ON THE BUSES fan club event 2014

*Anna Karen (Olive) a great supporter of ON THE BUSES fan club events*	Stuart Allen Producer and Director another great supporter of our events	*Ronnie Chesney (Co Creator and Writer of ON THE BUSES who at 94 but still attends our events and has been with the fan club right from the start.*
*Harry Fielder (Aitch) who was in the movie 'ON THE BUSES and has appeared in 100's of TV and film shows*	*Jeffrey Holland (Spike Hi-De Hi) You Rang Me Lord, Oh Doctor Beeching and many other TV and radio roles.*	Roles on the small screen include roles in Rising Damp, Get Some In, Lovejoy and On The Up. Her big screen roles include parts in The Likely Lads spin-off film and Run For Your Wife.
*Pamella Cundell who played Ruby in 'Mutiny ON THE BUSES' also best know as Mrs Fox in 'Dads Army'*	Phil Campbell and Bryan Reynolds who worked as runners on the first two On The Buses spin-off films seen here either side of Roy Skeggs Producer and Production Manger of Hammer Films.	Robin will be best remembered for playing Mike Abbott in the smash hit sitcom Bless This House. He also spent years in Australia where he appeared in classic series such as The Young Doctors and Sons and Daughters
Andria Lawrence - Andria played Turnaround Betty in the first spin-off film and also made an appearance in the Series Four episode 'Canteen Trouble'	Rose Wolfe, who is the wife of the late Ronnie Wolfe (Co creator and writer of ON THE BUSES) who is a great supporter of our events and a lovely lady.	Here we see the cast during a break from filming 'MUTINY ON THE BUSES. Seen with Rob Butler and family who were invited to the studios after winning a competition to name the second movie.

Unfortunately I lost my camera at the event after taking photos of our weekend. If anyone has found it on Sunday at the Ibis Hotel reception or on the car park outside please get in touch. Fortunately we again had Cliff Harris in attendance as the official fan club photographer. So to see lots of photos from our ON THE BUSES weekend event go to
https://www.facebook.com/cliffsfb/media_set?set=a.10152249274785835.1073741876.521375834&type=1

The Magnificent Seven - Round-Up
And so The 2014 Annual On The Buses Event is over for another year. I will summarise how I feel the event went but first there are a long list of people to thank for making this event possible. Of course there is all of our attending celebrities, Steve Holden who runs The Official On The Buses Fan Club and does a lot of work behind the scenes to help, Dean Sullivan who supplies his wonderful Routemaster and more modern buses excelled once more and I am eternally grateful and Robert Hickey's help in locally visiting locations etc to warn of our visit and getting George Allen (The Forest Rangers) and his wife Bernadette to the event. Also a big thanks to all the staff at The Fairway Hall such as Jenny and the caretaker, Neville the soundman for his great help, Caroline and Ray our kitchen helpers, Paul Welsh MBE for his support and words of wit and wisdom, Steve Lilly who brought along his wonderful artwork, Jimmy Stanley for entertaining us with his specially-written song 'Rid
in' On The Buses', our official photographer Cliff Harris and Milly the Baker's for supplying another great buffet lunch. Blimey, as Fletch of Porridge would say I sound like I am doing a dedication on The Jimmy Young Show.

Now onto the event and how it went. Well in true On The Buses fashion the bus tours got off to a late start but Dean and Steve (our drivers) made up a lot of that time and with glorious weather that part of the event went well with new locations visited. This year our celebrity guest list reached record breaking levels. It was great to have Roy Skeggs present for the first time and I know the Hammers fans present greatly appreciated his attendance. It was a privilege as always to listen to Ronnie Chesney and Stuart Allen talk about the formation of On The Buses. Anna Karen was to offer many laughs when explaining why Olive was such an endearing character and Pamela Cundell also had great words to offer. Aitch as always added to the event in a quiet and unassuming way. We also had special guests present who rose wonderfully to the occasion in the form of Robin Stewart, Judy Buxton and Jeffrey Holland (the latter two were present thanks to Our Disappearing Planet at late notic
e so thanks to everyone at that charity organization for that).

The Saturday evening event at The Ark Theatre organized by The Elstree Screen Heritage was fantastic. The BBC Elstree Brass Band were to perform some wonderful musical arrangements from films and television series with an Elstree Studios connection. From the famous Dambusters March to Indiana Jones and from East Enders to The Avengers it was a joy to listen to some great music. Of course the On The Buses Theme was one of my favorites along with the 'It's A Great Life On The Buses' theme song wonderfully orchestrated by the conductor. Also I'd like to wish retiring compere Keith Clement a very happy retirement. It made for a great way for us to unwind after a hectic day especially for me not having to worry about schedules and taxis.

Finally, onto Sunday and our walking tour saw around 20 paying people take to the town centre of Borehamwood to visit filming locations from films such as On The Buses, Mutiny On The Buses, Holiday On The Buses, Rising Damp, The Life Of Brian and George And Mildred. Also we covered television series such as Here Comes The Double Deckers, The Champions and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) before returning to Fairway Hall for On The Buses memorabilia displayed by Steve Holden and I found plenty of fascinating items. I was also to talk about my latest book An A To Z of On The Buses before signing and selling copies to round off the day at around 3pm.

I must add it was fantastic after it had all finished to be able to relax and unwind at the Toby Carvery and have my first chance to hit the alcohol and what a hilarious night it was. In the company of great people with a great sense of fun and humour I can't remember when I last laughed so much and I must apologise to our great photographer Cliff for not having a hankie to wipe away his tears of laughter. Great memories.

Finally, thanks for the feedback forms and I will go through those with interest. Also it would be great if you could send/post your photos of the day up on the Social Club on the website. Thank you all again for attending and I hope to see you all again in 2015.

Craig Walker (Event Organiser)

Special guests who attended our event

ON THE BUSES WEEKEND

*Ronald Chesney - The co-creator and co-writer of On The Buses who has attended every one of our events. His writing partnership with the late Ronald Wolfe is legendary creating comedy masterpieces in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He is also recognised as one of the greatest harmonica players in the world and has performed in the best musical arenas in the world. It is a pleasure to have a man of many talents with us once again.
Rose Wollfe -Wife of the co author and creator of ON THE BUSES dear Ronnie Wolfe, who is missed by his friends at the fan club, sadly gone but not forgotten!
*Stuart Allen - The producer/director of the first four series of On The Buses amidst which are much of the best ever episodes, Stuart could also boast a career that saw him produce hits such as Mrs Wilson's Diaries, Love Thy Neighbour, Never Mind The Quality Feel The Width, The Rag Trade and Mind Your Language to name but a few. Stuart returns for his sixth visit and much appreciated it is too.
*Anna Karen - The actress who brought the wonderful character Olive to life in On The Buses. Anna has also appeared in the classic Carry On films, reprised her role of Olive in The Rag Trade and recently played Aunt Sal in the long-running hit soap EastEnders. Anna joins us for the fourth time and it is an honour to have a mainstream member of the cast of On The Buses to grace us with her presence.

*Pamela Cundell - This comedy actress appeared as a woman driver called Ruby in the On The Buses film. She is best known for her role as Mrs Fox in the long-running smash hit sitcom Dad's Army and Pamela will be making her third appearance at the event.

* Andria Lawrence - Andria played Turnaround Betty in the first spin-off film and also made an appearance in the Series Four episode 'Canteen Trouble'. She was also to appear in a range of classic Hammer films in the 1970s and in films such as Man About The House before retiring from acting in the early 1980s to enter the publishing trade.

*Harry 'Aitch' Fielder - Harry appeared in Mutiny On The Buses as a busman and his acting resume is immense. As a bit-part actor he has appeared in Carry On films as well as films ranging from Star Wars to Indiana Jones. On television he was a double to Mike Pratt in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and appeared in episodes of Steptoe and Son, The Sweeney, Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers and so much more. Too much to mention.

*Michael Slater - Michael was one of the most used supporting actors in On The Buses appearing in several episodes from Series One through to and including Series Five. He was also to appear in hit series such as The Champions, Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Love Thy Neighbour and Mind Your Language amongst others. He is now the chairman of the Catholic Actors Performing Arts group based in Covent Garden, London.

Also in attendance will be Phil Campbell and Bryan Reynolds who worked as runners on the first two On The Buses spin-off films. In addition we are hoping to be joined by two special guests. The first has a connection with all three spin-off films where he worked on those as a production supervisor. He had a long association with Hammer Films going on to become a executive and later alongside Brian Lawrence was seen as the saviour of Hammer when he brought Hammer productions to television in the early 1980s with great success - his name is *Roy Skeggs.

*Jeffrey Holland - Jeffrey is best known for his leading role in the hit 1980s sitcom Hi-de-Hi. He also went on to appear in You Rang M'lord and Oh Doctor Beeching as well as hit 1970s sitcoms Dad's Army and Are You Being Served? Jeffrey will be supporting Our Disappearing Planet - the animal charity at our event and will be making his debut.
*Judy Buxton - Judy who married Jeffrey in 2004 has worked on many hit comedies on the small and big screen. Roles on the small screen include roles in Rising Damp, Get Some In, Lovejoy and On The Up. Her big screen roles include parts in The Likely Lads spin-off film and Run For Your Wife. Likewise, Judy will be supporting Our Disappearing Planet animal charity.
*Robin Stewart - Robin will be best remembered for playing Mike Abbott in the smash hit sitcom Bless This House. He also spent years in Australia where he appeared in classic series such as The Young Doctors and Sons and Daughters. Robin will be making his debut at the event and is a welcome addition.
With thanks to Craig.

Plus thanks to Rob Hickey we also have George Allen who played Junior Ranger Ted Keeley in the 1960s Canadian tv series THE FOREST RANGERS