Last Spring, Chief Car Observer Geoff Ayres entertained us with a fascinating account of his career with the Oxford Bus Company.

Among the amusing anecdotes – including one romantic encounter – what emerged most strikingly was the huge changes Geoff witnessed during his time ‘on the buses’.

He remembered joining a predominantly male world of coarse language, colourful characters and strong trade unions.

He described the Faringdon Bus Garage, where he was based for a time, as basically a tin shack constructed around scaffolding poles with a shed at the rear for the drivers’ rest room.  The country bus operated from there to the surrounding villages and a big event each week was the market day bus to Witney.

Later, Geoff worked from the Cowley Road Bus Garage on the Blackbird Leys route.  He recalls that time as the end of an era.  When the Cowley Road Garage was opened in the thirties, it included a tanning shop to mend and replace leather seat covers, a timber shop to rebuild wooden bus body frames and a paint shop.  All repainting, rebuilding of engines and gearboxes was done on site.  Buses were serviced over a pit, with five engineers to a bus, each with their designated job - electrician, bodyman, etc.

When the company moved to their current premises on Watlington Road, practices changed dramatically: pits were out and hoists were in, it was one engineer to service a vehicle in a set time, with everything recorded on computer.  Buses began to be fitted with radios and cctv.  Also, by that time Geoff was able to say that driving standards, running to schedule and general discipline had all vastly improved and health and safety measures had become a very important part of working practices

Geoff’s final years at the Oxford Bus Company saw him out of his cab and into the role of Service Controller, working in a dedicated control room from where the whole route network was monitored by radio and a comprehensive computer system.

And, of course, progress continues with electric hybrid buses and Über style Pick-Me-Up minibuses that you can hail via an app on your phone.

Many thanks to Geoff for taking us with you on a ride down memory lane!