And This Is Me

....AND THIS IS ME.

.... 'and this is me' as Mike Yarwood used to say. I have said for a while that I would include a photograph of myself in the 'faces - past and present' section, but I have now decided to include myself on a page of my own - just to give you all a little insight into my life.

I was born on 25th April 1962 and have lived in the Dunfermline area all my life. I attended Blacklaw P.S. (now demolished) before moving up to Woodmill High School. I then started my apprenticeship as a Fitter/Turner in Rosyth Dockyard in 1979 and worked in the Dockyard until 1993. When I left the Dockyard (through voluntary redundancy), I went to work for RailTrack at Edinburgh Waverley, starting off sweeping platforms etc (RO2), moving up to a supervisor (RO2(S)) and finally working as a grade 3 Clerical Officer (CO3) in Edinburgh Signalling Center. Working with the signalmen, and co-operating with the Train Operating Companies was a fantastic job. My job was attributing any delays in the region to an incident. The position was made redundant and they could not find another suitable position for my grade in the area, so another redundancy package was dangled under my nose. It was after this that I started driving buses(1997). I lasted until 2005 when I took a short term contract position as a Station Officer, again, at Edinburgh Waverley. The contract was only for 6 months, but I thought that if my foot was back in the door, it might lead to something more permanent. Alas, it was not to be, so I came back to the buses, back down to the low beginners rate for another year!

My Father was a railwayman, a passenger guard stationed at Dunfermline Upper, you see. That is where my liking for the railways comes from. I always had a liking for the 'red buses' as well, when I was a lad. I always remember that I thought the Alexander bodied Daimler Fleetline was a 'handsome' looking bus, very beautiful curves, and well proportioned. (Yes, it is a bus I am describing, not a woman). I also loved the high pitch 'whine' of the Volvo Ailsa when they appeared.

I met my long term partner, Lisa, when she started working as a 'Hostess' on the X25/X15 Glasgow - Cumbernauld (Abronhill) service. I was a driver at the time on this service also. We have 2 beautiful kids, Helena, who is 6, and Callum, who is 3.

I like to sit at the computer instead of watching all the rubbish on TV nowadays, and just got the notion to start a website devoted to 'our own buses' - the buses that have served Fife since 1962. Soon to be included will be all the buses that have served Fife since buses started running on our roads. I also have the www.northernscottish.com website which is taking a while to work on due to the diversity of their buses. This site also includes all the buses of Strathtay Scottish which was formed on 18th May 1985 from parts of W. Alexanders Northern and Midland operations.

One day in the future, I hope to buy, own and run, my own preserved bus - ideally an ex Fife vehicle (an Ailsa or a Leopard would do just nice).