Southsea Spectacular 1975

In 1975, the year before I left Portsmouth, I visited this show of preserved buses, which had been organised by my colleague and good friend, the late Dave Chalker. It was the first one ever and the only one to be held in the grounds of Southsea Castle and not on the adjacent Southsea Common itself. The success of it made the site too cramped. I took three photos, two of which overlapped by two buses.

Recently, they surfaced and I thought I would try ‘stitching’ the two together and found the simplest piece of freeware to do it with; Microsoft ICE!

I have captioned the vehicles in the panoramic view (as far as I can recall/tell (you can, of course, correct me or add information if you wish!). I wonder how many of them still exist today?

The second photo shows a clutch of more modern buses, with only the Eastern National Bristol being identifiable.
In the distance can be seen the War Memorial (which has an exact copy at Plymouth), the Gosport tower flats slightly to the left and the long-defunct power station to the right.

Chris Hebbron
02/2011

If you put your mouse over the centre of the shot it will stop. Moving the mouse left or right scrolls the shot forwards or backwards.

13/02/11

Hi Chris, Very impressed with the panorama - can't see the joins! Magnificent collection of buses.

Can I offer suggestions for a few of the numbered but unidentified buses on the back row?
No One - Midland Red D7 4482 or 4496? No Five - Aldershot & District Dennis 348 or 357? No Six - one of Bournemouth's Weymann PD3's in the primrose rather than yellow livery version.

Reference the front row phantom Bristol (??? 407), and after trawling through a list of preserved buses, I came across MSD 407 which is a Western SMT Alexander lowbridge PD3. Although the registration letters on this photo are clearly not MSD, this bus certainly looks like a lowbridge Alexander body possible wearing an Scottish NBC livery?

Paul Haywood

13/02/11

The 'mystery' vehicle in the front row is former Red and White Guy EWO 467, which was sold to Provincial and is seen in their colours. It had been rebodied by BBW and of course most of us are not familiar with what the back end of one of those bodies looks like!

David Beilby

15/02/11

Thanks, David for solving the mystery of EWO 467. Yes, the back end of a BBW body is not an everyday sight. I only ever saw the ex-Bristol highbridge PD1s used by Ledgard. I'm fascinated to learn that BBW were still building as late as 1956. In my defense, I still maintain that the rear end has the look of an Alexander lowbridge (except for the lower deck back window layout) and it's proportions make it look 8-foot wide. Seeing the front view of EWO posted on other sites, you wouldn't think it was the same bus.

Paul Haywood

16/02/11

Well done, both, for adding to the score of identified vehicles, especially the BBW body rear. I should have recognised the A&D Dennis Lance, but never realised that Bournemouth vehicles boasted two different colours. Of course, my colour-blindness might not have helped.

Chris Hebbron

17/02/11

The Dennis d/d in the splendid Southsea Spectacular panorama must be a 1958 rear-entrance LOLINE. The only surviving A&D Lances are 145 (K3) and 220 (K4) belonging to Tim Stubbs and Malcolm Spalding and I don't think that even in 1975 there were any others in rallying condition.

Ian Thompson

17/02/11

I believe I can also identify the two vehicles next to EWO 467. To its right the Birmingham bus is the unusual CVA6 1486 (GOE 486) and further right is the Westcliff K5G AJN 825.

David Beilby

17/02/11

Browsing the web on this subject I chanced upon an identification of a bus that otherwise I would have been completely in the dark about. Above the Reading Metropolitan in the left hand photo there is a Portsmouth Orion-bodied PD2 and to the left of that there is a Roe body - not something you would expect in that part of the world. Anyway, on the 1974 rally a firm called Ultra Television brought along a couple of their staff buses, one of which was RWU 643, an AEC Regent V which came from Felix Motors of Hatfield, Doncaster as seen at this website and I feel confident that it will be the same bus. This would be a credit to any rally today in its original Maroon, red and cream livery but sadly I don't believe we will see this bus again.

It's also possible that the bus at the far end of the row containing the Metropolitan was also from the Ultra Television fleet, it seems to be in the same livery and looks like a Willowbrook forward-entrance body.

David Beilby

18/02/11

Well spotted, David. Ultra built a production factory between Gosport and Fareham around 1959, although it closed not long after takeover by Thorn in the last 1970's.

Chris Hebbron

06/02/14 - 07:05

Only about three years late, but just stumbled upon this gallery and I can identify one bus, second from the right on the more modern line-up, that being the blue and cream Atlantean/East Lancs parked between the similar Southampton Atlantean and the Reading Metropolitan.

This is almost new Eastbourne Borough Council 21 GHC 521N, which still survives in my ownership. I attach another shot of this bus taken on the same day.

Robin Bennett

07/02/14 - 06:25

Thx, Robin, for filling in another gap and supplying a photo of your pride and joy, a very smart vehicle.
I never realised that it was three years ago when I did this post!

Chris Hebbron

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