73 bus stories.

Over 1 million people travel into London each day. Given 85% of these journeys are made on public transport there is no doubt we all have bus stories.

And lots of us have stories about the No.73 bus which runs the route between Victoria and Tottenham.

The old No.73 Routemaster was offically retired from London streets on Friday 3rd September, 2004.  I have been gathering stories about it since July 2003.

73 stories
each around 73 words
about the 73 bus

A story can be whatever you want - about being on the bus, waiting at the bus stop or being on the street watching it go by. They can be observational, real events, daydreams or simply what you like or don't like about it.

Add them here and I will add them to the bus or the street or the bus stop on the 73 bus website. Please add where you were, when it was and who you are to help locate the story.

You can also add more random bus thoughts to my 73 bus blog.

Being on public transport is about being in London. It's about finding your way around, getting lost, meeting people, watching people, being happy, annoyed,  scared or just bored.  It's about being in a city and being part of a city. Thanks for adding your story of travelling in London to this collective storytelling blog.

Comments

[james]

I think the bus is kind of like a mini city.
Different social groups occupy different areas or neighbourhoods on the bus; young people, adventurous tourists and dealers upstairs; the elderly, parents with toddlers, successful laden shoppers and the nervous tourist downstairs- I think it is defined by the ability if the 'citizens' to negotiate the terrain of their mini city.
The aisles are like the streets standing face to face or sliding past with all personal space lost, the platform is the city square it’s traffic controlled by the conductor, the seats the safe haven, a defensible space to read or text or relax and watch the other world go by.

[Jane]

Short trips.
I jumped on a bus at lunchtime - any bus would have done, I just wanted to get along Oxford Street to Selfridges - it was the number 73. You don't care about the bus number if you're going a short distance. Especially in the city centre. There, so many buses run along the same roads. They're almost identity-less. But, for long distances you must know exactly what number you need to get.
14.08.03. Oxford Street to Selfridges. (bottom floor, middle seat, right bench)

[Kris]

The dog.
A dog boards, followed by a man. They are connected by a harness. The man does not look around. He looks up and to the right somewhere, at nothing. But that's the thing, he's staring precisely at nothing. And the dog looks at no one. Strange, because that's what dogs do in crowded spaces; they look at everyone. But this one just moves forward, as if going to work, but with fewer worries.
Researcher. 17.07.03. Right bench seat.

[Richard]

Sleepy child.
I try to keep my son awake. He’s worn out from a hard morning’s play at the indoor playground. If he falls asleep I’ll have to carry him off the bus and manage his sister in her pushchair. His eyelids are struggling.
“Keep those eyes open, Tom”.
Another passenger helps by talking to him.
Just five more minutes.
We reach Angel and he’s still awake. He jumps off the bus, full of energy.
Lawyer. Newington Green to Angel. 22/06/03.

[Bob]

Accidents.
It’s very easy to have accidents. The worst offenders are taxis, particularly in Oxford Street. I think I have had accidents with about seven or eight taxis. One was possibly my fault, but they just swing in front of you, drive in front of you, do u-turns. They don’t indicate. They just stop. Most taxi drivers don’t like buses and a lot of the drivers don’t like taxis.
Driver. 6/08/03. Tottenham Garage.

[Bashka]

Assault.
"There were two guys. They were drunk. They got on the bus and started swearing. When we came to South Tottenham, they wanted to get off the bus but unfortunately I had just rung two bells and my driver pulled away. When we got to Seven Sisters they started beating me up. They lit a cigarette and burnt my hand. They pushed me and I fell down."
Conductor. 6/08/03. South Tottenham to Seven Sisters.

[kat]

Outrage.
The bus is full. As no one rings the bell, the conductor double rings it to indicate to the driver not to stop. As the bus approaches a full stop on Euston Road, I see people moving forward. Their faces register the bus is not stopping. Short and sharp, an outraged yell catches the attention of passengers around me and we all turn to look at the people who missed a ride.
Researcher. 10/06/03.Tottenham Court Road to Newington Green.

[Ruth]

Late home.
On a Friday night on the top of the 73 you often get people who've just had a drink after work, having loud conversations on their mobile phones.  A woman sitting behind me the other night was phoning her boyfriend to say she was on her way home. 
" I've only had a couple of drinks..." (pause)
"Well I'm sorry..." (pause)
"What's the matter?" (pause)
"Don't be like that".
I think he hung up.
4.08.03. Interior Designer. Tottenham Court Road to Kings Cross.

[Kat]

The Urban Preacher.
The bus is slowed in traffic outside the FCUK store. The sound of a man preaching from the Bible using a megaphone penetrates the bus. I follow the noise to a man outside the store. He is confronting shoppers. The crowd parts around him like water. Everyone on the upper deck is staring. We watch until the bus edges past. The man is invisible to everyone except us on the bus.
3/07/03 Gower Street to Victoria.

[Margery]

Body language.
"Most of the time, I keep my eyes open to read body language to tell you who’s coming off and who isn’t. They might press the bell or they might not press the bell. So you’ll do that for them. You can see a confused person. You can see a person who is lost or who wants to go somewhere else but doesn’t want to ask. You can see all this and more."
Conductor. 15/08/03.

[Alan]

City knowledge.
"You build up a good knowledge and database [of the city] and you are there to help people at the end of the day.
A hell of a lot of characters do that job as conductor. Some people are a bit eccentric. We used to have one guy a few years ago that coming up to Christmas time would come to work in a Santa Claus uniform. I think people take a lot of pride in their work."
Conductor. 6.08.03.

[Gerard]

Daydreaming.
The thing which I like about travelling on buses, is the thing I like about
all forms of public transport: the opportunity it affords to switch off. I can board the bus, select a seat, then sit and stare while my mind wanders off. And because time spent travelling is such a 'non' time, spent in such a 'non' place, the feeling of wasting time rarely hangs heavy upon me. The daydreamers safe-haven. Student. 16/07/03. Tottenham Court Road to Islington.

[Kat]

The Photo.
A woman boarded the bus having run down the street for it. She had her handbag in one hand and a colour photo in the other. She fell onto the bench seat, thrust the photo at the conductor and breathlessly said.
‘Can you tell me where this building is? I have absolutely no idea.’
The Conductor looked at it.
‘It’s not far.’
‘Will you tell me when we get there. I’m so late.’
11.08.03. Oxford Street to Stoke Newington.

[James]

Legroom.
I have trouble sitting straight in bus seats and I can never sit near the window. I have to sit on the edge of the seat with my knees jutting out into the aisle. So if I am travelling alone it means I have to get up to let someone in and out of the window seat. It also means I sometimes trip people who are standing or walking past. Architect. 3/07/03. Kings Cross to Islington.

[David.]

Near misses.
"I have had loads of near misses with people nearly falling off. I mean some people just step back off a bus when it’s moving. I did have a person fall over . They just got on the bus, asked where it was going, I told them and they stepped back off it and the bus was moving. Of course they fell over.
You wouldn’t believe where people come from sometimes. They come from nowhere."
73 Conductor and now Driver. 15.08.03. Oxford Street.

[Brian]

The Runners.
"When I was driving we used to pick up the office cleaners and they used to get up very early in the morning, 5 o'clock in the morning to go clean the offices in the city in London and we used to pick them up. If one of them missed the bus and you saw her running you would stop and pick her up. We called ‘em runners and we picked ‘em up. There was no traffic, so it made no difference. But they don’t seem to want to do it today. You miss a bus, you miss a bus. I seen people with these front loaders and drivers shut the door and they won’t bother letting 'em in. They just pull away." Taxi driver and Ex-73 bus driver. 1.08.03.

[Kat]

A guided tour.
A young boy, about 8 years old and his grandfather sat on the upstairs front seat near me. I could hear them talking. The boy was asking questions about where his grandfather used to take his grandmother when they came to London. The old man used the bus route to point out special places, tell stories and teach a bit of history to his grandson. It was very interesting to me too as I gazed out the window following his pointing fingers. Kat. 5.09.03. Oxford Street to Victoria.

[jozey]

On the bus today I was sitting immersed in the new Indie broadsheet and someone poked my shoulder. Fondled it, almost. I thought which friend it could be, getting on the morning route to work, but it wasn't; it was a young man wanting to sit down. Young black men rarely touch middleaged white women on buses, and I wondered if he was deaf, or irritated, or just used to touching instead of talking. If the bus was still in Hackney someone touched like that might have started a fight. But it was Islington by then - different rules.

[Harriet]

Journey from Tottenham Court Road to Newington Green 12.09am 4 October.

When we first sat down I noticed a man wearing a long green faux leather skirt with a slit up to his knickers held together with duct tape. He had a thick silver band painted over his eyes. We tried to guess where he would be getting off - I said Angel. We also wondered what his image would look like when he stood up. I won - he got off at Angel with his friends.

Later on the journey at the stop near to Get Stuffed a man sitting on the bench seat started having a fit at a man standing over him, "don't point that mobile at me d'you think I wanna get cancer, you're gonna give me cancer pointing that thing at me" (strong scottish accent, wild and staring eyes, paranoid sounding). The man behind me joked to his wife, "you could start a scare that way."

[Liam]

I have done the entire route from the Tottenham(Swan) to Victoria station and back again and I must say that I think its Londons best bus route, perhaps its because its one of only a few routemaster routes left, how everybody who travels on the journey loves it. However I suggest anyone who enjoys the journey better make the most of it, as next summer, Artics are to take over the route, and the number of buses are to be cut to 41 from 55, and the route is to be cut back to only go from Stoke Newington to Victoria, taking away the Tottenham end of the route. I am mourning a sad passing already!!

[Kelly White]

During the war, I worked as an aprentience in a hat shop making hats for London’s elite. I actually won an award for a theme hat I made for Lady Howe. The shop was just off the 73 route. During the darkest days of the blitz, the heroic drivers of the 73 bus showed Hitler and those nazi’s that there brand of cruelty would not break our British spirit. I later opened my own hat shop in Toronto, but it failed shortly afterwards, my stylings were just to wild for such a conservative town.

But the real reason why I’m writing is that I met my soul mate on the 73 bus. I met a Canadian airman on that route. Over the course of 3 weeks I would see him every morning and we would chat about Canada and his vast estate that his family owned in Ontario. Eventually he gained the courage and asked me out, and I accepted and the rest as they say is history.

Seeing your Internet site brought back all those golden memories of Ron and our early days of our love for each other. I just wish Ron was still alive to have enjoyed it with me. But unfortunately Ron was killed over Germany in 1945. His Halifax Bomber was on a bombing run over Dresden, when they were shot down.

[kat]

A Random act of kindness.
I saw the bus approaching. I ran to the stop, digging out my £1 coin as I ran to make a quick attempt to buy a ticket before it arrived at the stop. There was a crowd of people waiting so I didn't want to miss the bus but also anticipated a few minutes for loading so I should make it. Then as I pushed money in and pressed buttons - nothing happened. Well nothing happened in the machine. What happened next took me half a bus ride later to try and work out. In a matter of seconds, a man in a hooded jacket pushed in front of me and started digging at my coin in the machine slot with his keys. As a matter of explanation he shlowed me his £1 coin in his other hand. I think I watched him dumbfounded for a few seconds wondering if he was an inspector, conductor or bloke trying to steal my bus fare. Then he got it out, handed it to me and we all ran for the bus. So the machine was broken. He had already saved his £1 coin with the key trick and set out to save mine.

[Gary Harding]

What a great tale from Kelly White. My dad flew in the RCAF and spent time in London during the War. Allot of his mates shacked up with local tarts and some even brought them home to Canada as wives. My mom used to talk non-stop about the men she used to meet along Euston Road, including my Dad. As you know money was tight in those days. To make ends meet she used to perform "oral" sessions in exchange for free rides. My dad used to say that the Euton Street bus was nickname the Swallow Express due the conductors on that line, who used to get very upset about any type of spillage on-board.
great site. brought back the memories..

[jason chann]

While on the bus lastnight, going down Gower Street, these two guys got on the bus, who had obviously been drinking and were very loud. They were jumping around on the platform, so the conductor, a young Scottish bloke, told them to take their seats. And so they did. But one of the guys started muttering to his mate, "I'm gonna kick that conductor's fucking head in!". Just when I and other passengers started fearing for the conductor, the conductor started taking off his machine and asking the abusive passenger, "You want tae fucking go ahead?", and to much of my suprise, the conductor starting scrapping with him on the floor, the conductor getting the better hand, picked up the abusive passenger up by the back of his jumper, dragged him to the platform and physically threw him head first off the bus. I was in total shock, but it was good to see a conductor beating the abusive passenger up, rather than the other way around, for once.

[James B]

Crying, Inspector?
Sat at the back of the bus on the lower level is something I only like to do when the bus is empty. The views are great then, but when the bus is full, London-passing is replaced with prams and shopping bags. Sat at the back one day, when 3 ticket inspectors rambled on, I watched an argument unfold between a passenger and one of the inspectors. The man's ticket had expired, the ones you buy in central London before you hop on, and he had been asked to pay a £5 fine. Not so bad, you think, as he'd probably been travelling on the same ticket all day. Not so, and the inspector listened to his excuses calmly, before explaining to the offending passenger that he was being fined £5, but could appeal thereafter. The irate passenger eventually stormed off the bus, forcing the doors open when we were stopped at lights. The inspector, obviously tense after the exchange, returned to the front of the bus where the other inspectors waited. They shared a joke, before he turned away from his colleagues to wipe away a tear. Waterloo to Brixton, March 2004.