Brighton Corporation
1939
AEC Regent I
Weymann H56R
FUF 63 is an AEC Regent I of the O661 variety, built in 1939. She is at Dunsfold on one of the occasions the Wisley event wasn’t at Wisley, on 10 April 2011. The second view is a close-up of the fleetname and Municipal Crest. I have memories of reading – many years go and probably in Buses magazine when it was still called Buses Illustrated – that the arrangement shown results from an agreement between these two local operators, but not Southdown, whereby the buses and trolleybuses run by the Corporation and by Brighton Hove and District had the same livery and fleetname. The distinguishing feature for most people was that the Corporation vehicles carried the Crest as well. I suppose they had different ‘legal lettering’. Histories of the Borough of Hove I have seen suggest there was some jealousy there, because Brighton was elevated to the status of a County Borough, while Hove – seen as more genteel – was not, and had to keep East Sussex registrations while Brighton was allocated its own. “So you live in Brighton?” and the response “No, I live in Hove, actually.” seems to stem from this and some sources attribute it to Lord Olivier who did live in Brighton. A former colleague went to work for one of the Sussex Councils, and moved to Royal Crescent, Brighton. Lord Olivier lived next door on one side, and Dora Bryan lived on the other side.
The Titan 23 ACD next to 63 is a 1963 PD2/37 with a Weymann H37/27F body and was fleetnumber 23.
Photograph and Copy contributed by Pete Davies
05/11/15 – 06:41
What is most striking is how route information has been reduced over the years, especially important in a town with so many visitors. Bus operators should remember the old saying, ‘If you can’t tell, you can’t sell!’
David Wragg
05/11/15 – 16:49
Yes, David, I suppose there is ‘some’ improvement recently with the scrolling dot matrix display, but it’s still nothing like the London style or that shown on 63.
Pete Davies
06/11/15 – 07:05
But the London style is now just a single line display showing the destination.
Geoff Kerr
09/11/15 – 06:45
Of significance is that 23 ACD was the first double-decker operated as an OMO bus.
Dale Tringham
09/11/15 – 08:53
Ah, Dale! I bought some slides from your collection some years ago. Thank you for that piece of information. Was 23 “the first” in UK bus operations generally, or Brighton’s first?
Pete Davies
12/11/15 – 12:00
Brighton Corporation obtained a statutory dispensation enabling them to work this Titan driver -only in advance of general legalisation of double deck driver operation.
Great Yarmouth waited until the law changed to operate their PDR1/2s driver only, and were the second.
Stephen Allcroft