Since sending out our last Imberbus email earlier this week, we have had several new subscribers to our mailing list, partly due to some advance press coverage yesterday. We therefore thought that we would send the email out again for their benefit and also share with you the answers to a few of the questions that we have been asked recently (these are highlighted in red).
If this is your first trip to Imber, we also strongly recommend that you read the Imberbus Frequently Asked Questions page on our website, as Imber is probably unlike any other visitor attraction you will have been to before and has very few facilities. In particular, please remember that toilets are in short supply at Imber and there is no internet coverage there, so please bring some cash with you if you intend to board the bus at Sack Hill or in one of the villages, or wish to purchase refreshments or souvenirs at Imber Church.
This year’s Imberbus service will be running this coming Saturday – 19th August 2023 – and there should be more than 30 vehicles in operation, providing departures at least every 15 minutes from Warminster Rail Station, starting at 9.45am. Many journeys will be operated by more than one bus, some of which will be wheelchair accessible, so if you have mobility problems, please email us so that we can tell you what journeys we are planning to use them on.
In addition to the regular service between Warminster and Imber, buses will be serving Chitterne, Tilshead, West Lavington, Market Lavington, Brazen Bottom and New Zealand Farm Camp every 30 minutes during most of the day, and you can board the bus at Tilshead and the Lavingtons instead of Warminster if you wish – just signal clearly to the driver by putting your hand out as the bus approaches.
Full details of what we have planned this year can be found on the “Imber 2023” page of our website (www.imberbus.org), but we would particularly draw your attention to the following arrangements, some of which are different to previous years:
- August 19th will be a car free day at Imber, so the only vehicles that will allowed on to the military roads will be the Imberbuses themselves. The original Imber Park & Ride site that we used in 2019 will therefore not be in operation this year, but instead there will be a small amount of additional parking available at Sack Hill which is on the Warminster to Imber Road. Please see the “How to get to Warminster” page of our website for more details of its location. but remember that there are no toilets or other facilities at this site and you will have to pay your bus fare in cash if you park there!
- If you are able to travel to Warminster by public transport we would ask you to do so as the car parks can get extremely busy. Direct train services to Warminster are available from Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Bath, Salisbury, Southampton and Portsmouth, plus various town in between, and local buses run from Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, Frome and Salisbury – for further details of these, please see the “How to get to Warminster” page on our website.
- Imber bus runs like an ordinary bus service. It is not a tour so you cannot book in advance. We usually have 2-3 buses on each departure and so you should not have to wait too long to get on a bus to Imber.
- This year we have simplified our fare structure so this year there will be just two ticket prices – £10 for adults and £2 for children. These tickets will allow unlimited travel on service 23A for the whole day. Please note that you will need to pay for your tickets in cash unless you are boarding at Warminster Station where we will have a booth that can also accept payment by contactless card.
- If you would like to visit Chitterne before heading to Imber, there will be buses running from the coach layby in Warminster Central Car Park direct to Chitterne at 1035. If you are not sure where that is, click on this link to see the walking route from the train station
- Our event attracts a lot of people, so if travelling in a crowd concerns you, you may want to delay your visit until after lunch as the buses from Warminster to Imber tend to be less busy in the afternoon.
- Our buses return from Imber every 15 minutes until 5.45pm. After that there is one last departure at 6.35pm, but that trip can sometimes get delayed so please do not wait for that last journey if you need to catch a train or bus in Warminster before 7.15pm.
As Imber is in a military area that is normally closed to the public, facilities there are extremely limited and there are restrictions on where you can wander when you arrive. If you have not attended our event before we would therefore recommend that you read the Imberbus FAQ page on our website which provides important information on where you can and cannot go, where you can get something to eat and also the location of public toilets (which are few and far between on the Salisbury Plain!).
Please also bear in mind that the Imber plain is a very exposed location with very little shelter or shade except in Imber Church! We therefore strongly advise you to wear sensible footwear, bring plenty of drinks and an umbrella with you, and slap on lots of sunscreen!
We hope that you will be able to join us on Saturday and if you would like further information about our event, please check out the other pages on our website – www.imberbus.org. We would also be keen to see any photographs that you take on the day – particularly if they would be suitable to replace those currently in use on our publicity or website. Please feel free to get in touch if you think you have any that might fit the bill.
Imberbus 