Roger Atkinson - Blackout, Austerity and Pride

34 1 — Keep calm and carry on
departure time the driver emerged from his cab and
wandered to our bus to see if the crew were about,
which they were not, and then returned to his bus and
called to some hefty workmen seated therein and asked
them to push the bus. As the bus had to start up a slight
gradient, this was no easy task but after about 20 yards,
the bus started to move under its own power. The
workmen boarded and it departed. It is noteworthy that
most accidents to buses in the way of breakdowns seem
to occur to these Guys, as witness the breakdown of the
Guy at Dalmellington on my Scottish Tour.
…….
At Loughboro’ I had to wait for the Barton last bus to
Chilwell Garage. Barton, which I had experienced for
only two very brief rides, were known to me as one of
Britain’s finest companies, with no expense spared for
luxury. A duplicate, to Kegworth Garage only, pulled
in, loaded and departed. The queue for the Chilwell
bus was fairly long. It arrived, a single-decker Leyland,
and loaded. I was lucky enough to get a seat, but the
bus left late and packed to the doors. The conductress,
an almost middle-aged lady, made no effort to collect
the tickets. Half the passengers were drunk. The
conductress soon proved herself to be under influence
of liquor. A soldier, only semi-sober, took charge of the
bus, giving bell signals and calling out the stopping
places. As the passengers began to thin out, some of
them tendering fares, though the conductress pocketed
the money and issued no tickets, the rowdiness increased.
When there were no longer any standing passengers,
the conductress donned her Setright Register
and began to collect fares. I tendered my 1/5d single
and received a ticket which could possibly be 1/5, if
the 5 hadn’t printed well, but it looks more like 1/–, in
which case the conductress will have got the money.
Meanwhile, the soldier continued as auxiliary conduc-