Names on the buses

 344 James Ledward

Connections with Brighton and Hove : James Ledward was an activist, campaigner, and magazine editor who worked tirelessly to support Brighton’s LGBTQ community. Born in Liverpool to a working class family he became a chorister in the Anglican cathedral. As a young man he trained as an oboist and conductor at the Royal Academy in London, but after suffering a stroke he was forced to stop playing and instead went into music publishing. Mr Ledward moved to Brighton in 1986 and founded GScene magazine in 1992 to give LGBTQ people in the city a voice. The magazine was an immediate success and has been regarded as the “go to” publication for LGBTQ people in Brighton and Hove. Mr Ledward was what journalist Andrew Kay called ‘the voice of reason’. He put a constructive and well-argued case to the authorities when he was campaigning on issues such as making sure the LGBTQ community received its fair share of money to tackle HIV and AIDS. Always a popular character in the community, tributes poured in following his death in 2019 after a short illness. He was 65 years old. Former Brighton and Hove City Council leader Nancy Platts described him as a “kind and thoughtful man with a sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye”.

344 Alexander Dennis Enviro - carried name since October 2020.