Names on the buses

723 Molly Paley

Connections with Brighton and Hove : Molly Paley (1893–1974), was born in Montpelier Road in 1893 and attended Brighton Girls School, learning the violin at 8 she went on to be the leader of the original Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. A talented violinist who played solo in various concerts locally and also in Paris, where she was taught by Scipione Guidi, who later became the Leader of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. She had been trained locally by members of the Menges family, Brighton’s famed musical dynasty who had formed the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra in 1925; the orchestra of 35-40 players was known for having women as 75% of its players, in contrast to the predominantly male London ensembles. During her long association with the Brighton Philharmonic she led the orchestra under such famed conductors as Sir Adrian Boult and Richard Austin; .she also conducted herself for various local chamber orchestras. Later she was Professor of Music at the Brighton School of Music in Marlborough Place. Molly who married Ernest Draper in 1944, never lived far from her birthplace in west Brighton, living at Cambridge Road and Salisbury Road Hove, before moving to Hassocks where she died aged 81 in 1974.

723 ADL Enviro400 - carried name since delivery in April 2024.