M&D DH397 (NKT 893) in the High Street - but which one?

[Derek Jones]

Some 1960s views of Maidstone & District vehicles from John Watts's collection, and I thought I would add a few not-too-taxing quiz questions as we have occasionally done in past years during the Christmas holiday.   This batch were all taken in the Medway Towns, so local members and others with a reasonable knowledge of the area will have a bit of an advantage.

This view of Leyland Titan PD2/12 DH397, delivered with Leyland H30/28R bodywork in 1951 - like most of the batch it was fitted with platform doors a few years later - is taken in the High Street near the boundary of Chatham and Rochester, whose respective High Streets meet each other end-on.

So which of the two towns is the hotel behind officially in, and what comes before "& Bull Hotel" in its name?

Derek J

[Chris]

I'm afraid you've transplanted the hotel to the wrong end of said High Street! 

Fun fact from your local walking tour guide as to the second part of the question: The "TripAdvisor" comment of the day said "It was the worst night's sleep I have ever had. The bed was literally like wood." 29th November in the year before something else happened.

[DerekJ]

Thanks Chris, well spotted, and thanks for not giving the answer away!  Other websites certainly give the place rather mixed reviews.

I obviously wanted to avoid making it too easy, but should have checked the exact location before posting the question (it's not as if I haven't walked past the place a few times in recent years!).

Derek J

[Richard Ratcliffe]

Answer:

Rochester

Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel.    (Memories of a Christmas lunch there when I was about 6 years old!  The Head Waiter was drunk and the food all arrived cold.  Bit of a family crisis actually!)

Ratty

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From: 'Derek Jones' via Invicta Bus & Coach Newsgroup <mdekb...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: 22 December 2025 20:01
To: Invicta Newsgroup <Mdekb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Invicta] M&D DH397 (NKT 893) in the High Street - but which one?

 

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[DBJ]

And no-one's mentioned the rather wonderful destination of "Seaplane Works". Short Brothers of course; was that where they built bus bodies pre-war?

[Richard Ratcliffe]

Worth researching.   Shorts certainly had more than one site - witness Belfast.  However if my memory serves me right I seem to recall conversations as a boy with father - a Rochester man - that bus bodies were built here.

Ratty

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From: mdekb...@googlegroups.com <mdekb...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of DBJ <davidjen...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2025 8:17:00 PM
To: Invicta Bus & Coach Newsgroup <mdekb...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Invicta] M&D DH397 (NKT 893) in the High Street - but which one?

 

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[DBJ]

Definitely in Rochester. Pictures of newly-completed vehicles were regularly taken on The Esplanade, sometimes with the river as the background, sometimes with the castle. A taster here https://www.busarchive.org.uk/newsletter/BA-News-19-December-2022.pdf