Wallywock on a Trolleybus

Sixty-seven year old Derek Riggs is known as a Wallywock because he was born and lived in Wallisdown. He has fond memories from when he used to travel by trolleybus. “The main depot was in Moordown where I used to get on the bus for a penny and it would take us all to school.”
The electric buses were a big part in how many children used to travel around Bournemouth in the post-war years before they were phased out in favour of more mobile petrol buses.
“On frosty winter mornings myself and schoolmates used to see the sparks coming from the rails and in the summer the number 26 would take us to the beach.”
“When they wanted to change line the conductor would have to get off and use a pole to move the bus from one track to the other, occasionally he would have dropped a clanger!”
Derek believes that the 1930s were “certainly the best time for childhood. Cars were rare so children could play cricket and football in the streets.”
“You simply can’t wander about like you used to. You can’t leave your door open.”
“Since the building of the university the town has changed and I no longer go to the centre during nighttimes due to rising crime.”
Family is something Derek feels has helped rising crime levels during his lifetime with nowadays both mother and father out working children don’t have such a strong relationship with their parents as he remembers how his mother used to stay at home looking after him and the house whilst his father went out to work.

Life in the Day of Lewis Clarke

It’s always a struggle to get me out of bed and it’s usually down to my mum to drag the duvet away and force me out. Breakfast is ready by the time I make it downstairs still half asleep and rushing to eat it before the bus arrives at 7:30am so it’s not uncommon to see me sprint to the bus stop. I needn’t bothered to waste my energy running because as normal the bus fails to turn up on time and we’re left waiting in the cold until it eventually turns up late. The bus journey lasts an hour from Tiverton in Devon and across the county border to Taunton in Somerset arriving at Richard Huish College at 8:45am. Fortunately I hadn’t fallen asleep this morning and the pesky lower sixth students haven’t left me at the back to be awoken by the driver. First lesson is drama; one of my favourites. All the drama students get along so well and each brings their own character to the lesson, although pressure is mounting to get an assessed production piece ready to show to an audience and extra work will have to be done during a long arduous weekend rehearsal. Next on the agenda is history which I find tedious. I have no idea who anyone in the class is this year. They already seem to know each other very well making me feel quite isolated so I’m glad when it’s over and English language begins. It’s always difficult to stay on topic during a conversation in these lessons, one minute you may be talking about the first dictionary by Samuel Johnson and then the next moment conversation has moved onto the colour scheme of the teachers tie! Lunchtime arrives and gives me time to circulate the college to see the different people I know as they all meet in varied areas of the campus. Lunch consists of something I put in my bag the previous evening, it’s usually something I shouldn’t eat but after a hard day at college it’s nice to treat myself. I don’t drink hot drinks, no coffee, tea or hot chocolate so my choice of drink is a Cherry Cola, and no diet drinks under any circumstances! Finally after a long day my last lesson is geography where we learn about rocks and oil, it’s not terribly entertaining but some of it can be quite thought provoking. 4:30pm soon arrives and it’s another bus journey home but the bus doesn’t go to where I and many others want it to. The nearest stop is 7 miles from where all the Tiverton students live so we all have to get off their and hope that parents will come to collect us. Everyone likes a good moan about why we can’t have transport going back to Tiverton but all the talk never amounts to anything. Driving home my mum has it on BBC Radio Two and I can’t help to find the travel jingle slightly catchy, I don’t know why but I do have many theme tunes stored on my computer, but I guess it’s because I’m unique! There are just three of us when I get home again at 5pm, my sister, myself and my mum because dad is usually away working, but of course most attention in the house goes to the four cats that are never far away. It was a bit of a mistake having four as the mother had an unplanned pregnancy which my mum was a little surprised about (she was only one!). At 7pm I have rehearsals for a show in Tiverton with a local operatic club, this year we’re doing ‘Around the World in 80 Days’. Just like the past 7 years I’ve been given the comedy role, but I can’t complain as I enjoy overacting and having fun on a stage! Rehearsals are busy with singing, dancing and lines to be learnt within a sixth months. The rehearsal tonight ended at 9pm. When I’m about to go to bed there’s always somebody online wanting a chat and before I know it it’s 2am I always get into bed at the top of the hour and fall asleep listening to the BBC World Service. I just hope my mum manages to wake me up for another early start tomorrow.