Vintage Buses at Amberley

Back in 1903, Eastbourne Corporation became the first municipality in the country to run a bus service using its own vehicles. The following year saw the creation of the Sussex Motor Road Car Company, which had a route from Worthing to Pulborough, passing within a few miles of Amberley.

The Sussex Motor Road Car Company became Southdown Motor Services, and became the principal bus operator in the area from 1915 until 1991, when the brand name was dropped by its new owners.

The bus collection at Amberley Working Museum is largely a Southdown collection, housed in three dedicated buildings, the Southdown Bus Garage complex, comprised of two separate garage structures and a Booking Office, and the Storrington Bus Garage, reconstructed by Bus Group volunteers and finished in 2002.

The vehicle collection at Amberley is numerous and varied, ranging from an open-top Leyland N-type from 1920 to a Shelvoke & Drewry "freighter" of 1924 with a replica Tramocar body. The oldest bus in the collection has a body built in 1908, although work has started on rebuilding an 1904 Eastbourne bus chassis!

All visitors to Amberley Working Museum have unlimited free access to vintage bus transport around site during their visit. The service runs from approximately 11am to 5pm during the day, with a small break for lunch.

A more involved breakdown of the Bus Collection can be found on its dedicated website, created and maintained by volunteers from the group, by clicking here.