The ever-popular Stroud Vintage Bus Show returned to SGS College Stroud Campus today, Sunday, in Stratford Road and featured more than 40 vehicles from around the country, many of them offering free rides around the Five Valleys to the hundreds of visitors.
Organiser Adam Hall, Transport Manager at Ebley Coaches in Nailsworth, has organised the show for the past seven years but he feels now might be the time to step aside.
“I’ve been in the Public Service Vehicle industry since I left school at 18. I’ve been doing it over 15 years, so I have a big passion for it. But trying to do it all week and then planning for this event can just sometimes get a bit too much.
“The 2026 Stroud Vintage Bus Show is the last year of the show under my organisation. We have a record turnout of vehicles, 45 vehicles, new and old, crammed into the car park this year, and a record number of vehicles offering free vintage bus rides across the Stroud Valleys.
“I’ve done it for seven years now and I think it’s time that I take a step back. With any luck, people will approach me in the future if they want to take it on. I’ve already had a few people approach me and ask the logistics of putting the show on. I’ve been honest and told them of the expenditure costs – about £1,200 to put the show on, out of my own pocket. We make roughly £1,000 back if we’re lucky.
“And then obviously all the organisation in the run-up in the months leading up to the event and then it all really kicks off in the weeks prior and it all changes on the day. After all the effort you put in beforehand, you’ve then got to redo everything on the day if things change. I’ve been honest with them and hopefully somebody will pick it up from me.”
Will Adam miss running the event? “I won’t miss putting in all the leg work into getting the show together, but I will miss not being here on the day or being in control, should we say. I enjoy the day while I’m here, but trying to work my full-time job as well, it just gets me a little bit more stressed out.
“This year we’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the National Bus Company and the beginning of private companies started taking on bus companies around the country, so we’ve got lots of vehicles and attendants who are representing liveries of those companies. It was formed in 1986.
“The other theme this year is 20th anniversary of Cotswold Green, the bus company based in Nailsworth. They operate local bus services around Stroud and it’s their 20th anniversary, which we are celebrating as well.”
Does Adam have a standout moment from the past seven years under his direction? “I don’t know about a highlight, every year has been just good fun for me. I like to see all the people just turn up and enjoy themselves, families, children, all the enthusiasts.”
Anyone willing to take the wheel for future shows can contact Adam via the show’s Facebook page, stroud vintage bus show – Facebook – Stroud Vintage Bus Show
Pictures and video by Matt Bigwood
