Coventry Buses - past and present

When I was quite young I travelled on the Inner Circle to school (Freddies) and there were two particular conductors I remember clearly. One was a man with only one hand. He managed to hold the ticket machine in the crook of his disabled arm. He was lovely and always laughing and joking with passengers. The other was a driver & conductor husband & wife team (she was the conductor) - again always friendly. Can anyone else remember them. My mother told me that the man had been injured in the war, probably WWI as he seemed quite old to me.

There were probably several husband and wife teams on the buses but it could well have been Jim and Maurine Bailey, parents of councillor Roger Bailey. Maurine later became one of the first female drivers and eventually an inspector.

No, Dreamtime, it definitely wasn't a problem for us boys.

I bet it wasn't!

When the one-person buses arrived, there was a driver with a real SOH. As a young lad, I had to pick up my bike from a garage, so I got the no. 18 (Canley) bus. I had my crash helmet in my hand, and in a loud voice so everyone could hear he said "What yer got that crash helmet for? My driving ain't that bad you know!". Some minutes later, we were held up at the level crossing, and when the train approached, he yelled out, very excitedly, "There she goes!". The good old days - characters. He'd probably be suspended/sacked on H&S grounds today: "Becoming distracted whilst driving", "acting in a manner likely to cause heart failure in the passengers", "discrimination against passengers who prefer a quiet journey" or similar.

The conductor who was only able to use one hand sounds very much like Fred Bevan. He unfortunately lost the use of his hand, when a vehicle starter handle he was turning kicked back and the force of it smashed all the bones in his hand and obviously must have permanently damaged the nerves in it as well. You may have noticed that he always wore a leather glove over his now damaged (or even false?) hand!!!!

Thanks for that CKV 1D. Now you mention it I do remember he had a brown leather glove on the arm that held the ticket machine. Those old starter handles were lethal apparently!

Hello, Just fetching a photo from just a couple of years ago, one of Coventry's married bus team crews. Married bus team Married bus team Click on both links for uniform photos.

Timetables - Coventry and Warwickshire buses, Christmas and New Year

First time on the forum and finding it quite interesting. Fred Bevan was a friend of my mother and father, who may well have been the husband and wife team you mention. They were 'on the buses' together from about 1955 to 1964. My father then started as a mechanic at Harnall Lane (where we lived) and my mother worked in the canteen.

At lunchtime today, there was a news report regarding wheelchair users winning a legal action in connection with reserved spaces on buses, following one person's dispute with a mother who had taken up that area with her baby buggy During the item, there was an interview with the MD of First Bus, one Giles Fearnley With bells ringing, I did a quick bit of research, to find that Giles's grandfather, Reginald, was a younger brother of Ronald Fearnley, whose name adorned Coventry buses for many years as its General Manager

Ronald "A" Fearnley Fearnley, if I remember correctly. Wasn`t he described as "City Engineer"?

The five ways was Leicester Causeway, Harnall Lane West, Springfield Road, Eagle Street and Howard Street. The Five Ways pub stood there

A nice view here of a virtually empty Barkers Butts Lane, with a couple of Coventry Corporation Buses (a Guy Arab & a Daimler CVA6!) and a Morris Minor car all clearly visible! This photo was possibly taken in about 1960, or just a year or two before that?

Apologies for quality of image taken in poor light.