Our Drivers
our drivers
The Little White Bus would not function if it were not for our team of dedicated drivers,
Local people, many of whom are volunteers.
It is our privilege to provide this service for locals and tourists alike.
Before retiring I was Sales Director at Proctor and Gamble.
Why LWB?
Being able to pre book a Keld to Reeth bus at 0800am on Saturday was what piqued my interest. Without it, our group (8 of us) would have struggled to make the logistics of walking the Herriott way work. I spent 20 mins talking to the driver about the company, how it works and signed up as a volunteer driver there and then.
I am David and I live in Gravesend in Kent, am married to Claire and have two daughters and two grandchildren.
I currently work 3 days a week for the London Borough of Bromley as a Principal Transport Projects Manager and have my own road safety auditing business. I also volunteer for a local charity, Chatham Royal Marines Cadet Unit, as the Treasurer.
I began volunteering for LWB two and a half years ago and come up approximately every two months to drive the Wensleydale Flyer for two days.
I first visited Wensleydale as a young child in the late 1960s and it’s been in my blood ever since and who can blame me? So, volunteering for LWB ticks a number of boxes for me, an interest in public transport (both as a hobby and in a professional capacity), wanting to help and support the local community and my love of Wensleydale and the wider Yorkshire Dales…., oh, and to escape the rat race of the South East!
It’s particularly satisfying and rewarding to hear how much the service is appreciated and I enjoy meeting new people as well our regulars……..and the odd gifts of biscuits and chocolates have been very welcome!
Prior to moving to Swaledale, I worked for 38 years in the construction industry as a Mechanical Building Services Consultant Engineer. Basically, this entailed designing all things mechanical you might find inside a building, from houses to hospitals and all types of buildings in between. A very interesting and often very challenging job.
I became a volunteer driver for the LWB as I could see how important a service it is, providing a lifeline for many residents who have no other means of transport.
As well as meeting and getting to know many who live in the dale as a result of becoming a driver, I have also had the opportunity to meet many very interesting visitors from all corners of the globe, who while visiting the Dales have made use of the LWB service, either intentionally or unintentionally in the case of a stranded family I came across one evening near Keld. Their car had broken down and had no phone signal to call for help. The couple had two very tired young children with them as well as the mother-in-law and a car full of luggage and food for their holiday cottage stay.
Fortunately, their destination was on route so the contents of the car were transferred onto the bus and 30 minutes later they were safely dropped off at their home for the week, so we could claim to be the fifth emergency service after the AA!
I worked in Hospitality, brewing and distilling for 48 years.
I volunteer to drive the little white bus because I want to ensure this vital service can continue. I meet some lovely people and get a “grandstand” view of the most amazing scenery.
I spent 30 years as an Outdoor Education teacher, and manager of outdoor learning centres in Northumberland, County Durham and North Yorkshire.
After retiring and moving to Bellerby about 5 years ago I noticed that LWB were interested in taking on voluntary drivers. As a minibus driver during my teaching career, and now with some free time, I felt able to offer my services and have been pleased to be able to support my adopted Dales community ever since.
As a teacher I spent many years leading groups from the towns into the countryside and enjoying the support and kindness of the residents. By driving for LWB I can repay a little of that kindness.
As a driver I enjoy conversation with local and visiting travellers…from all over the world in fact. I remember a particular Swiss customer who was waiting on a cold wet winter night for the last bus from Keld to Richmond, after walking from Kirby Stephen. “Thank goodness you have come” he said. “I have never been so cold and wet. It isn’t like this in Switzerland. I didn’t believe that there would really be a bus service here.
I first started volunteering to drive the Little White Bus when we moved here from Leeds 10 years ago.
I had retired from the Civil Service and wanted to contribute in some way to the beautiful place we now live in. I was shocked that Wensleydale had very little public transport and wanted to do my bit to ensure that as good a service as possible remained.
These days I only do a couple of half days a month as though I am retired, I’m busier than ever! Every little bit of volunteering helps to make a difference and there is no obligation or pressure to do more.
Over the years I’ve met some lovely visitors to the Dales, and when you get to know your regulars, you realise that it really is a lifeline to them. Also, there is the stunning scenery.
Volunteering for the Little White Bus is hugely rewarding in many ways; “giving back” is one of the pillars of health.
The service provides a lifeline for many irrespective of their age. Getting to know the regulars and talking to the tourists who use the bus is a joy; every journey is different, and the bus is never quiet – at times the bus is almost like the United Nations, such are the different nationalities that use the bus throughout the year. Every time I drive up the Dale, the scenery is different, irrespective of the weather.
If you want to help others, there can’t be a more satisfying way, than volunteering as a driver for the Little White Bus – give it a go.
I worked as an engineer for an international company that designed and built air pollution control equipment.
In retirement I wanted a hobby that got me out and about without getting wet! It’s also great to see the dales in all seasons. It’s rewarding to provide a transport service to older (and younger) folk to enable them to get to work, the shops, appointments and to visit friends or family, keeping the area alive and economically viable
Several older passengers who live alone and were previously unknown to each other have made friends through their regular use of the LWB. It’s been great to see these friendships develop to the extent that several now take holidays together.
I am a bridge engineer, designing, constructing bridges around the world.
I signed up to be a driver to help foster a community that I will be retiring to having spent most of my working life (40+ years) away from home.
I get a lot of compliments about my Spotify playlist. An eclectic selection. Top scorers in terms of compliments:
Mozart – Letter duet from Marriage of Figaro (also played by Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) over the Tannoy in The Shawshank Redemption).
Neil Young – Heart of Gold
K.D. Lang – Constant craving
I am a retired police officer
I volunteer for the Little White Bus to help maintain a vital service for locals and visitors to The Dales plus it is the office with the best views in the country.
I had two passengers unknown to each other before the journey, one Australian and one American. They started talking about where in the world they had worked and travelled both listing an impressive number of countries from just about every continent. One asked the other where is the most beautiful place you’ve ever been, the answer was of course ‘Swaledale that’s why I’m back again’, the other agreed and said she was doing the Coast2Coast for the third time. We get return visitors from all over the world who clearly agree with these two.
Before I retired, I was a construction project manager for a social housing provider in Nottingham. Covered an area from Northampton to Skegness.
When I did the Hawes primary school run, we did joke Tuesdays. On the Monday I’d tell them a few jokes and I’d ask all of them to have at least one joke the following day. Then it got to them rating my jokes out of 10. Always a good laugh and I managed to rein in my competitiveness. I’ll give them 2 out of 10!!
There was the time on the Swaledale run, when I thought the bus was empty on a dark winter’s night. George Micheal’s Careless Whisper came on the radio. Being empty, I cranked the volume right up and blared it out at the top of my voice. At the end I turned the radio off and said very loudly “ya can’t beat a bit o’ George”. Then a little old lady poked her head up above the seats from the back of the bus and said “did you enjoy that? I thought you’d gone crackers”!
I used to be a Geography Teacher at a school in Chigwell on the Essex/ London border. My wife and I retired and moved to Redmire and not long afterwards the bus service on our side of the Dale was removed. We saw an advert on a bus stop asking for volunteer drivers. As I was used to driving the school minibus on fieldtrips in this part of the country, I was ‘told’ that I could do that. At the time I had plenty of time so volunteered to get me out of the house!
Retired as headteacher at a secondary school in Darlington in 2003 although I continued in education until 2015.
I passed my PCV test in 1995 and drove coaches in my spare time including trips to France.
I have always enjoyed driving especially coaches but, as I am 80 soon, I decided to give up that licence and stick to minibuses.