When public transport came to Bognor

The first means of transport was, of course, the coach and horses that used to operate throughout the country and for this area we would see the arrival of coaches at the New Inn, today the William Hardwick, on their way from London on route to Portsmouth.

The journey from London could take in excess of 12 hours and would have been very ardous through the wind and rain for those without protection.

These journeys would also have been taken across very poor roads indeed and would have ensured that the passengers were very tired on arrival at their chosen destination.

When motorised transport was introduced, Arthur Davies pioneered the early services in the town when he opened his first premises in 1903.

He operated from Beach House on the Esplanade as a motor and cycle hire business, until expanding in 1907 to new premises at Nos 2 and 4 West Street where he was also a motor cycle agent.

Alongside this business in 1903 he also operated his fleet of five charabancs each with 29 seats, which became a feature around the town.

Many of his vehicles were garaged behind No 8 West Street, where today we have Seaward Court in West Street. Arthur Davies advertised that you could book seats and be taken twice a day to local places of interest, which included Arundel, Swanbourne Lane, Goodwood, Selsey and Chichester.

One of his most profitable routes was from Chichester to Portsmouth, costing 5s. 0d. (25p).

Arthur Davies's endeavours were recorded as the first regular bus service in the vicinity.

His most successful service was between Bognor and Portsmouth, which commenced in 1914.

The Davies vehicles were known locally as the 'Lady' cars and were a regular sight standing outside the Pier waiting for their customers.

One of his vehicles was known as the 'Lady Betty' which was named after his daughter whose second name was Betty.

One of his early day trips was to the then famous Stamp House, now the Bersted Tavern, on Chichester Road in North Bersted.

Arthur Davies was a great family man and there are numerous pictures of him with his wife and his beloved daughter, Florence Betty.

Tragically Florence died at the age of 13 and, as a result of this and increasing ill health, he sold his thriving business in 1915 to Southdown Bus Company.

It was actually on June 2, 1915, that the Southdown Bus Company was formed with the amalgamation of three Sussex concerns, Brighton, Hove and Preston United, the Worthing Motor Services and South Coast Haulage Co.

The Bognor home for the Southdown Bus Company was for many years Beach House, and it became the central link for the Midhurst and Petworth service, which connected with the Aldershot and District Traction Company, and the Chichester, Selsey service.

The original aim of Southdown was for its green and cream buses to offer an above average standard of comfort, and they were kept sparkling clean.

Southdown employed Arthur Davies as its first manager of the Bognor Garage in its office at the end of Norfolk Street, but he died three years later in 1918.

Davies' successful Bognor to Portsmouth service continued and the new Southdown Bus Company extended this service to run not only from Portsmouth to Bognor but to also to Worthing and then on to Brighton, which became the No 31 route.

Eventually the number of bus services increased, as did the number of companies in the locality.

There are records to show that there were about 16 companies, which tried to operate bus services in the period 1915 to 1926. In September, 1921, a police survey was held to ascertain the number of buses operating on the Bognor to Chichester route over the period of one week.

The result was a staggering 611 buses and this compared to 63 buses per week just two years earlier.

By 1930 traffic commissioners came into being and only the 'Silver Queen' operated between Bognor and Slindon, and continued until the second world war.

Passengers were getting particular and required a reliable and well-regulated service, which could only be maintained by a large company and thus many of the smaller organisations closed down around this time.

In 1919 the Southdown Company built new premises in Lyon Street, which today is a car sales showroom.

These premises were the scene of one of Bognor's famous fires when in 1923 a fire engulfed the garage with the loss of 14 buses.

The company brought in buses from other areas to maintain a service for the town, as it prided itself on their service to passengers. This garage was expanded in 1926.

Southdown Buses of course have been synonymous with the High Street, remembered for many years by the front of the art deco bus station that was built in 1934.

They still operated from the Lyon Street garage until 1950 when the Southdown Motor Company transferred the garaging of its vehicles to the rear of the bus station in the High Street.

In 1962 Southdown was to take over the drill hall in Bedford Street, which had been used by the Sussex Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association.

Today this site is part of Morrison's car park. Southdown continued to operate in the High Street until the 1980s when the bus depot was moved to Chichester leaving the town without a formal bus station, until eventually Southdown left and was replaced by a new company and then in 1993 the Southdown faade of the bus station was removed forever from the town.

Bus services over the years have caused a lot of problems whether it is lack of buses or too many, an irregular service or lack of service in the evenings.

However the actual vehicles themselves have always evoked many memories.

The Amberley Museum holds a Southdown open topped double decker bus and for the past two years over the Sands of Time weekend we have hired this bus to provide guided tours around the town.

The older generation talk lovingly of their memories, of the journeys they had most enjoyed in the area.

For the young, it was the excitement of climbing upstairs, on this old bus to enjoy views of the town.

During the summer months when a number of coaches arrive in the town with day visitors '“ rather than going to the bus station in the High Street or to the large car park on the site of today's Butlins '“ they now park opposite the Pier, an area frequented by Arthur Davies more than 100 years ago.

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