Scottish Vintage Bus Museum (SVBM) expects thousands of visitors this Saturday and Sunday for a “gala weekend” to celebrate its 40th anniversary and 30 years at its current site in Lathalmond.
The museum, which has more than 150 buses, will welcome heritage examples from preservationists and other museums to its base near Dunfermline, Fife.
SVBM can date its origins back to 1968 when a Guy Arab bus bought by a local enthusiast called Jasper Pettie was stored in temporary accommodation in North Berwick.
A shed was purchased in Pathhead, near Dalkeith, in 1972 and this became the first Scottish base for bus preservation.
After the collection of buses from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s outgrew that site, the preservationists decided to relocate to larger premises.
They decided to form a charity and the museum was thus officially founded in 1985.
The move to East Whitburn, West Lothian, came the following year, allowing space for 45 buses.
When larger facilities were again required, the museum relocated to the 40-acre former Royal Naval Stores Depot site in 1995 to become one of the largest bus museums in the UK.
The new facilities meant a dedicated exhibition hall could house vehicles – with regular opening throughout the spring, summer, and autumn – so that the public were not limited to just open days for viewing.
The better workshop facilities there continue to allow for full restorations. The most recent project has been a single decker, originally operated by King Alfred Motor Services of Winchester, that was destroyed by fire in 2023.
Among the highlights on display this weekend will be what is hoped to be the biggest gathering of former Edinburgh Corporation and Lothian Buses vehicles.
Free shuttle buses from Dunfermline city centre and Halbeath Park and Ride will be laid on.
Mystery tours and Forth Bridges tours will also take place, while visitors can also view model bus displays, stalls and exhibitions.
Looking back over the years, Mr Pettie, who is still active with the museum and is a trustee, says: “The best thing really was getting the place in the first place and knowing that we’d signed on the dotted line, and the place was ours.
“We’d moved in and just to go in and see all these huge sheds and think ‘Wow, this place has the most amazing potential’, and I like to think that 30 years on we’ve realised that potential.
“It’s developed and that’s what’s made it interesting because we didn’t really envisage it would develop the way it has and there’s been a lot of positive things.”
