Over 70 Routemasters Expected at Chiswick Gathering

Event marking the seventieth anniversary of the iconic vehicle

Over 130 routemasters were at the last anniversay event. Picture: Andrew Morgan

July 20, 2024

A free family event is being held in the car park of Chiswick Business Park which will see a gathering of 70 Routemaster buses.

The event, dubbed RM70, which runs over next weekend (Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July) has been organised by the Routemaster Association to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first Routemaster bus, the RM1.

The event takes place from 10am to 6pm both days in the Eastern Car Park at, 566 Chiswick High Road.

Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill will be officially opening the event. He has been a supporter of the Routemaster Association for many years and owns a Routemaster bus himself.

The organisers believe it will see the largest collection of the vehicles anywhere in the world for over ten years and will offer visitors a unique opportunity to see (and ride) these beautiful old vehicles in the very location where trainee drivers were once put through their paces - on the infamous Chiswick skid pan. Trips will run between Chiswick and the London Transport Museum.

The event also includes trade stands and a unique Routemaster bus that has been converted into a bar bus.

The office development was chosen for RM70 due to the site’s historical connection with the Routemaster bus. Before today’s modern business park was built the site was home to one of London Transport’s main bus overhaul works and was famous for being the place where trainee drivers were put through their paces.

Ten years ago, The Routemaster Association held RM60 in Finsbury Park and the event attracted thousands of visitors to see over 130 Routemasters.

The first Routemasters entered service with London Transport in February 1956 and the last were withdrawn from regular service in December 2005, although two TfL heritage routes were subsequently operated by Routemasters in central London until 2019.

The Routemaster Association was formed in 1988 with the aim of supporting new owners who had started to acquire examples of this London icon following the commencement of large-scale withdrawals from London service.

Marie Rabouhans, Chair of the The West Chiswick and Gunnersbury Society (WCGS), said the society is delighted that these iconic buses will be coming home. Not only because the park was the former site of the London Transport Chiswick Works, but also more specifically because Colin Curtis OBE, who played a key role in the design and development of the Routemaster, was based at the Chiswick Works. The timing of the event is also fitting as Curtis was born on the 21 July 1926.

She adds, "We are sure that the event will be very popular with Chiswick families some of whom will have memories of members who worked at the bus works. A founder member of our society, the late Beryl Cross, who lived her entire life in Silver Crescent, was proud of her father who worked there including during the Second World War, as recorded in one of her poems about the park (extract below). Another has a certificate awarded by London Transport to a local man for 53 years and 11 months service! As part of the Society's local history focus, we would welcome more memories of those times. Contributions can be sent to our Secretary, Kate: secretary@westchiswickgs.org."

The following link is to an item by Ian Wylie about the history of the site.



This page is sponsored by Rocks Lane who support community initiatives in Chiswick.