The large red vehicles that drive down our roads daily are a mode of transport that many of us rely on. On a day to day basis, people use the bus service to travel to and from school and work, the shops and the park, and all the various stops in between. But what is it like to be behind the wheel of a bus? I spoke to my grandad, a retired bus driver, to delve into the profession of bus driving. My grandad told me that he began this job in 1964, the same year as his marriage, and retired in 2006; he can still remember his first day, turning up at the garage on a Saturday at about 1:00pm and meeting the conductor, ready to start a 42-year journey!
What made you decide to become a bus driver?
It was considered to be a reliable job, a sort of lifetime reliability where you get a mortgage because your wages were more or less lifetime guaranteed. I loved it on the buses, I loved every minute of it. It was great.
What roles did you take in your time on the buses?
I spent ten years as a driver and then I was promoted to inspector. My first ten years were at Norbiton Garage which then closed, and I was moved to Fulwell, which was a much larger garage, and spent twenty-five years there. Then, I resigned my position as inspector (which was then called controller) and went back to driving for the last seven and a half years.
At the end of a day or night driving what happened to the buses?
Buses were cleaned every night. They were put through an automatic wash. Night staff would come and collect the bus and put it through the wash. They had a big vacuum which was put through the windows to clean the floor and seats, and whilst that was being done it was also being filled up with fuel. Theoretically, the bus would be ready for service in the morning.
What was the social side of bus driving like?
I made many, many friends and felt that I would even be happy with just five years retirement. I am now in my twelfth year of retirement! I still have a lot of friends from those days. There was a good social life at Fulwell; we had a lovely bowling green, football and cricket pitch and the club at the far end of the garage held different functions, it also had a dartboard, snooker table and a good canteen!
What are some memories from driving the buses that you have?
One morning, I was driving the 131 from Kingston to Wimbledon. I knew a woman had got on at Cambridge Road. When I got to Wimbledon I could hear a baby crying and there was a baby in a carry cot on one of the seats! The woman had just got off and left it! So, I thought of what to do and the best thing I could do was to drive back to Kingston and, when I got there, the woman was waiting at the bus stop. She took her baby and said, “thank you very much!”
On a 281, which runs from Tolworth to Hounslow, I pulled into Hounslow bus station, got out and left the cab door open with my jacket on the back of the driver’s seat. I went and sat at the back of the bus, just for a break for a couple of minutes. Suddenly, the main doors opened, and a bloke stormed in, grabbed my phone out of the top pocket of my jacket and ran. I chased him up the road only to see him throw the phone. I picked it up and went back to bus, realising I’d left the cash tray in it with all the money and doors all open. A member of the public was standing by the doors and said, “I’ve stood here and made sure no one took the cash”, to which I replied, “thank you very much.”
On the 281, we used to change drivers at Fulwell and I was taking over from another driver. Just as I was getting in, there was quite a loud bang. A car had come across the front of the bus and hit it and accused me of hitting him. I explained it was not possible because the handbrake was on and the doors were open, and you can’t move with the doors open. He put in a complaint that I had hit him with the bus and management called me into the office. They said they had looked at the CCTV and could quite clearly see I had just got into the cab so could not have hit him. So, it was proven that I was not guilty!
I used to drive the 285 from Kingston to Heathrow Central. Sometimes I would take my brother-in-law, who was very young at the time, and we were able to watch all the various aircraft as we passed through in the bus. Sometimes, we even used to see Concord because we used to pass its hangar.
After talking to my grandad about his experiences as a bus driver, he reflected that if he had his life again, he wouldn’t change it. It is worth remembering that there is more to the bus network than meets the eye!
Zia Eustace, Tolworth Girls' School
