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‘I found it a bit lonely working with one person in an office and by that time I had joined the Edinburgh Corporation transport pipe band,’ he said.
Many of the drivers that took the band to competitions were tour drivers. ‘They planted the seed and soon I was on my way to becoming a tour driver,’ he said.
After being a conductor for a year he went on to become a driver in 1965.
The following year he joined the STGA course and his mentor was James Anderson who was one of the original Edinburgh guides. He gained his badge in the spring of 1967.
‘Tour drivers wore a long white coat with black collar and cuffs on top of their uniform. Our hats also had a white top.
‘Many of the passengers were local people. It was quite a novelty to be taken round the Queens Drive. Then into the 70s more and more English people started coming up and by the late 70s there were increasing numbers from the Europe, the USA and Canada.’
Alan stopped driving in 1978 when he became an Inspector.
He still did some occasional guiding and played his pipes at the STGA ceilidhs at the Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh in the 1980s.
Alan became redundant in 1999 and applied to the STGA to see if he could regain his membership which had lapsed.
He recalls having to write an essay on a full 10 day tour of Scotland. He also had to calculate the driver’s hours so that he would be within the rules.
As well as that he did some practical tours with the class of 2000 class including Edinburgh sightseeing and a trip to the Borders after which he regained his valued blue badge.
A lucky break
By Helen Manning
‘One of our passengers stumbled and fell whilst taking a photo of the Skye bridge in a lay-by above Kyle of Lochalsh. He insisted he was OK but had great difficulty descending from the coach when we stopped for lunch in Portree. So I suggested our driver drop us both at Portree hospital to be checked over. It was Sunday and no X ray available but a doctor examined him and was pretty sure he had a broken leg. He recommended we go to Broadford Hospital whose X ray department was open.
‘However by this time our coach had already left with the rest of the group and was en route to the Clan Donald Centre. An extremely kind
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