It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death on Friday 23rd October of our Honorary President, David Hunter. 

David’s family have now advised that his funeral will be on Friday 13th November 2026 at 1300, at St Mary Magdelene’s Church, West Street, Yarm and afterwards at 1400 in St Bede’s Chapel at Acklam Crematorium. A Reception will then be held at the Crathorne Arms in Crathorne village. David’s family have said that anyone who wants to attend is more than welcome.

David had been instrumental to the success of our Group almost since its inception, initially as Sales Officer and then as our Chairman from 1993 until his retirement from that position in 2015. In addition, between 2002 and 2019, David took on the role of Newsletter Editor, overseeing the production of 113 issues. After David stepped down, we were delighted when he accepted the invitation to become our Honorary President. He continued to be actively involved with our Group right up until his recent illness. 

David lived a remarkable and rewarding life and had many stories to tell of his time as a young man in the Royal Air Force (including being stationed in Australia to observe the military’s nuclear tests) and later in the motor industry as a car salesman and also as a rally driver. 

David had a lifelong love of all forms of transport ranging from aircraft, railways, cars and buses and we have been very fortunate to benefit from David’s passion, commitment and wealth of experience. He was the driving force behind our two biggest in-house preservation projects i.e. the full restorations of Middlesbrough Corporation Dennis Loline JDC599 and Cleveland Transit Bristol VR RDC106R. In both cases, through his contacts in local industry David secured suitable premises for the work to be done. Then, having assembled a working party of skilled volunteers, David managed these projects from start to finish. 

Twenty five years ago, the pioneering Annual Teesside Running Day was David’s brainchild and it has been very satisfying to witness its format since being replicated at other events across the country. Indeed, David’s overriding view was that our main purpose as bus preservationists is to entertain, a role at which he excelled (be that in the driver’s cab, conducting on the platform, giving formal presentations or simply talking with passengers and visitors). 

We will miss David’s friendship, experience and guidance and we offer our deepest condolences to his family and all of his many friends.