SOUTHDOWN BUSES IN NEWHAVEN

These two buses are standing in Bridge Street. The nearly new Guy Arab (in front) dates from April 1956. The Leyland PD2 is on the local town service 26. It's one of a large batch of 80 and dates from July 1948; many of these Leylands fascinated me as a boy, because of their pleasantly musical gearboxes!

I remember both types well. The 26 ran from the top of Gibbon Road to Denton and the double deckers ran from my earliest recollections of bus travel until they were replaced with the single deckers. I think I always had to walk over the top of the hill to catch a 12 to Brighton from Valley Road, but I seem to recall that we'd get a 12 at Gibbon Road at certain times of the day.

And I've waited at this bus stop by the bridge many a time!

I used to wait there on a Saturday to go to the Goldstone. Later I would go by car with Dave Farley and various others whose names escape me at the moment. We used to park in what looked like an old coal yard but I think was the official car park, it was free as well. Now we park in the university and that's not free.

This picture takes me back to 1960. I can remember waiting in this bus stop for the number 12, and peering through the knot holes of the rear of the shelter at the trains shunting behind....

From my memory the Guy Arabs proved to be poor performers on Route 12 due to the hills between Seaford and Eastbourne and so it was difficult to maintain the schedule. They were replaced with the last batches of the Leyland PD2 and then of course the "Queen Mary" Leyland PD3.