Chipping Norton Times - Issue 25 - October 2012 (PDF)

THE VILLAGER
30 years on the road and a new bus joins the fleet!
On a beautiful late summer day in September The Villager
Community Bus Service took delivery of a brand new Bluebird
Orion Bus. The occasion also marked The Villager’s thirtieth
birthday and drivers, committee members and supporters met to
celebrate, and admire the shiny new bus, at The Chequers at
Churchill.
This new 16-seater bus will be a great addition to the service as it
is a ‘kneeling bus’ with a ramp and low level flat floor, making
boarding very easy for those who need it. It brings the fleet of
Villager busses up to five.
These wonderful small buses easily negotiate the narrow lanes and
rural roads into our more remote and prettier villages, picking up
passengers to take them into local markets, shopping centres,
hospitals - you name it. There are ten regular scheduled timetable
routes that criss-cross the area, with reasonable fares which can be
paid in cash or by bus pass.
The team of drivers are all volunteers – fully tested and insured of
course – and every one with an affinity to help others, cheerfully
looking after them in a safe and caring way. The drivers enjoy the
picturesque journeys and the friendly company of the passengers,
many of whom are regulars. Occasionally passengers are joined by
visitors to the area who have discovered this gem of a service and
love the gentle pace of this rural service and the wonderful
landscapes around each corner.
The Volunteer Villager Bus Service drives over 32,000 miles per
year, providing essential transport for over 200 people per week
living in the villages of West Oxfordshire, North Gloucestershire
and South Warwickshire. With its rural routes and communitydriven
timetables The Villager Bus Service is not in competition
with the commercial bus operators, with some journeys scheduled
to meet up with busses going into the larger towns, and with
Network rail.
This service provides a lifeline for many people who would
otherwise have no public transport facilities, enhancing their
quality of life and providing as essential link for anyone who needs
it – it helps to support and maintain our rural communities.
The Villager Bus, which started with one bus 30 years ago, received
the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2004, for ‘providing
extensive, reliable and economical transport for over 64 villages
in the North Cotswolds’ - but it receives many accolades on a daily
basis, from passengers from all walks of life and from our local
communities.
Would you like to make use of this excellent service?
A copy of the extensive timetable is available from your local
County Council or from the website at www.villagerbus.com.
(You may also find one at your local Information Centre.)
Here’s to the next 30 years!
Some of the team of drivers
trying out the back seats.
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