Hampshire Buses

Hampshire is the largest county in south-east England, despite losing the Isle of Wight and other areas during the 1974 boundary changes. Three important cities fall within its present boundaries: Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth. Winchester, once the capital of England and still the county town, was home to the famous green buses of King Alfred Motor Services until the business was sold to the National Bus Company subsidiary Hants & Dorset in 1973.

Formerly a Tilling Group member, Hants & Dorset’s green buses were soon painted red in NBC days and could be seen throughout the county until the company was split up in 1983. The Hampshire operations continued under the auspices of Hampshire Bus until Stagecoach took over in 1987, though many of the Southampton area services passed to Solent Blue Line. The other NBC operator was Provincial, operating around Gosport and Fareham, later to become part of First Bus. The same fate befell the two municipal operators, Southampton and Portsmouth. The latter city also saw the green buses of Southdown Motor Services running in from neighbouring West Sussex.

Many smaller operators have been, or still are, operating in Hampshire. John Law has been photographing them all since the early 1970s. The best of his pictures are seen in this wonderful collection of memories of Hampshire’s bus operations.