This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of October, these photos have been taken mostly in Southsea, buses from First Hampshire & Dorset & Stagecoach and some older vehicles from Local Haunts and CPPTD which run a free service along the seafront this year.

This year Buses Magazine are celebrating their 60th anniversary a milestone for any publication, to celebrate a bus event was held at at Wroughton Airfield near Swindon, also at the location is the Science Museum large item store where Buses Coaches, Lorries, Bikes & Aircraft to name but a few are on display, Hanger D4 holds exhibits of various items, Hanger L4 holds the Buses, Coaches and Lorries, this hanger is by guided tour only and I was lucky to be one of the few to have a tour, the museum owned vehicles appear in there own section, this set show the private vehicles that attended.

The Science Museum large item store opens a few times a year, items are located in various hangers around the Airfield at Wroughton near Swindon, hangers D4 & L4 were open to the public today, only guided tours were allowed to hanger L4 and this was limited to 500 tickets, Demand outstripped supply, I was fortunate to go on the 1130hrs tour.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of September 2009, these photos have been taken at various locations which include, Portsmouth & Southsea, Buses & Coaches from, First Hampshire & Dorset, Stagecoach, Greyhound Coahes, National Express, Wilts & Dorset and some older preserved vehicles from Southcoast Motor Services and CPPTD.

Amberley Bus Museum hold an annual bus day each year, ususally on the second Sunday of September, this years Bus Day was to celebrate tha 100th anniversary of the Worthing Motor Services, Tilling Stevens IB552, also at this rally a new vintage Southdown vehicle made ts debut, namely ex Southdown 1205: UF6805, new in 1930 to become a chicken house in High Wycombe until 1978, lovingly restored to its former glory over the next 30 odd years, lots of other buses also attended from the local area, another spendid day.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the months of July & August, these photos have been taken at various locations which include, Portsmouth & Southsea, Alum Bay & Ryde on the Isle of Wight, Buses from Southampton & Tour Buses around Windsor. Buses & Coaches from, First Beeline, First Hampshire & Dorset Stagecoach, Brighton & Hove, Southern Vectis and many more.

The family attended this years Bournemouth Air Festival, we arrived early to ensure we had a parking space within walking distance, the others went to the shops which allowed me time to carry out the usual task, the bus routes were very busy and many duplicate buses were witnessed, also the new Wilts & Dorset Visionaire Open toppers were on service 50. Here is a selection of the vehicles involved

This was the second stand alone rally organised by the society, the location at Stokes Bay Gosport is very large giving lots of space between vehicles for photography, four differant free services were operated this year, the main one conecting to the Gosport Ferry for people arriving from Portsmouth, other services were the Stubbington Circular, the Alverstoke, Hasler & Lee on Solent Circular and finally the Titchfield Circular, all services were operated by a selection of Preserved or Service Buses & Coaches, Thanks to the team at the Provincial Society for another successful day.

The Worthing Seafront Bus Gathering and Running Day, a slightly differant formate this year, vehicles were parked on the opposite side of the road to normal, reversing on to the south side making photo's very difficult as the sun was facing you, vehicle entry's seemed to up on last year the lower price of diesel helping, the weather in the morning was the usual Worthing standard although the afternoon turned to rain at which point the crowds left. The Open Top Buses were very popular even in the Rain !!

The Alton rally never fails to please, with godd display of Buses & Coaches, however this year I had one complaint, one that was outside the organisers power, the weather, apart from that it was a good day, a big thank you to all the people behind the scenes for making this event as good as it is.

Another miscellany of pictures taken during the month of June, these photos have been taken at various locations which include, Portsmouth, Southsea & Weymouth with Buses from, First Hampshire & Dorset Buses, Local Haunts, CPPTD's Preserved PD2 & New Punjab Coaches of Slough.
(NPC)

Wilts & Dorset has launched the first of 12 new buses in Swanage for services to and from the Isle of Purbeck. Six of the double deckers are convertibles (Optare Visionaire) so the roof can be removed in the summer months and three are semi open top. These will run on the Swanage, Sandbanks to Bournemouth service 50. The remaining three are permanently enclosed and these will run on our Swanage, Wareham to Poole service 40. Here is a selection of the vehicles delivered so far.

A Nice sunny today so it was time to get out & about, I quite often visit Bournemouth but this is with the family so there are very limited opportunities to get Bus photo's, however today I was here by myself so no restrictions, here are a few pictures from today.

This weekend these Coaches were re-enacting the Royal Blue service from Cheltenham to Portsmouth and were visiting Weymouth for their overnight stay. They left the Weymouth Bus Rally site at 10:30 a.m. heading for the Weymouth Pavillion where the Mayor of Weymouth sent them off to complete their journey to Portsmouth.

Today the Third Weymouth Bus Rally was held, I say the third but of course this rally dates back to the 1970's and was very popular at the time, unfortunatley it came to an end many years ago only to be re-launched three years ago, this is the first time I have attended the 'New Improved' Rally. Bus services were ran to various locations including, Bowleaze Cove, Portland Bill & Nothe Fort.

This weekend has seen the use of Vintage Buses on both sides of Portsmouth Harbour, the first on Saturday & Sunday in connection with the 'Celebrate Your Seafront' event, there was a free service between the Royal Marines Museum, Eastney via Southsea to Gunwharf Quays. there was also an apperance of a Southdown Leyland PD3 operating a service in the Drayton area of Portsmouth in connection with a Fayre. The second service in connection with Gosport 'Big Day Out' this was for the Sunday only, offering free rides between Stokes Bay & Lee on the Solent. First also used a Low Floor Dennis Dart on a circular services to locations around Gosport.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of May, these photos have been taken at various locations which include , Portsmouth & Southampton and Fareham & Gosport with Buses & Coaches from, Bluestar, Ex Southdown, Lucketts of Fareham, Stagecoach & First Hampshire & Dorset

The last time I attended The Derby was 1983, although I've been meaning to go ever since but for various reasons I've never made it until today, when I last went the task of the day was to see all the active Southdown convertible PD3 buses, 27 in total, I'm pleased to say I completed the task. 26 years later and there were 3 in attandance, all now in private ownership, here are my Bus & Coach photo's from today, my other Epsom Derby pictures will appear on the South-Coast photo's fotopic site in due course.

The suns out, its bank holiday so where will we go, yep destination central London, I seem to have found a parking area by Charing Cross police station which is free and has spaces and today didn't disapoint, this is the selection of bus photos taken on the day, others will be posted on south-coast photos site when I get time, Tour & Heritage buses were much in evidence as would be expected in this area...

Spent a couple of hours in Portsmouth today to catch up on some shopping & also to take a few photos in and around the City Centre, since my last visit the Park & Ride scheme has started from Lakeside to Commercial Road & Gunwharf Quays, First are using their new Volve B7RLE buses on this service with others on service 40 & 41, the Park & Ride bus service runs every 10 Mins.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of April, these photos have been taken at various locations which include , Portsmouth, Brighton, Swanage & Southampton with Buses & Coaches from, Wilts & Dorset, Bluestar, Brighton & Hove Bus & Coach Company, The Big Lemon, Lucketts of Fareham, Stagecoach & First Hampshire & Dorset

A trip out today to ride on the new First Hampshire & Dorset Volvo B7RLE and also to take pictures of the new Park & Ride service from Lakeside North Harbour to Commercial Road & Gunwharf, not many people appeared to be parking or riding as most vehicles appeared to be empty, in fact if the company used a small mini bus this would only be half full, also to be seen are the Scania OmniCity's that have re-allocated to Hoeford, Fareham. Most pictures are from Gunwharf along with a few from Southsea South Parade.

Today's open day at Botley followed the usual format of the past few years, enthusiasts market, bus & coach display and the usual tours to the Meon Valley and also to Hedge End Southampton. The usual service to and from Eastleigh was also ran. Here are a few pictures of the Buses & Coaches today.

I know the quality of these photo's is very poor, but I believe they have historical value, her are a few pictures taken by myself in mid 1976, so 33 years ago. This was the day we picked up Southampton Corporation 1955 Guy Arab UF with Park Royal body 255 for preservation with the fledgling Solent Transport Trust, she was located in a scrap yard after use by Southampton Social Services, the vehicle is still in preservation today.

The Cobham Bus event was much more sucessful this year, the day started with bright sunshine, last year started with rain followed by very heavy snow and the event was nearly called off, the number of people attending was very low. The event followed the usual format and seemed to be a very sucessful day with large amounts of people and vehicles.

The new Volvo B7RLE Wright bodied buses for First Hampshire & Dorset are in the process of delivery, two vehicles are being used for 'Type Training' by staff who will drive them on First's route 41 & 40, however today's bright sun was not helpful when taking photo's. Here are a few bus photos from today including a couple of pictures of these new vehicles.

A trip across Portsmouth harbour today and an hour or so for some photo's, the usual mixture of First Hampshire & Dorset and Stagecoach buses...

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of February, these photos have been taken at various locations which include Southsea, Portsmouth, Havant, Bosham & Chichester, vehicles from Stagecoach Portsmouth, Stagecoach in the South Downs, Emsworth & District & Normans Coaches.

Its a long time since I've been to Waterlooville, what used to be Waterlooville Crossroads is now either a pedestrian precinct or Bus only lanes, this is an area where Stagecoach meet First Bus, the former serving Buses to Wecock Farm, Liss & Havant and the latter serving Clanfield, Denmead, Wecock Farm and southwards to Portsmouth & Southsea.

As the sun came out today and it was quite warm I thought I would go out for an hour or two, todays subject was Havant Bus Station, last time I was here it was full of Bristol VR's with a few new Leyland/Alexander vehicles owned by Stageccoach, today the Stagecoach buses are still there joined by a few Emsworth & District buses too, the Bus Station has also been re-built in recent times.

The object of the exercise today was to track down First Hampshire & Dorset last Wright Handy Bus 45389: JDZ2389 about to be retired from service, it would appear I was few days to late, the last day in service was 12th Feb and she was moved to Southampton on Friday 13th . This was also the last vehicle in service in the ’First Provincial’ Red & Cream livery, so here are a few pictures of her at the Portswood depot along with a few pictures from Southampton City Centre, I then carried on with the original plan for a few photo’s in Fareham.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of January these photos have been taken at various locations which include Havant & Southsea. The Hovertravel Dennis Dart was owned by Tellings Golden Miller when the photo was taken, this service & vehicle has transferred to Stagecoach Portsmouth, fleet number 33156.

After reading a discussion on a bus forum group a decided to have a trip to First Hampshire & Dorset's Portswood depot in Southampton and have a look at the vehicles on 'Death Row' as its known, as I was heading in that general direction I paid a trip to Eastleigh Bus station, Black Velvet Travel vehicles were much in evidence along with buses from Bluestar, also seen was Beep Bus (owned by the same company), this was launched in competition with Velvet on route B, last week Velvet ceased to operate this service and surprise, surprise, Beep Bus will also stop next month.

Another year gone past, it must be time to go to Winchester and play with the buses, this well established running day has been a great success year after year, the usual display of buses at the "St. Catherine's" park and ride site with a free connecting bus service, this years improvement was the sales stands situated in the Guildhall itself giving much more space to move, again a big THANK YOU to the team at FOKAB for all the hard work that is needed to make this day a success. See you in 2010.

Chichester used to be dominated by Southdown buses, Southdown were of course purchased by Stagecoach in 1992, since then they have traded as Sussex Coastline Buses and now trade as Stagecoach in the South Downs. As in most areas within the Stagecoach empire a percentage of the vehicles carry route branding, service 60 in a 60's style, all carry Southdown Motor Services as the legal owner.

Having been stuck in the house recently I thought it was about time to get out & about, so today a visit was payed to Portsmouth then along to Emsworth & Southbourne. here are a few photo's of the day.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of November these photos have been taken at various locations which include Hilsea & Gunwharf, Portsmouth, also a couple of shots from Southampton, they include pictures of First Hampshire & Dorset, Southern Vectis & Bluestar.

This morning was spent in Portsmouth to see if I could get a picture of the new Enviro 300's that are entering service with Stagecoach Portsmouth, I was not disappointed with 27553 doing the honours, this isn't the time of year I usually go out for photo's the glaring sun and long shadows causing problems, so here's the best of a bad bunch with a surprise in store from First Hampshire & Dorset too.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of September which don’t fit into a gallery of their own, these photos have been taken at various locations which include Fareham, Portsmouth & Southsea.

West Street, Fareham. The newly refurbished western end of West Street now boasts an avenue of trees and new street furniture to create a continental style area. To celebrate the completion an event was held from 9:30am with a selection of classic cars from the 1930s to 70s on display. From 11:30am - 2:30pm a free vintage bus ran up and down West Street, a procession of these vehicles was held in the afternoon. Here we see the Bus service in full swing, the vehicle of course Is Provincial 55 EHO228 owned and looked after by First Hampshire & Dorset.

Amberley Museum hold various events during the year one of these is the Bus event which is usually held on the second week of September, this location never disappoints, there is plenty to entertain the whole family if buses aren’t your thing! For those who do go for the buses there is the usual museum collection for Southdown vehicles with a wide selection of others visiting for the day.

A trip to Windsor today as we've not been here for over year, the weather was a complete contrast to last year, cold, damp, windy & cloudy. Here we see a selection of City Sightseeing tour buses, it appears that three vehicles are requrired to operate the Windsor service and all three can be seen in this collection.

A trip to Brighton for a special bus service allowed me time to photograph the local buses, much has changed over the years the whole area then was dominated by Southdown with Bristol VRT's & Lodekka's mind you there were two PD3's running on this day on service 77. Here we see the local scene with Brighton & Hove, Stagecoach with the The Big Lemon making an appearance.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of August which don’t fit into a gallery of their own, these photos have been taken at various locations which include Portsmouth, Alresford, Southampton, London & Bournemouth, they include pictures of First Hampshire & Dorset, Mortons Travel & Various London companies.

Heritage week on the 77: from 26-31 August inclusive, half the journeys on the service will be operated by vintage 1960’s Southdown open top buses with conductors, celebrating 50 years of the Southdown Leyland PD3’s and their long association with the Devils Dyke route, two Southdown Queen Mary’s operated Stagecoach owned 409DCD along with hired in 410DCD.

This is a miscellany of pictures taken during the month of July which don’t fit into a gallery of their own, these photos have been taken at various locations which include Portsmouth, Netley Marsh & Lymington in The New Forest, they include pictures of Wilts & Dorset, First Hampshire & Dorset, Stagecoach and some preserved vehicles that used to belong to A.E.R.E. Harwell, and an ex Southampton Leyland Atlantean used by Guide Friday in Bournemouth, these last two are now in preservation.

New Buses for First Hampshire & Dorset, Volvo B9TL Gemini, liveried for the Jurassic Coast CoastlinX53 service, these vehicles have recently been delivered to the company and are yet to enter service, First brought two of these to The Provincial Bus Rally at Stokes Bay Gosport. First Hampshire & Dorset 37581 & 37582 attended and this was their first public outing.

The Provincial Society Bus Rally 2008, this is the first stand alone rally organised by the society, at this event the sun always seems to be in wrong position for photography, this year wasn't a problem as the sun had taken the week off and it was trying to keep the camera dry that was the problem, its a shame the weather was a let down for this well organised event, thanks to every one at the Provincial Society for another good rally.

The Worthing Seafront Bus Gathering and Running Day 27th July 2008. The numbers of vehicles attending this year seemed very low in comparison to previous years, still a very good event though, the highlight this year was the Debut of Southcoast Motor Services 954: 954CUF, another superb restoration by the team meeting the very high standards we've come used too, Three services were run this year, 5x, 11 & 277 the last ran by open top PD3's from Worthing to Brooklands, full loads on every journey.

Another year, another rally, I thought this year might be a bit thin on the ground vehicle wise with the price of diesel as much as it is however I was presently suprised, a very large number of Buses, Coaches, Lorries & Cars. This year used the same format of previous ones, yet another sucsessful day.

Stagecoach Hampshire operate 5 Enviro300 single deck saloons from Winchester depot; 4 on Park and Ride duties and a further example in fleet livery that can be found on a variety of services. The Alexander Dennis buses are built to the latest "Euro 4" specification. They were amongst the first to go into service across the UK and were introduced ahead of new EU regulations to improve emissions. The latest technology involving the injection of a Urea compound as an exhaust after-treatment, means that exhaust pollutants are significantly reduced, particularly harmful Nitrous Oxides.

A new Open Top Leisure Bus Service linking Winchester with: The Intech Science Centre and Planetarium, The South Downs, Hinton Ampner Gardens and the Mid Hants Railway, This service operates Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday (25th August) from Saturday 19th July to Sunday 7th September 2008. Except Friday 25th July and Friday 5th September 2008. Cut and paste the link to the company's website http://www.mortonstravel.com/pullman.htm

Having taken a small break to the Isle of Wight last week with the family I did have a few opportunities to photograph some buses, as we were in the tourist areas most of the time these photo consist mostly of the various Island Breezer services, it was nice to see various Bristol VRT's still in service along side the Leyland Olympians, This must be the last year that these Bristol's will see service.

This month sees the 50th anniversary of the introduction in to service of the famous Southdown PD3, known in most circles now as the ’Queen Mary’ it was in July 1958 that they entered service 45/45A this service covering Southsea-Hilsea-Cosham-Portchester-Fareham-Titchfield-Warsash, the Southsea-Fareham section was covered today, there were also ex Portsmouth Corporation services covered to compliment this with city services 1 & 2 plus 19 & 20. Now as you can see the earlier part of the day was not kind weather wise, one had to be very brave to travel up stairs on an open topper, in fact it poured so much you got wet travelling downstairs too!

Seafront 12’ will run every 20 minutes between Bournemouth Pier and Boscombe Pier for three months from June 28. Classic Southdown Omnibuses Ltd (CSOL) has been formed to operate the service in partnership with Transdev Yellow Buses.
The new company is 50 per cent owned by Blackpool-based Totally Transport which looks after a fleet of 40 historic buses and trams. ‘Seafront 12’ will use four buses – two open top, one closed top wet weather substitute and a converted semi open top - painted in traditional Bournemouth Corporation livery.

This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of Southdown PD3’s entering service in July 1958, to mark the occasion there will be two events using these buses, the first will be based in Hilsea, Portsmouth on 6th July 2008 the event being organised by Phil Blair, it is intended to run a regular time table on service 45/45A to Fareham. The second event is being run by Stagecoach again replicating a service, this time based in Brighton on route 77 Brighton-Devils Dyke using 409DCD owned by the company being assisted by 410DCD hired in for the occasion, this is due to run from Tuesday 26th until Sunday 31st August 2008 inclusive.

The Royal Victoria Bus & Coach Show in Netley Southampton, the first event for 10 years, this rally was held from 1983-1998, in 98 the crowds had disappeared due to a charge to enter and the weather was so bad that year the show was abandened by the late morning. This renewed event captured the atmosphere of proceeding years well and even summer arrived for the day. A good turn out of vehicles and enthusiast in this fantastic location.

An operator I've been meaning to visit for some while now, a visit to Eastleigh to visit BVT (Black Velvet Travel) an expanding operator that has been in business for a few months now, the main service they run is the 'A' Eastleigh - Hedge End - Botley, this runs every half hour during the day Mon-Sat, currently they own Four DAF/East Lancs single deckers and Two Volvo D10M's with Northern Counties bodies new to Southdown, I did manage to see all the buses although one Volvo & one Daf were at the depot in Barton Park, I even got to see Phil Stockley the owner who came out to assist a driver who was having problems with V7GMT no matter what he did the brakes would not release, Phil fixed it in seconds!

Now who would go to the Portsmouth F.A. cup victory parade to look at Buses, no prizes for guessing!! Three Open Top Buses were used along with two closed top buses and a National Express coach used by the team, City of Portsmouth Preserved Transport Depot supplied three vehicles, First Hampshire & Dorset two, and the National Express team coach already mentioned, they all left Fratton Bridge at 1500hrs and arrived on Southsea Common at 1645hrs

A few pictures of Brighton buses, these were taken whilst walking around on the day of the HCVS London to Brighton run.

47th Annual London to Brighton Run, organised by the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society (HCVS). A few of the Buses that appeared at this event, the Trucks appear on the South-Coast photos site

Bluestar formerly known as Solent Blueline borrowed Southern Vectis 639: R739XRV for the weekend of 26/27th April to run the 'The do Docks Tour' to celebrate the arrivel of the Independence of the Seas, tours run every hour on the hour and seemed very well used. This tour used to run during the summer months in Southampton but now only runs on special occasions such as this.

Stagecoach in the South Downs is the operating name for Southdown Motor Services, the services run from Depots in Chichester & Worthing, here we see the Depot in Chichester with a few typical vehichles of the day.

A trip into Sussex today to visit the premises of Emsworth & District Motor Services, they have two main depots, one in Havant, Hampshire the other in Southbourne just a few miles from Emsworth itself, many bus services are run mostly low frequency to various areas between Chichester and Havant, they also run school and contract bus services for staff transport. Coaches are also used on private hires and tours. There is wide variety of vehicles owned, most recently ex Stagecoach Dennis Dart buses have been purchased some painted into vintage livery’s including Southdown Motor Services & Hants & Sussex.

This was the third open day held at Brijans, after last years rally Brijans moved location from Bishops Waltham to Curdridge just outside Botley, after last weeks arbortive attempt to get to Cobham in the snow the weather forecast was for showers, it was spot on as can be seen in the photo's, not a bad turn out considaring the rain although by mid afternoon I had to call it a day.

Well it was an early start for the Cobham Bus rally, I was up at 0700hrs and it was raining however by 0800hrs it was a differant story as these pictures show, non bus pictures appear at http://south-coastphotos.fotopic.net/ think I might not be going...

Milestones museum in Basingstoke keep a number of ex City of Portsmouth Passenger Transport Department vehicles on behalf of Portsmouth City Museum Service. There are currently 2 Motor Buses, 1 Trolley Bus, 1 Service vehicle and 1 Tram on display .

The Provincial Society in association with First Hampshire & Dorset organised a line up of vehicles at Gosport Bus Station today to mark the passing of the Red & Cream livery that was introduced by First for the Provincial fleet in the 1980’s. The only active vehicle remaining in this livery is 45389: JDZ2389 a Wright Handybus bodied Dennis Dart, all others are in the various ’Barbie’ livery’s, the line up included preserved Provincial vehicles along with members of the active fleet.

An early morning start to get to the annual running day, the day started wet which seemed to add to the atmosphere at Winchester, after an hour things brightened up and the crowds appeared, the usual enthusiasts and the general public. Another good turn out of vehicles both King Alfred and visiting, the static display this year was at the “St Catherine’s” Park & Ride car park which was an improvement on last year. Confession time, after attending this event for many years this is the first time I’ve actually travelled on a King Alfred bus and most enjoyable it was too. THANKS TO EVERYONE AT FOKAB FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.

772 was delivered new to Southdown in May 1955 and was part of a batch of twelve delivered that year (OCD765-OCD776) This batch were the last with wind down ‘half drop’ windows all batches after this having ‘Top Sliders’ open one of these half drops on a day that was less than blistering hot was a sure way of getting into a conversation with one's fellow passengers! Converted for Driver Training in 1970 along with 765/766/768 she was withdrawn and replaced In 1979. 772 spent most of her later life around Portsmouth and was sold into preservation the same year the owner living not far from the area and has been with the same person ever since, now rarely seen in public these photo’s show her at the Gosport Bus Rally in August 2007.

Stagecoach 15202: F302 MYJ was repainted in 2005 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of 'Southdown Motor Services' to the same condition in which it was delivered, now the only Volvo D10M with Stagecoach South she is still allocated to Portsmouth Depot, now painted into the current Stagecoach livery.

My trip to Southampton a few weeks ago was primarily to witness the last day of the ‘City Clipper’ services, whilst there it was a good opportunity to photograph the comings and goings around the city, there was also a ‘Rail Replacement’ service in operation between Southampton Station & Bournemouth, this was being covered in the main by coaches from ’Lucketts of Fareham’ & Seaview Coaches of Poole., All the bus services in the City were very well used with exception of ’City Clipper’ and it makes one think if they had run a different route they may still be with us today!!

I received an e-mail this morning informing me that today would be the last day of trading for 'City Clipper' so I jumped in the car and 'Hot Footed' to Southampton for a ride and take a few pictures, the services are the C1 & C2 running in a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction respectively, a very professional operation, good Signage & Publicity, good Website & very polite staff, Vehicles are Plaxton Primo that are well liveried and very clean. What a shame these routes have been unsuccessful and the service has only lasted for 6 months..

Owned and recently restored by members of The Provincial Society No 3 made her debut at the recent Stokes Bay Bus Rally in her original livery, much restoration work has been carried out including a replacement Perkins Phaser Engine, Re-panelling and a complete repaint. Today the Provincial Society ran a trip for members over routes from the 1992 timetable this included route 79 Fareham-Hamble & route 57 Hamble-Eastleigh. To find out more about the Cougar cut & paste this link http://www.provincialsociety.org/preserved/h523ctr.htm or go to The Provincial Society website in the links section below.

This is the first trip to 'Showbus' we've made since 2001 the main change has been the weather, Wall to Wall sunshine all day and not a drop of rain in site, a fantastic turnout of Buses & Coaches. It was very difficult getting photo's with nobody in them so in the end I gave up. The day was certainly worth the 5 hour round trip.

A half day trip to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, the main reason for this trip was to travel on 'Solent Express' the new BHT130 type Hovercraft operated by Hovertravel, we bought a 'Breezer' ticket that entitled us to ride on the Southern Vectis 'Downs Tour' which was most enjoyable untill we got carved up on a roundabout by a car, after a spirited ride the bus driver did manage to catch up with the car as it got caught at traffic lights further on, drivers details were taken..

Bank holiday Monday with good weather!! A fine turn out at this years event many Buses & Cars. The launch of a new book from The Provincial Society 'A Celebration of the Twentieth Anniversary of People's Provincial' there too was Mr James Freeman Peoples Provincial's first MD along with the ACE Cougar freshly re-painted into the PP livery

We went to the Isle of Wight with the family today and took a few pictures of Buses & Coaches whilst walking around. As we were in the main tourist areas 'Island Breezers' predominate. All services were well used.

I was given time off to photograph the local transport whilst the rest of the family watched the entertainment in the 'Winter Gardens' things have changed greatly since I was last in Bournemouth, All the Atlanteans & Fleetlines have now gone whilst the old livery was still to be seen in small numbers, Yellow Buses is now owned by 'Transdev' and most buses are now in the brighter yellow livery, Wilts and Dorset buses were much in evidence with a good showing of Open Toppers on the various summer services, I only managed to see two Bristol VRT's now soon to become a thing of the past.

We had a trip to Windsor today as the weather was so good, a walk through the Castle along the river and over to Eton pictures can be found on the South-coast photo's site, here are a few photo's taken of City Sightseeing buses in and around Windsor & Eton

The Worthing rally retuned to the seafront this year having moved to Shoreham in 2006. There seemed to be fewer entrants on display this time which was not a surprise considering the recent weather. Bus rides started from Heene Road which was an improvement on previous events.
Still a very good turnout.

Today we went to the 'Netley Marsh' Steam and craft fair, the last time I went was in the 1970's when we arrived we found today had been abandoned due to the weather of the past few days making the field very boggy, so we went to Christchurch & Sandbanks instead. here are a few photo's taken of Wilts & Dorset buses on the Poole to Swanage service via the ferry. More photo's can be found on my other web-site.... http://south-coastphotos.fotopic.net/

A very full Alton bus rally, I didn’t count the number of vehicles this year but it seemed to exceed previous years, the weather was a bit of a down turn from last, cloudy with sunny spells and one short shower. The highlight for me being the debut of Stagecoach 32501/501 now part of their heritage fleet, Restored into ’Traditional Stagecoach’ livery including original interior and badges, just awaiting re-fitment of the roller blind equipment, this arrived with ex-Stagecoach 32502/502 now with Emsworth & District and in Southdown Livery, these colours once worn by 32501/501.

The annual bus pull through Portsmouth, which has been running for over 20 years, has raised over £1,500 for SAMS – Stagecoach against Multiple Sclerosis. A team of 18 drivers and staff from Stagecoach’s Portsmouth depot pulled the 8.35 ton 1964 Leyland PD3 for the 8 miles from Hilsea Lido to South Parade Pier with helpers in fancy dress collecting for the Multipule Sclerosis Society on the way as crowds gathered to watch the procession. Ex Southdown PD3 410: 410DCD with Stagecoach 33054: X954VAP in support.The PD3 was lent to the team by its owner and bus enthusiast Eric Stobart.

Vintage bus trips to Portchester Castle 2 June, 16 June and 30 June 2007. Free trips on the historic Fareham bus preserved by the Provincial Society with support from First Travel Group were operated between Westbury Manor Museum and Portchester Castle.

CPPTD held their first open day since the move to Wicor in Portchester just outside Portsmouth their former home, this was a low key affair, designed for CPPTD members and local residents. A very successful day all in all, with a free bus service from Cosham via Port Solent to Portchester.

Routemaster RM994, 793 UXA (WLT 994) former London Transport/London General. This bus was reregistered in 2004 & withdrawn in November of the same year. Sold to Ensign It was sold to its current owner in 2005 and is used daily on a tour around Portsmouth.

Another excellent rally and open day, the weather couldn't have been better, the usual great selection of vehicles with trips through the 'Meon Valley' some on the 'Open Top' Portsmouth PD2 proved very popular, a good selection of sales stands attended.

A stop off at Fareham on the way home to get a couple of shots of the Viaduct just as a SWT was passing over.

This years Cobham Bus & Coach gathering was held at the 'Longcross Test Track' @ Chobham. The museum being closed for the day. This was a good venue if a little difficult to find (more direction signs needed) A bright dry day.

Is it a Bus ? Is it a Train ? No its "SUPERCAR" Seen at this Years FOKAB King Alfred running day 01.01.07. DMS1515 was rebuilt as the Supercar to promote Travelcards. The front was DMS, the middle was a section of a 1973 Underground Tube train, and at the rear was a Network South East Networker train cab! It all ran on the DMS chassis but not in service

After a very wet & windy new years eve News Years Day dawned dry and bright if a bit cold, another excellent day with many more people about than usual, a fantastic selection of vehicles running services and a very full display at ‘ in-tech (www.intech-uk.com). Thanks to all @ FOKAB for another great day.

Its one year on from when the last of London's Routemaster were withdrawn from service 159, the only Routemasters still in service are on the 'Heritage Routes' 15 & 9, here are a few shots taken in December of 2005.

Route 17-18 75 years of Service, The Hard - Eastney 1931 - 2006. This Route has remained largely unchanged in its time. A display of Vehicles connected to route 17/18 with rides on Vintage Vehicles around the route. Organised by Darren Marshall with support from First Hampshire & Dorset, City of Portsmouth Preserved Transport Depot, Stagecoach in Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council & The Provincial Society.

Today was the delayed 'Southampton Running Day' which included Guy, AEC & Atlanteans from the City, Hants & Dorset vehicles were also to feature but only a Bristol RELL made it, A 'Southdown PD3' replaced a Bristol Lodekka....

Bank holiday Monday & this years Rally at Stokes Bay. Another sucsessful event & even the weather held out.. thanks to every one at The Provincial Society for a great day.

Another great rally, a change of venue this year with more space in The Adur Recreation Ground with free services to Brighton & Worthing. Various members of the Yahoo discussion groups also met at 1400hrs

A blistering hot day at Anstey Park, Alton. This rally seems to get better year on year….

A selection of various Southdown PD3's in Preservation. These are dominated by the batch 400-424/425-429 all new as convertible open top this feature ensuring them a long and active life, The 'BUF' batch are also well covered, for more updated news on 'The Southdown PD3's log on to the Yahoo group. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/southdownpd3

409 was used today by the staff of 'Stagecoach in Portsmouth' for their annual bus pull to raise funds for "Piam Brown Ward" in Southampton Hospital which treats children with Cancer and Leukaemia.Sorry for the poor quality shot this was taken on my 'camera phone' while I was waiting for them to pass.

Solent Blue Line launched their 'Southampton Docks Tour' today. Crowds beyond all expectations with four vehicles in use for most of the day, mind you it was free which helped. Thanks to Phil Stockley and all @ Solent Blue Line. The tour gets in to full swing from 30/04/06 do have ago.

The Second bus rally & open day held at Brijan Tours of Bishops Waltham, a good selection of vehicles attended some of the them not seen out and about for a few years.

A very wet & windy Cobham Rally and display at Wisley Airfield. Star of the show must have been 'FRM 1' on service between Wisley & Cobham Museum.

I came across some photo's of the Southdown Historic Vehicle Groups, Worthing Running Day 2003 and a couple of shots from Provincial 125. pre-digital I'm afraid....

Another early start for the King Alfred running day, the day started earlier than usual as I had to go to work first! Another great day and the weather held out too. A static display was also held at 'Intech'

The last FULL DAY of the Routemaster on service 159, the very last route useing Routemasters (08.12.2005.) Various guest vehicles appeared from other London operating companies.

A day out for the 90th anniversary of ' Southdown Motor Services' another great day out at Amberley.

The Provincial Society

Gosport 2005 Bus Rally, Stokes Bay, Gosport, Hants. 29 August 2005

On Sunday 31 July, the 9th Worthing Bus Gathering and Running Day took place on Worthing Seafront between Heene Road and Grand Avenue.

The 2005 Mid-Hants railway bus rally. A good turn out this year with services run as normal, good use of open top vehicles in the very fine weather.

Stagecoach Portsmouth open day & Portsmouth Running day, celebrating Southdown’s 90th anniversary and 25 years since the formation of the Stagecoach Company. The depot in Farlington Portsmouth was open to visitors and there were conecting Bus Services from Havant & Cosham using Stagecoach owned vehicles, there was also a connecting service from Southsea using Preserved buses, a service was also run on the london Road service connecting Waterlooville & Southsea.

Dave Chalker Memorial Running day SOUTHSEA, Free Vintage Bus Services Sunday 15th May 2005. Display of Buses & Sales Stands at the D Day Museum Car Park. Organised by
City of Portsmouth Preserved Transport Depot.

The last day in April 2005 and Ex 402: A302 KJT left Fareham for a new owner in Coventry, It was destined for Stoke-on-Trent on this journey from Peak Lane, Fareham on a very Foggy Saturday morning, a small number of members from 'The Provincial Society' were there to say goodbye.

The first bus rally held at 'Brijans in Bishops Waltham a good selection of vehicles attended on Sunday 10th April 2005.

Southampton and First Hampshire & Dorset's final day of the Leyland Atlantean in service, the last one was 270: FTR270X. There was also a small display of buses and a free service from Mayflower Park featuring ex Southampton Atlantean 252 YRV252V. 252 was in preservation for a while but was then 'sold on' for further non-PSV use, other Southampton stalwarts on display or in service on the day were ex Southampton Guy's 64, 67 & 71 along with AEC Regent 402. As you can see the weather was not kind but added to the atmosphere of the last day in Vincents Walk.