The oldest vehicles in this gallery are the AEC Regal 4s, eight of which arrived in 1934. This picture of No.27 was taken in Walpole Road, Gosport, on Sunday 25th June 1967. The original four cylinder 6.6 litre engines in these buses were replaced by six cylinder 7.7 litre units in 1945/6. The Harrington B32R bodies on this bus, No.27, CG 9612, and on similar bus No. 24, CG 9607 (see below), were destroyed in the Hoeford depot fire of 1957, but the chassis were reconditioned for further service. The entire class of eight buses received new Reading full fronted bodies of the type shown, though those on Nos. 24 and 27 were partly constructed by the Gosport and Fareham company itself. The seating capacity varied between individual examples from FB33F to FB34F and FB35F. The Regals were ultimately withdrawn between 1966 and 1970. Nos.27 and 24 had 35 seats, and both survived until 1970, by which time the chassis were 36 years old.

The four AEC Regents of 1936 had teak framed H56R Park Royal bodies of outstanding quality. Sadly, Nos. 36 and 37 were completely destroyed in the 1957 Hoeford fire, but No. 35, BOR 767, served the company until 1967, a remarkable 31 years. Fellow Regent No.34, BOR 766 lasted even longer until 1970. Thankfully, stalwart veteran No.35 still exists today in the meticulous care of David Whitaker. It is seen here in South Croydon on 7th May 1972 on the HCVC Brighton Rally.

The first Guy Arab No.55, EHO 228, came in 1942 with a Weymann H30/26R utility body. This was replaced by a Reading H56R body in 1955, when the chassis was given the lower bonnet line of the Arab III. The short bonnet length for the 5LW engine was retained. Here is this bus at South Croydon on the 1972 HCVC Rally. No. 57, an Arab II with a similar Reading body, is being restored by the Provincial Society. No.17, EOR 875, a 1945 Arab II, had its Park Royal utility H56R body replaced in 1958 with a full fronted Reading body, similar to those on the Deutz engine rebuilds, and this bus is also preserved.

From 1949 to 1953, eight 5LW powered Arab IIIs were delivered with Park Royal designed bodies, the first seven of which were built by Guy themselves. These were the buses that I greatly admired as a child. This is No. No.4, JHO 129 at South Street, Gosport, on 25th June 1967.

In 1957, Mr. Orme White became interested in the Deutz F6L514 air cooled engine. This indirect injection unit had a capacity of 7.2 litres, similar to the 7.0 litres of the 5LW, but it developed 125 bhp at 2300 rpm against the 85 bhp at 1700 rpm of the Gardner (though in its post 1954 “K” type form the 5LW gave 94 bhp). The first bus to be so fitted was 1943 Arab II No. 59, which received a new Reading FH30/26R body in place of the Park Royal utility H56R. The success of this experiment led to more conversions, always with Arab chassis, but sometimes using secondhand vehicles. This is No.2 which began life as Yorkshire Woollen District Roe bodied Arab II No.524, HD 7657. In recognition of the extensive chassis modifications and the new Reading H56R body, the Licensing Authority insisted upon a new registration number, 884 HHO. It is seen here on 25th June 1967 in Walpole Road, Gosport.

In 1963, Provincial took advantage of the disposal by Southampton of its early fleet of Arab IIIs with Park Royal H30/26R bodies, which dated from 1948. Apart from their Gardner 6LW engines, these were essentially similar to the eight Provincial Arabs of 1949-53. The first four were numbered 62 to 65, FCR 198 to 201. No.62 is seen here in Walpole Road, Gosport on 25th June 1967.

Here is ex Southampton Arab III No.63, FCR 199, in Foster Road, Gosport in the autumn of 1969. The gaunt building that the bus is passing is the telephone exchange. This was built on the site of the old Gosport Road & Alverstoke railway station on the 1863 line to Stokes Bay pier for the Isle of Wight steamers. The line was closed to passengers in 1915, and in 1922 the line from Gosport Road to Stokes Bay and the pier into the Solent were sold to the Admiralty. The Admiralty retained the pier – I remember it being used by MTBs on exercises in the early 1950s – but the line was lifted entirely by 1930, though the sleepers and level crossing gates were still in place when I went to Stone Lane Primary School up to 1952.

A view, taken on 25th June 1967, of another ex Southampton Arab III, No.64, FCR 200, in Foster Road, again with the telephone exchange behind it.

The last example of the first batch of four Arab IIIs from Southampton was No.65, FCR 201, seen here going towards Gosport in Foster Road in the autumn of 1969.

A second batch of 1948 vintage Guy Arab IIIs was purchased from Southampton in 1965. Unlike the earlier ones, these were numbered in a curiously random sequence by Provincial. Their registrations were FCR 440/441/442/445/446/447, to which were allocated fleet numbers 48/16/19/40/41/49. Another Arab bought from Southampton, FCR 443, was given the fleet number 39, but it was found to have a cracked chassis and did not enter service. No.48, FCR 440, is seen turning the corner in Foster Road opposite the telephone exchange en route to Gosport in late evening during the autumn of 1969.

Lined up at the bus terminus at Gosport Ferry on 25th June 1967 (from left to right) are the following.
No.61, EHO 966 dating from 1959, the second Deutz engined, Reading H56R bodied Guy Arab rebuild using Provincial's own Arab II chassis of 1943. This bus retained its original registration.
No.41, FCR 446, another of the ex Southampton Arabs bought in 1965.
No.24, CG 9607, one of the Reading FB35F rebodied Regal 4s of 1934. This bus is also preserved today by David Whitaker.

This is No.33, a Guy Arab II of 1945. This bus originally had a Northern Counties “relaxed” utility H56R body, and was delivered to London Transport as G276, GYL 416. In June 1952 the bus passed into the ownership of the Ministry of Supply, who eventually sold it on in 1959 to Hawkins, a Gosport contractor, who kept it for four years. Provincial bought it in 1963, and, in 1965, it emerged as No.33 with a Deutz engine, a new Reading H30/26R body, and a new registration mark CHO 449C. Here it is in the autumn of 1969 in Stoke Road, Gosport outside the closed “Forum” cinema, a site now occupied by a Waitrose supermarket.

FCR 452, fleet number 11, was the last Southampton Arab III to be bought by Gosport and Fareham. It arrived in 1966 to fill the gap caused by the defective FCR 443 (cracked chassis). In the autumn of 1969 it is seen emerging from the south end of the High Street, Gosport, to reach the Gosport Ferry terminal point. High Street is now fully pedestrianised.

The last Guy/Deutz rebuilt was rather unusual. It utilised the chassis of ex United Welsh 1951 Arab III HCY 296, which originally carried a BBW H30/26R body. It was sold by United Welsh in 1963, and Provincial bought it from a Cardiff dealer in the following year. It reappeared in 1967 with a Deutz engine and an angular single deck body with perimeter seating built jointly by Reading and Gosport and Fareham. On 25th June 1967, when it was still quite new, it is seen in Stoke Road proceeding to Gosport Ferry.

The retirement of Mr. Orme White in 1967 and the appointment of Mr. Woolford as manager brought about a total change of engineering policy. In came dual doorway Seddon Pennine IV buses with Perkins 6.354 engines. The first batch of nine came in 1968 with Strachan B40D bodies. One of these, No.46, is emerging from Gosport High Street, and in another shot, the same vehicle is in Bury Lane at the point where it once crossed the Stokes Bay railway line by bridge. No doubt The Pennine IV has its devotees, but I am emphatically not one of them. I consider the one I delivered from Gomshall to Loughborough to have been possibly the nastiest bus that I have ever driven.

Pennine/Strachan No.50, MHO 197F, the last of the first batch, is seen leaving the Gosport Ferry terminal and about to turn left into the High Street.

In 1969 six more Seddon Pennine IV buses were bought, this time with Pennine B40D bodywork. Seen at the south end of Gosport High Street in the autumn of that year is No.52, RAA 20G. The Pennines were fragile beasts compared with the AECs and Guys of the past, and all were withdrawn between 1975 and 1977, after lives with Provincial of six to eight years. By this time the Gosport and Fareham company had long since lost its individuality under the corporate grasp of NBC.