By Keith Bruce
Street trips. We don’t seem to do them any more. Yet they were all the rage in Shields during the
fifties and sixties. Entire communities used to go out for the day together on 29 seat Bedford ‘trip
buses’ – we never called them coaches – usually provided by Taylor Bothers or Priory. All
organised by one of the neighbours in the street. Probably a Betty.
It was typically during the long school summer holidays, and took weeks to arrange. Lists of names
were made and ticked off. Money was collected and recorded in a tally book. Excited kids counted
down the days (we didn’t work in ‘sleeps’ back then) until the great morning arrived and we all
hoped for decent weather.
Packed lunches of sea-side sandwiches were prepared consisting mainly of boiled eggs and Stork
margarine. Only they weren’t called ‘packed lunches’. This was our bait.
Whole families would gather in streets like Limewood Road to wait for the trip buses. The throng
steadily growing as departure time arrived. Betty had the book to make sure everyone was there.
The chatter from all the kids growing louder the longer they had to wait until, eventually, the
chugging of Bedford engines was heard and two old buses turned into the road to be greeted by a
huge cheer.
We stormed aboard as soon as the door slid open, kids tumbling noisily inside, three to each double
seat. The grown ups stayed at the front but most of the kids preferred the back seats. Apart from that
jug lugged lad with NHS specs who sat on the engine cover next to the driver.
Then it was off to far flung exotic destinations like Morpeth, Saltwell Park or some recreation
ground near Blyth with a concrete ship [is that still there?]
And the journey seemed to take forever. We spent all morning trundling through neighbouring
towns and high streets with the kids singing. Then someone would shout, “Ooh, they’ve got a
Woolworths!” Nowadays it would probably be ‘Gregg’s’ but time moves on much faster than those
old trip buses ever did.
Eventually we’d arrive at the destination and all the kids were off the buses first. Followed by
parents, aunties and uncles carrying blankets, flasks and bait. The first thing the womenfolk did was
find out where the tea hut was so they could have a constant supply of hot water.
The blankets were used by families to stake their claim on a patch of grass. In view of the lake at
Saltwell Park or near the paddling pool not far from the Big Hill in Morpeth. And there we stayed
for the rest of the day, playing happily in the great outdoors, rolling down hills, plodging in pools or
being threatened by angry swans on the boating lake until it was time to get sleepily back on the trip
bus for the long journey home.
When I reached adult life I was shocked to learn you can get to all these places in about an hour on
public transport. But no one bothers any more. We’ve all got a car each now and the days of a street
outing are fading memories. Despite this being the ‘Social Media’ ageS we are not as sociable as we
used to be.
