Winchester, set in the green rolling Hampshire countryside, is a wonderful city to visit at any time of year. The one-time capital of the kingdom of Wessex, ruled over by the famous King Alfred, has so much to offer. You can admire the enormity of the ancient cathedral, or wonder at the Round Table in the Great Hall, or scale St Giles hill and look back across the wonders of the city – or just relax in one of the numerous cafes and restaurants and soak up the atmosphere.
It’s easy to reach Winchester by road or by rail and there’s a fantastic bus service from Southampton.
The big wide street at the centre of it all is called The Broadway. Its grand distinguishing feature is a magnificent statue of King Alfred himself, standing on a massive plinth of stone brought from Penrhyn in Cornwall. In 1899 the decision was taken that a splendid statue would be erected to mark a thousand years since the death of the King in 899 AD. It was completed in 1901.
In 1915, it was the likeness of this imposing statue that a Winchester businessman chose to use to identify his new business, which was providing public transport first to the soldiers who filled enormous camps at Morn Hill, to the east of the town, but after the First World War to all the citizens of Winchester.
His name was Robert Chisnell and he was already 45 when he started this new venture which was to consume the rest of his life and be passed on to his two sons.
It had all started when the War Department requisitioned Mr Chisnell’s horses and he had to acquire motor vehicles to replace them. He started running services to and from the camps at Morn Hill and he called the business King Alfred Motor Services.
This firm went on to consolidate its position as the principal bus operator in and around Winchester, unusually fulfilling a municipal duty with a locally owned family business. As a result, it became famous for its independence and for the proud look of its green and cream painted buses. King Alfred Motor Services lasted until the 1970s, by which time its existence was an anachronism and in 1973 its obligations were taken on by the state-owned National Bus Company, through its local subsidiary, Hants & Dorset.
There one might have expected the story to have ended. But in its wake a new and different story has come about, created around a determined group of people whose aim was to continue to celebrate the old company by collecting buses and coaches from its erstwhile fleet and running them, over the old routes and to the one-time timetables, for the general public to enjoy.
The first action of some of these enthusiasts was to research the history of the company in great detail. A history book resulted from that: “King Alfred Motor Services: The Story of a Winchester Family Business”, which was published in 1984.
By then, however, one of those historians had spotted a former King Alfred bus running near Lllanelli in south Wales and had decided it had to be saved for posterity. In 1981 he bought this bus, a 1959 single-decker Leyland Tiger Cub with 45 seats in it, carrying the registration number WCG 104. A couple of years later, he stumbled across another bus, this time a double-decker which was well past its sell-by date, but he bought that, too, and managed, by hook or by crook to get it restored and running again.
Some collectors of old vehicles are content to display them in fields but this person, James Freeman by name, wasn’t content with this. He wanted to give rides to the public, so that people could be reminded of how it was to travel on the old buses. The first such day was Saturday 3 March 1983 when just one King Alfred bus ran over its old routes all day, filled with delighted people on every trip.
James quickly realised that owning old buses wasn’t good as a solitary affair so he advertised in the local press for people to go to a meeting, at the appropriately named King Alfred pub in Winchester. On 31 May 1985 thirty-five interested people turned up and the Friends of King Alfred Buses was formed. Over the years this has grown to have more than two hundred members while the historic collection has reached eighteen vehicles, ranging in age from a mere 53 to a mighty 97 years old!
Gradually, it collected buses and coaches from all over the country and indeed much further afield – two double-deckers were repatriated from the USA and a very special single-decker was brought back from Ireland. Most of these vehicles have needed painstaking restoration to bring them back to life. A double-decker that re-entered service last year took 34 years to complete, with quite a few breaks along the way!
All the while, the group, known to all as FoKAB, was running regular “Running Days”. By the later 1980s this had shifted to New Year’s Day, which turned out to be an ideal day to run the old buses, with the streets clear of traffic and no regular bus service to contend with. FoKAB’s January 1st events became one of the most popular dates in the UK bus enthusiasts’ calendar. Not only were the King Alfred buses running but there was a significant support cast of other buses owned by preservationists keen to see them carrying passengers. Soon, each Running Day would see many thousands of passengers flocking to Winchester, filling not just the buses but the pubs, cafes and restaurants.
Latterly, FoKab’s main event of the year has moved to the first Bank Holiday in May, when the days are longer, the temperatures are more likely agreeable and there is no salt on the roads to ruin the buses. These are now big events. This year’s Big Bus Day on 4 May saw some 12,000 passenger journeys recorded, carried by some 45 buses and coaches. That was a lot of happy people!!
Storage has always been and indeed continues to be an issue. At first, the buses lived out of doors but sun and rain soon affects vehicles that stand out in all weathers and for the past almost thirty years FoKAB’s buses have been housed indoors. Farmyard barns are usually the home of choice – FoKAB currently uses two – but it’s continually searching for possible freehold accommodation to give greater certainty for the future.
FoKAB’s members use their skills in all sorts of ways, but obviously engineering is one of them, including ongoing maintenance of all the fleet and restoration. Every task is done by volunteers – there are no paid staff – and everyone has fun doing it all!
The aim is to get the buses out on the road, and share them with people. These days FoKAB’s annual calendar includes three main events with free rides:
New Year’s Day – when the King Alfred buses run over their old routes all day.
The Big Bus Day (May Day Bank Holiday) – when a huge fleet of buses provides a massive variety of routes and journeys across the day. This is the big one!
Second Sunday in September, when FoKAB’s buses run over their old routes all day as part of the Heritage Open Days scheme.
All the rides are free, but visitors are encouraged to purchase a programme, proceeds from the sales of which go towards the enormous cost of running the buses.
About ten years ago FoKAB became a charity, and is now a charitable company limited by guarantee. All its activities are funded by money raised from donors large and small, so fundraising is a big issue and effort every year.
Last year, the charity embarked upon its biggest fundraising challenge ever, because late in 2023 its unique Leyland Olympic single-decker bus, JAA 708, which when new in 1950 was the very first single-decker bus in Hampshire, had been caught up in an enormous and destructive fire that totally destroyed seven other buses. The Olympic survived, just, and following a careful assessment the decision was taken to rebuild it, at a cost of £500,000! A three year programme was designed and now, roughly halfway through 2026, FoKAB has raised something over half the figure needed, and the bus is well on the way to looking like a bus again. It’s a highly technical task, but the contractors who are undertaking the work are highly skilled and very dedicated. So in 2027 FoKAB expects the Olympic to come alive again, and give rides alongside all the others. What an achievement that will be!
If you’d like a ride, just come along on one of the Running Days. They are based on Winchester Broadway and all the rides are free. You can buy a programme or if you want to give more support, become a member and actually get yourself involved. You’ll find that FoKAB is a friendly family.
All the details are on the FoKAB website www.kingalfredbuses.org. The next event is the Country Bus Day in Winchester on Sunday 13 September 2026. Come and see for yourself and be amazed!
Social media: @fokab1985
