If you are a resident of Brighton & Hove or someone that has simply visited the city, then it is very likely that you have seen some of the impressive fleet of Brighton & Hove buses. But have you noticed that in fact that they carry the name of a famous person that has been or still is connected with the city?
I was rather intrigued with the whole idea of this and wanted to know a little more about it all and so when I was in town, I visited the 1 Stop Travel Shop in North Street, Brighton in order to delve further.
I didn’t really fancy trying to write down all of the names listed on the buses that I saw in town, as it would have taken all day and no doubt I would have missed loads of them from other routes.
I have discovered that there are in fact far more buses travelling in and around Brighton & Hove than I first thought and so there are many named buses out there. I have found out that the names on the buses are not exactly static, as some are no longer in service and others transfer from one number to another and some are just displayed for a short period of time.
I think that this bus naming idea adds to the history of our city and it can encourage people to find out about each name and what that individual has achieved in order to have been allocated a bus so to speak. It could be an interesting game for children to see if they can spot the names and find out about them – educational stuff indeed!
No doubt the names have been put forward for a host of different reasons, with some far more obvious than others, so let’s have a look at a few interesting ones:
On bus number 12 (that’s not a route number but the actual bus number!) there is the name of just Bruce! Bruce who I thought? Well Bruce was actually a brave Brighton Police Dog who was sadly put to sleep in April 2002 after biting an offenders ear. This action led to a public outcry and so the name was displayed as a tribute to the pooch.
Bus number 459 has the name Countess of Rothes. She was a survivor of the tragic Titanic maiden voyage in 1912, having steered lifeboat number 8 to safety. She passed away in 1956 in Hove at the age of 77.
Europe’s oldest living man in 2009 was war veteran Henry Allingham, who sadly passed away aged 113 at St Dunstans in Ovingdean where he lived. I can recall one of my children doing a school project on Henry just prior to his passing. Henry’s name has appeared on bus numbers 616, 808 and 819.
On bus 708 there can be found Daisy & Violet Hilton. They were conjoined twins from the last century who were fused at the pelvis but this didn’t stop the ladies getting married and having affairs!
An expensive rare one-off option was requested by a wedding party in 2002 for a lucky couple called Nicola & Declan on bus 763 for a few days.
In May 2001 bus number 819 proudly displayed the names of Micky Adams & Bobby Zamora in celebration of The Albion being promoted to Division 2. So when we successfully remain in The Premiership, then surely the possibility of a fleet of new names will be in order?
Now all the children of the city will surely want to climb aboard bus number 820 as it has been known to adorn festive lights and carry the name of Santa Claus!
Want to know the full list of bus names? Then see below and click on the name of your choice to read about that person and then click the back arrow and choose another one and repeat.
Listed in actual bus number order (not route number):
Nick L. could have saved himself a lot of time and trouble by accessing the Brighon & Hove buses website where this information is available. http://history.buses.co.uk/history/fleethist/busnamesintro.htm
Well, he’s clearly read it, as it’s an obvious cut-and-paste job from that site. What a lazy article.
I started laughing when in the first paragraph he says that B&H residents have probably noticed the buses! Well yes, I think we can take that as a given, at least for everybody not in possession of a guide dog!
Was this written for a school project?
This really is embarrassing. What next? A revelation that residents probably haven’t noticed but there’s a giant Indian looking palace in the middle of the town?
Someone really needs to get their act together as most of us come here to avoid the horrors that passes for journalism, and comments section full of hateful racists and homophobes, over at The Argus, but this is just cringeworthy.
Thank you for this, my husband and I were both born and raised in Brighton, but moved away 20 years ago due to work commitments. We often visit the area but only on a recent visit did we have a chance to walk the town centre and we did wonder about the names on the buses. So thanks again.
Bless you Eileen. Thanks for your interest.
I cannot agree with any of the above comments on here except Eileen Valder. I didn’t realise there were so many named buses. The history associated with many of them i was unaware of despite being a dyed-in-the wool Brightonian.
Nor did i know this was on the Brighton Buses website. Well done to Nick L at the Brighton & Hove News for bringing this interesting local history to a wider audience and drawing our attention to it.
Thank you kind sir.
I put forward my Grandfather’s name, he died in WW1 1916, thought it would have been fitting for the centenary to honour an “ordinary” citizen but didn’t have any luck, shame really but hardly surprising.
Lovely idea Linda. I am sorry it didn’t work out.
Hi my name is Jacqueline Brigden due to a marriage and family misfortune my interest is in my amazing grand mother Zoe Brigden. I am her granddaughter Jacqueline Brigden I want to come home to England
What a wonderful way to keep the memory of these local, world achievers alive. All of them made the world a better place, be it by their versatile talents in entertainment, or skills and abilities in their chosen professions.
This is fantastic for tourists, who in many cases, will immediately recall the contribution of the celebrity whom they so fondly remember and admire so much. Well done!