Blue Buses

Hi Keith, Those garage workers' names bring back memories ... I also recall garage fitter Jimmy Traynier, and was 'Blue Jersey' also known as 'Rolling Stone'? He was a 'rum boy' especially when driving back 'at speed' from a breakdown. I passed my PSV driving test in April 1968 and working on the 'Blue Buses' was a real education as regards witnessing 'the public' in all their moods and guises. One of the few downsides to the job was working 'split shifts' ie two lots of 3 or more hours with a several hours break in between ... Thus we could take people to work in the mornings, take the same workers home again from Birds Eye or Erie in the late afternoon .. and then also take them to bingo at the Gorleston Coliseum in the evening! I passed my PSV driving test in April 1968 after being taught to drive a bus by a very patient Inspector Philip Bytheway ... He who could somehow drive a 7' 6" wide bus through a 7' 7" gap with room to spare! The inspectors were known as 'The Gestapo' - probably because of their willingness to 'book' crews for disciplinary proceedings if they misbehaved e.g. ran early, missed a fare, or charged an incorrect fare. How did bus conductors know what to charge passengers without looking at a fare chart? This was easy if passengers were travelling from a well known fare stage to the town centre but not so easy if travelling e.g. from Salisbury Road Great Yarmouth to Gorleston Church on the Newtown to Elmhurst No 3 route ... That would require some very quick mental arithmetic to ascertain the total number of fare stages travelled. Bus fares forty years ago were so cheap e.g. only 8d in 'real money' to travel from the ABC Regal to Braesnose Avenue on the Magdalen Estate 'A' route ... and the same 8d fare was charged from St Georges Plain to Gorleston Cliffs or Gorleston Beach ... That's 3.3 New Pence in decimal currency. But typical basic wages in those days were less than £15 per week. I have vivid recollections of the Blue Busmen's strike in 1968 ... All for a 10 shilling per week bonus that was promised but withdrawn. On one evening we marched from the town centre to the Town Hall, carrying placards and shouting 'unmentionables' about the GYCT management. In the Town Hall the TGWU local busmen's committee was negotiating a settlement. Every few minutes throughout the evening of the negotiations, blue bus driver Dick Flaxman, one of the committee members, would gesture us from the Town Hall window to commence chanting ... when we would shout in unison for the sacking of the management! Eventually we won our case but trying to survive on £7 per week strike pay for several weeks was not easy. Working as a bus driver paid dividends in subsequent years as I was able to obtain a job with London Country Bus Co. where I trained as bus mechanic. Then I was able to treble my wages and the reality of the low rates of pay on offer in Great Yarmouth in the late 60s and early 70s became very apparent. Best wishes Duncan Kirkwood PS ... Keith, did you not also work in Wolsey and Wolsey in King Street at one time?

Duncan, I never worked for Wolsey and Wolsey although I did spend a lot of time there. My old mate David Farrow worked for them. I'm sure you meet him a long time ago on one of our fories into Yarmouth nightlife. Those old days on G Y C T still bring back many happy memories ,some which can't be talked about. I do remember the strike well in fact there is a picture in one of the local papers showing a crowd of busmen outside the Town Hall and yours truly in the centre of the picture screaming out a few choice words about the transport committee chaiman, who I will not name. Best wishes Duncan. We must meet up again soon

Whilst working on the Buses , I also worked most evenings when off at the Tower Ballroom 1968/1970, as door security , there was 3 off duty policemen also doing the same job unfortunately these off duty officers had to pack in for some time in 1969. I was on my own for a while .The ballroom could hold well in excess of 1000 persons and during the summer holidays this often happened , the manager at the time was David Woods a very debonair showman ,always dressed smartly in his dress suit and red cummerband , they were happy days we saw the occasional fight and these were duly dealt with ,the resident band at that time was Trevor Copeman ,during the summer months the tower was opened every night catering for different tastes , the one night when trouble occasionally occured was Thursday this was ballroom dance night this was because a lot of people didn't read the posters correctly and started to misbehave when no disco or act appeared . Whilst at the Tower David's stepson would often come in spending a lot of time in the milk bar he was at acting school I believe as David was beaming one evening because the lad had a part in the film Oliver starring Mark Lester,this young man went on to appear in several more films before ending up in Eastenders , his name was Michael Cashman now into politics I believe . There was a happy crew at the Tower from Sid in the paydesk , Vera his wife collecting the tickets on the door , Geoff head barman ,Don and Shirley and many more on the bars , I enjoyed my time there met many lovely people ,local and holidaymakers and many famous groups of that era ,I sadly left in August 1970 after a run in with the new management crew who were going to take over later in the Year , yep I had a picture of Eric Morley on my dartboard and used to throw anything sharp at it. It was their policy that after leaving you were effectively banned from the premises for 6 months , however I went back a couple of times for the Police Balls as they employed there own team, sadly a lot of those I worked with have now passed away , but I still see one or two every so often, oh happy days

In 1968 whilst still working for the Blue Buses I started to work most evenings when available at the Tower Ballroom as door security. Here I met many people from both Yarmouth, and on Saturday several buses came from Norwich. This was the heyday of Yarmouth nightlife many memorable times are remembered ,as this was also the times of the Mods & Rockers. The resident band at the Tower was the Trevor Copeman Band with a disco . Most weeks in the summer there were named groups. I remember Desmond Dekker and the Aces, Marmalade , Lt. pidgen and many others. Sunday night was the teen night with a disco . The Tower catered for all types of clients. I remember Thursdays which I occasionally did on my own. It was usually a good night as it catered for ballroom dancers , although it got a sticky on a couple of occasions especially in the summer when on occasions you would get a group of youngsters come in and then start trouble as it wasn't what they expected. Most left quietly . The manager was David Woods a true showman , he's stepson is Michael Cashman , actor and politician. I remember him well as a young actor ,who appeared in the film Oliver and went on to eastenders. David was always smartely dressed and a pure showman.

Whilst working on the Buses, I also worked most evenings when off at the Tower Ballroom 1968/1970, as door security, there where 3 off duty policemen also doing the same job. Unfortunately these off duty officers had to pack in for some time in 1969. I was on my own for a while. The ballroom could hold well in excess of 1000 persons and during the summer holidays this often happened. The manager at the time was David Woods a very debonair showman, always dressed smartly in his dress suit and red cummerband. They were happy days, we saw the occasional fight and these were duly dealt with. The resident band at the time was Trevor Copeman, during the summer months the tower was opened every night, catering for different tastes. The one night when trouble occasionally occured was Thursday, this was ballroom dance night. This was because a lot of people didn't read the posters correctly and started to misbehave when no disco or act appeared . Whilst at the Tower David's Stepson would often come in spending a lot of time in the milk bar he was at Acting School. I believe as David was beaming one evening because the lad had a part in the film Oliver starring Mark Lester, this young man went on to appear in several more films before ending up in Eastenders. His name was Michael Cashman now into politics I believe . There was a happy crew at the Tower from Sid in the pay desk, Vera his Wife collecting the tickets on the door, Geoff head barman, Don and Shirley and many more on the bars. I enjoyed my time there met many lovely people, local and holidaymakers and many famous groups of that era. I sadly left in August 1970 after a run in with the new management crew who were going to take over later in the year. Yes I had a picture of Eric Morley on my dartboard and used to throw anything sharp at it. It was their policy that after leaving you were effectively banned from the premises for 6 months, however I went back a couple of times for the Police Balls as they employed there own team, sadly a lot of those I worked with have now passed away. I still see one or two every so often. Oh happy days.

Keith Banner

Some more memories of GYCT Blue Buses in the late 60s ... the "Clippies" ie the bus conductoresses ... Betty, Jeannie (both Scottish), Margaret (gorgeous redhead), Ruth, Brenda (another redhead) ... probably all well known faces to any 60s passengers reading this.

Brenda Armstrong trained as a bus driver in 1968 when the fleet still used Leyland and AEC rear entrance buses without power steering. Brenda was featured on "About Anglia" as being the first woman bus driver employed in the UK since WW2.

The older vehicles were very heavy work for men to drive especially with a full load of passengers so women would have found the physical effort required to drive them very difficult ... not only because of the heavy steering but also because of the heaviness of the clutch pedal which on some buses had to be 'stood on' with great force to operate.

Nowadays women bus drivers are frequently employed in the UK but most PSVs today with power steering and automatic transmission require much less effort to drive.

Back in the 60s, few buses had heating systems or if they did, they did not work and neither did the windscreen demisters. Thus drivers had to carry a good supply of paper towels, 'pinched' from the depot toilets, to clean and wipe the interior windscreens. No matter how any times the demisters were reported as not working they were never repaired. Because most of the buses had no heating, whenever they carried a full load, passengers' breath condensed onto the windows and paintwork with resultant permanently wet interiors ... more so in the winter months. On the top decks, this was exacerbated by passengers smoking with resultant smoke stained condensation which permanently discoloured the white paintwork. Top decks could be very insanitary environments but thankfully now that smoking is banned this problem is now a thing of the past and public service vehicles are very much more pleasant to travel in.

The GYCT fleet included some very ancient Leyland buses with wooden passenger seats but these were only used during the summer months when demand was high eg taking passengers from the Town Centre and Vauxhall Station to race course meetings ... and Saturday specials for holidaymakers to and from Vauxhall Station or Beach Coach Station.

The management and inspectors used radio telephones at the Beach Coach Station in 1967 to coordinate vehicles. General Manager Neil McKenzie (1966/69) was a vintage car enthusiast and he drove a prewar Lagonda sports car which was often seen parked in front of the GYCT Depot on Caister Road. His predecessor, Mr Hanchett was tragically killed in a road accident in 1965 when a tree fell onto his car.

An ancient Guy Arab on the GYCT fleet was converted into the Gt Yarmouth Travelling Library Bus; I recall borrowing books when it was parked once per week on Suffolk Road not far from Halfway House in 1961/62. The bus was known as the 'Doodle Bug' because the engine sounded like a German V1 rocket. The 'Doodle Bug' was parked overnight at Gorleston Library where I believe there were parking facilities in the former tram depot. Best wishes Duncan Kirkwood ( I now live in Peterborough)

Duncan those names mentioned bring back many memories. Jeannie Lubbock was as hard as nails ,but a lovely person. I remember her in the canteen with her favourite snack a kit kat in a bread roll. Then there was Margaret Chittock , a lot of the staff fancied her. I do believe she was my clippie for a while. Your'e right about those old buses. The one I trained on I think they called a Bull Nosed Leyland. I remember you had to double de clutch. I considered myself fairly strong then, I had to virtually stand up gripping the steering wheel and pushing down on the clutch into neutral then exactly the same sequence to get it into first.  The only problem with the older type buses was the gaps around the brake, clutch ,accelorator pedals ,in the winter the wind would whistle through these holes right up your trouser legs. Most painful. I'm not ashamed to admit occassionaly I would borrow a pair of my sisters tights to keep warm. What a thrill when we got those a E C Swifts single decker and Leyland Atlanteans double deckers. Semi automatic gear change and these buses had real heaters ,like a piece of toast in the winter and the demisters worked. But I loved every minute on those buses. It was the only job I really enjoyed. But unfortunately didn't pay to well.          I remember in 1971 the wage for a 40 hour week as a driver was £17.10 pence before stoppages. If you were lucky enough to get the O.M.O. one man operation buses the pay rose to £21.15 pence. But many stayed on the job. I was sorry to go but the prison service beckoned where I stayed until my retirement in 2003. I retired at 55 years of age with 32 and a half years service. I still to this day hanker to get behind the wheel again for a little spin

Being in the RAF at Hopton we obviously used Eastern Counties rather than the Yarmouth Corporation services but a group of us are trying to locate those who served with us. We actually received information that one of our fellow service man named Glenn Miller actually stayed in the Area and worked on the local buses - Can You Help?

Many memories for me here too. I was a bus conductor in Yarmouth in the summer holidays of my university years in the early 1960's. My driver was George, but I can't remember his last name. His girlfriend would often be waiting for him at the end of a run, so they could spend a few minutes together before we had to set off on the return. Some of the other drivers were dismissive of him for this, but I always thought it was admirable, and enviable. (If you read this George, I was the scruffy youth with the long hair, and on the late Gorleston run I would buy us fish and chips in Gorleston). One late afternoon we were coming from the South Denes factories, on route to Gorleston, and the bus was packed solid with factory girls. The bus was an old rear-platform type. Haven Bridge was up, and all the roads around it were jammed with stationary traffic; we were stopped too, on Yarmouth Way. As we inched up to a bus stop, two men got on. I struggled down the stairs (my progress hampered by about six people standing on them) and told them to get off - we already had about 20 passengers too many. They refused, on the grounds that as the bus had just inched passed the stop, they couldn't get off - which was true. So I waited until the bus had filtered down to the next stop, which took about 10 minutes, then with a flourish I pressed the bell, which was unnecessary as the bus was already stopped in the still jammed traffic. "Now you can get off", I said - they had no choice. But I was angry. I grabbed the bars at each side of me, blocking their way. "That's three pence each", I said. Three pence was the minimum fare. They glared at me, and I glared at them, for many long moments. Everyone on the bus stared at nothing, in complete silence. Slowly, one of the men took out a sixpence and handed it to me, and I let them pass. Since they were two big grown men, and I was a thin weedy youth, I recall this incident with utter amazement.

(I posted this reply on another thread on this site a year ago, and thought I'd copy it onto here - pleased to find that the GYCT recollections now have their own sections): Well, well, Tracey Horn - I thought I recognised the name and now, if I think back, I can picture you too!  If you really want to open up a new train of nostalgia, how about more on the Blue Buses in the mid-70s?  I was one of the students who started off conducting and lingered on for a few winters as a driver.  Here are a few names from that period to conjure with: Skippy, Ludkins, Hosea, Tony Miller (I loved that guy! Where is he now?), Cry-Baby Salmon, Micky Mouse, Chaston, Ali B the Inspector who taught me to drive a double-decker (thanks Alan, you were a brilliant instructor) and so many more, it was an amazing interlude in my life.  I live now at the far end of Britain but still remember those days with much affection - and many laughs.   

Nick Gilman, I had to put up with you for a whole summer and I don't even get a mention.What an impression I must have made.Remember the ants!

Oldfart! Wonderful to hear from you again. Amazed you are still around, you must be what, at least 130 years old by now? How could I forget the most obliging driver who used to put his boot down when we were coming in from Caister on the early evening runs so that we'd get to the Wellington Pier at least fifteen minutes early and I could further my love life with the young lady who worked in the tea stall on there? Oddly enough, about a month before you posted the above on here, I came across our old correspondence from around the late 1990s when we were discussing the UFO we saw from a No.8 on the Southtown Road - remember that? As to the ants ... forgive me, I can recall it was an in-joke of ours but no more than that, you'll have to refresh my failing memory! Take Care Buddy, I have very fond memories of you and that summer we were crewed together (It was 1977 by the way, and your driving scared, sorry scarred, me for life!). All the best. Nick. PS: You got an e.mail address?