Imberbus 2019

2019’s main Imberbus event was held on Saturday 17th August and was our biggest yet, attracting almost 3000 passengers who travelled from Warminster to Imber and other points on Salisbury Plain, on 25 old and new Routemaster buses.

We also operated a small number of buses between Warminster and Imber on the following Sunday, and provided a service on both days for people attending the overnight Delaware Road festival at New Zealand Farm Camp.

This is what we had planned for the Saturday…

A summary of the timetable that we operated on Saturday 17th August can be downloaded by clicking here.  A more detailed version of the timetable can also be found here. Important features included:

  • 28 buses in operation, some of which were wheelchair accessible;
  • Departures approximately every 15 minutes from Warminster Station to Imber from 9.45am onwards;
  • Buses serving Tilshead, Chitterne, West Lavington, Market Lavington,  and Brazen Bottom twice an hour throughout the day;
  • Buses twice an hour from Warminster, Imber and Gore Cross direct to the “Delaware Road” festival at New Zealand Farm Camp;
  • Most journeys operated by at least 2 vehicles;
  • An extra car park to the east of Imber, which enabled visitors to drive closer to the village then Park & Ride;
  • Imber Church open for viewing and refreshments from 10am to 6pm on the Saturday;
  • Buses stopping opposite Market Lavington Museum which is opened again specially for our event and also served cream teas;
  • Refreshments served at the village halls in Chitterne and Tilshead;
  • Displays of local historical photographs at Tilshead village hall, together with a small transport sales stall selling the new Imberbus 10th Anniversary book.

The routes that the buses took can be seen on the map below (please click on it to see a larger version in PDF format).  As usual, all buses  connected at Gore Cross so that passengers could easily travel to/from all points on our network and we again used the new interchange location, away from the main road, which made changing buses a much simpler process.
.Further information on things that passengers could see and do on the Saturday after visiting Imber, can be found on the “Beyond Imber” page on this website

This is what we operated on the Sunday…

On Sunday 18th August, we operated an hourly bus service between Warminster Rail Station and Imber Church only, at the following times:

  • Departing from Warminster Station at 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300 and 1400.
  • Returning from Imber Church at 1025, 1125, 1225, 1325, 1425 and also at 1630.

In addition, we will be provided buses for festival goers from the Delaware Road festival at New Zealand Farm Camp back to Warminster.

We also operated a special service 23C from Warminster at 1500 on the Sunday via the south side of the Salisbury Plain to Imber, arriving back in Warminster at 1655.

How much does it cost to travel on Imberbus ?

To enable visitors to explore our services in an affordable way, we offered an all day ticket at a cost of £10 per adult, with up to 3 children allowed to accompany each adult for the bargain fare of just £1 each. However, ordinary bus fares were also available and so anyone who only wished to travel from Warminster to visit the 16th century St Giles’ Church at Imber (which was open specially on both dates), were able to purchase an ordinary single ticket for just £3 each way.

Imberbus operates as an ordinary local bus service, so there was no need to pre-book or pay in advance – passengers just turned up and paid the conductor on the bus. To speed things up on the Saturday, we will also had staff selling day tickets outside Warminster Station during the morning, but we were unable to accept concessionary bus passes for travel on our buses.

What was the Delaware Road Festival ?

The Delaware Road was an an overnight festival of experimental music, film & art which was held inside New Zealand Farm Camp on the edge of the Imber Range.  This site is normally a barracks and a military training facility for fighting in built up areas and the festival organisers kindly allowed Imberbus users to see inside the camp before the festival started.

 

 

 

 

If you can see anything below this line, it is an advertisement and is not related to our event, so please ignore it.