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Welcome to The Provincial Society Website - preserving Provincial's heritage - Provincial Tramways Company - Provincial Traction Company - Gosport and Fareham Omnibus Company - The Provincial Bus Company Limited - People's Provincial Buses Limited - First Provincial Limited - First Hampshire Limited - First Hampshire and Dorset Limited

“The Star” brand symbolised Portsmouth’s history of being one of the main bases for the Royal Navy, and, as such, all vehicles were named after a famous vessel of the Royal Navy. 63042, the first in the batch, was named ‘Mary Rose’, after the famous vessel in King Henry VIII’s Tudor Navy which famously sank in the Solent on 15th July 1545. My first shot of 63042 comes when she was brand new in to service, pictured on 28th October 2013, an autumnal day eleven years ago (how time flies…!) in Crookhorn – the autumnal trees and low sun always make for wonderful shots around late morning/midday. Route 7 at this point still continued all the way through to Southsea, as the long-standing route 40 always did. It was cut back to Winston Churchill Avenue, and then later Portsmouth’s Civic Centre in cost-saving measures within a few years.

Moving forward five years, a second view of 63042 in the attractive ‘Star’ colours sees the bus heading out of Edinburgh Road en-route for Wecock Farm, again on route 7. Pictured on 5th May 2018, this template of colours was named ‘interurban’ by First and used over a number of fleets for longer distance routes, such as the First West Yorkshire X84 Leeds to Skipton, First Eastern Counties X1 Peterborough to Lowestoft and Cymru Clipper network of longer distance routes in Wales. This shot in the afternoon was one of the most popular for photographers for generations on a sunny summer afternoon; however, the construction of a giant Travelodge hotel has kindly removed the potential for the sunny shot forever more.

The Star batch of Streetlites were up for renewal in late 2019. This was due to the agreement in place that the A3 Bus Priority services are operated by vehicles of no more than 4 years old. The renewal of the Streetlites was a little bit later – nearly running in to their sixth year – and I am led to believe that the current Enviros are due for replacement with the next batch of electrics in the next twelve months or so (again slightly over the four year terms). Most of the Stars went over to Southampton but a small number went to Hoeford or stayed at Hilsea. 63042 was one of those that went to Hoeford, and, upon receiving fleet colours, the first time I captured her was the first day of the initial easing of Covid-19 Lockdown regulations. 63042, now the former Mary Rose, was pictured in Warsash village heading for Gosport on the X5 on 31st May 2020.

63042 remained in service at Hoeford for a little over four years, regularly operating back in to Portsmouth on routes 3 and X4. The final shot of her in in Hampshire illustrate a journey she would have done thousands of times before – heading down Queen St in Portsmouth on 4th June 2013, this time on a route 1 for South Parade Pier, via the city centre, Fratton and Eastney. The remaining former Star buses at Hoeford or Hilsea (63042-63047, 63053, 63067) all were cascaded further as the electric buses began to arrive, with the majority heading to Weymouth but some arriving at Taunton.

63042-63044 were cascaded to Taunton, and, on their arrival in Somerset, have received First’s most recent livery introduction. The grey / purple colours has been announced as the corporate look for the years ahead, although Solent, Leicester and those operating for the franchised Bee Network in Manchester will retain local colours, as will certain tourist-focused services (for example: it is expected that the Jurassic Coaster will remain). 63042 is pictured arriving at the Castle Way terminus in Taunton, against the backdrop of the former bus station, now a Covid-19 vaccination centre. The grey / purple livery has generally gone down positively with enthusiasts – although I know that a lot of local enthusiasts were happy that us in the Solent region are keeping the blue!

VEHICLE MOVEMENTS

Volvo B7RLE trainer 66938 (WX55 TYZ)

from Camborne to Weymouth on 2/8/24

(returned following loan)

StreetDeck 35115 (SO15 CUY)

from Hilsea to Hoeford on 26/7/24

StreetLite 63298 (SN65 OKZ)

from Hoeford to Slough on 23/7/24

StreetLites 63432/3 (SV22 XMA/B)

from Hilsea to Huddersfield on 20/7/24

StreetLites 63415/7/8/9/20 (SV22 VWU/X/Y/XA/B)

from Hoeford to Huddersfield on 20/7/24

StreetLite 63414 (SV22 VWT)

from Hoeford to Halifax on 20/7/24

StreetDeck 35115 (SO15 CUY)

from Hoeford to Hilsea on 12/7/24

GB Kite Electroliners 63682 (LV24 EXW)

new at Hoeford on 11/7/24

GB Kite Electroliners 63670/2/9 (LY73 BYH/K)

& 63679 (LV24 EXS) new at Hoeford on 10/7/24

Scania Levante 23651 (XFF 283)

from Slough to Camborne on 10/7/24

Irizar i6 25103 (YR24 OXC)

new at Slough on 9/7/24

GB Kite Electroliner 63678 (LV24 EXR)

new at Hoeford on 9/7/24

GB Kite Electroliner 63624 (BJ73 WVK)

new at Hoeford on 4/7/24

Irizar i6 25102 (YR24 OXB)

new at Slough on 4/7/24

Scania 23652 (481 FPO)

from Slough to Camborne on 2/7/24

GB Kite Electroliner 63691 (LV24 EYJ)

new at Hoeford on 1/7/24

Irizar i6 25101/5 (YR24 OXA/E)

new at Slough on 28/6/24

GB Kite Electroliner 63677 (LV24 EXP)

new at Hoeford on 27/6/24

GB Kite Electroliner 63621 (BJ73 WVF)

new at Hoeford on 25/6/24

Irizar i6 25104/6 (YR24 OXD/F)

new at Slough on 25/6/24

StreetLites 63408/9/10/1/2 (SV22 UZK/VWN/O/P/R)

from Hoeford to Olive Grove on 23/6/24

StreetLites 63309/11 (SN65 OLP/T) & 63413 (SV22 VWS)

from Hoeford to Olive Grove on 22/6/24

GB Kite Electroliners 63681/96 (LV24 EXU/YP)

new at Hoeford on 21/6/24

StreetLites 63406/7/16 (SV22 UZH/J/VWW)

from Hoeford to Olive Grove on 20/6/24

GB Kite Electroliners 63671 (LY73 BYJ) & 63680 (LV24 EXT)

new at Hoeford on 19/6/24

StreetLites 63401/2/3/4/5 (SV22 UZC/D/E/F/G)

from Hoeford to Olive Grove on 15/6/24

StreetLite 63307 (SN65 OLM)

from Hoeford to Slough on 13/6/24

StreetLite 47419 (SK63 KMF)

from Hoeford to Taunton on 7/6/24

(Source: FHD&B)

Solent Ranger" StreetLite 63303 has made an unexpected return to service after, like the rest of the batch, being parked up since May. Presumably now repaired and being "run in" prior to transfer.

Pictured in Stubbington on September 5 (2nd day in service, after a rounder on the 3 &1 yesterday)

Photo by Malcolm Audsley