Dennis Comes To Portsmouth ~ Tom Dethridge
In the years 1924-29 Portsmouth Corporation expanded its bus fleet from the original ten open-top Thornycrofts, by 63 new
vehicles and of these over half were Dennis, all single-deckers.

The products of Dennis Brothers Ltd of Guildford enjoyed a high reputation and were to be found all across the country. It
was for long the favoured chassis of major companies such as Aldershot & District and many examples operated in London
coming within the LPTB in 1933. Several saw service in Portsmouth outside the Corporation fleet. Frank Plater's Southsea
Tourist was virtually all-Dennis and Southdown had a number as did one or two local independents.

The first Corporation Dennises, very closely following the 1924 Guy runabouts 11-15, already covered in SBM 172, were two
small batches, 16-18 TP 181-3 and 19- 22 TP 186-9, of 21 and 25 seat capacity respectively with bodies by Strachen & Brown
of North London. They were delivered with spoked wheels and solid tyres. At this time a parliamentary recommendation
proposed that psv's on pneumatic tyres and weighing not more than 3 and three-quarter tons should be allowed to run at 20
mph instead of the then maximum of 12 mph and in 1925 a further batch of twelve larger buses, 23-34 TP 751-61/5, was
taken into stock to this revised specification with disc wheels. The previous seven were similarly modified.

A query concerns the 1925 batch. The original order was reportedly for 11 complete buses plus a twelfth chassis. At the time
much was made of the feature that the body could be completely demounted from the chassis and a photograph exists of the
two parts separated for depot attention. Another contemporary report however refers to 12 buses having been supplied and
it remains unclear what the delivery actually comprised. Was there a thought that economy could be affected by having a
lesser number of bodies to circulate among the available chassis? It is noted that the chassis number of No.34 shows a gap
from the rest of the batch and even its registration number is a shade adrift - this may not be significant. The arrangement
was unusual and certainly never repeated.

These three batches were of similar appearance but of differing lengths with 4, 5 and 6 windows on the nearside. They had
front entrance with two steps and jack-knife doors, normal control (ie projecting bonnet) and were fitted for one-man
operation with a full-length partition with small window behind the driver's seat (though in practice a conductor was
normally employed) and fully-opening drop windows. There was a full-height emergency door in the centre of the rear end,
openable inside and out or remotely by the driver using a cable and spring mechanism.

As delivered these had no route indication fitted. One early photograph shows destination and via-points on printed strips on
the side-window tops, while another has a narrow wooden single-line board in the front nearside windscreen. Subsequently
destination blind-boxes were fitted under the overhang of the nearside front of the projecting roof and route letter boxes
front and rear (not always used however). Later still small destination blinds were provided in the tops of a rear side
window. Similar arrangements were made in most of the pre-1930 buses. They were rexine-covered sprung seats, rexine
being a manufactured leather-looking fabric, and linoleum floor covering. Later four horizontal protective side-bars were
fitted between the front and rear wheels (“cow-catchers") as the bodies were set quite high off the ground. Starting handles
were standard in those buses supplied up to 1945 and bulb horns through the 30s.

These 19 buses were all withdrawn in 1932 and mostly sold, but five were converted for departmental use, 25 as a van
retaining its bus profile, 27 and 30 as lorries, while 16 and 34 were transformed as tower wagons for maintenance of the
tram/trolleybus overhead, which they performed for the next 20 years until replaced in the 50s by a pair of converted
Leyland TD2s. Nos 28,29 and 31 were sold to South Shields Corporation to become the latter's 1-3 for two or three years (do
any photos exist?) and another was exported to the Isle of Wight for further service.

There was no intake in 1926 but the next year the Corporation bought two Dennis type E, 36-37 TP 4422-3, along with ten
six-wheel Karriers, two single and eight double-decked. The thirty-five seat bodies of the four saloon buses were by
Ransome, Sims & Jefferles of Ipswich and although similar, seemed to sit lower on the Karriers, presenting a different
appearance. They were front-entrance with inset double doors and two steps and rear-end emergency exits, and came
complete with destination blind-box under the nearside front roof overhang. Seats were upholstered in antique leather and
the floor covered with linoleum. They were all sold in the 30s.

Eight more Dennises of type E followed in 1928, 54-61 TP 6864-71, as well as six more Karriers, and came from yet a different
body-builder, Davidson (Trafford Park) Limited of Manchester, the undertaking's first rear-entrance saloon buses, 32-seaters
of upright design, rugged rather than attractive, with inset twin doors while there was an emergency exit offside front
immediately behind the driver's cab. They had a built-in destination blind box at the roof front (another Portsmouth first).
The floor was covered by sorbo rubber and carpeting and an interesting feature was a metal cage under the floor at the rear
end to house a spare wheel but like many operators the Corporation negotiated a contract covering supply and care of tyres,
and spares were no longer carried.

The final Dennis arrivals - type EV - came in 1929, when twelve acquisitions were shared with Thornycroft and in both cases
each type involved two builders including a local company. The six Dennises were 62-67 TP 8098-8103 and all were 32-seat
rear-entrance. Hall Lewis (later to become Park Royal Vehicles) supplied 62-65 as well as Thornycroft 68-71, while 66-67
emanated from Portsmouth Commercial Motors Ltd of 123 Goldsmith Avenue (Wadhams built 72-73). All had a roof-mounted
destination box at the front and the pair of PCM buses always appealed to me as neat and attractive, due perhaps to the
curved dome to the rear of the roof line.

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20