The Southdown Enthusiasts' Club
Founded 1954

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The Club has a thriving "Sales" Section and our latest Sales List has just been issued. We have many items of interest including books, baseball caps, polo shirts, sweat shirts, bagdes and many other items. The photo circuit, managed separately, provides members with historic and up to date potographs of bus operations both in the Southdown area (and era!) and outside it, up to the present day.

Recent publications include our annual fleetlist booklet.

*** 2007 EDITION *** Our annual fleetlist booklet details the current Stagecoach South (incorporating the recent renumbering of the fleet), Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne Buses and First Hampshire bus fleets. Full details of all vehicles in these fleets including chassis and body numbers are listed and the book includes 8 pages of photos depicting the current fleets. Price is £6.50 including postage from SEC Sales (Address below).

The Brighton & Hove Fleet 1986 to 2001 has been published to mark the 15th Anniversary of the Brighton & Hove Bus Company Ltd which took over the Brighton area operations of Southdown at privatisation of the NBC. The book was started by the late Jim Jones, a long standing member of the SEC and a Brighton & Hove employee and the finishing touches undertaken by members of the SEC Committee after Jim's untimely death. The book has 84 pages of text and 16 black and white photos with full colour glossy card covers. Price is £9.80 including Post and packing from SEC Sales. Supplies of this book are running low ......

The Centenary of motor bus operations in Worthing was celebrated in 2004 although the Club's publication on the history of the Tramocar company was published a couple of years ago. Nevertheless, it covers the history of one of the first operators of motor buses in Worthing from conception up until the takeover by Southdown Motor Services Ltd in the 1930s. Tramocars of Worthing, one of the many small and interesting long defunct bus operators in Sussex, has a history that has become clouded in the mists of time. David Kaye, a renowned transport historian, has written much about this operator, but the appearance of Amberley Working Museum's restored Shelvoke & Drewry vehicle at the Bus Rally and Running Day in Worthing in July 1997 prompted further research, and this publication is the result of many hundreds of hours of work. Much of the research draws on work done by Amberley Museum volunteers during construction of the restored example. A great deal of extra information has been unearthed and has resulted in this book of 92 pages of text, timetables, faretables and sketchmaps plus 12 black & white photographs and colour card covers. Cost is £11.00 including post and packing.

And that's not all. These two books were published recently and are of particular interest to those who crave information on the buses of Southdown Motor Services Ltd.

When Stagecoach took over the Southdown Motor Services fleet in 1989, a large number of Bristol VRs were still owned and operated. In fact more were transferred in from other Stagecoach companies after the take-over. This book details the history of all these buses and costs £3.85 including Post and packing from SEC Sales.

Another aspect of bus operation is, of course, to inform your passengers where your buses are going. This is how Southdown did it in the 50s and 60s. Cost - £3.00 + p&p

Two regular series of booklets are also published - Miscellany - which is a collection of articles on subjects associated, closely or loosely, with bus operators covered by the Club. 3 or 4 issues are published every year often timed to coincide with our indoor meetings at Portslade.
Miscellany is available on subscription - details from our Sales Officer at the address below. Please enclose an S.A.E. if you are not making any purchases at this point.