I remember

I remember the WCT & LUT Buses as a small boy,used to travel from Bryn to Wigan by WCT & Bryn to Golborne by LUT.Later in life became a conductor,then Driver for LUT,and often did the 54& 57 routes from Leigh to Wigan.Reading earlier comment as to Bus Inspectors seemingly having a cushy job,those days have long gone.My son is an Inspector & has to wear a stab proof vest when on duty,a dangerous job now...My days were the happiest....

i was a driver 1963 to 1973 best job i ever had

Paying one old penny for the bus from abram church to platt bridge, except at weekends when it was one and halfpenny for the ride. we now have a red double decker bus in Napier which is used for local events and kids having rides on a double decker bus.Took photos of it last weekend at the Girl Guides centenary picnic at the Oruawharo Homestead which is just round the corner from where i live.

Standing at old Wigan bus station in the1970'. Getting a carton of milk from the vending machine outside whilst waiting for the 323 to Shevington. It was usually a Wigan corp bus, but if we were really lucky a dark red Ribble bus would arrive. It was the rolls royce of buses or so we thought. They were really coaches but they seemed really posh then. There was nearly always the same conductress on that route who alway wore clogs. She'd make quite a clump clump up and down the bus.

I used to catch a 151 service bus in Station Rd when I was an apprentice at The De Haviland Aircraft Co. later to become Hawker Siddeley Did this for five years. My Dad worked on the buses for years, first as a driver then in the depot, Anybody remember him his name was Tommy Benfold.

The 1st thing you saw on your return from hol was always a Wgan bus, you knew then you where home! Then the subsidised bus fares, what a treat, you could go anywhere in the world (or so it felt, as a child!) for 2p!!! I went to Manchester every wk end with my friends for 2p and thought i was the 'bees knees!' Such innocence, the lack of it today is the problem with our Society i am sorry to admit?! But i love the childhood i was allowed to experience! Priceless!!

the club trip with goose green labour club there would be 6 double decker buses parked outside and we used to run to see if we could get on the first bus we used to get a packed lunch and money for the fair which didnt last long we all had a badge with our club name on and used to get a free tea at that cafe near the fairground at blackpool dianne wigan

i remember catching the bus at goose green to go to school st marks it was the bus with no doors and my hat blew off i had to go back for it because i darnt have gone to school without it also my dad drove the buses for years [ jack forshaw }

Joined the Wigan TSB in 1961 but wanted to be a coach driver. I was given the opportunity to learn so that I could drive Blackpool Illuminations 2 or 3 times a week but the bank frowned on secondary employment. When the bank made me redundant 30 years later the first thing I did was pass the test. Always went Lanky United instead of Wigan Corp'n if possible.The trolley buses from Atherton to St.Helens were always my favourite.

My cousin doug found a 1962 Wigan corporation double decker bus in a disposal yard at Haydock it had been painted up as a play bus and was in a right mess.He bought it and has spent the last six years rebuilding it.It is now fully restored it looks magnificent.

I remember catching the last bus out of Wigan at 11pm.You would get on the bus and wait, at 1 minute to 11 the inspector would come out of his little office at the top of Wigan by the public toilets and blow a whistle bang on 11. All the buses would then set of.If you missed the bus at the top of Wigan you had to run like mad down wallgate to the stop outside north west railway station, hoping that the traffic lights at the minorca were on red to give you a chance to reach the bus stop, or it was shanks pony home

I remember early 1960's running across Liverpool Road, Hindley, when the bus was coming down Market Street. Always caught it, never missed it. Couldn't do it now!! Remember banging my head a couple of times when I stood up on the luggage rack. Also remember a very good-looking Conductor, called Dave, I think. Dark hair - lovely. Used to love catching his bus. My friend's dad was an Inspector on Wigan Corporation. Hazeldone was his surname. Good times.

I can remember an old police colleague of mine running for the early morning bus folliwing his night duty and grabbing for the upright safety pole at the rear entrance only to find that he had grabbed the " knocker uppers " pole and the both ended up in a heap in the gutter.

I remember walking over a mile and a half from Up Holland to Abbey Lakes just to catch the Wigan corporation bus. I used to watch it turn round in the Abbey Lakes pub car park for its return to Wigan. How great it was to be the first on board, racing upstairs just to have the pick of the seats, usually the back one. Sitting in silence waiting for the driver to finish his break and waiting for the sound and rattle of the engine starting up. The little round light bulbs that dimmed and flickered in time to the engine starting. I can still remember the smell of the interior and the condensation dripping from the windows in rainy weather.

We caught our No 22 outside Oxleys on Station Road.

i was born and brought up in wigan but now living in north wales, every year llandudno have a vicorian extavaganza which includes old cars , wagons, steam engines and buses etc and theres always a couple of old wigan corperation buses there " the maroon n white ones" brings back memories of going to school on the 333

I was brought up in a steet in new springs when the bus came from wigan you got off the bus at the top of the street then the bus when to the bottom and there you got on to go to wigan this caused me many a scraped knee from running to catch the bus to work you took your life into your hand by jumping onto to the platform at the back of the bus this was usually accompnied by cheers from your work mates oh happy days

I cannot forget watching the buses from Upholland where I lived seeing them come down from Orrell Post past Abbey Lakes, from being very little. Plus my Grandad was a conductor {Ernie Alker}plus his mate Harry at least I think it was Harry and we would get a free ride or two when we were growing up. One of the things we used to do was wait until we saw the bus at Orrell Post then run down Alma Hill onto Parliment St to try and catch it. Then find out it was going to Robymill..Drrrr. Well that was the fun bit of growing up.{M Pearce ex Upholland NR Wigan}

had a great time on the buses(1966-1975)both the staff and public were great,best part of the job for me was playing football for wigan transport, miss it, great times

Living along the Wigan / Bolton route via Wingates 15 route,as was. The buses that had front opening auto doors. We, as kids, would try and get behind the doors on the first seat,(that's where the heater was ) in winter. The Leyland buses were synonymous with Wigan transport in the 50's & 60's, a workhorse in every respect. Pick up opp the Ritz in Wigan, near, where once was a railway station opposite, the name escapes me !!, & travel all the way to Bolton for about 1s - 4d to Great moor St bus station, THOSE were the days !!!

i started as a bus driver in 1969 with wigan corporation and have been there for 37 YEARS i have many memories and stories about life on the buses and made many good friends i have driven over 100 types of bus in those years good and bad

My grandfather . Matt Downing was a bus driver and I still have his drivers badge. My greatgrandfather was a mayor of Wigan. As a bus designer at Leyland Motors I later worked on Atlanteans and pd's

The sign on the inside the bus which read In the interest of Public Health and Cleansiness please abstain from the objectionable habit of spitting. Always remember that but dont ask me why.

going to school on theese busses (1960s) single decker from appley bridge to shevington (plough and arrow) 3pence old money then the double deckers to shevi secondary (having a crafty smoke upstairs) one old penny "happy days"

The bright red busses... Lancashire United! Wigan Corp was Burgandy and White. In 1981 I went on a coach trip to the Hamburg Beer Festival with a group of my mates. I can remember whenever we stopped for a rest break in some villages they treated us like kings. We would go into a pub and were made most welcome, the locals would sit with us and try to talk about football... and ask how we were doing in the leauge. We were being driven about in a 'Lancashire United' touring coach, they thought we were a football team!! :D

my grandad coming home from work and me trying on his bus drivers hat,william [billy] gaskell,i miss him.

All lined up outside the Empress Hall for late transport after the dances.

when i was 18yrs old i was a conductress on the red buses used to get up at 3-15am the staff bus picked me up at 3-45am the first passenger was alway`s a postman (they never paid) then was the people who started work at 6am next the school children then the pensioner`s. On friday morning you would see the us with our hair in curlers and a scarf over our heads getting ready for the weekend. And the best feeling was the 11pm whistle for the last bus.

coming home from school (Cardy at Hindley) coming down the stairs with a basket full of trifle that we'd made in Dom Science class luckily it didnt slip out of the basket but it was all over the place someone could have had a headfull. Used to love hanging off the back of the bus in the days when they had no doors - well brill!!

Coming home from Wigan late one night - maybe been to the Ritz? - with my Mum. It was really foggy and as we approached Adam bridge at Newtown, the conductress had to get off and walk in front to direct the driver! journey made at about 3 miles an hour!!! Same time some said they could see a lady in white walking along the River Douglas as the bus passed - though fog so bad you couldnt see anything!!! this would be mid '60's.

i used to love walking down to worsley mesnes from goose green to get on the bus at fairbrother house 'cos you could smell the leather of the seats and you may be the first on

How pleased I was to see the buses when retuning to Wigan from the annual holiday. peering through the gloom to read the number on the front of an approaching bus. The embossed messages saying, "Spitting strictly prohibited". The Inspectors lying in wait at occasional bus stops to check that you had bought a ticket - they always seemed to have an easy job to me.

Them being packed because so many people had no transport of their own. The conductor who never seemed to loose his balance even when going up and down the stairs to collect fares. Being chuffed to bits to be given the middle of the ticket roll to draw on what was left of the paper on it. The smokey upstairs. Holding onto the rail upstairs and pretending you where driving it. A trip to Standish felt like miles and miles to me.