Portslade in the Past: Southdown Motor Services Central Works, Portslade

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2024)

This company was one that expanded rapidly in Hove. For example, in 1916 only seven motor coaches were licensed to operate by Hove Council.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 12 August 1916
Hove Council's 1916 Omnibus Licenses

But a mere ten years later Southdown held licences from Hove Council for 100 vehicles – both coaches and buses.

In 1926 Hove Council Minutes recorded that vehicles plied mostly along the sea-front, and although originally licensed for excursion purposes, they now ran regular routes to places outside the borough. The seating capacity of motor coaches varied from 29 to 37, while buses could accommodate 51 passengers.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
The employees of J. Rooke & Sons of Brighton, setting out on a works outing.

Southdown’s first garage was at Freshfield Road, Brighton. Part of it was dedicated to the overhaul of vehicles but in 1928 this area of expertise moved to Victoria Road, Portslade. The new venture seems to have opened without any fanfare, or at least there was no report of such an event in the local Press. The first plans for a new garage in Victoria Road were dated 1927, but were amended and passed the following year.

copyright © Mr G. Osborne
On the left is the new Southdown Motor Services Central Works, which was opposite to Portslade Town Hall, the large building in the background is the Fryco Soft Drinks Company

The area to the west of the garage was known as The Paddock, and served the equivalent of vehicles being put out to grass. In other words it was here that de-licensed vehicles were parked until such time as they were repaired or otherwise disposed of.

For many years the Portslade garage was a hive of activity. The following list shows various expansion plans presented to Portslade Council:

1928 – additions

1930 – extensions for workshops

1930 – covered space for workshops

1931 - revised frontage line

1946 – rifle range

1951 – extension

1955 – cleaning shed / alterations to forecourt walls

The Victoria Road garage was also the depot where drivers and conductors were fitted out with their uniforms. Perhaps the men were of a more standard size in those days because in 1936 it was claimed that an employee could be fitted out at a moment’s notice.

The Sussex Daily News (6 February 1936)

The above newspaper provided some interesting details about the Southdown company. For example, Southdown owned 670 vehicles, and employed 200 people to service them at the works including engineers, painters, electricians, upholsterers and sign-writers.

An interesting feature of the company’s working practices was that it did not buy its tyres straight from the manufacturers, but paid for them on the basis of the number of miles they ran. Some motor buses completed 80,000 miles without trouble, but the average was around 40,000 miles.

It was stated that since the First World War the company relied on two types of bus – the Tilling-Stevens and Leyland vehicles. The system of maintenance that evolved was called the unit system. Under this arrangement the bus was categorised into seven units.

1. Frame

2. Engine

3. Front axle

4. Back axle

5. Gear box

6. Steering box

7. Body

Spare units were stocked at the central works and were interchangeable on all vehicles of that particular type. It was thus possible for a bus to be taken to Victoria Road and rebuilt with new units within 24 hours and be ready for service the next day. However, the vehicles spent longer in the paint shop than might the case with other bus companies because Southdown insisted on their fleet having a spick-and-span appearance. There was no slap-dash painting at Portslade; instead the work was done with great care while names and numbers were picked out in gold leaf.

After each Tilling-Stevens bus had clocked up 10,000 miles, and each Leyland vehicle had completed 12,000 miles, they were given a dock overhaul. When a Tilling-Stevens bus had completed 65,000 miles, or a Leyland bus 100,000 miles, or a Leyland coach 75,000 miles, the vehicles were despatched to Portslade and all units taken down.

The inspection pits at Portslade were lined with white tiles because of their light reflecting qualities; there was also a specially designed pit lamp.

At Portslade the problem of corroded water tanks was also solved. It was found that soaking the tanks in nitric acid, and then painting the interior with a mixture of aluminium paint and varnish did the trick.

The 1930s and 1940s

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Mr. P.E. Browne at the Gas Company's pensioners outing on 10 July, 1937.

A lady from the St John’s Ambulance accompanied the pensioners on the outing.

In 1939 the TIM shop (ticket machine department) moved from Worthing to Portslade, and so additional skills arrived at the works.

By June 1939 Southdown Motor Services was the sixth largest company in Britain, operating some 700 vehicles. But during the Second World War 160 of them were requisitioned.

Naturally, the workforce was depleted by military service, and many of those who remained became volunteer firemen, or joined the Southdown Home Guard.

copyright © H.G.J. Flowers
Portslade National Fire Service was photographed outside Southdown Motor Works in 1941. In the background is the ladder belonging to the engine that also boasted a Coventry Climax pump

However, Southdown also contributed to the war effort, and indeed the premises were in operation around the clock, under black-out conditions, and liable to interruptions at any time because of air raids.

The machine shop built two armoured cars, besides creating parts for the iconic Spitfires and Hurricanes, as well as 20-millimetre cartridge cases. The machine shop was also responsible for making the intricate parts for gun-breach mountings.

In 1946 Philip Wilmot joined the company fresh from demobilisation; he found the workforce consisted of 426 people. His earnings were a modest £2-15s a week, while the rate for skilled work in 1948 was £3 a week.

The 1950s and 1960s

The Southdown company avoided complete nationalisation in 1949. However, the State acquired Southern Railway that happened to own one-third of Southdown Motor Services’ share capital.

By 1951 the staff at Portslade numbered 380, which included 57 trainees. In the same year the tailoring department could supply no less than 76 different sizes of men’s trousers and there were also 42 different sizes in driver’s and conductor’s tunics.

If nothing from this wide range of clothing fitted an individual, then alterations could be made by F. J. Old and two female tailors.

In 1957 the works could boast of a cleaner environment when a new steam cleaner arrived. This machine enabled oil and dirt to be removed while the bus was still standing outside.

As a result of the 1968 Transport Act, the National Bus Company was formed.

This meant that Southdown Motor Services and Brighton & Hove District Omnibus Company were brought into common ownership. In February 1969 the latter’s coach-works at Conway Street, Hove, were closed down, and staff and equipment moved to Portslade.

Unhappily for those who admired Southdown’s old livery of a pleasing green and cream – that was consigned to history. Instead, all the local buses assumed a shade of cabbage green that found few friends.

By the 1980s the government was having second thoughts about the nationalisation of transport, and decided that bus companies should be privatised.

In 1986 it was announced that the Portslade works would become an autonomous division with the title Southdown Engineering Services. Towards the end of its working life it took on work including buses from other companies, fire engines, and bulk carriers.

One never-to-be-forgotten commission was the overhaul of a lorry habitually used to transport fish, and whose aroma left a lot to be desired. One worker reported that the pong was even worse after the premises had been shut up for the night. Coming through the main doors first thing in the morning the smell was enough to make your eyes water.

In 1988 the Appleyard Group purchased the land on which the premises stood, and leased some of it back to Southdown. During July and August 1999 the old building was completely demolished to make way for a new Ford and Honda (now Volkswagen) showroom and garage.

Sources

Brighton Herald

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Mr G. Osborne

Portslade Council Minute Books

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Sussex Daily News (6 February 1936)

Page layout & design by D. Sharp

06 March 2024

Southdown Motor Services Central Works, Portslade