This gallery is a memorial to Roger Janes who sadly passed away during lockdown in 2020. He was an early member of the PSV Circle (no 67) having joined in 1944. He was a long-standing sub-editor for many of the fleets across the South of England and contributed to many PSVC publications. He was the founder of the PSVC meetings in Poole and later at Ringwood. He was a friend to many Circle members amongst whom were Les Ronan and Ken Aveyard. Roger's gleeful chortle will be long remembered.

At Roger's request, his son Trevor has passed to Les Ronan two albums containing several hundred photos taken by Roger and his friends, as Roger's wish was that they should be shared as widely as possible. Les and Ken agreed that SCT61 would be a good place to share them.

The photos are mostly Southdown and Portsmouth Corporation taken in the 1950s. Many were definitely taken by Roger, but with the exception of a few copyright images by Eric Surfleet or the Portsmouth Evening News, many more were exchanged between friends who as far as we know are no longer with us, so hopefully there should be no problem with sharing those as well.

As Les says, "Roger and I had a connection dating back to when I was just 13 and living in Birmingham although neither of us were aware of it until more recent years. In 1958 my family and I went on a day coach trip from Birmingham to Portsmouth & Southsea. We were not well off, and my dad had been advised that a good way for the kids to see some of the ships was to go over on the Gosport ferry (the cafes were cheaper in Gosport as well!). The first bus I saw on getting off the ferry was Provincial HHA84 which was ex Midland Red. After our return home, I picked up a copy of the May 1958 Buses Illustrated in W.H.Smiths to have a peek at and inside was a fleet history of Gosport & Fareham (Provincial) written by one R.F.Janes - i.e. our Roger. I scraped my pocket money together and parted with my half a crown and bought the B.I., since when I have bought every issue. Some 50 years later, I would be giving Roger a lift from his then home in Wimborne to PSV Circle meetings".

Roger Frank Janes was born June 1926 at Station Rd Portsmouth. He grew up in Portsmouth but in the 30’s depression period his family moved 14 times to find work in the area and for a brief time lived in Weymouth. During the outbreak of WWII their home and contents were lost to a bombing raid, and his parents moved him to his mother’s home village of Lilliput at Sandbanks in Dorset, where he lived with his auntie and uncle for a brief period before moving back to Portsmouth. On his return he entered Portsmouth dockyard as an electrical apprentice which would take the next 6 years to complete. During his time in the dockyard he worked mainly on aircraft carriers but later found his skills better suited by working in the dockyard generating station. This station could also supply the city of Portsmouth if required. Once qualified he moved into the drawing office as a draughtsman in the dockyard.

During the same period he found great interest in playing the drums, being influenced by the big band music of the time, he also used to sneak off to watch the Royal Marine bands practising at Eastney barracks. Getting to know the bandsmen led to him being taught to play the drums by members of the marine band in the evenings, which was always a giveaway to other drummers by the way he held the sticks. These lessons although very disciplined were charged at the rate of 1 pint of beer per lesson. Once old enough he then took to playing in the youth clubs of Portsmouth with fellow musicians who were also dockyard apprentices. Photo.

Roger met his wife Betty under the clock at Waterloo station and after many miles spent travelling between London & Portsmouth, they were married in 1951. Betty and Roger lived in the Fratton area of Portsmouth.

In 1955 Roger was moved by the MOD to Bath; they continued to live in Bath until 1987 when Roger & Betty retired and moved to Wimborne where they spent 33 happy years touring the garden centres and coffee shops, when the buses newssheet would allow.

Betty passed away in July 2020, and Roger moved to Cornwall to be cared for by his son and family, but after 69 years of marriage Roger seemed to lose all interest in things and passed away 12 weeks after Betty.

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