Comments on: On The Buses With Colin O’Brien https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Tue, 15 Jul 2014 16:25:08 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 By: D.H. "Buster" Brown https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-398558 Tue, 15 Jul 2014 16:25:08 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-398558 A long time ago, ( the WWII years) I lived in Chiswick near the bus garage. As kids we used to hop over there when the busses came in at night and checked the USED TICKET BOXES in dire search of a rare One Shilling brown used ticket. What a keeper that was when one day, I found one. Sailed for Canada in 1946 and have never forgotten the Turnham Green #27 and the #55 to Chiswick Baths and was so intrigued by standing at the head of the aisle on the Lower deck………and watching the driver steering his wooden wheel. No power steering in those days.
Buster, Halifax Nova Scotia

]]> By: Tim Wallace https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-285006 Mon, 14 Apr 2014 22:17:50 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-285006 So glad this website was brought to my attention. Travelled from Cornwall for this event and rode on RTI from Piccadilly to Shoreditch, having last ridden on this type of bus in about 1955 when they were withdrawn from ex-tram route 182.

]]> By: tanya https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-284919 Mon, 14 Apr 2014 20:48:08 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-284919 Excellent piece and great photos as always. I love reading the readers stories in the comments too. As a fellow Londoner who grew up with the routemasters, it was a joy for me too to ride on ‘proper’ buses again.

my own photos of the event compliment yours too. I’ll post on my blog on the weekend and link to yours and credit.

]]> By: Ian https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-284752 Mon, 14 Apr 2014 17:09:16 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-284752 What a wonderful event. I used to ride to school on the dark green ones, the best part of the day!
Thank you for all your efforts.

]]> By: Peter Holford https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-283493 Sun, 13 Apr 2014 20:36:33 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-283493 The number 22 brought back great memories – but I knew it at the other end of the route where it turned around on Putney Common adjacent to my primary school. I had friends who collected the numbers – RT, RTL, RTW – worse than train spotters!

]]> By: belle https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-283466 Sun, 13 Apr 2014 20:11:01 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-283466 lovely post and photos. I wonder if anyone remembers the Red Bus Rover ticket you could purchase and have unlimited travel on the buses for a day? Gangs of us kids used to buy them in the holidays and get routinely chucked off for being noisy or cheeky. The conductor was boss! A conductress on a South London route used to sing “Hey big spenders” as we piled on (shopping trolleys and all) after a morning’s shopping in Brixton market. Happy times.

]]> By: John Stanhope https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-283421 Sun, 13 Apr 2014 19:00:06 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-283421 I drove for London Transport from 1958 to 1964. One of the best jobs I had! I operated out
of Chelsham garage on the Country sevices 403 406 470 etc
I was unaware of the parade that has just taken place!
Has anyone seen the new fleet of Routemasters operating in London It looks like the old
times are coming back!

]]> By: Chronica Domus https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-283384 Sun, 13 Apr 2014 16:50:53 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-283384 What a great set of photographs! Reminds me of my childhood in London where I distinctly remember riding around in such buses with my granny, who was very mobile in her day. Ironically, my American brother-in-law, now living in London, now works on one of the Routmaster buses that were reintroduced to the streets of London last year. I hear they are enoying great success with both locals and tourists.

]]> By: Victoria https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-283381 Sun, 13 Apr 2014 16:45:44 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-283381 I saw two of these buses yesterday in Dalston, but hadn’t realised there was a special event on. Wished I’d got on one, assumed they were special hire for a wedding. Wonderful photos, lovely to see.

]]> By: Melanie https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/04/13/on-the-buses-with-colin-obrien/#comment-283327 Sun, 13 Apr 2014 14:22:44 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=111383#comment-283327 I travelled up and down on Bus 13 to Swiss Cottage every weekend to Grandma seeing Edgware Road, Marble Arch, Baker Street, St John’s Wood remembering seeing Homeopathic hospital, carpet shops in Edgware Road, Regents Park, Finchley Road. The ding ding of conductors, conductors running up and down and upstairs to give tickets and take money. Some were friendly and some were too busy and often shouting Full up! Full up!, when the bus was full. I remember seeing black drivers and black conductors when they first came to England from the West Indies and I made friends with one black conductor to the amazement of my brother who said How did you know him?

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