Routemasters

When I was a nipper of about 11 or 12 we used to get the bus to school in the morning. I was a little short-arse in those days, long before attaining my current giant stature of 5' 7", I was about 4' 10" and weedy. If the weather was nice, we'd walk all the way home and put the 5p fare we saved towards a bag of 15p chips - yippee!

Buses were real buses in them there days, in fact, I still sometimes think of buses with a door at the front a 'new bus' as opposed to the old Routemaster which you could jump on and off. Bendy buses - what are they? I remember one time arriving late at the bus stop and running, puffing after it as it pulled away from the stop and just managing to jump on and grab one of the uprights and nearly falling backwards off into the road into the on-coming traffic, as I had a full P.E. bag over my back and a heavy briefcase full of huge science books in my left hand. It nearly pulled my arm out of my socket but I hung on like grim death and managed to pull myself to safety as the conductor grinned wickedly from his lair under the stairs.

At the other end of the journey lay North Finchley bus station. Us schoolboy urchins used to stand on the platform and leap off as soon as it was safe, to prove our bravery and bravado. One of my friends, who rejoiced in the nickname Harry Hyams was as short-arsed as me and also wore glasses, in fact, his other nickname was Joe 90. One fine morning as the bus cruised into the bus station, Harry stepped off the platform thinking the bus had come to a stop. It hadn't. Comedy gold, especially as he wasn't badly hurt, except a seriously bruised pride and grazed hands and knees. He just stepped off and went flying; briefcase, glasses, blazer all a-whirl as we watched agog from the safety of the platform.

But it made us the men we are today! Health and bloody safety? It's for wimps.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Thu 29 May 2008, 16:43, Reply)