BIRD'S EYE
Page 48
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VIEW By the Hawk Grounds for Appeal Lord Muirshiel knows his Scotland. So who better to vouch for the story he told delegates at the CM Conference at Dunblane last week?
A bus operator on an island off the west coast was fined £10. His vehicle apparently had no horn, no windscreen wiper, no speedometer, no fire extinguisher, no efficient handbrake and exhibited no road fund licence disc.
The charges, his Lordship said, taken in order were obviously irrelevant. No vehicle emitting the sounds that come from the passengers and the moving parts of a Lewis bus had any need for a horn, A windscreen wiper was a luxury when the driver did not look through the windscreen, and what good was a speedometer when everybody knew that the bus had only one speed flat out and that at that it took an hour for the 10 miles or so from Stornoway to Tiumpan Head? That anything could take fire, or, having taken fire, could remain burning in the Lewis weather was too ridiculous to contemplate, Lord Muirshiel continued, and of what use was a handbrake when the driver always used both hands to illustrate the point of a good story?
Finally, his Lordship said amid laughter, there was no point in exhibiting a licence when everybody knew not only who owned the bus but what the driver's greatgrandfather's name was, what he paid for the bus, and when he was hoping to get another second-hand tyre for the offside front wheel, which had been giving trouble "ever since it took away that milestone near Knock ".
Speedy Operation According to our post—and
from comments we have heard—many people wondered at the speed with which "The Commercial Motor" managed last week to publish not only the conference papers but the discussion that followed just over 24 hours after the event. Working in shifts, Sam Buckley, John Matthews and Norman Tilsley between them sent 6,000 words over the wires by telex to London—a machine having been installed at Dunblane specifically for this purpose
So Sad The look on the face of kilted (MacGregor tartan) Ian Sherriff (above), Dunfermline Corporation's transport manager, is not exactly a happy one. Ian was M.C. at the ceilidh after the conference at Dunblane last week. Why the pained look? It was not so much the fact that a Sassenach (Norman Tilsley of CM staff) was trying to sing "I Belong to Glasgow ", but that he was pouring so much water into the whisky, that saddened this redoubtable Scot.
Bridge Precautions One of our northern office
reporters, returning from the CM Fleet Management Conference via the Forth Road Bridge, discovered that a strong easterly gale was causing the bridgemaster some concern. The 69 m.p.h. wind had earlier ripped off the cab roof of one vehicle crossing the bridge, while another lost its engine cowling. A speed limit of 30 m.p.h. was thus imposed and bridge patrolmen paired pantechnicons and other high, lightly loaded vehicles with heavies for the 2,738 yd. journey over the water.
This was the second occasion since the bridge was opened that special action has had to be taken—the other being some four weeks ago. It has now been decided that winds of 35 m.p.h. and over call for these special precautions.
Albert Hall Next? In its 21st anniversary year the London Transport Managers' Club organized its largest-yet Ladies' Festival on Saturday. It was at Grosvenor House, but shortly beforehand (because of the heavy demand for tickets) the function had to be transferred from the ballroom to the larger Grand Hall. It prompted the wife of this year's chairman, Mrs. Claude Massey, to remark: "If the Festival keeps growing like this we will soon need the Albert Hall."
Family Atmosphere, One of the claims made by the George Ewer group is that despite its growth—the group now has share capital totalling more than m.— it has always retained the family atmosphere. I would certainly go along with that. At the group's seventeenth dinner and dance in London last week-end, the happy family atmosphere pervading all the member companies of (the group was very noticeable. The George Ewer dinner and dance is held at 18-month intervals, and is a very lavish affair—complete with cabaret. It is also an occasion when long-service awards are presented, and 13 of these, for more than 25 years' -service, were presented on Saturday.