Poems on the Buses Coving

We are very pleased to announce that the final phase of the Poems on the Buses project is now complete!

34 poems are now available to read on Brighton & Hove Buses. These include the winners and runners up of the BHAC 2023 Poetry Competition, plus a selection of other poems that were highly commended by our Competition Judge, John McCullough.

πŸ”—See a list of the poems!

The poems are displayed on 30 Brighton & Hove Bus vehicles, fleet numbers 301-330, mostly serving Brighton & Hove Bus routes 5, 5A, and 5B. Each poem appears on at least three buses!

How to find the buses by fleet number

The fleet number of each Brighton & Hove Buses vehicle is printed front and back. In the examples below the back of vehicle 308 has the number about halfway down on the right, and the front of vehicle 302 has the number at bottom right. Each vehicle also has a name, which is printed on its front. In the example below it can be seen that fleet number 302 is called Joy Bennett.

Back and front of buses
Back of vehicle fleet no. 308 (left) and front of vehicle 302. Photo by Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Limited

Brighton & Hove Buses have a πŸ”—list of all their vehicles by fleet number. From there you can also find out about the people the buses have been named after. The bus company also provide a marvellous πŸ”—tracking page for individual vehicles.

Also check out this πŸ”—independent website that provides a quick easy way of checking which bus route an individual vehicle is serving.

The Brighton & Hove Bus Company have very kindly provided us with details of which poems are on which vehicles. All the details are in the two tables below!

πŸ”—Jump to the list of Brighton & Hove vehicles by fleet number and name, with poets’ names.

List of poems by author

Author Poem Bus fleet numbers
Alex Athanassiou Dividing Berlin 313, 327, 330
Alice Denny Eridge Green 303, 314, 320
Amanda Hodgson Bus Ride 312, 317,321,325
Barbara Archer Hop On Hop Off 305, 323, 329
Chris Hardy A Box Of Keys 303, 314, 320
Daniel Hole They Ate My Bass 305, 323, 329
Debbie Milner A Ride Away 313, 327, 330
Dillon Jaxx Press One For Emergencies 307, 322, 326
Eva Hibbs Love Is Not Competition 301, 308, 309, 316, 319
Grace Kemp Tea And Lemonade 301, 302, 306, 308, 315, 316, 319
Jill Munro Bunted 304, 310, 318
Joan Baxter I Want To Keep It Simple But I Can’t 303, 314, 320
John Kirk All Day Long 301, 308, 316, 319
Joshua Blackman Unreadably, The Forest 313, 327, 330
Julia Asling Ghandi’s Glasses 307, 309, 322, 326
Karen Antoni Ping Pong Ball 302, 306, 315
Katy Naylor Terminal 302, 306, 315
Kav R Ode To Escapes 311, 324, 328
Lottie Angell Last Bus To Brighton 311, 324, 328
Lucy Allsopp Tropism 305, 323, 329
Maddie Craig Cigarette Packet People 305, 323, 329
Maggie Redding Black 312, 317, 321, 325
Mary Allen 1 Joy-Riding 304, 310, 318
Mary Allen 2 Lynx 301, 308, 316, 319
Michael Parker Geomorphology 312, 317, 321, 325
Peta Evans Men Are From Mars… 307, 309, 322, 326
Peter Strong First Kiss 304, 310, 318
Peter Wellby In The Museum Of Amazement 312, 313, 317, 321, 325, 327, 330
Rebecca Zeman On Reading A Black Poet’s Memoir 303, 314, 320
Sally Spiers The Knitter 302, 306, 315
Sarah Feldman Crimbo On Number 7 Bus 307, 309, 322, 326
Simon Jenner Philomena’s Children 304, 310, 318
Stuart Poulton The Rev Richard Coles Favourite Bus Ride 311, 324, 328
Tom Fox Thank You, To The Early Morning Of The 29th Of February 2020 311, 324, 328

Vehicle details

Find out about the routes of each vehicle here: https://bustimes.org/operators/brighton-hove-bus-and-coach-company/vehicles

Fleet no Bus name Poets
301 Carol Barnes Eva Hibbs Grace Kemp John Kirk Mary Allen 2
302 Joy Bennett Katy Naylor Grace Kemp Sally Spiers Karen Antoni
303 Robert Bevan Rebecca Zeman Joan Baxter Alice Denny Chris Hardy
304 Peter Brackley Pete Strong Simon Jenner Mary Allen 1 Jill Munro
305 Caroline Brown Daniel Hole Barbara Archer Lucy Allsopp Maddie Craig
306 Queen Charlotte Katy Naylor Grace Kemp Sally Spiers Karen Antoni
307 Mary Clarke Peta Evans Dillon Jaxx Sarah Feldman Julia Asling
308 Andy Cunningham Eva Hibbs Grace Kemp John Kirk Mary Allen 2
309 Sir Diarmuid Downs Peta Evans Dillon Jaxx Sarah Feldman Julia Asling
310 Dame Millicent Fawcett Pete Strong Simon Jenner Mary Allen 1 Jill Munro
311 Sarah Forbes-Bonetta Stuart Poulton Tom Fox Kav R Lottie Angell
312 Frederick Gordon Maggie Redding Peter Wellby Amanda Hodgson Michael James Parker
313 Bob Gunnell Joshua Blackman Peter Wellby Debbie Milner Alex Athannassiou
314 Jacky Harding Rebecca Zeman Joan Baxter Alice Denny Chris Hardy
315 Mary Hare Katy Naylor Grace Kemp Sally Spiers Karen Antoni
316 Daisy & Violet Hilton Eva Hibbs Grace Kemp John Kirk Mary Allen 2
317 Henry Holden Maggie Redding Peter Wellby Amanda Hodgson Michael James Parker
318 Dr Louisa Martindale Pete Strong Simon Jenner Mary Allen 1 Jill Munro
319 Reginald Noyce Eva Hibbs Grace Kemp John Kirk Mary Allen 2
320 Maudie Ottaway Rebecca Zeman Joan Baxter Alice Denny Chris Hardy
321 Richard Patching Maggie Redding Peter Wellby Amanda Hodgson Michael James Parker
322 Marie-Antoine Careme Peta Evans Dillon Jaxx Sarah Feldman Julia Asling
323 David Rutter Daniel Hole Barbara Archer Lucy Allsopp Maddie Craig
324 Frank Swaysland Stuart Poulton Tom Fox Kav R Lottie Angell
325 Betty Walshe Maggie Redding Peter Wellby Amanda Hodgson Michael James Parker
326 Alfred Waterhouse Peta Evans Dillon Jaxx Sarah Feldman Julia Asling
327 Rupert Webb Joshua Blackman Peter Wellby Debbie Milner Alex Athannassiou
328 Frederick Wesche Stuart Poulton Tom Fox Kav R Lottie Angell
329 John Wisden Daniel Hole Barbara Archer Lucy Allsopp Maddie Craig
330 Thomas Highflyer Joshua Blackman Peter Wellby Debbie Milner Alex Athannassiou