Conductors Whistles in Times Gone By
Posted: 09:17 Tuesday 16th January 2018
There has been some correspondence in the excellent Classic Bus magazine about why some conductors in times gone by carried whistles. I have contributed the following but in case it's not printed, I thought it might be of some interest to Forum users to hear how the 'friendly' Midland Red sometimes operated in practice.
In Malvern, growing up in the early 1950's I had an almost daily experience as to why, because we lived on the Howsell crossroads in Malvern Link which was then the terminus of the hourly M12 Great Malvern to Belmont service. The conductor used to supervise the reversing of the bus from Church Road round the corner into Upper Howsell Road with two loud lasts for 'all clear' and one for stop. If it was raining or the conductor was feeling lazy, he would carry out this operation from inside the bus through the rear windows using the bell to give his signals, not very safely because he had no means of signalling to other traffic.
But as I was to find out, not only the conductor but inspectors too carried whistles. On Saturday afternoons, we used to visit my grandparents who lived in St Andrews Road, if I am honest, the main attraction for me was to view their new fangled attraction - their 9" television set. When childrens TV had finished and the station (only one BBC channel then of course) closed down for an hour, it was time to set off for home. It meant catching the M25 Peachfield Road to Great Malvern as far as Barnards Green and changing to the M14 Wedderburn Road to Great Malvern via Pickersleigh Road and Malvern Link. I don't recall the times but it wasn't an official connection and there was only a minute or so to effect the change but from the same stop.
On this one occasion, as we arrived at Barnards Green's then almost brand new war memorial bus shelter, as often happened, the M14 in front was just pulling out. An inspector was standing on the steps of the CHA SON on the M25 and my mother remarked "Oh dear, we have just missed it again" which meant a half hour wait for the next. Without saying anything the inspector leaned out of the open door, a shrill single blast on his whistle rang out around Barnards Green and the M14 stopped. We ran towards it and got on being met, to my acute embarrassment, by an unfriendly glare from the conductor, obviously annoyed at having to stop.
Despite that, I can remember afterwards when my mother would sometimes ask the conductor on the M25 "one and a half to Barnards Green and can you have your whistle ready?" On at least one other occasion, he did and it worked!
In Malvern, growing up in the early 1950's I had an almost daily experience as to why, because we lived on the Howsell crossroads in Malvern Link which was then the terminus of the hourly M12 Great Malvern to Belmont service. The conductor used to supervise the reversing of the bus from Church Road round the corner into Upper Howsell Road with two loud lasts for 'all clear' and one for stop. If it was raining or the conductor was feeling lazy, he would carry out this operation from inside the bus through the rear windows using the bell to give his signals, not very safely because he had no means of signalling to other traffic.
But as I was to find out, not only the conductor but inspectors too carried whistles. On Saturday afternoons, we used to visit my grandparents who lived in St Andrews Road, if I am honest, the main attraction for me was to view their new fangled attraction - their 9" television set. When childrens TV had finished and the station (only one BBC channel then of course) closed down for an hour, it was time to set off for home. It meant catching the M25 Peachfield Road to Great Malvern as far as Barnards Green and changing to the M14 Wedderburn Road to Great Malvern via Pickersleigh Road and Malvern Link. I don't recall the times but it wasn't an official connection and there was only a minute or so to effect the change but from the same stop.
On this one occasion, as we arrived at Barnards Green's then almost brand new war memorial bus shelter, as often happened, the M14 in front was just pulling out. An inspector was standing on the steps of the CHA SON on the M25 and my mother remarked "Oh dear, we have just missed it again" which meant a half hour wait for the next. Without saying anything the inspector leaned out of the open door, a shrill single blast on his whistle rang out around Barnards Green and the M14 stopped. We ran towards it and got on being met, to my acute embarrassment, by an unfriendly glare from the conductor, obviously annoyed at having to stop.
Despite that, I can remember afterwards when my mother would sometimes ask the conductor on the M25 "one and a half to Barnards Green and can you have your whistle ready?" On at least one other occasion, he did and it worked!