NEWS STORY: APRIL 2007

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Northwards News

All aboard for Richard's day down Memory Lane...

Richard's trip down memory lane

Ninety-two year old Richard Hyde from Newton Heath had a special bygone day on the buses this week, after winning a Northwards competition for VIP treatment at the Manchester Museum of Transport in Cheetham.

Richard saw the competition in his copy of the 'Northwards Natter', the magazine sent to all our residents.

Lou Mitchell, the editor of Northwards Natter said: "The prize was a VIP tour and afternoon tea for four people at the museum. When we pulled Richard's competition entry out of the box, we were delighted to discover that he had been a Manchester bus driver in the 1940s and 1950s, with some great memories to share - the fact that Richard won was really fitting."

The day out took Richard and three of his family members back over 60 years to when he was a bus driver in the post war era. Richard drove the number 210 bus from Piccadilly to Hyde for over ten years.

Richard said: "I started on the buses in 1948, when I was 27 and they were some of the best days of my life. It was a real pleasure being a driver in those days."

He remembered, "I had to drive through Belle Vue, which was a hotspot for families having days out at the zoo and fair - it was quite spectacular back then. And when I was a driver, we had to be smart and clean or the boss wouldn't let you go to work. We had a really dapper uniform to wear and we were proud of it."

The volunteers at the Manchester Museum of Transport were just as delighted to have Richard come for the day. Volunteer Clive Arnold said, "To personally show Richard around the museum meant a lot - he is such a sprightly character! It was a great day - and to top it all, we think we might have found the bus that Richard drove, back in the day. Things like this make it all the more worthwhile for us."

The Museum of Transport, Manchester has one of the largest collections of its kind in the country, with long forgotten vehicles from Victorian times to modern day public transport. It's open to the public every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

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