Heritage bus tours help to highlight town’s attractions (From Keighley News)

Heritage bus tours help to highlight town’s attractions

9:01am Thursday 6th September 2012 in Keighley

A series of open-top bus tours around Keighley received a positive response, according to the driver who led the venture.

The Keighley Heritage Town Tour ran over nine days and a total of 427 passengers were driven round the town’s historic sights and visitor attractions by Graham Mitchell, of the Keighley Bus Museum Trust. He also delivered a commentary to passengers, giving insights into Keighley’s past.

The double-decker was run on contract to the Bronte Country Partnership, which markets Keighley and the Worth Valley as a visitor destination.

However, the first day of the bus tours happened to coincide with the English Defence League rally in Church Green on August 4.

Mr Mitchell said: “It was disappointing as we had a very bad start because of the EDL visit. The weather has been very unhelpful. We had some rain almost every single day, and sometimes it was quite heavy.

“But it was also a pleasure because the response from the people who did travel was overwhelmingly positive.

“Visitors to Keighley said they did not realise just how much of interest there is here, and there were lots of nice comments about the floral displays. It’s now up to the Bronte Country partners to decide whether they thought the tours were a success, and whether they want to do them again.”