## **BRITISH TROLLEYBUS SOCIETY** # **Registered Charity Number 1033666** # **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024** # **Reference and administration details** ~~ee~~ **Principal address:** 8 Glan Llyn Llanfairpwllgwyngyll Isle of Anglesey LL61 5YX ## **Executive Trustees Office** David Chick Chairman & Portfolio Leader - Publications Andrew Barton Secretary & Portfolio Leder - Membership Paul Dicken Secretary, Portfolio Leader - Membership & Portfolio Leader - Education Resigned positions 21 October 2023 Appointed Secretary & Membership Portfolio Leader w.e.f. 22 October 2023 Francis Whitehead Treasurer, Portfolio Leader - Finance & Portfolio Leader - Vehicles Graham Bilbé Portfolio Leader - Engineering Helen Cross Deputy Chari & Portfolio Leader - Policies, Development & Administration David Hall Portfolio Leader Library, Archive & Website Paul Weal Portfolio Leader - Sales ## **Custodian Trustees** David Beach Robert Rowe John Savage Professor Francis Terry ## **Structure, governance and management** ~~eee~~ ## **Governing documents** 1. Constitution (dated 5 October 2013) 2. Trust Deed (under which the Charity’s assets are vested in the Custodian Trustees) ## **How the Charity is constituted** Unincorporated association ## **Trustee selection method** Elected by rotation at Annual General Meetings (or, if appropriate, at an Extraordinary General Meeting) BTS Trustees’ Annual Report September 2024 Page 1 of 5 ## **Objectives and activities** |Summary of the objects of the
charity set out in its governing
document
Summary of the main activities
undertaken for the public
benefit in relation to these
objects|The British Trolleybus Society (BTS), originally formed in 1961 as
the Reading Transport Society (RTS), was registered as a Charity
by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales on 24
February 1994.
Its primary charitable object is to educate the public about the
operation and historical interest of public service vehicles,
particularly the trolleybus.| |---|---| ||
(a) To maintain its vehicles and restore them to their original or an
authentic condition, in order to display and operate them at the
Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft in North Lincolnshire
(b) To assist in the progress and maintenance of the Trolleybus
Museum at Sandtoft
(c) To publish a journal of the affairs of the Society
(d) To promote general interest in the preservation of passenger
transport vehicles, but particularly to encourage the restoration,
maintenance and general well-being of preserved trolleybuses
and trolleybus equipment
(e) To encourage the writing and publication of histories on
trolleybuses, their operating systems, and their technical
equipment
(f) To collect and maintain a library of such publications and other
archival material that is relevant to trolleybuses| The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit ## **Achievements and performance** _**Note:** The Society’s financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. This report on the activities of the Society covers the twelve months to 31 March 2024. As has been the practice in previous years, for continuity this report also covers those planned events that have taken place since 31 March 2024._ **AGM** The sixty-second Annual General Meeting of the Society, which considered the activities of the Society from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, was held in Manchester on 21 October 2023. **Finance:** A formal review of the Society’s finances is set out below this section, with the end of year accounts presented separately as an appendix to this report. Subscriptions increased in February 2024. Subscriptions need to cover the cost of servicing membership (i.e. the costs of printing and distributing the Society’s magazines and the Society's administration costs); in addition, they make a contribution towards accommodating and maintaining its historic vehicle collection. The advance purchase of a large supply of stamps has cushioned the effect of a postal cost increase on magazine distribution since the end of the year under review. However, it will be necessary to increase subscriptions from February 2025. The Society’s Sponsortrolley scheme continues to make a substantial contribution to accommodating our historic vehicle collection and helps to build funds for restoration. Most Sponsortrolley donations also qualify for Gift Aid, making the scheme even more valuable to the Society. The Executive Committee is grateful to these generous supporters and to David Beach, who continues to administer the scheme. **Sales:** BTS Sales now participates in the running of, and stocking, the Trolleyshop at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, making our sales stock available on all operating days there irrespective of whether BTS volunteers are available: the BTS stock in the Trolleyshop is automatically managed using the Trolleyshop’s computer system. Thanks are due to our Sales Officer, Paul Weal, for managing our overall sales activities, all of which raises BTS Trustees’ Annual Report September 2024 Page 2 of 5 significant sums of money for the Society. **Calendar:** An important element of our sales activities, the Society’s 2024 calendar made around £600 profit for the BTS. Our thanks to Tony Belton for providing the photos and captions and for funding the printing. Another calendar has been produced for 2025. **Monthly Prize Draw:** The Monthly Prize Draw provides funds for vehicle restoration. The proceeds from the 2023 Draw have been allocated to Bournemouth trolleybus no.301 and those from the 2024 Draw will be devoted to the restoration of Glasgow trolleybus TB78. The organiser, Andrew Barton, is grateful to the participants for making this valuable contribution towards vehicle restoration. **Publications:** The Society’s magazines, _Trolleybus_ and _Bus Fare,_ are published monthly and we wish to thank the editorial and production teams (Dave Chick, Jody White, Bruce Lake, Peter Braybrooke and James Cusworth) as well as everyone who supplies news, articles and photographs, and Derek Pearson, who envelopes and posts our journals plus inserts every month, turning them round very quickly after receiving them from the printers. The Society’s online _News & Events_ monthly newsletter which is produced by Publicity Officer Paul Dicken is now also produced on behalf of the Bradford Trolleybus Association and the Doncaster Omnibus and Light Railway Society as well as jointly with Sandtoft Transport Centre Limited. Our thanks to Paul for this much-appreciated initiative. **Membership:** We continue to support members and are actively canvassing lapsed members to rejoin. We have worked hard to get email addresses from all members and now only approximately 25% are not accessible by email. All emails now carry a personal salutation. **Website and social media:** The BTS website continues to play an important role in keeping members and others interested in trolleybuses informed. Our Facebook page continues to be popular. The Executive Committee is grateful to Peter Short, who was our Webmaster until his death this year. We are grateful to Paul Dicken, who has devoted considerable time and effort to improving the website, initially in liaison with Peter Short. We are also grateful to Dave Hall and Simon Guppy who maintain the content. The decision has been taken to move the website and the member database to modern software which is easier to use for administration and members who join or renew subscriptions online. **Trolleybooks** (the joint publication panel of the British Trolleybus Society and the National Trolleybus Association): Bob Rowe, David Mulvey and Dave Chick are the BTS Trolleybooks representatives and BTS member Roger Clark is the Trolleybooks treasurer. The next title, _London Trolleybus Operation_ , was prepared for publication during 2023 and 2024 and other books are being prepared. ## **Meetings:** Meetings have been held in London and Reading throughout the year. **The Society’s Collection of Historic Vehicles:** During the 2023 visitor season at the Trolleybus Museum, Reading 113, London 1812 and Huddersfield nos. 619 and 631 operated in service, with no.631 also popular at the Museum as a training vehicle for new trolleybus drivers. Apart from operating these four trolleybuses and the associated routine maintenance and testing of them for fitness to operate, ongoing inspections reveal a range of conditional problems across different examples within the collection - a consequence of it being an ageing collection of wellused vehicles. Planning for and progress with renovations and longer-term projects has been undertaken during the year under review. Thanks go to Graham Bilbé and Francis Whitehead for their continuing leadership of this aspect of the Society’s work, to all the good BTS (and Trolleybus Museum) volunteers who spend so much time and effort cleaning the operational and static display vehicles, and the very generous members who support the Sponsortrolley scheme that enables the collection to be accommodated under-cover. **The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft (TM@S):** The BTS is one of the Museum's three supporting societies and has continued to work closely with the Board of Sandtoft Transport Centre Limited. BTS and STCL also have a Joint Working Group (JWG) to plan the Museum’s expansion and development. Following the adoption of the JWG’s development plan, JWG membership now includes the Bradford Trolleybus Association and Doncaster Omnibus & Ligh Railway Society. Considerable progress has been made with constructing the Sandtoft District Railway and the JWG recommendations for increasing the number of open days has resulted in very successful weekday opening during selected weeks in school holiday times. Outside the scope of the JWG, the Society is now working on a project with TM@S to vastly improve exhibition interpretation at the Museum, particularly the interpretation for the trolleybuses BTS Trustees’ Annual Report September 2024 Page 3 of 5 and trolleybus overhead. _**Burntwood**_ **:** There have been two major pieces of work carried out at _Burntwood_ during the period under review: - (a) The planned entrance upgrade: the weather couldn’t have been much worse for the majority of this work. Following various delays by our contractor, work eventually started in November 2023 and from the start, ground conditions rapidly deteriorated because of continual rain. Opportunities to be able to work had to be selected to not compromise the quality of the construction, so the contract over-ran. The work was completed in July 2024. Not directly related, because of the contractor’s financial status, the finishing works had to be undertaken by a different company, albeit at much the same rates. The end result very much looks the part and when the new TM@S car park is constructed, should make a fine entrance to the Trolleybus Museum. - (b) Bungalow plumbing works: these were unplanned and became necessary following a series of frost-related burst pipes. The entire central heating radiator installation (out of use because the oilfired boiler had previously been condemned) was removed and the water supply pipes to the various rooms were upgraded and are fully insulated; a new hot water tank with immersion heaters was also installed and a frost-damaged electric shower unit was replaced. These two projects have been overseen by Francis Whitehead. The Executive Committee are grateful to David Hanchett, who continues to manage the volunteer accommodation arrangements at _Burntwood_ and who has redecorated the parts of the property that were affected by the plumbing alterations. Our thanks also go to Stewart David, who regularly checked the property until standing down this year, and to James Race, who has succeeded Stewart. **BTS Archives:** The Society's archives, and in particular the extensive photographic archive, continue to be maintained by Dave Hall and are a useful source for authors of new works about trolleybuses. ## **The Future** We look forward to the continuing support of the membership in our endeavours. ## **Financial review** ## **Policy Concerning Financial Reserves** 1. The Society is positively maintained as a going concern, adopting robust management methods to ensure that it has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. 2. The Executive Committee regularly reviews the level of the Society’s financial reserves. 3. Over and above the requirement to meet in full the Society’s spending commitments, the Executive Committee’s policy is to maintain sufficient reserves to: - (a) Where appropriate, bridge any gap between the spending of funds and the receiving of income - (b) Cover emergency repairs and other unplanned expenditure on the Society’s charitable assets and freehold property - (c) Satisfy the requirements of all the donors to the Society’s restricted funds, and those of the providers of grants and the like The Executive Committee considers that there are sufficient funds at year-end, in total amounting to £215,754 including the restricted funds which total £133,024, to provide adequately for planned expenditure and these contingencies. The Executive Committee is of the view that the BTS, a charity, is a going concern and has a reasonable expectation that adequate resources are available for it to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. ## **Details of any funds materially in deficit** None. BTS Trustees’ Annual Report September 2024 Page 4 of 5 ## **Declaration** ## **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **Signatures Full Names** Paul C. Dicken David George Chick **Position** Secretary Chairman **Date:** 7 October 2024 The following are appended to this report: Appendix 1 - Financial Summary for 2023-24 Appendix 2 – Summary of Status of the Society’s Collection of Historic Vehicles BTS Trustees’ Annual Report September 2024 Page 5 of 5 BRITISH TROLLEYBUS SOCIETY Registered Charity Number 1033666 Trustees, Annual Report for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 Appendix 1 Receipts and Payments Accounts (2023-24) and Independent Examiner's Report (Total of 4 pages) British Trolleybus Society Rgglsterd Charity No. 1033666 Receipts and Payments Accounts Forthe p•riod 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 Receipts and Payments Year 10 31 Marcn 2v24 R•stricted Endowment funds funds to th• n••rn•tf to tho no8Wi £ Year to 31 March 2023 Unrostricted funds to thtr £ Total funds to Ihe near*st É lo the n8arnsi£ Recei M8rnbeFship subxnptyons DoDawns BUrn￿rIx aisl& EknnalKins VehKk Swnsothp IswnsorTrol￿y} tknnabons Vehd8 mSb)iats)D t￿na￿onS l*etiiKJ5 rknnabons Other Gift Tax redarftsfrom HMRC 6,116 6,116 13,042 7.652 10.120 13.042 11,334 11,334 10.410 3.109 3,109 598 1,710 24,161 654 38,014 590 l.T16 1).571 3,007 13.$71 46.203 .107 2.OQ2 861 Sa￿$ takings TrOl￿yt￿ks 8TS share ol wofil payt*n LFTA ukiaine CO￿￿￿ar Ifoi OECI Paym&nts from sfcL fof IroNey￿S u Vrt)nlhly Pnze Draw sub$¢np￿nS STCL subscnpiions co1￿Cled by BTS aTrk Inte￿$1 Istsllaneous IrKth 636 752 752 3,130 1,307 771 3.1JO 1.207 3,196 1,385 34 1,834 Sub total 2B.091 32,SS6 60,656 Asset and investment sale5 None Sub total Totsl receipts 28,098 32,558 60.656 15 .577 Pa mgnt$ Magazine pr￿autho￿ and Publirj L8ga. aL¥lil and 98tw¥ Bumh¥cYJd Counol tsx. utilii*S & ￿aIn￿¥ 8uTnN¥ttrfJ ImwoveTr*nts Veh&es Affornff(wythn. STCL Veh&es Acwmffodthn. othei Vehides fowirqcD5ts Vehides Re￿Orat￿n ￿S¢S Library wchive co$ts Exhitstsons Reading area ￿￿etIngS Saks 510th & a5wated r#J5ts I1￿ TrOl￿y￿k?0Ks lfv*w Titss thlsl LRTA Ukraine Calendar Ibr DECI Vonihly Pnze Dr* Exrenses *)nihly Pnze 01￿ Pftzes STCL subscnoons STCL Bank. PayPJ anc cred11card charges ￿￿￿lIaneouS ex[¢r￿lI 1,311 153 216 8.771 9,311 153 216 B.771 9.340 4T6 45,407 7.200 1.155 7,200 1,155 19,200 1,882 1.42 1,420 75,5B3 15 1.JS0 1,350 374 374 7.154 7,654 161 1,435 2,691 1,435 2,691 125 271 f,7fO 125 271 125 Sub total 26,390 62.019 4B,409 16.544 an stment Nor*e Sub total Total payments 26.390 62,019 8a.109 66,544 Yoar Surplus/ Deficit Transfers botw••n funds Cash funds last year end Cash lunds thls year end 1,708 .29.461 -27,753 85,033 92,183 93.891 152.053 122.592 244.236 216,483 149.446 234,479 PèJe1of3 Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 March 2024 Unrestrictod funds Rèstrictgd fund5 to n•arest É Endowment funds nurnst £ 10,452 74.134 to nearest £ Cash fuDd$ Lknyd5 CW ac¢yJ*)I al 31.￿.23> LWS saviThJs accLVII 41,452 86.574 PayPa account Cash hpkj by s£￿ offws 35 t.966 Sub total 128,026 Less" LWS account I￿¥￿sented clwue5 ai 31-Mar-231 -316 -3.774 Total cash funds 91,650 124,252 Unrostricted funds to noarost £ Restricted funds Endowmont funds to nearest £ Other moneta assets Fund to whi¢ •wt belonqi Cost loptionall Currnnt ¥alu• loMion•ll Investment assets io vthich Cos1 loptionll CurTent valu• Assets retsined for the Socie '$ Use 16 Histonc trolleybusesl histonc vehths Re5trKied Trolleybus overhead & equipment Un￿str￿ed Freehold lana & propety- Bumh Unre5trKt£d Postage stamps Unrestrrted Sales siock unfes1n￿￿3 Lino Ifor restoration projectsl Rwdtncted 14,100 2,711 425,000 3.577 2,670 5.821 45J,949 Fund to which Il•bi16ty rv14to• Amount due (optSon•l) When due Iopiionall Deiails Liabilities Pa9e2of3 Analysis and Statement of Restricted Funds as at 31 March 2024 Balance 8$ at 01-Apr-23 to no•rest £ Receipls Payments Transfer Betsfftn Restricted Funds to noareit £ Balance as at 31-Mar-24 to n••rest £ to nparest £ 753 45.83Q 298 4.343 356 429 -17 2.229 -526 1.572 118 32,572 -25 1.099 3,930 1.938 105,463 Read1ng Horse-drawn Towel. Wagon Mexborough & Swnton 34 Reading 47 Bournemoulh 99 South Shields 204 Reading 113 Cardiff 203 London 1812 Walsall 342 Manchester 1344 Walsall 872 Aachen 22 Glasgryw TB78 Hudéersfield 631 Bournernouth 301 Huddersfield 619 Sub fotal IVoht¢lfrspgcfft funds) 153 43.599 -435 4.441 790 649 263 2.176 1.888 802 678 680 620 1270 600 980 55 1.155 900 1.052 40 150 -226 592 970 31.804 377 1,459 2.772 2.214 100.795 900 858 -90 1.291 900 480 1.072 600 14,242 876 9,774 201 rRe cted F nds STCL membership Subscript￿n$ Resioual NHLF Grant (Poks t￿n Pro Donalions for Nominatecl Projec¢s LR TA Ukraine Calendar (for DECI BUrn￿00d Exhibit19ns Development at TM@S Monthly Prize Oraw120241 Monthly Pnze Draw120231 1.385 1.725 1.307 2.691 1, 7?5 13.043 45,407 1350 500 360 1.075 62,019 -11,864 8.fj50 20. 135 2,396 1519 133,124 20.5 10.000 20.000 636 2.756 440 32.423 -68 2.320 115,677 Totsl 135 Approval and Signatures Approved and signed by authorised trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Prfnt Naiiio Dal• of approval FFiANCIS ¥VHITEHEAD DAVID CHICK Page3013 BRITISH TROLLEYBUS SOCIETY Registered Charit). No l OJJ666 Inde endent Examiner's Re ort on Accounts Report to the Trustees / Members of - BRITISH TROLLEYBUS SOCIETY On Accounts for the year ending - 31" March 2024 Sel oul on Pages 1,2and3 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ( the Trust") for the year ended 31103/2024 Responsibilities and basis of the report. As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {'"the Act"). I report in respect of my examinaiion of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the ?01 l Acl and in carTr'ing out mi. examination I hai'e follow'ed the applicable Directions given by the Charilj. Coinmission under section 145(5)(b) of the Acl. llldependent Examiners Statement I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe thai in any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section l O of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed A D Butler th Date . 24 October 2024 Name . Alan D Butler RelcN'ant professional qualificalions or body NIA Address '. 62 St Michaels Road, Tilehursl. Reading: Berkshire. RG30 4RX BRITISH TROLLEYBUS SOCIETY Registered Charity Number 1033666 Trustees, Annual Report for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 Appendix 2 Status of the Society s Collection of Historic Vehicles (as at 31-Mar-24) (Total of 2 pages) APPENDIX 2 The Society's Collection of Historic Vehicles Report: During the 2023 visitor season at the Trolleybus Museum. Reading 113, London 1812 and Huddersfield nos. 619 and 631 operated in service, with no.631 also popular at the Museum as a training vehicle for new trolleybus drivers. Apart from operating these four trolleybuses and the associated routine maintenance and testing of them for fitness to operate, ongoing inspections reveal a range of conditional problems across different examples within the collection - a consequence of it being an ageing collection of well- used vehicles. Planning for and progress with renovations and longer-term projects during the year under review Included: Bournemouth 99.. Although considered since the year under review, the Executive Committee has agreed in principle to embark on further renovation of no.99 and to that end, the proceeds of the 2025 Monthly Prize Draw will be devoted to no.99. Investigatory work to understand the extent of the suspected bodywork stwctural defect under the trolley gantry is to be carried out in the coming months and a detailed work plan is to be devised, costed and resourced, with fundraising needs and opportunities followed-up. South Shields 204.. The near-side rear wheel oil seal has had to be renewed.. this work was undertaken in May 2024 and, with some remedial work also carried out to tidy up some badly- flaking window surround paintwork, no.204 subsequently passed its fitness test, to return to service in mid-June 2024. It has continued to be a reliable and popular SeN1￿ trolleybus. Several bodywork problems have been identified. however, including leaks in some parts of the matchboard and canvas roof and within the front destination screen box area, a deteriorating catwalk timber and some defective internal finishings. Readin 113. An air leak in the vicinity of the compressor continues to be a problem despite concerted rectification attempts: a further endeavour is planned. Cardiff 203. Unfortunately, other priorities and time constraints have prevented progress being made to resolve rear brake efficiency problems.. it is hoped that no.203 can be prioritised in the coming months, with further investigations also being made into how to repair the suspected overload damage to the rear overhang of the chassis. London 1812.. Early in the 2024 season, investigation into a HV problem identified the deterioration of one of no.1812's resistance banks as the cause. Whilst a remedial repair was effected, the unit clearly needs to be refurbished and it is hoped this can be carried out over the 2024-25 winter period and the trolleybus made ready for the 2025 season. Walsall 342. Despite ongoing requests. STCL has not yet transferred no,342 from its out- stationed storage back to TM@S. During July 2024, a BTS workgroup checked and prepared no.342 for the tow. Once at TM@S, where it has been agreed it will be put into the new depot building and out of general sight, it will be jointly inspected to determine the extent of the damage sustained at the off-site storage and mutually agree how to proceed with repairs and, possibly, continued restoration work. Manchester 1344.. During Spring 2024, no.1344 was tested and passed as fit for service use at TM@S and has been used during the 2024 season. A Gonsiderable amount of work is required to the two trolley bases and booms to straighten them. It is believed that the damage occurred prior to no.1344 returning to Sandtoft after stints at EATM and BCLM. Vvhilst the damage does not unduly affect use of the trolleybus, it is unsightly In liaison with TM@S, a practical way of undertaking the necessary repairs with the least down- time for the trolleybus is to be investigated. Walsall 872. During August 2024, the very puzzling driving fault was identified and rectified, but during a road test, a further defect - this time, first notch not engaging, occurred. Separately, work to the back brakes revealed that both near-side brake linings had worn down to the rivets and need to be replaced, quite possibly this emanating from service days in Walsall. The chassis and mechanical units are very badly rusted and much work will be required to clean this all off and paint. Work to commission no.872 will continue as availability of labour allows. BTS Trustees. Annual Report {Appendix 2) September 2024 Page1of2 Aachen 22.. During September 2024, as a result of the recruitment by TM@S of a new volunteer with extensive welding experience, the Executive Continue agr￿d to investigate acquiring and erecting a temporary workshop building on the Bumlwood land to facilrtate a safe and usable environment for restoration work on no.22. Such a temporary workshop could be quickly provided and by the time funding for further development on Burntwood becomes available and construction work commences, the no.22 project could be well advanced and re-located to either the proposed STCL restoration workshop or, rf ne￿Ssary, to a drfferent TM@S or Bumtwood site for the temporary workshop Glas ow TB78. As reported previously, a batch of 3-D printed replacement vent covers for both decks has been purchased, with those for the upper saloon fitted. In the lower saloon, during the current year a start has been made to prepare and repaint the ceiling and coving prior to fitting these vent covers. It has been identified that the leather to the seating in both decks is not in good condition. Consultation with a leather refurbishment product company has resulted in the purchase of supply of products to apply to the leather to rejuvenate it and restore it to usable condition and close to its original dark green colour. The company undertook considerable trials before making recommendations and now, BTS volunteers have made a start on deep cleaning and treating an initial batch of seat cushions. There are a lot of stages to follow and a lot of seats, but hopefully work can continue over the winter period and an outcome of a bus-full of restored seats at most economical cost will result. More surfaces, in the cab and the stairsl platfonn area, will be suitably prepared and repainted in early 2025 and it will be necessary to renew the window rubbers all round before TB78 is then checkedl tested ready for re-entry into service. Huddersfield nos. 619 and 631. the front bulkheads on both decks of both trolleybuses are finished with fluted, red-coloured rubber sheeting. This rubber is now in poor condition and it is planned to replace it with new. Bournemouth 301.. BTS member Keith Baynton has continued to work on no.301 at Hooton Park, Cheshire. After significant delays because the originally projected contractor withdrew, the window rubbers have now all been renewed. A large amount of internal refurbishment has also been undertaken and transfers (and where necessary, vinyls) have been applies inside and out. Regrettably, no.301 wasn't ready for the BTS-arranged running weekend over the August 2024 bank holiday weekend, but with just an amount of re-chroming work outstanding, its return to Sandtoft can't be far away. Having had an amount of HV equipment refurbishmenu replacement since it last ran under power, no.301 will require much electrical checkingl testing and prolonged road running to ensure it is completely fit to operate. Readin 47. the Society's 1935 AEC Regent motorbus remains in roadworthy condition and insured for road use in the local Reading area. Thanks go to Graham Bilbé and Francis Whitehead for their continuing leadership of this aspect of the Society's work and to all the good BTS volunteers who spend so much time cleaning the operational and static display vehicles. BTS TTuslees' Annual Report (Appendix 2) September 2024 Page2of2