In the 1950s I went to work on the buses. Them days, the buses were not modern like today. They used to be 'back-enders' - old buses where people used to go from the back in, upstairs and downstairs.
You used to have a machine on one side for the tickets and a money box on the other side. And the total weight of the two items would have been about 15lb.
The youngsters used to go sit upstairs. And at every stop you used to have to go upstairs - up and down all day. Very, very hard work.
There were no heaters - it was so cold! You had to use your fingers to count the money and they used to freeze. And then you used to have to count all your money before you could go home. It was a very, very hard job.
One day I said to myself, "I don't like this life, why can't I be a bus driver?".
In those days, there was no power steering and there were no proper gears. We used to press the clutch twice before you could change the gear. The instructor used to be an older man - he used to go with two hands to change the gear, because it was so stiff.
There was no way you could turn the bus if you hadn't eaten anything because it used to be so hard to steer!
© Faryad Ali 2004
This story was recorded as part of
Community Memories - an oral history project run by Newport Museums and Heritage Service and funded by Cymorth.
Some of the stories are touring as part of an exhibition.
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