The Pompey Chimes Forum

Interesting, probably quite rare, video of Trolley Buses in Portsmouth. Looks like the early 60s to me.

I’m wallowing in nostalgia after viewing that! I’d forgotten those days. Thanks for posting.

I can't quite remember trolley busses, but I do remember those wind-down windows on the double deckers on my way to school back in the 60s. I drove busses for CPPTD for a few years in the 80s and my dad worked there for many years.

Even though I've not lived in Portsmouth since 1988, I could still spot most of those locations almost instantly.

As a child in the 40s and 50s a Southdown bus stopped outside our house in Bedhampton. We ended up mostly on the beach at Southsea except when the target was Commercial Road. I do now remember the trolley buses but I’m not sure how far from the city centre they went. Now that I have started to drive to Pompey matches I am back on the buses. I have been parking close to Priory Crescent by 12 noon and catch a bus either to Commercial Road or The Hard for lunch. It’s a real trip down memory lane. But a different world now.

What a great piece of nostalgia...especially for me! @ 1 minute in, the bus shows 'Green Lane' (a little way down Copnor Road) and then the trolley bus terminus at Madeira Road...where I was born and raised!!! (that could possibly be the old man's car just up on the right??) I remember it well with great fondness. Used to catch the bus from here to Fratton Park and it cost 1d. My sister still lives in that area and last year I travelled by bus to the ground with my son and it cost me nearly 5 pound!!!!!
Many thanks for posting these...special for an ex-pat Pompey boy.

And for those a bit older.....

That's scary. In my head, the 80s aren't that long ago, but those cars look antique! I was a sprightly 21 year old in 1983, proudly driving my purple Humber Sceptre - WITH vinyl roof and rostyle wheels, no less.

meakinsl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 2:13 pm And for those a bit older.....

OMG!!! The Tricorn (da, da, daaaaa!!) Must be the worse piece of 'architecture' EVER produced?? Unless anybody can put forward another structure as a rival?? I remember walking through there and thinking 'what a stinking sh*t hole this is'! And yet, prior to the Tricorn used to love wandering down Charlotte Street market. Ah, nostalgia. Sadly, a thing of the past!!

Forgive any typos....got these bats flying about all over the screen!
Looking at those trolley buses takes me back. When they got unhooked, as they often did, the conductor had a pole to try to re-engage with the overheads.....great fun for me to watch.
There's a museum for bygone days up near/in Basingstoke where many of the buses are from Pompey.....it's called Milestones Museum (of living history). Well worth a visit....
https://www.milestonesmuseum.org.uk/
And you can still see the rails I believe for when Pompey had trams.....not sure when they stopped running.
The 1980s clip above really frightened me. As someone pointed out, it's not that long ago but it looks so dated.

New Forester wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:57 pm As a child in the 40s and 50s a Southdown bus stopped outside our house in Bedhampton. We ended up mostly on the beach at Southsea except when the target was Commercial Road. I do now remember the trolley buses but I’m not sure how far from the city centre they went. Now that I have started to drive to Pompey matches I am back on the buses. I have been parking close to Priory Crescent by 12 noon and catch a bus either to Commercial Road or The Hard for lunch. It’s a real trip down memory lane. But a different world now.

As far as Cosham, the turnaround was just south of the level crossing in the High St., Also went up New road to Copnor Rd, and north, but not over Copnor bridge. Eastern side of the Island went along Goldsmith Ave. and then south to Eastney and along Highland Rd.,

past memories wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 5:19 pm

New Forester wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 12:57 pm As a child in the 40s and 50s a Southdown bus stopped outside our house in Bedhampton. We ended up mostly on the beach at Southsea except when the target was Commercial Road. I do now remember the trolley buses but I’m not sure how far from the city centre they went. Now that I have started to drive to Pompey matches I am back on the buses. I have been parking close to Priory Crescent by 12 noon and catch a bus either to Commercial Road or The Hard for lunch. It’s a real trip down memory lane. But a different world now.

As far as Cosham, the turnaround was just south of the level crossing in the High St., Also went up New road to Copnor Rd, and north, but not over Copnor bridge. Eastern side of the Island went along Goldsmith Ave. and then south to Eastney and along Highland Rd.,

I got that wrong, they did go over the Bridge. Fuzzy memory, because I used to catch the trolley from Copnor bridge in New Rd, to go to Guildhall.
25 secs in on that film is the turnaround at Cosham.

I remember buses down the seafront which iirc were dark blue and white and had letters not numbers, don't remember if they were trolley buses must have been about 1963

I remember trolley buses in Gladys Avenue, North End where there used to be a bus depot. There was also a Terminus at the junction of Gladys Avenue and Northern Parade - now posh flats!