Southdown in preservation was book number five I have written and published by Amberley Publishing. My first book published in 2019 was to recall my memories of coaches in Brighton, its success has allowed me to continue to capture a lifetime career in the bus and coach business and an enthusiast too and preparations for book six are well underway. A seventh is also possible with a firm idea in my head.

Southdown in preservation was the best one so far with superb images of buses and coaches preserved and displayed at shows and rallies with the famous green and green colours we all fondly remember. Without the preservation movement history would be lost.

Once an owner of a former Southdown coach I can confirm that it is a most enjoyable hobby restoring and preserving a vehicle from one’s favourite operator and showing off the hard work at rallies, this past experience and knowledge certainly help to put the book together for others to enjoy.

A pair of single-deckers from the 1930s. Fleet number 1205 (UF 6805) is a 1930 Tilling Stevens with thirty-one-seat bodywork by Short Brothers. Fleet number 24 (ECD 524) is a 1937 Leyland Cub with bodywork by Park Royal and seats twenty. Both buses are kept at Amberley. This photo was taken at the spring bus show in April 2023. (Southdown Buses in Preservation, Amberley Publishing)

Introduction

Southdown Motor Services was formed in 1915 and became very well known for the green and cream colours with gold fleet names on their buses and coaches, which would be seen all over Sussex and parts of Hampshire. National Bus Company ownership in 1969 and Stagecoach ownership twenty years later saw the traditional colour scheme diminish, although Southdown revived the traditional livery and repainted some coaches two-tone green in the 1980s.

Many books have been written about Southdown, an enthusiasts’ club exists, models are made of Southdown buses and coaches, and collectors collect just about anything connected with this famous company. Despite the fact Southdown was taken over by Stagecoach over thirty years ago, memorabilia changes hands online and at rally stalls for significant amounts of money. The Southdown vehicle preservation list has seen some vehicles disappear from the rally scene recently, which could be down to financial reasons. The cost of living crisis will have had an impact on hobbies, coupled with lack of suitable storage facilities, and their cost.

New in 1914 and a survivor of two world wars is IB 552, a Tilling Stevens TS3 with a Newman forty-seat body. It carries the Worthing Motor Services name, a precursor to Southdown. Although a resident at Amberley Museum, it is out for the day to take part in the 2004 Worthing bus rally. (Southdown Buses in Preservation, Amberley Publishing)

Remarkably, there remains over a hundred Southdown buses and coaches in preservation at the time of writing. Some have been lovingly restored to their original condition, achieving a high standard, whilst some are preserved but awaiting restoration in storage, and regrettably some languish in poor condition due to lack of funds. A handful of these buses are licensed to carry fare-paying passengers and earn their keep on hire to transport passengers back in time.

Southdown green and cream lives on, and preserved buses and coaches are a familiar sight at bus rallies and shows during the season. Some buses are over a century old. In addition, memorabilia and other artifacts – bus stops, bus garages, ticket machines, timetables, uniforms and other ephemera – are preserved too; private collectors like me store most of it in spare rooms or attics. Museums also display these items for us to enjoy Southdown’s history.

The book looks at Southdown in preservation with photos and captions of buses and coaches fortunate to be in the hands of dedicated people; without them the past can easily be forgotten. Some buses that have not been so fortunate as to end up in preservation are included in this pictorial history, as are one or two from the operating area of Southdown such as the Brighton Hove and District and Eastbourne Corporation.

Southdown Buses in Preservation by Simon Stanford is available for purchase now.