Many people hold a historical interest in buses or trains, but not all are quite as keen as this man.
School caretaker Neale Titchener, who grew up riding the 65 bus route, is such a fan he had the bus tattooed on his leg.
He said: “I have always been interested in Route-master buses.
“Since they disappeared, I have been more and more fascinated by them.
“It is just a fascination I have had and never let go.
“Even the tattooist said he had never done anything like that.”
Mr Titchener, who has worked at Knollmead Primary School in Tolworth for 15 years, went to his old friend Dave Lyeach, who runs Nu-Clear in Leatherhead Road, Chessington, to get the work done.
He added: “He was quite excited to do it because it was his bus route too.”
Mr Titchener, 51, who grew up in Angus Close, Chessington, has even planned a landmark life event around the classic bus, which came as something of a surprise to his now- fiancee, Sally Mulkerrins.
He said: “I’m getting married in May and we’re all going in a Routemaster.
“I think her reaction was a bit shocked [but] it didn’t take a lot of explaining and persuasion.”
Mr Titchener said he still occasionally rides the heritage number 15 service in London, which travels from Trafalgar Square to Tower Hill, “to keep my eye in and my leg in, jumping on and off the back”.
Even the tattoo’s number plate has significance: 62 CLT for the year of Mr Titchener’s birth, and the initials of his children Cara and Luke.
The 65 route was introduced in 1934 and ran from Ealing to Leatherhead, but was later split when the 71 took over between Kingston and Chessington.
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