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
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Commer bus Pier Street Lee-on-Solent around 1913 | Provincial Charabanc 1 on Royal Arms outing | Provincial charabanc 3 on Royal Arms outing |
Motor buses and coaches from the early 1900s

(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.