Cheltenham

Sunday 6 July 2025

Cheltenham Town Football Club

Whaddon Road, Cheltenham, GL52 5NA

10am to 4.30pm


ENTRY FORM

Click here to complete an Entry Form for your coach.

HISTORY

In February 1925 Greyhound Motors of Bristol, started what is considered to be the first daily express coach service in Britain. It ran between Bristol and London along the A4, call at towns along the route. A hundred years later in 2025, we're celebrating the centenary of express coach services at Cheltenham - once a hub of nation-wide express coach services.



OUR EVENT

Up to 40 beautifully restored luxury coaches from yesteryear will be on display, lined-up in the way they used to at Cheltenham Coach Station.

COACH TOURS

Some of the coaches will offer a free short circular 'Coach Tour', so you can experience the good old days of express coach travel. Tours will depart every 30 minutes from 10.30am to 4pm, with a journey time of 25-minutes.


DISPLAYS

There will also be picture displays and the Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust stall selling books, models and a souvenir programme. The programme will be packed with history and photos commemorating 100-years of Britain's express coach services.

GETTING HERE

There will be NO car parking at the Football ground. So, please come by bus - Stagecoach route 'A' links the Town Centre (Clarence Street) with Whaddon Road every 20 minutes.


There will also be a regular free  'Shuttle' service, operated by heritage Cheltenham District buses and some of the participating coaches. The shuttle service will run every 20 minutes.

First departures from:

  • Cheltenham Rail Station, Tesco lay-by: (TBC);
  • Royal Well Bus Station, lay-by: (TBC);
  • Cheltenham Racecourse Park & Ride site: (TBC).

Car parking at the Racecourse Park & Ride site is free.

CATERING

The football club will have their café/bar open (10am to 4pm) serving cold/hot and alcoholic drinks, hot food (burgers, chips, sausages, southern fried chicken fillets, scampi). There's ample toilets on-site too.


MASS DEPARTURE

At 4.30pm an inspector will ring a bell and all the coaches will depart on-mass, just like they used to from Cheltenham Coach Station for fifty years (1934 to 1984)! Re-creating the glorious sights and sounds of the golden age of express coach travel.

Cheltenham Classic Coaches is brought to you in partnership with the

2024 MASS DEPARTURE


Forty years after the last mass departure of express service coaches from Cheltenham Coach Station (in 1984), we re-created the sights and sounds of this daily spectacle. Using our very own temporary Coach Station for the day, courtesy of Cheltenham Town Football Club.


Watch as coaches from the golden age of express road services (from the late 1940's to the early 1980's) pour onto the streets of Cheltenham, just like they did for nearly fifty years between 1934 and 1984 (minus a few years during World War II). 


Turn-up the sound, wait for the whistle and enjoy!


Thanks to the Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust for the video.

Share by: