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King Alfred Motor Services (by Shane Conway)

Last updated 26 September 2024

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Another look at some delightful vehicles from the past. Here we review a rare example of a private operator running a municipal bus service, with a very interesting fleet. King Alfred can trace its origins back to 1920, when Robert Chisnell (a Winchester businessman) purchased two ex RAF Leylands and had them bodied as charabancs. However he had previously engaged in several other ventures prior to that, mostly in the retail and cafe trades, and the transport of military personnel by car and taxi. Winchester Council's construction of new houses at Stanmore led to King Alfred starting its first bus route to link the area with the city centre, beginning one of the few municipal bus services not run by a local authority. The Stanmore route was soon extended to serve other villages close to Winchester.

Robert Chisnell died during the summer of 1945, after which his two sons, Mr. Bob and Mr. Fred, as they were known, took over the running of the company. From then on, expansion of services and the bus fleet was slow but steady. Yearly fleet additions (when they happened) were generally in single figures, but 1947 and 1950 each saw eleven vehicles being purchased. Among their later fleet purchases was one Leyland Olympic in 1950 (the first underfloor engined bus in Hampshire), sixteen Leyland Titans, some AEC Bridgemasters and Renowns, four low-height Atlanteans in 1967 (the last deckers bought), and their last full size single deck buses comprised a trio of Leyland Panthers and three Metro-Scanias. The coach fleet in the last years of the company was all Bedford based, backed up by some Ford Transit minibuses. The three Metro-Scanias were the only examples purchased new by an independent operator, all others going to London Transport, PTEs, municipals and National Bus Company subsidiaries.

By the early 1970s, buyers for the business were being sought. Eventually, on 28th April 1973, 37 buses and coaches, along with all the routes passed to Hants and Dorset, with the familiar green and cream livery giving way to NBC poppy red. Twelve years later, the Friends of King Alfred Buses began the task of finding as many surviving ex Chisnell buses as possible and restoring them. To date fourteen have been completed, including ones brought back from Ireland and America.

This page was compiled by Shane Conway. The buses below are listed by registration number in order of date of purchase, as fleet numbers were never used by the company. Additional data would be welcome.

FLEET LIST

1920s (Total 25)

1930s (Total 15)

1940s (Total 18)

HAA 809 was both the first PD2 and the first highbridge bus in the fleet. New in 1949, it gave twenty years service to the company.

1950s (Total 31)

JAA 708 was the sole Leyland Olympic bought by King Alfred, the only one sold south of London, and the first underfloor engined bus in Hampshire. It saw fifteen years service in Winchester, ten in Ireland and was subsequently brought back to Winchester and restored to green and cream livery. Sadly it was destroyed by fire in December 2023.

POU 494 (and its sister 495) were the last lowbridge buses bought by King Alfred, as well as the last halfcab Leylands to enter service. After spending 19 years in Augusta, it returned to Winchester in 1993 and was restored by FoKAB.

1960s (Total 28)

326 CAA was the middle of a trio of 1961 Harrington Crusader bodied Bedford SB coaches, which were sold off in 1969 and 1970 to Porter of Dummer, thus all three stayed together.

596 LCG was the last AEC and the final halfcab to join the King Alfred fleet. Like POU 494, it was also brought back from the U S and initally restored to green livery, then being repainted to NBC livery in 2019.

HOR 592E was the last of a quartet of 1967 Roe bodied lowheight Leyland Atlantean, of which two survive. The previous year 25 almost identical buses had been supplied to West Riding in Yorkshire, in virtually the same livery. None of the Yorkshire buses are thought to have survived into preservation.

UOU 419H was the last of a trio of 1970 Plaxton Derwent bodied Leyland Panthers, of which two survive. Just five others were built, these being an order for West Riding in Yorkshire in 1969, from which none survive. All eight were in a similar livery.

1970s (Total 10)

Total buses = 137 with 13 original survivors (OU 9286, AAA 756, POU 494, WCG 104, 326 CAA, 595/96 LCG, CCG 704C, BHO 543C, HOR 590/92E, UOU 417/19H).

POSTSCRIPT -- THE 21st CENTURY REPLICAS

To fill in gaps in the collection, a small number of vehicles similar to Chisnell ones were acquired by FoKAB and painted into King Alfred livery.

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