THE
BLUE BUS TALES
were 3 children's stories,
previously available from
VALERIE'S
UK VIDEOS
£
- sorry - sold out - worn
out !
Unfortunately,
the Master Tape has worn out,
and so no more videos are
available.
The video really needs a total
remake,
which
will cost an enormous sum of
money to do it 'properly'
with state-of-the-art
on-screen graphics. Perhaps .
. . one day . . .
In the meantime, you can
still view the story that
the author wrote especially
for the last Christmas
Holiday. It appears free on
the next page,
by clicking here on "IT
WAS CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE
BUS DEPOT"
The former video advertised
below was 43 minutes long,
and contained an
introduction and 3 other
stories. It was for children
of about 3 to 6 years, (or
their grandparents!)
and included a bus safety
message at end of the video,
the safety of children on
and around buses being of
particular concern to the
author after so many years
in the industry, and seeing
something of the results of
carelessness.
We apologise to all our
little 'fans' for the
non-availability of this
recording, and thank
everyone who, over the past
several years since the
video was first released in
1992, has supported the
author by purchasing a copy.
Dozens of copies were sold
to addresses in South Wales,
and Scotland, to many
T&GWU branches around
the UK, and not a few went
abroad, to Canada, etc. Many
people bought several
copies, and we do indeed
hope that they're not all
quite worn out yet, and will
give hours of bus fun yet,
for some of the next
generation. Perhaps some
will be passed on . . .
I still enjoy writing them,
but with no more videos
projected, and no youngsters
in our family
there's no incentive to
write any more.
Perhaps
you know a child who enjoys
riding on buses . . .
see a copy of the
videocover at the end of
this page
43 MINUTES OF ENGLISH BUS
FUN FOR 3 - 6 YEAR OLDS
AND GRANDMAS &
GRANDADS !!
Do
you know where buses go to
sleep . . . . . ?
Enjoy the adventures
of Tammy, the little
blue bus with nothing
upstairs,
and Towbar Charlie,
the Depot Towtruck who
would like to tow buses
three at a time!
There's Hartley, the
brand-new double-decker
who THINKS he
knows everything,
and wise old Arthur
who certainly does know
everything,
and Celia, the old
London bus whose
Grandfather used to be a
horse bus, you know.
Four charming stories of
a bus depot and the
adventures of
the buses that live in
it. Written by a busman,
for busmen's children -
and anyone who
remembers the days when
buses enjoyed picking up
passengers.
Follow the adventures
of a whole bus depot of
delightful olde-worlde
bus characters.
Classic
Good Manners abound in
this depot. Children
simply will not want to
miss these buses!
The Story behind the Story
edited and re-written in
November 2024
I started
writing a set of
childrens's bus stories,
around I979, but it was
the early 1990's before I
managed to get some ideas
written down, and produced
onto a video in 1992. I
had been working as a
one-man driver, on city
and rural routes, for
about seven years up to
1979. After a
2 yr spell driving social
services buses for the
local authority, taking
elderly and disabled to
day centres, I later spent
9 years at Hull City
Transport, again driving
service buses all around
the city.
They have
sold in small numbers all
over the UK, and some
abroad too, in Canada and
Australia.
Feeling
that Thomas The Tank was
getting it too much all
his own way, I wanted to
do something on buses. I
was then a bus driver,
first on Leicester City
Transport in the early
70's, then East Yorkshire
Motor Services, and
latterly on Hull City
Transport until 1994. It
seemed that for children
who enjoyed buses, there
was practically nothing in
the way of stories, apart
from some well-worn songs,
with all buses in existing
stories appearing in LT
red anyway. It seemed it
was time to break that
traditional mold.
Thomas
The Tank was a bit of an
inhibition in the first
place. Being accutely
aware of the certainty
of being accused of
plagarism, I tried to
make these stories and
adventures as unlike
Thomas as possible, but
there were limits. Like
the fact that, because
the TV version of TTT
had come too late for my
family to really enjoy,
I only vaguely knew of
the Thomas stories ; I
hadn't actually seen
any! And even now, I've
never seen a full one.
So any similarities, and
I don't really think
there are any, are
purely coincidental.
Well, I would say that,
wouldn't I.
Having decided that
the bus in TTT didn't
really look like a
bus, I determined that
my buses would have
recognisable front
ends, the radiator,
windows and headlamps
forming the facial
features. And it
seemed reasonable that
a considerable amount
of more adult humour,
irony if you like,
could be introduced,
at the same time
preserving an air of
olde-worlde innocence
for the youngsters
themselves. I had in
mind then all the poor
suffering Mums and
Dads who would have to
read these daft tales
to their kiddies; the
prospect of a video
was then a long way
off.
And
so, several of the
first set of stories
came to be written
down.
It
was meeting a
colleague at work who
had his own infant
video business that
started the bus really
rolling, if you
forgive the pun. He
suggested putting the
whole thing to video,
with animated
cartoons, mixed in
with real models,
sets, of a bus
station, depot, etc,
to give different
levels of interest.
Another colleague
was a model maker,
who did a fabulous
job on the 'sets',
as we pretentiously
called them. Another
colleague, a lady
watercolour artist,
painted the
backgrounds, and
provided a large
enough room to set
up and film in, as
well as gallons of
coffee and endless
delicious scones!
Those colleagues,
good friends, I am
indebted to. The
video in its present
form, with all its
innocence and
olde-worlde charm,
would not have been
made without them.
Many ideas flowed
from them all.
They
are; a video maker
(the late) Rob
Walters, who
became the
proprietor of his
own Dovedale Studio;
Brian Goldsmith, the
model maker. Brian's
wife, Jan, sang the
songs on the
video. And
Stephanie Gowan, who
painted the
backdrops and
designed the first
video cover that got
the project off the
ground.
Lastly,
when the video was
all but complete, we
needed music to the
songs I had written.
Another
bus driver, Simon
Weightman, did the
honours, and still
gets his legged
pulled for it!
To
them all, and many
others that helped
along the way, with
encouragement,
ideas, and lots of
goodwill, I bestow
many, many warm
thanks. The dream
may have been mine;
they fulfilled it.
But, I must say
that without such
a strong interest
amongst kiddies
for buses as well
as those infernal
trains, there
would have been no
point in any of
it. My audience,
whether toddlers
laughing at daft
antics, or Mums
and Dads chuckling
at the way the bus
industry and bus
services
everywhere get a
good dollop of fun
poked at them,
especially that
dreaded breed of
busman, the
Inspector, they
are the real and
only judge. I am
proud to quote a
Grandfather in
North Wales who
bought a copy for
his grandson, who
wrote to say,
amongst other
things, "......and
obviously written
by a busman!"
You have been
warned . . . It is
rather infantile ...
and worse!
Enjoy!.
Robert Haywood
The stories have not
been released as a book,
though I do occasionally
get asked about one. I'm
not that fussy about
there being a book now,
but if there are any
publishers out there who
could live with it also
being out on video at
one time . . . . .
Probaly Not.
TAMMY'S SONG
Hands Up ! And
eyes open wide.
All aboard, till
I'm full up inside.
There's no need to
push -
I'm not in a rush
-
My tickets are
fresh -
And it's four-pence
a ride !
Four charming
stories of a bus depot
and the adventures of
the buses that live in
it. Written by a busman,
for busmen's children -
and anyone who remembers
the days when buses
enjoyed picking up
passengers. Children
simply will not want to
miss these buses!
£-sorry - sold out - no
longer available on video
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