I am old enough to remember a time when you didn't pay as you entered a bus, but sat and waited for the conductor or conductress to come and collect your fare. The latter were known as clippies.

Those were the days when smoking was allowed on buses so you can imagine the awful smell. It was always a smell of cigarettes mixed with disinfectant. The smell clung to the fabric seats.

, and if I was lucky I'd get the front seat so I could pretend to be driving the bus. I loved that birds-eye view of everything.

I had to take the bus to school, which we nicknamed a cattle truck because it was rickety and rattled terribly. Actually I had to catch two buses to school. The first was a normal bus, and the second was the one laid on by the council specifically for school runs. It was manic on those school buses and I often witnessed fights or arguments. I went to an all-girls school so that explains it all!

Do you remember catching a school bus? Do you think bus services have improved generally?