Hugh’s new book explains how he conducted himself well

THE latest book by regular contributor to The Irish Voice, 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 (above), 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, Ayr, Kilmarnock and Campbeltown.

Now, Holiday’s Busman, lifts the bonnet on what it was like to be a busman, more than 50 years ago, when routes were busy, and some routes, such as to Nitshill and Barrhead could be wild. 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 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,” Hugh said. “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. We had everyone from the douce matrons of Newton Mearns angling for a cheap fare, to the drunken mob which invaded the bus on the Last Ardrossan, the most dreaded shift in the garage, on Saturday nights. They came on at the Maple Leaf Inn at Ardrossan, crammed both decks, singing and shouting, and went all the way to Johnstone. It was survival on that shift.”

Hugh describes some of the scrapes he had, including run-ins with the dreaded ‘hats,’ the inspectors out to catch crews running early, playing transistor radios, issuing the wrong fares, or having an untidy uniform. He recalls the characters among the crews, from long-services drivers and clippies to younger people, and how much he enjoyed his time on the buses.

“I passed my Public Service Vehicle Test at 21, and went on to driving,” he recalled. “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!”

And, for Irish readers, there’s the story of the wee Donegal woman, suitcase in hand, who stopped Hugh’s bus at Merrylee, on its way to Newton Mearns, and asked if he could take her home to Letterkenny, after she missed the express coach! And, of course, Orange walks feature, including the lost band, looking for Paisley, which Hugh and his driver sent off up a county road in Barrhead one June evening.

“They may be out there yet, playing away, more than 50 years later,” Hugh laughed.

Holiday’s Busman is published by Stenlake www.stenlake.co.uk and is priced at £12.95

Hugh is also author of County Donegal Railway Bus Services, Rail Ramble Round Ireland, Seeking the Swill and Trolleybuses, Glasgow’s Silent Service