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The Bus
About this time two projects were taking place. TACT was working on an idea for the Housing Department to have it’s own factory, making UPVC window frames, to replace old windows in council property and, to sell to other authorities to defray the cost. I was trying to raise money to get transport for the residents of the sheltered schemes. He was successful very quickly but my idea took much longer to get off the ground. Then one of the original members of the Care Team, Beryl Eaves, told me of an old bus going cheap, a twenty-two seater diesel for £50. TACT authorised the cheque and I bought it. The engine was good but the bodywork was very rusty so I persuaded the manager at the Government Training Centre to use it for his trainees to practice on. For the price of the material we had the whole sides of the bus replaced. With the help of David Bristow, I cut out the back two seats and had a tail lift fitted, so we were able to get elderly and disabled passengers on board, then we brush painted it to make it look a bit less shabby. It was still an old banger but it gave a lot of old people a great deal of pleasure and me a lot of fun. Wardens were encouraged to drive it and I had a few white knuckle times teaching them. On one occasion I was asked to transport a number of councillors to the opening of the first bottle bank and was horrified to find when I arrived at the Council Offices to pick them up that I had a flat tyre on one of the four back wheels. So I stood in front of the wheel, smiled brightly, got them on board and drove them to their destination on five tyres instead off six. I got away with it because there were so many creaks and rattles that no one noticed. Environmental Health Department had decided to reorganise, to shut some of their depots and concentrate everything at Gosmore. This meant that workmen from Royston and Baldock needed transport in the mornings and we hired our bus to them. This helped us to run for over three years without costing the council a penny and as said earlier gave lots of people a lot of pleasure, enabling our elderly residents to have shopping visits to Bedford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes etc. On one visit to Cambridge I dropped the passengers off and arranged to pick them up at the same place at a specified time. 17 of the 18 were there on time but we could not find the last one. Police and Town Centre Security were alerted and the whole place searched for her. At six o-clock it was decided that I would go back to Hitchin with my by now very unhappy passengers, after arranging with the police to let me know at home when they found her. I would then fetch her in my car. When we arrived in Hitchin the dear old lady came out of the door at Westmill Lawns and accused me of not being where I said I would be. She would not accept that she was wrong even though the other 17 had got it right. When we first got our bus everyone was very happy with it but it was very popular and in constant use so it wasn’t long before requests came in that we needed something bigger or a second bus.
The plastic window factory was by this time operating at a profit and the Housing Department was putting money into the council’s rate fund. We were one of a very few in the whole country which subsidised the council’s rates. In most councils the housing departments relied on contribution from the rates to balance the housing revenue account. This was good but even better for Special Management, as out of an £80,000 profit, TACT arranged for £40,000 to go into the Rate Fund and allocated the other £40,000 to us for a new bus. We purchased a 32 seater bus complete with tail-lift and anchor points for wheel chairs for £33.000 and an estate car with the £7,000. Wonderful but there was a downside, the wardens who had been very happy to drive the old banger were scared of driving the new one, they said it was too big. These were the same people who had been agitating for a bigger bus. However two or three were brave enough and with David Bristow and myself we managed to provide the service we had aimed for. The Environmental Health Dept wanted to save money on the transporting of their men and asked to buy the old bus from us. I was not allowed to keep both vehicles but did not want to lose the steady revenue that helped greatly in the running costs of the bus. So I had to pull a few fast tricks, made out that I had an offer which was higher than they were prepared to pay and got away with it. The bus was then sold privately at a reasonable profit and we continued to transport the dustmen and receive the income.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly at this time. There was a steady growth in the number of hostels we had for homeless families and new sheltered housing units were being built and added to our stock. My staff had grown and I was responsible to TACT, whose title was now Director of Housing, for Wardens of Elderly Person Schemes, Wardens of Homeless Hostels, a Care Team, mobile cleaners and office based staff including Lettings Officers, Homeless Family Officers, Reception staff and typists a total of just over 80 in all. 77 of them were a wonderful team and a pleasure to work with, just as well really, I would never have coped otherwise. Life was good, no hassle at work, a good social life for Jean and I, with my work colleagues and with my connections with the J J H T at The Bury Codicote. As new sheltered units were built I enjoyed recruiting staff, arranging furnishing and official openings. Jean and I made friends with many of these new members of the section, which also contributed to our social life. One scheme in particular, Wheatsheaf Meadow House at Barkway with Margaret Hanwell as the warden with a very supportive husband Richard, involved us in many events, notably the annual visit of the Walsingham Pilgrims. A group carrying a large wooden cross all the way to the big convention at Walsingham, used to arrive at Barkway at about midday on the Sunday, so Margaret got all her residents, (plus Jean and Eric) to help and we made soup and sandwiches etc. and invited these devout youngsters to have lunch with us. They came at about 1.30, were very grateful, chatted to our tenants and before they left to continue their journey to Norfolk sang a hymn and said a prayer for us. It was a very touching experience and we vowed to do the same again the next year. One year later we went over to help again and by 12 noon had everything prepared. Not expecting our guests to arrive before at least 1 o’clock Margaret and Richard, Jean and I took advantage and went off to the village pub. We were very surprised when we got there to find a big wooden cross dumped in the hedge and the bars full of pilgrims knocking back pints. Another event at Wheatsheaf Meadow was the entertaining to tea of a group of disabled youngsters from the organisation ‘Riding for the Disabled’. Margaret discussed with her residents and they invited them to tea the idea being to treat the kiddies and at the same time give the elderly residents something positive and worthwhile to do. It was a very successful exercise, the oldies realised that there were a lot of people worse off than they were and there were far fewer grumbles from residents for the following six months. Jean and I were involved in the activity and I found myself feeding Charlotte, she was in a wheel chair fitted with a big tray to put food and utensils on. She could not walk or speak, she could not wash or feed herself but she could ride a pony. She also had a lovely smile and while I tried to feed her she held my hand and I had great difficulty releasing it. Obviously a lot of the food went over her face and chin, so I was gently wiping it off with tissues but it did take a lot of time. Fortunately Cecil, one of the cleaning team, who had stayed on to help with the washing up of the dishes came along, with one swipe of his Jay Cloth, he cleaned poor Charlotte and then a couple of other similarly handicapped while I was still thinking about it. I tried to encourage other wardens to arrange similar events as it was a very worthwhile exercise, of benefit to the residents and the disabled youngsters but sadly not one took it up.
Copyright Eric Fitton © 2008 page last updated 30/09/2008 16:07 |
To help with the running costs of
the new bus we arranged to do trips for charitable organisations such as H
A D (Handicapped and Disabled), Arthritis Care, Altzheimers Club and other
such groups. As the majority of these outings were at weekend, I was the
driver. On whole day trips I would usually be able to take Jean and so
she got enjoyment as well. One outing, for Arthritis Care to Clacton was
particularly memorable! Lunch had been arranged for us all at a
promenade restaurant and I sat down to enjoy my Fish and Chips, my
favourite seaside food. Then one of the Red Cross lady volunteers, who
accompanied us as escorts to look after passengers, came and asked if I
could help. I thought it would be something like lifting or pushing
someone to heavy for her but was surprised to be taken to the Gents
Toilet. There with another Red Cross lady was a poor old wheelchair bound
chap, who had had an accident and messed himself. The ladies were washing
his clothing but needed someone to clean the man and had decided that I
should be the one to do it. I had never done anything like this before
but coped and went back and finished my Fish and Chips afterwards.
After the lunch we all went our separate ways until early evening when I
brought the bus to the pre-arranged pick up point where all my passengers
were waiting in an orderly queue with the two Red Cross ladies at the
head. Before boarding, one of the ladies made a lovely speech thanking me
for my help and asked me to accept a little present as a token of their
gratitude. I thought it very nice of them, even though a bit over the top
and accepted the little parcel. What a sense of humour, they had bought
me a pack of Rock Sausages.