Last updated: 31 December 2018

Most people associate the name ‘Provincial’ in Gosport and Fareham with full-fronted Deutz, Guy and AEC double deckers as iconic vehicles of their day. We begin this year’s selection with one such bus. In the June 2018 edition of ‘Provincial Press’ which was issued to all Society members, a range of similar double deckers was published. They came from a sample of images sent from Australia. Taken by the donor when he was only thirteen, he used a fairly basic Brownie 127 camera in the cold, snowy December of 1962. The piles of snow against the kerb can be seen in the background. Little did the photographer realise that these rare shots would be valued and treasured over half a century later. One of the images which was not published was this one of AEC Regent II no. 12 (FHO 604) at Gosport Hard. This bus was new to Provincial in May 1947 with a Reading H30/26R body. The original body was scrapped at Hoeford in July 1959 and it was re-bodied by September 1960. The “new” body with the same seating configuration came from no. 15 (EHO 282) which had been withdrawn in February 1959. This is a classic case of re-cycling parts, for which Provincial was well-known in those days. No. 12 survived until 26 October 1965 when it was withdrawn from service. Several months later the vehicle left Hoeford for scrap on 21 February 1967, having operated for nearly eighteen years in the area. This bus was one of four new AEC Regent IIs delivered to Hoeford two years after the end of the war. The batch: 10 – 13 (FHO 602-5) – all arrived in 1947, but were registered at different times between January and August of that year.

 No. 12(FHO 604) at Gosport Hard in December 1962 with the “new” body.

Photo: Stefan Splawinski

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