Getting to school...

[80sChav]

Re: Getting to school...

always up in good time for school.
about half seven.
but i got worse at getting up as i got older.

That was similar for me too Darren

It was great at Primary being up on a morning like at Xmas when it wasn't even day-light hardly and at Secondary/High School but lesser so - hence me being up later though!

If we knew then what we know now though with hindsight - it's such a powerful thing indeed , beyond words

80sChav

[darren]

Re: Getting to school...

I only lived like half a mile from my primary school.
Somedays id walk if it was a good day otherwise id get a lift in my dads lada.

that was similar for me too darren

it was great at primary being up on a morning like at xmas when it wasn't even day-light hardly and at secondary/high school but lesser so - hence me being up later though!

If we knew then what we know now though with hindsight - it's such a powerful thing indeed , beyond words

80schav

[zabadak]

Re: Getting to school...

Bus to my secondary school - always wanted the Panorama Elite III as it was the only one with enough seats!

[Mulletino]

Re: Getting to school...

Used to walk to primary school, till the age 8 when I passed my Cycling Proficiency and rode my Raleigh Boxer to school.

Walked to Senior School, except when running late (which was often) when i'd ride my BMX.

[xmark1234]

Re: Getting to school...

ive all ways been up and about 5.30 - 6am every since went school and nothings changed lol I use to do home work be4 I went
school it was only 5 mins away from my mums so I had loads of time be4 I set off

[80sChav]

Re: Getting to school...

always up in good time for school.
about half seven.
but i got worse at getting up as i got older.

That was very true, Darren ... then I got bored of it as Igot older .. wish i'd nort now though mind

For Primary School though I had a ll the time in the world as the School for me (as it was for many others too) it was a 5 minute hop from home at worst - so could be up a tad later unlike for High/Secondary School!!

80sChav

[Big Tim]

Re: Getting to school...

Always walked to Primary School (about 15 minutes), either with my mum, or a friends mum (they took it in turns), until we were considered responsible enough to go unaccompanied (about ten years old, at a guess).

Secondary school was about three miles away. Being a pretty big school (1500 pupils), the catchment area was large, and there were subsidised buses which ran exclusively to the school, i.e. not public service buses - I think in 1991, which is when I started, it only cost 20p each way, so 40p a day. In later years, this increased (probably due to fewer subsidies and increasing fuel costs), so by third year (age 13/14) I cycled to school, which was fine in the summer months, but less so in the winter, when I would often return to the buses.

The winter often brought a lot more "excitement", as the slightest hint of snow would have the majority of the pupils hoping that school would be closed (some of the buses had to come in from outlying villages which were cut off in extreme weather). Unfortunately, on the rare occasions that this was the case, those of us who lived in the urban areas always had to go in, as the roads were never that bad during my time there to warrant sending everyone home.

In my final year, (1996), I was one of the very few pupils to own a moped, and used that to get to school. I stayed on to sixth form at the same school until 1998, and upgraded to a Suzuki GP100 commuter bike, which served me well in getting to school and back. (Except on one occasion when the throttle stuck open in the car park and I had to take evasive action to avoid a line of parked up cars belonging to the teachers!)

[Pussywillow]

Re: Getting to school...

I've done the stinking school bus to death in another thread, but I want to mention the second secondary school I went to in 1974.

This is gonna sound like the Monty Python Yorkshireman sketch a bit, but I had to walk 3 miles every day to my school in Thatcham, Berks. Yet again I knew nobody and nobody gave a ****, but I walked this in all weathers, usually in platform shoes.

My Father, who was the Head of a local Primary school, never gave me a lift. I asked nay, begged, for a bike or training shoes to aleast make the journey easier. I got neither. I must have had a coat ; a battered old Parka that always smelt like it had been slept in. It used to stink even more if I'd navigated the rain on the way! All weathers I did this for 2 years.

My brother repeated the feat (although not in platforms) 7 years later.

[marc]

Re: Getting to school...

My infant and primary school was about a mile and a half from home. Evan in the infant school I would sometimes walk to school. It would take around twenty minutes. The walk was almost dead straight. My mother usually took me to school. When we caught a bus, the journey would take several minutes. These were the type of buses we usually caught:





The comprehensive school was a couple of minutes walk from home.

One memory of catching the bus to school was that if it was a designated school bus, some drivers would not pick us up. The reason was, that they were contracted to the comprehensive school. Some drivers would pick us up. This seemed odd. I found out the reason when I started to work on the buses has a driver. They could pick up pupils going to the comprehensive without a school pass, but they would have to pay. Has we were pupils not going to that school, we didn't need that bus. Ironically, the bus had to go past the comprehensive, up has far has the stop we needed to turn. Some drivers would stop, under the instruction of the conductor, and we would be charged the appropriate fare. The bus would take us around New Century Street in Trealaw to turn around. This passed my grandmother's house. We would sometimes see her looking out of the window. She would then wave to us.

There is a post script to this:
I started to work has a driver at Porth (Rhondda) depot in 2004. Some of the drivers had worked there when it was the Rhondda Transport Company. This ceased in 1971. They may have well taken me to school. The bus in the top photo, I probably travelled in to school. September last year, it was at the Merthyr Tydfil Transport Festival. It is owned by Stephen Doe. We had a conversation about the bus. It came to light we went to the same school, Alaw Primary, only at different times. He attended 1964-68, I attended 1974-78. He allowed me to sit in the cab. This is something I had wanted to do since I was around three years old. The cab itself has never been restored. I was looking at various things those drivers had operated from all those years ago. A small world. Half forgotten memories came flooding back.

[darren]

Re: Getting to school...

WOW THATS A BIT HARSH UR DAD NEVER GIVING YOU A LIFT IN TO SCHOOL OR EVEN GETTING U A BIKE AND OR TRAINERS..

FACT HE WAS THE HEAD OF THE LOCAL P[RIMARY SCHOOL MAKES IT WORSE.

I GUESS HE THOUGHT JUST CAUSE HE WAS THE HEAD DIDNT MEAN U DESERVED SPECIAL TREATMENT.

I've done the stinking school bus to death in another thread, but I want to mention the second secondary school I went to in 1974.

This is gonna sound like the Monty Python Yorkshireman sketch a bit, but I had to walk 3 miles every day to my school in Thatcham, Berks. Yet again I knew nobody and nobody gave a ****, but I walked this in all weathers, usually in platform shoes.

My Father, who was the Head of a local Primary school, never gave me a lift. I asked nay, begged, for a bike or training shoes to aleast make the journey easier. I got neither. I must have had a coat ; a battered old Parka that always smelt like it had been slept in. It used to stink even more if I'd navigated the rain on the way! All weathers I did this for 2 years.

My brother repeated the feat (although not in platforms) 7 years later.

[zabadak]

Re: Getting to school...

When I was in 6th form college, my mum was a secretary there so I used to give her a lift!

[amethyst]

Re: Getting to school...

Liked the picture of the first bus marc

[victorbrunswick]

Re: Getting to school...

I've done the stinking school bus to death in another thread, but I want to mention the second secondary school I went to in 1974.

This is gonna sound like the Monty Python Yorkshireman sketch a bit, but I had to walk 3 miles every day to my school in Thatcham, Berks. Yet again I knew nobody and nobody gave a ****, but I walked this in all weathers, usually in platform shoes.

My Father, who was the Head of a local Primary school, never gave me a lift. I asked nay, begged, for a bike or training shoes to aleast make the journey easier. I got neither. I must have had a coat ; a battered old Parka that always smelt like it had been slept in. It used to stink even more if I'd navigated the rain on the way! All weathers I did this for 2 years.

My brother repeated the feat (although not in platforms) 7 years later.

It sounds almost Dickensian.

[marc]

Re: Getting to school...

Liked the picture of the first bus marc

That bus, KNY 495D, was the last bus that was crewed by a driver and conductor to operate out of Porth depot. It languished there for some time after. The photo was taken at the Barry Transport Festival in 2014 or 2015.

The bottom photo of bus GSC 653X, I believe is an ex-Cardiff Bus. It is owned by Ralph Thomas Coaches. It is used on school contracts, around the Treorchy area. It is pictured at Blaenrhondda. It was starting the school run one morning. I took the photo myself. The bus I was driving, is immediately behind it. I was getting ready to operate the 120 Blaenrhondda - Caerphilly service.

[darren]

Re: Getting to school...

What a good son you are repaying her for all the times she brought u too school.

when i was in 6th form college, my mum was a secretary there so i used to give her a lift! :d