Old bus photo still sparking memories

Published on 21st August 2008 in Letters

Sir - Two weeks ago I was visiting my son and his family, who reside on the Isle of Man.

I got into an idle conversation with a gentleman on the beach who had dialect that was familiar to me. He asked me where I was from and I replied 'Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire'. It turned out that he was from Goole and he was not surprised to hear that I originated from Goole also.

I told him that I had been living in Scunthorpe for the past 44 years, that I sailed out of Goole on the Railway Boats, my final one being the Whitby Abbey, in 1958 and took up employment at Scunthorpe steelworks the same year.

He said that there was an old picture in a recent issue of the Goole Times of a bus ending up in a ditch going to the steelworks about that time. He couldn't recall the exact date and was quite surprised when I told him that I was on that bus and the year was 1959.

I was seated on the inward side of the bus and we were going for the 2 to 10 shift. The driver of the bus decided to pull over to allow access to a lorry coming in the opposite direction.

The bus' nearside wheels mounted the grass verge and the driver started having difficulty pulling back onto the road surface.

The bus started to knock down the concrete posts and scaffolding rails like 'nine pins' then came to a sudden halt and gradually turned on its side in the ditch.

A chap (whose name I cannot recall) was seated on the opposite side of the bus to myself-slid over on top of me and our combined weight pushed the entire window out of the rubber seals and we both ended up with the palms of our hands in the field. We were able to use this opening for our exit.

Fortunately, no one on the bus sustained any serious injuries though the driver was somewhat shaken up and, I recall, was also embarrassed.

A second bus arrived some time later to ferry us to Scunthorpe and I believe we clocked on one hour later.

The chap that sent me the attached cutting is Norman Roberts, of Fifth Avenue, Goole. I have on several occasions tried to ring him for his endeavours but with fruitless results.

It's a small world - you never know who you might meet.

Tom Dunwell

12 Rugby Road,

Old Brumby,

Scunthorpe,

DN162DD