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In 1943, the entire population of the village of Imber on Salisbury Plain was told to pack their bags and leave. By order of the Ministry of Defence, the village was to be used as a training area for US troops preparing for the invasion of Europe and, after the war, the villagers were not allowed to return to their homes. However, one day every summer, the usual column of tanks that can be found roaming the plain is replaced by a fleet of Routemaster buses known as the Imberbus. The service ferries thousands of passengers across Salisbury Plain between the town of Warminster and Imber and, this year, raised £38,000 for local charities. ‘We chose Imber because it was such an unlikely place to operate a bus service to and it represented a particular challenge, as access is impossible for all but a few days a year,’ organiser Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill told the BBC earlier this year
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FROM September 9, more than 130 events will take place across the country as part of National Racehorse Week, in a bid to celebrate one of the oldest sports in the country, as well as lifting the lid on what happens in the racing world. Organised by Great British Racing, the events will see training yards, studs and retraining centres open their doors to the public, giving visitors the opportunity to meet the stars of the sport up close, together with the teams who care for
