PASSENGERS will have the chance to become time-travellers on a classic bus as they celebrate Wyre Forest’s illustrious past in September.

Following two sell-out tours last year, the town’s Heritage Opportunities Group (HOGS) is again laying on a 50-year-old Midland Red Leopard bus to provide a fascinating tour of important historical landmarks in Kidderminster and Stourport to mark Heritage Day 2018.

More than 30 places are on the itinerary, including the birthplace of the carpet industry, the town’s historic infirmary, the 1905 water pumping house, the home of Kidderminster’s trams and the birthplace of industrialist and philanthropist Josiah Mason, who founded the Mason Science College in Birmingham which later became the city’s university.

The two main stops on the tour lasting more than two hours are at the Living Looms project in Stourport where visitors will see six Victorian looms saved from the scrapheap in 2007 and at Brockway Carpets in Kidderminster where they will be given a demonstration of how carpets are made today in one of the most modern factories in the country.

The bus trip between Kidderminster and Stourport will follow the route of the district’s tramway which connected the two towns from 1898 until it closed in 1929.

This will enable a drive-by at Wilden Church which has 18 precious stained glass windows designed by pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones.

HOGS chairman Colin Hill said: “Last year’s bus tours were so popular that we sold all the seats well in advance so we are expecting the 90 tickets to sell quickly again.

“Historian Dave Laverty, the former head of history at King Charles I School, will be giving a commentary during each tour and I think people will be surprised just how much heritage survives in our district.”

The tours will depart from Kidderminster Town Hall at 10am and 1pm on Saturday, September 22 finishing at the Museum of Carpet.

Tickets costing £5 (£4 concessions, and reduced rate for families) can be obtained from the town hall box office or by calling 01562 732128 (10am-2pm, Monday-Friday).

The tickets will also give passengers free entry to the Museum of Carpet between 10am and 1.30pm on the day.