Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust

GVVT is stocking up on individual fruit trifles as we prepare to welcome a very special guest to Family & Community Super Sunday on July 27.

Karen Dunbar, star of legendary Chewin’ the Fat, at last has escaped the corner shop and found a friend – more than a thousand of them who will attend our sparkling fun event at Bridgeton Bus Garage.

Comic, DJ, singer and Bafta-winning actor Karen will kick-start the show at noon, introducing the swinging sound of the Michael Brawley Big Band, supported by Super Sunday newcomers the Jump ’n’ Jive Dancers.

Other newbies include Ghostbusters Alba, sure to be a big presence with their 12-foot Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Ectomobiles and charity merchandise.

Toy and art stalls are added to the bill and there is larger than ever participation by community groups, including Glasgow North East Foodbank who will gratefully accept donations of tins, jars, pasta etc.

Darth Vader and his Star Wars troopers return along with the classic Tunnock’s van, superb model buses and boats, face painters, Wee Happy Shop and Bus, Clippies Café, and our new museum display.

Visitors can also test their bus driving skills on the SIM1 simulator and their rowing prowess, courtesy of Clydesdale Rowing Club.

GVVT Family & Community Super Sunday is a top day for the family – and all set against the unique backdrop of 130 vintage buses, lorries and fire appliances.

• Doors open 11.00-16.30, enter by Broad Street. Free vintage bus service to and from George Square with added pick-up at Bellgrove Station. Admission details gvvt.org/family-community-open-day

As part of our Super Sunday 11th May we celebrated 40 years since the formation of Clydeside, Kelvin, Lowland and Strathtay Scottish.

With the assistance of the Angus Transport Group and the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum we were able to represent all 11 operating companies from 1985 and finished the day with a tour and parade which paused for photos on Edinburgh Road, we certainly turned a few heads on the day!

Kick off a season of new events with GVVT super Sundays

GVVT is taking the wraps off a new season with a line-up of supercharged Sundays.

An exciting programme of fresh events, each with a theme and all different, will take place in the unique setting of Bridgeton Bus Garage with its collection of 130 buses, coaches, lorries and fire appliances – and a host of added attractions. We’ll also offer free vintage bus rides and a free shuttle bus service to the city centre on our Super Sundays.

Whether you’re a transport enthusiast, biker or fan of comic book heroes, the first Sundays of the spring, summer and autumn months are must dates for your diary. The new line-up …

April 6, Motorbikes and Pushbikes: a full-throttle celebration on two wheels showcasing all machines from superbikes to pedal cycles, modern and historic. Roll up, show your bike, browse the stalls and get your fix of GVVT’s classics. 

•Vendor booking forms at https://forms.office.com/e/Gcnp7v1ZTy

•Club booking forms at https://forms.office.com/e/KM0PPi9uBw

•Bike entry booking forms at https://forms.office.com/e/YqKLJ1dhTb

May 11 ***change of date***, GVVT Goes to Town: see Glasgow the vintage way as our buses operate extra free services on routes throughout the city. Sample the Bridges Tour, a sightseeing experience of the crossings of the Clyde from Albert to Arc, and take a top-deck view of George Square and surrounding streets on our regular city centre shuttle. Discover these and more special tours on the day.

June 1, Comic-On the Buses: journey to a new universe – and win prizes – as GVVT enters the world of comic book culture. With a star-studded line-up of fantasy and sci-fi characters and a galaxy of vendors selling an array of goods from art and toys to crafts and clothing, Comic-On the Buses is a fusion of classic transport and imagination. Awards are up for grabs in our cosplay competition, so dress to impress.

•Vendors invited, booking form at https://forms.office.com/e/yGLN4qap8t

July 6, Classic Car Day: Bentleys meet buses and a huge variety of thoroughbreds from Jaguars to Chevies and Fords as GVVT opens its doors to petrolheads and diesel devotees. Clubs and independent owners are invited to display their drive.

•Entry forms at https://forms.office.com/e/KZZWsF1kzh

September 7, Blue Lights, Buses and Troops: Fall in with the ranks of our classic buses and trucks as GVVT celebrates the services, emergency and military. Police, fire and rescue, air ambulance, Army, Navy and RAF gather at the garage with vehicles and displays from past and present day – and all to the swinging sound of the Michael Brawley Big Band and GI dancers.

•Super Sunday events start at 11am and doors close at 4.30pm. Adult £6, concession £5, child £4, family £17, carer £2.

Meanwhile, the two biggest dates on the calendar are back, Family and Community Day on July 27 and our Open Weekend on October 11 and 12. Like all GVVT events, they are packed with added attractions … SIM 1, our fun bus driving simulator, PlayStation games, Wee Happy Bus and Wee Happy Shop, fresh Archive & Museum display, Clippies Café and free classic city shuttle service.

A free shuttle service will operate every 30 minutes between the Garage and City Centre.

There’s more at Bridgeton Bus Garage!

We were pleased to host a visit from the Gay Classic Car Group at Bridgeton Bus Garage on a rather wet Sunday. The weather didn’t dampen the spirits of our happy visitors.

If you are part of a group who would like to visit us please drop us an email for more details.

Calling all Albion Owners!

On Sunday 13th April, we are collaborating with our friends at the Albion Club (Albion Trucks and Buses WorldWide). We are holding the ‘Albion 125 End of an Era’ road run’, to mark the end of 125 years of Albion engineering in Glasgow. The run will go from Bridgeton Bus Garage to the Riverside Museum, by way of Finnieston, where the first Albion factory was from 1900 to 1903, and then Scotstoun, where the company moved to in 1903 and where production of axles finally came to an end in October 2024. The run will also take in Yoker, where Albion also had premises.

We are aiming to gather as many roadworthy Albion vehicles as possible to take part in the run and go on display at Riverside. We already have a number confirmed. So please get in touch with us on info@gvvt.org (or the Albion Club) to let us know if you can bring your Albion!

In the meantime, stay tuned to our social media pages Facebook Twitter BlueSky or Threads for more information over the coming weeks and months.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Trust over the last year. It has been a great year with many achievements along the way.  Even though we’ve not hit last year’s high on visitor numbers, we have carried a record number of passengers on our buses.  Just over 20,000!  Both the Open Weekend and West End Bus Fest had their best ever passenger figures.  

The achievements of the Trust have been different this year but no less satisfying.  These would include the following:

• The parade celebrating 100 years of Glasgow Corporation motorbuses

• Marking 25 years of the Back on the Road social inclusion programme

• Ken Bruce becoming our Patron

• Stephen Templeman being our building manager and the improvements he’s made about the garage
• Nicola McHendry being our team leader in the Museum & Archive and organising an improved and expanded display of artefacts from the collection
• The drone flythrough of the garage

• Paying off early our loan for buying the garage
• Back on the Road achieving full funding from external sources
• With the help of Sir Brian Souter, introducing an interactive zone at the garage including a bus simulator

• The ‘Wee Happy Bus’ kids driving experience introduced

• The introduction of a family membership
• Our latest book published, ‘Glasgow’s Buses’, using the photographs of Iain MacGregor whose archive now belongs to GVVT.

• ‘Your Wee Happy Shop’ going from strength to strength with an expanded range

Of course, while these are singularly special things, they would not be achieved without all the supporting activity that GVVT members collectively do whether volunteering at our events, assisting in the shop, working in the museum and archive, ensuring vehicles are ready, our activities are promoted and publicised, the garage is looked after, we’re visible in the community through our outreach, our membership is catered for or ensuring the Trust is governed and administered.  So thank you once again for the help everyone has provided in 2024.

We can look forward with confidence to 2025 and the opportunities it will bring.  If you would like to be involved in our activities, please join online at gvvt.org/membership and get in touch with us at volunteering@gvvt.org to find out more.

More than one celebration!

Back on the Road’s Christmas party took place at Bridgeton Bus Garage on 12^th December and celebrated the programme’s participants past and present with friends and supporters.  BOTR founder, Dr Alistair Ramsay, was on hand to present the certificates of achievement as part of the festivities.

As well as all the usual Christmas music, food and silly jumpers, the party had more in store for programme supervisor, Gordon Kerr, than he’d bargained for.  Gordon has two very important milestones coming up which he’d been keeping quite quiet about.  Unbeknownst to him, BOTR director, Martin Walker, and programme coordinator, Vince Ho, had other ideas and had been working on a secret mission which would be revealed at the party.  

Gordon is celebrating 20 years running the Back on the Road programme.  That’s almost as long as the programme has been running itself.  An amazing achievement.  The second is a special birthday, his 60th!  With Martin acting as MC for the party, the surprises started to roll.  The lights in the room were dimmed as the door opened with Gordon’s wife, Rosie, coming in with a big cake and candles ablaze.  He had no idea Rosie was turning up or that a cake was organised to mark his birthday.  Then, ‘beaming in’ from London, GVVT Patron, Ken Bruce, offered his thanks and good wishes to everyone associated with BOTR as well as a special message for Gordon on his achievements.

Speaking after the event, Steven Booth, Chair of Back on the Road, said: “Not only was today’s Christmas party a celebration amongst friends, it was also a celebration of the amazing achievements of our programme participants.  It was great to be able to mark the progress they continue to make.

Gordon Kerr deserves the high accolades he has received for the work and commitment he has shown to Back on the Road and the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust.  He is integrated into the fabric of life at Bridgeton Bus Garage and is universally liked and respected.  We are very grateful for his service to the programme and its participants, past and present, and here’s to many more years with him involved.”