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Although in fact he is now a Coach Driver.
One of the things I'm very proud of is my family. So today I shall tell you about my son, J.
J dropped out of sixth form, aged 17, because he really wasn't coping with A-levels. We talked about it and said we had no problem, but he wasn't to spend the time slobbing around, he had to get a job. He was already working part-time at a local farm, and they took him on full-time. He worked hard, working with the dairy herd, generally working on the land (never send two colour blind people out together to fertilise a field - they used weed-killer), driving tractors, getting up early or coming home late. From there he got a job with a local horticultural supplier and delivered soil, gravel etc. And then he spent the following summer working for a farm contractor, going from farm to farm harvesting etc, driving even larger tractors and other similar machinery.
This was a seasonal job, so when that finished he was unemployed. He went back to the farm part-time, did some work labouring for a mate. And then he saw an advert by the local bus company for people to train as bus drivers. He was 19 and applied, partly because it was something even bigger to drive. They trained him and he passed first time, so at the age of 19 he was driving the equivalent of the London red bus. Equivalent because Stagecoach has different colours (Drayce, he was based in Stroud). ). In case anyone thinks he was too young to get his PSV licence, he was okay because he was working for a local company and the rules said that he couldn't go further than 35 miles away. Driving a regular bus service he wasn't likely to be going to far, and if one or two of the journeys were slightly further it's difficult measuring distances in rural Gloucestershire.
He worked there for two years and then approached a local coach company to see if they would employ him. They agreed, so at 21 he moved on. He started driving the school runs, and then taking groups on day trips (gardening clubs to distance garden centres when on the return the tall plants that have been bought have to travel in the toilet) and school trips (Teacher "Are you old enough to drive this?"). This was followed by UK tours and then European tours. It cost the company more for the insurance because he was under 25, but off he went. Every year he takes groups on skiing tours to Austria and Switzerland, he has been to several other European countries and he has an extensive knowledge of the best cake shops in Europe.
He has been married for 16 months - his wife is a staff nurse and they moved into their own home last December. He's now Operations Manager for the company and is currently studying for his coach operators qualification.
( Coach and driver )
One of the things I'm very proud of is my family. So today I shall tell you about my son, J.
J dropped out of sixth form, aged 17, because he really wasn't coping with A-levels. We talked about it and said we had no problem, but he wasn't to spend the time slobbing around, he had to get a job. He was already working part-time at a local farm, and they took him on full-time. He worked hard, working with the dairy herd, generally working on the land (never send two colour blind people out together to fertilise a field - they used weed-killer), driving tractors, getting up early or coming home late. From there he got a job with a local horticultural supplier and delivered soil, gravel etc. And then he spent the following summer working for a farm contractor, going from farm to farm harvesting etc, driving even larger tractors and other similar machinery.
This was a seasonal job, so when that finished he was unemployed. He went back to the farm part-time, did some work labouring for a mate. And then he saw an advert by the local bus company for people to train as bus drivers. He was 19 and applied, partly because it was something even bigger to drive. They trained him and he passed first time, so at the age of 19 he was driving the equivalent of the London red bus. Equivalent because Stagecoach has different colours (Drayce, he was based in Stroud). ). In case anyone thinks he was too young to get his PSV licence, he was okay because he was working for a local company and the rules said that he couldn't go further than 35 miles away. Driving a regular bus service he wasn't likely to be going to far, and if one or two of the journeys were slightly further it's difficult measuring distances in rural Gloucestershire.
He worked there for two years and then approached a local coach company to see if they would employ him. They agreed, so at 21 he moved on. He started driving the school runs, and then taking groups on day trips (gardening clubs to distance garden centres when on the return the tall plants that have been bought have to travel in the toilet) and school trips (Teacher "Are you old enough to drive this?"). This was followed by UK tours and then European tours. It cost the company more for the insurance because he was under 25, but off he went. Every year he takes groups on skiing tours to Austria and Switzerland, he has been to several other European countries and he has an extensive knowledge of the best cake shops in Europe.
He has been married for 16 months - his wife is a staff nurse and they moved into their own home last December. He's now Operations Manager for the company and is currently studying for his coach operators qualification.
( Coach and driver )
