Last updated: 31 July 2017

During the Society’s recent exhibition on Gosport’s Buses & Trams in Gosport Gallery, a number of visitors kindly contacted the Society to provide their recollections of Provincial and other bus operators in the Borough, or to donate artefacts to the Society’s archive.  Amongst the latter was the subject of this month’s feature – a photograph generously donated to the Society by John Jordan showing a line-up of char-a-bancs and early motor buses operated by Harvey Tutt and his sons Harvey Frank and Arthur.

Originally from Wiltshire, Harvey Tutt was an operator of horse-drawn brakes and omnibuses in Gosport prior to the Great War.  His brake ‘Pride of Gosport’ was used to compete with Hubert Smith for passengers to Warsash, a popular venue during the early part of the 20^th century thanks to its crab teas.  After the war, Tutt was one of a small number of independent operators to build up a fleet of motor vehicles (trading under the name ENTERPRISE MOTOR SERVICE) and the photograph shown here shows that fleet in the early 1920s.  The vehicles are (from left to right): three char-a-bancs – Thornycroft HO 5918, AEC HO 2599 and Daimler LR 8007; two saloons – Thornycroft HO 5917 and Dennis HO 6008; and two double-deckers – AEC FX 4431 and Thornycroft HO 5772.  As the various slip-boards indicate, Tutt operated services to Hardway & Elson, Fareham and Warsash.  He also had a route to Bishop’s Waltham and it was this, along with the Warsash route, that saw Tutt compete with his much-larger rivals Hants & Dorset and Southdown.  The competition did not last long and Tutt duly sold out to Hants & Dorset in July 1924.  His service from Gosport to Bishop’s Waltham, later extended by Hants & Dorset to Winchester and subsequently cut-back to Fareham, continues to operate to this day as Stagecoach route 69.

The photograph shows the ENTERPRISE fleet lined up in Clarence Square in Gosport for the annual inspection of omnibuses – a mandatory requirement in the Spring of each year prior to the issuing of licences by the Council.  Based on the vehicles present and those that are missing, the photograph can be dated to around 1922.                 

As always, any members (or non-members) with similar items that they would like to donate to the Society are requested to make contact using the following e-mail address: ProvSocArchive@gmail.com

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