THE latest book by Irish Post contributor Hugh Dougherty tells of his time on the platform and in the driving cab of Western SMT buses as a Glasgow University student from 1969 to 1972.
Seventy-four-year-old Glaswegian, Hugh, worked on the once-familiar red-and-cream buses, during holidays and at weekends.
He worked out of Mearns and Thornliebank garages, serving Glasgow, Newton Mearns, Eaglesham, Paisley, Renfrew, Barrhead, Neilston, Ardrossan, Kilmarnock, Ayr and Campbeltown.
Now, Holiday’s Busman, lifts the bonnet on what it was like to be a busman, over 50 years ago, when routes were busy, and some could be wild on Friday nights!
It was when conductors and conductresses issued tickets, handled newspapers, parcels and unruly passengers (!), while keeping drivers company, unlike today, when drivers are on their own.
Hugh's conductor's badgeHugh feels it was a mistake to get rid of conductors, both for crews and passengers.
“Starting conducting as a naïve, 18 year-old, from a very douce, Irish Catholic background, was much more of an education than university,” said Hugh.
“I had to learn fast to think on my feet, keep my balance on a speeding bus, know the fare tables, handle my ticket machine and handle myself, when trouble called, too.
"There were some real characters I worked with, but after the Troubles started, some of the loyalist crews went off at weekends into the Ayrshire hills to train with the UVF, although we had no tensions in the garage itself.
A Daimler on the 01 for Eaglesham"We also did a Rangers special hire during which the passengers played the sides of the bus like Lambeg drums as we went along, and I learned Orange songs I never knew existed. The Pope always seemed to get a special mention at the end of each one!”
“I passed my Public Service Vehicle Test at 21, and went on to driving,” recalled Hugh.
“That was known as moving up into Quality Street, but, I learned that driving in service was much harder that it looked. There was no power steering in those days and most of the buses had heavy clutches and gears. You had to be strong to be a bus driver then!”
Hugh Dougherty with his new book, Holiday's Busman, and his old ticket machine.There’s the story of the wee, Donegal woman, suitcase in hand, who stopped Hugh’s local bus at Merrylee, on its way to Newton Mearns on the outskirts of Glasgow, and asked if he could take her home to Letterkenny, after she missed the express coach!
And, of course, Glasgow being Glasgow, Orange walks feature, including the lost Orange band, looking for Paisley, which Hugh and his driver sent off up a county road in Barrhead one June evening as they sat at their teeminus.
“They may be out there yet, playing away, over 50 years later,” smiled Hugh. “A bit like the lost Roman legion of the 9th!”
Holiday’s Busman is published by Stenlake www.stenlake.co.uk at £12.95. Hugh is also author of County Donegal Railway Bus Services, Rail Ramble Round Ireland, Seeking the Swilly, and Trolleybuses, Glasgow’s Silent Service.
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