Friends of King Alfred Buses - King Alfred Autumn Country Bus Day | 13/09/26

The final running day for the 2026 season organised by the Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) on Sunday 13th September 2026, was an autumn country bus day as part of the Heritage Open Days (HODs) festival. As part of the Heritage Open Days scheme managed locally by the Hampshire History Trust, FoKAB's theme for this autumn is "rides out into the country” with taking passengers over the spectacular chalk downs to the east of the city. Activities were centred at St Catherine’s Park & Ride, with regular departures all day long and a frequent shuttle service all day between Winchester Broadway and St Catherine's, running as route 22. There was a specific reason for being based at St Catherine's Park & Ride, as the day was designed to be unaffected by potential congestion expected around the north and west of the city because of the weekend closure of junction 9 of the M3 Motorway between 11th and 14th September. The routes ran over Hazeley Down to Owslebury, Twyford and Colden Common; over Fairdown to Morn Hill for the Science Centre; over Tichborne Down to Alresford with its pretty streets and the Watercress Line station; over Cheesefoot Head to Cheriton passing the Flower Pots Inn. A few visiting vehicles attending ran trips on the route 22 shuttle service between St Catherine’s P&R Winchester Broadway, open top bus services on the route 6 services to Morn Hill and on the route 14 services from Alresford & Bishops Sutton. Short trips around the City of Winchester from St Catherine’s were also ran by the smaller buses in FoKAB’s collection. This event coincided with the Classic & Sports Car Parade organised by Winchester MG Owners’ Club, also a part of the Heritage Open Days (HODs) festival in Winchester. You can view the video here: PLEASE NOTE THAT THE VIDEO IS STILL IN THE WORKS AND HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED YET