Amberley Museum’s autumn bus show

Tuesday 24th September 2024

It’s been a long while since I’ve visited the wonderful Amberley Museum in West Sussex so its annual autumn Bus Show on Sunday was a good opportunity to put that right.

It’s a fantastic museum located in a former chalk pit which housed a working quarry doing its business between the 1840s and 1960s. Located in the Arun Valley, the Museum is conveniently sited adjacent to Amberley railway station for ease of access.

Famous for hosting former genuine depots and outstation buildings from the much loved Southdown bus company which have been rebuilt and located around the site…

… and, of course, the Museum’s associated Southdown Omnibus Trust and Amberley Museum Trust’s fleet of around ten beautifully and lovingly restored vintage Southdown buses…

… giving the Museum a strong transport heritage but Amberley also offers fascinating insights into other aspects of industrial, agricultural and technological history.

For example there are displays covering such diverse topics as the history of electricity production…

… including a building devoted to the subject…

… showing the history of successes …

… and things that didn’t quite make it….

… while at another extreme there’s a building devoted to showing the history of broom making…

… and a centre devoted to road building with another telling the history of telegraph and telephone communications called ‘connected earth’…

… with a vintage telephone exchange and many nostalgic artefacts and equipment from times gone by…

… including an old style Post Office…

… and examples of how roadworks used to be before Health & Safety.

There’s a fire station…

… vintage cycle workshop and motor garage and so much more.

A narrow gauge railway with steam engine…

…provides trips for visitors around the edge of the former quarry…

…including three stations along the route …

… as well as the former signal box at Billingshurst railway station which has been transported, rebuilt…

… and restored on site.

A point of interest is that part of the quarry which featured in the 1985 James Bond film ‘A View to a Kill’ is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. It was the last Bond film to feature Roger Moore and saw a 200 person crew spend a week on site filming the scenes although preparing the site took a lot longer.

There’s so much to see with displays and exhibits suitable for the whole family. Regular bus trips are available around the site on the vintage buses as well as the narrow gauge steam train.

What’s great about the Museum is the authenticity of the restored buildings that have been rebuilt on site. For example, the Southdown bus garage really does feel like a step back in time as you’re able to wander around its nooks and crannies and see the foreman’s office…

… and stores area.

Attached to the bus garage is a Booking Office…

… laid out exactly as it would have been.

And, of course, not forgetting a full printed timetable display outside the premises for passengers to consult.

As well as all this, the stars of Sunday’s bus show were the buses themselves included extra privately owned heritage vehicles laking a guest appearance providing opportunities to take a ride around the Museum’s extensive grounds…

… including modern buses which have only recently entered service (from Compass Travel)…

… and a Stagecoach bus in a special livery devoted to raising awareness of dementia

Stalls selling models, books, photographs and other bus memorabilia were present as well as a fantastic model bus display featuring a working roadway system demonstrating models of some of the buses operating at the Museum.

Here’s a selection of photographs to illustrate just how fantastic Amberley Museum is and what a great day it was on Sunday.

Other former Southdown, Brighton & Hove and London Country buses were present around the site including a 2000 Scania N94UD with East Lancs body and a 1978 Leyland National.

I recommend a visit to Amberley Museum if you’re in the south – it’s literally over the road from Amberley station – and watch out for the date of the bus show that’s usually held in April as well as September as that makes the visit all the more special. They even have real time information on display at the bus stop….

Finally a shout out to the wonderful Alan Lambert who’s knowledge and interest in all things Southdown has never been, nor ever will be, surpassed. When I first came to Brighton 42 years ago Alan was working at West Sussex County Council and keeps active in his long retirement by, among many bus related things, fulfilling the volunteer role of Head of Bus Group at the Museum and does a fantastic job too, as can be seen by the quality of the exhibits, the restorations and the superb organisation of Sunday’s event. It was great to catch up with Alan as it was with everyone else I met on Sunday from the former Southdown, Brighton & Hove and Brighton Blue Bus days. A true nostalgia fest.

Roger French

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