Catch a 1973 King Alfred Bus - at Trout ‘n’ About 2026!
King Alfred Buses in service at Trout ‘n’ About
The four King Alfred buses that ferry Trout ‘n’ About visitors from the car park to the High Street are the same buses that carried fare-paying passengers from Stockbridge to Winchester in the 1960s and 1970s.
The two double and two single-deckers were taken out of service in 1973 when the King Alfred Motor Services company was taken over. Years later, they were ‘rescued and restored’ by the charity Friends of King Alfred Buses .
One of them - a 70-year-old, 56-seater Leyland Titan - even had to be repatriated from the USA, after spending two decades in a museum in Augusta, Georgia!
The distinctive, two-tone leaf green and cream heritage buses - with Winchester’s King Alfred statue on the side panels - have been a hugely-popular fixture at recent Trout ‘n’ Abouts.
On Sunday 2nd August, drivers from the Friends of King Alfred will operate a loop service, taking T ‘n’ A visitors from Car Park East, on London Road, to a new bus stop outside the White Hart Pub, at the end of the High Street.
“The first Sunday in August is a very important date in the calendar for us,” said The Chairman of King Alfred Buses James Freeman.
“As far as we’re concerned, Trout ‘n’ About is absolutely top of the league.
“Stockbridge is an astonishing environment that’s just made for a festival. There is so much to do in a relatively small area. It’s an event that bursts out of itself!”
King Alfred Buses will drop off visitors to T‘n’A 2026 outside The White Hart pub
Up until 1973, there was a King Alfred bus parked in Stockbridge every night for more than forty years - ready for the early-morning service.
The four buses at Trout ‘n’ About 2026 will be:
WCG 104: 1959 Leyland Tiger Cub 45-seater. Sold on to a firm in South Wales. The first KA bus to be rescued by FoKAB founder James Freeman, in 1981.
King Alfred Bus WCG 014
UOU 419H: 1970 Leyland Panther 52-seater. The most modern bus at T ‘n’ A 2026. . Bought from another South Wales firm in 1988.
King Alfred Bus UOU 419H
HOR 592E: 1967 Leyland Atlantean 76-seater. This bus ended up with its roof removed, running on Weston-super-Mare sea front. FoKAB members reinstated the roof.
King Alfred Bus HOR 592E
POU 494: 1956 Leyland Titan lowbridge 56-seater. 70 years old, it spent 20 years in Augusta, Georgia, USA. It was repatriated to Hampshire and extensively rebuilt. The job was completed in 1997.
King Alfred Bus POU494
For more info about FoKAB, visit: kingalfredbuses.org.uk