The Big Skill

"Does my bum look big in this?" When driving a bus it's all about watching your rear – and hey, I'm an expert now, as at the time of writing, I've had all of five hours' worth of tuition. 

"But if you look after what's going on at the front, the rear of the bus will take care of itself," said First Eastern Counties driving instructor Phil Smith. And he was right.

An hour into the first session, and it was my turn to get behind the wheel. Nothing like being in at the deep end I thought, as Phil's first exercise for me consisted of doing the Hethersett loop. 

Ah yes, the good old Hethersett loop, I thought, pretending that I knew what that was. (The Hethersett loop involves no right hand-turns and a trip past the police headquarters at Wymondham.) 

Starting to relax

So far, so good, as the A11 dual carriageway is kind to bus drivers as the lanes are wide and people can overtake. I was beginning to enjoy myself.

Phil's a patient man and has the perfect touch when it comes to putting nervous radio presenters at ease. He's seen it all before, of course, and made plenty of encouraging noises, even when I make a mistake. 

The ever patient instructor Phil Smith

I knew his qualities extended to humour when he told me to go straight on at the Thickthorn roundabout into the built-up area of Norwich. 

I have little memory of what happened next as I took the bus along Newmarket Road before turning left, travelling anti-clockwise around a good chunk of the Norwich ring road. 

Undignified end

Lesson one soon came to an end, but a less than dignified end, as apparently I went back into car-driving mode while turning left, taking the rear of the coach over a grass verge. 

I just don't want to think about what might have happened if someone had been standing on or near said verge. Despite that, Phil said some nice things and I realised I couldn't wait to do it again.

Remember how when you learned to drive, you knew what you should be doing, but doing it in the right order without thinking about it was another matter? 

I understood the principles Phil was explaining to me, but doing it – and more importantly indicating your intentions to other road users - proved more tricky. 

Learning to drive again

I passed my driving test in King’s Lynn in 1984, so I've had plenty of time to learn all sorts of bad habits, and it's going to take lots of hard work to re-programme myself to do what the expert says rather than what I think I should. 

Those nice people at First Bus are already talking about a test date for the back end of May, and I have to study for the theory test, and take a hazard perception test. 

Being one of life's worriers I'm spending far too much time thinking about all that’s required of me over the next few weeks. Can I do it? Will I pass my test? I have so many questions about what to do when, as I suppose anyone does when learning a new skill.

I'm learning something about myself too. It's been a long time since I've faced any sort of practical challenge and I'm finding it all quite exhausting. Even so, we'll see what the next few weeks bring. 

Bus driving is beginning to take over my life. I think about it all the time.  If you ever get the chance to get behind the wheel of a bus make sure you do. It's so much fun.