About The Dennis Society
The aims of the Dennis Society are to encourage the preservation and restoration on Dennis vehicles and to assist members with advice, information on the Dennis marquee, make available workshop manuals and give guidance on the sources of spare parts. The Society covers the full range of Dennis products and has members with many examples from the Dennis range covering everything from a 1902 Dennis car to a 2006 Dennis (ADL) hybrid bus. And several hundred fire engines. The Society is mainly internet based and offers much information on vehicles and their history and operate a members message board where sales and wants can be advertised, together with requests for information and other related matters.
The origins of the Dennis Society go back to 1994 when a group was formed to help the owners of preserved (mainly Dennis) buses from the Aldershot & District company. This was the Aldershot and District Bus Owners Association. Aldershot & District were unaffected by nationalisation and their fleet not un-naturally comprised a large number of Dennis buses from the local factory at Guildford both before and after World War 2. The buses were well maintained and a long service life was expected. It is hardly surprising then that many Dennis buses that have survived into preservation have come from the Aldershot & District fleet.
In 1998 membership was opened to restorers of any Dennis bus and the name was became the Dennis Bus Owners Association. Membership was then open to any Dennis bus owner. As a result of this the membership swelled to include buses from another large Dennis customer, East Kent. The word also spread among owners of some of the few pre war buses that had survived.
In 2006 the Dennis Bus Owners Association decided to re-vamp its organisation. To make administration easier and widen the scope for attracting members, the Association decided to become almost entirely internet based. This has enabled the cost of belonging to the Association to be reduced as a result of significant savings costs, particularly in postage and printing. At the same time, the new web site provides access to more articles and pictures that are much better quality than the previous small printed newsletter could achieve. Membership numbers increased, many of which were restoring goods vehicles and fire engines with similar mechanical components to buses and in 2011, in recognition of this wider interest, the name was changed to The Dennis Society.
The organisation is run entirely by volunteers and there is expertise amongst the volunteers covering goods vehicles, fire engines, private vehicles (cars and tricycles), buses and even lawnmowers.
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