Red noses

"The highest paid bus crew in London"

The much-trailed Red Nose Day dawned wet and miserable in London but the spirits of Londoners weren’t dampened as they came to work in their pyjamas, carried out sponsored events, made collections and raised money.

In London we ran the Commissioner’s RM1005 on route 24 all day, raising several hundred pounds in the process from delighted passengers. The bus ran between Hampstead Heath and Pimlico just as route 24 has done for just over 100 years.

For the final round trip at 1500, Peter Hendy and I crewed the bus and were followed by a TV camera crew who are making a programme for broadcast in a few months time. It is about staff and passengers of course so surprised and delighted members of the public and bus enthusiasts all got the chance to appear on camera. Friday’s shooting will form part of one episode focussing on buses.

Our TV Producer in front of the camera
for a change, as a bus conductor

The characters and reactions rewarded the film-makers’ patience with the young and old spontaneously commenting on “this nice old bus” whilst I observed it was probably the highest-paid bus crew in the history of London Transport - whether or not driven by a 'Knight of the road'!

The smile says it all..

Children and adults all wanted to use the 1950s Gibson ticket machine and eventually even our TV Producer decided she wanted to try her hand at being a conductor. When it dawned on her there were two decks and a stop every other lamp post, she really did appreciate what a busy job it is.

Eventually night fell and RM1005 went home to bed. Londoners went home and switched on their televisions to Comic Relief. By the time it ended a record £75.1m had been raised which is an amazing total in such difficult economic times. For us – all in a day’s work!

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