Gosport's Buses and Trams

A summer only bus service was introduced in 1911 between Bury Cross terminus and Lee Pier at Lee-on-the-Solent. The tram company had wanted to extend the tram service from Gosport to Lee but was unable to do so because of competition from the existing railway line from Brockhurst Station to Lee Pier. Motor bus services in Gosport ended with the outbreak of war in 1914 resuming after the war ended four years later.

One of the earliest motor buses operating in the Gosport area – this Commer 32hp was purchased 1913. Seen here at Bury Cross, it carried the fleet name of Gosport and Fareham Tramways, a Provincial subsidiary.
© The Provincial Society


Commer bus Pier Street Lee-on-Solent around 1913	Provincial Charabanc 1 on Royal Arms outing	Provincial charabanc 3 on Royal Arms outing

Provincial charabanc No.3 outside the Isle of Wight Hoy public house (on the corner of the High Street and Beach Street) ready to leave on ‘Rowes’ outing, 1920. Rowes was a tailor and naval & yacht outfitters based at 78 High Street, Gosport.
(GP1978. 437) © J.C. Lawrence & Sons

The heyday for the Charabanc was the 1920s when it was fashionable to go on such outings or day trips. The working class were known by the upper classes as ‘trippers’. They were despised as ‘noisy self-propelled pubs that conveyed drunken rabble who threw bottles and bellowed bawdy songs’. Occasionally the charabancs were covered with a temporary roof to keep the worst of the weather away – sometimes with curtains around the sides as well. It is known that the early charabancs in this country were often used as delivery wagons during the week and then converted to passenger carrying vehicles for the weekend trips.

Pre-World War 2 buses (1930-1939)

Motor buses and coaches from the early 1900s