact you again to let you know the new date and publish details on our website - http://www.imberbus.org .

Regards

The Imberbus Crew

Church and road through Imber likely open at Easter & the Queen’s jubilee weekend, although own transport will be required as no buses running.

I think you will be allowed to walk across - foot access WAS prohibited on the bus only day, but I think that was a one-off. 

The planned national rail strike on 20th August will not help Imber Bus and the charities it supports. Another thin year for Imber church and service charities.

You may have seen that there is a rail strike scheduled for the date of our 2022 event. However whilst this may make it difficult for some people to travel to Warminster, rest assured that Imberbus will still be running on 20th August!

In the event of the industrial action taking place, it will still be possible to travel to our event using public transport as normal scheduled bus services run to Warminster from Bath (First service D1) and from Salisbury (Beeline service 24). You can also join the Imberbus service at Tilshead by travelling from Salisbury on Salisbury Reds service 2. Alternatively, if you are travelling from Swindon or Chippenham, you can take service 49 or 33 to Devizes, then catch bus 2 or 270 to West Lavington, which is served by Imberbuses twice per hour.

We are also investigating the possibility of express coaches running from London to the event and looking at whether extra parking can be provided on the edge of Warminster. Further details of these additional arrangements will be published on this website in early August and notified to everyone who has joined our email mailing list (see front page for details of how to do this).

This information is now available on the web site where there is a specific "Rail Strike" page. I have reserved a space on the coach from Bristol.

I am informed that Imber Church had 2135 visitors on the day.

The Imberbus Crew

We are pleased to announce that this year, we are planning to run the Imberbus service on

Saturday 17th August 2024

when several vintage former London Transport Routemaster buses (plus a few newer ones) will again provide a bus service from Warminster Station to Imber and other isolated locations on the Salisbury Plain between 10am and 6pm.

Once again our event will be a Car Free Day, with the only access to Imber on 17th August being on the buses operating the Imberbus service. These special arrangements successfully eliminated the severe traffic congestion that we experienced around Imber in 2019, but they do mean that there are some restrictions on what you can and cannot do when you get there, details of which will be confirmed during the summer.