TIMES?reporter Shannon Hards speaks to long-serving volunteer and retiring chairman of Tavistock?Country Bus Douglas Humphrey about his time with the organisation and the many happy memories it has given him and his wife Joanna.

MEMBERS of Tavistock Country Bus have wished a fond farewell to retiring chairman Douglas Humphrey, after 34 years of loyal voluntary service.

The country bus committee gathered at the Blacksmith’s Arms in Lamerton recently to say farewell to Douglas and his wife Joanna, who was the organisation’s secretary.

For the last five years,?Douglas has been chairman of the organisation.

Douglas and Joanna joined Tavistock?Country Bus just a few months after it was formed 1981.

Douglas said: ‘Tavistock Country Bus was set up by two people, Mike Wills and Cllr Roy Reynolds. I joined a few months after it was set up in October 1981.

‘We had a second-hand vehicle which was a converted bread van and we had a driver operated door which meant the driver could push a lever to open the door and pull it to close it – that was the height of modernisation that our bus had!

‘Mike moved away and Roy worked on the organisation for many years, until he did what most people do and died of old age. My wife and I have now moved to be near my mother-in-law as she is 84 and needs a bit more support. Driving from Kelly Bray to Newton Abbot was a bind, especially if we were doing it for an emergency – so we bit the bullet and moved but that meant we had to retire.

‘There’s a mixture of happiness and sadness at the moment – we have all this free time that we didn’t have before but we are missing all the people we met over the years.

‘While we were there, Tavistock Country Bus went from being a tatty bread van conversion to a custom made Mercedes Benz – so I would call that progress.’

Douglas said that he had many happy memories from driving the bus for so many years.

‘There was a chappy who lived in Morwellham and we used to pick him up every Thursday. He would turn up with boxes of vegetables which he sold so we would drop them off on the way – we were a delivery service too!

‘I remember he used to have the winter warmer cough sweets, he offered me one once and it felt like it was stripping the flesh from the back of my throat – I didn’t have another one ever again after that!’

Tavistock Country Bus now has an informative website where prospective passengers can check the timetables.

Douglas said that setting up the website was great promotion: ‘The website was set up five or six years ago and we used a donation from Devon County Council to do it – they had asked for applications from community transport groups.

‘We didn’t think we would get the money but thought that we should have a website. At the time we didn’t have any advertising, the only thing we had was the bus and we didn’t think many people would see if for long enough to read what was on it!

‘It really paid dividends. We had lots of people contact us about the service. At the beginning of December we had a lady from Japan contact us and ask if we would be able to pick her up from Exeter St David’s and take her to the Two Bridges Hotel –as it happened we had a trip running on that day so she booked two seats!

‘Usually we wouldn’t go into the grounds of the hotel but she asked if the driver would take her to the door – on it day it could be one of a few drivers but any of them would be happy to do it.’

Douglas said that they had also received a level of press after going online.

‘Four or five years ago we were contacted by a journalist who worked for the Observer. He was intrigued about our Dawlish service which only runs several times a year. The story was published online and it was dubbed the rarest bus journey in England.

‘There was another journey that we ran which was only able to travel when the tide was out as it was a coastal route.’

Having shared a bus depot with Tavistock Area Support Services (TASS), Douglas said that he often received help from former TASS?manager Andy Lyle and that he and the other drivers helped TASS when possible.

He added: ‘Expansion for the group would be very nice as we are restricted to 16 seats but we can’t go any bigger unless the drivers are given more training and then they would need to be able to go on a driver competence course which is 35 hours per year and another ongoing expense.

‘If we did upgrade to a larger bus it wouldn’t be able to reach some of the rural places we go. A few years ago we tested some lovely 16-seater low floor buses which were sent down from up-country. They were lovely but we couldn’t reach where we needed to go in them.

‘Newbridge in Gunnislake is just about wide enough for one car and with that bus we had about 5cm either side – the current bus is 2m wide so we have a bit more room – about 18 inches either side. People don’t expect to see buses down there.

‘The other bus was a Fiat Sashay front-wheel drive and when we get into Tavistock we have to go around the Bedford Square mini roundabout but the bus couldn’t do it and we shouldn’t really reverse to get around the mini roundabout!

‘It wouldn’t go around the Spring Hill bend either so once we realised that it was the final decision maker. The buses were lovely but if we had them we wouldn’t be able to do the job properly.’

Douglas said the organisation is always looking for more drivers and committee members.

‘We need more drivers but no one gets paid. I don’t think its a very strenuous job and being on the committee, you only had to meet four or five times a year unless something drastic happened.

‘Bigger buses lose the community aspect if we were taking passengers somewhere and we know they will be travelling back we would make sure they were on board before we left.

‘Well once, we had two passengers who were supposed to be coming back to Horrabridge from Exeter but they didn’t turn up, the driver waited for around 20 minutes but then had to leave.

‘A day later they contacted us to apologise for missing the bus, they had read the timetable wrong so in the end had to catch another bus that went through Plymouth and didn’t get home till 3am! We would hate to lose the personal touch.’

He added: ‘I would like to wish the bus drivers and all the committee members the best for the future.’

During the celebration chairman elect Derek de Glanville presented Douglas and Joanna with a picture of the bus drawn by local artist Margaret Stenning.

Derek said: ‘They have done a fantastic job for the people of Tavistock and the surrounding villages during their years of office.

‘They will be greatly missed and we wish them well in their move to Chudleigh Knighton. We must now carry on their good work so that people who cannot use their own transport, get the chance to retain their mobility.’