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In the early 50's we lived at Grange Road, New Haw and my Dad drove for London Transport from the Addlestone garage. I would sometimes go to the depot with him and then to the café next door, which most of the drivers preferred to the works canteen, where I would have a fizzy drink and a bun.
One winter morning I woke up and everything was silent. I knew it had snowed. No birdsong. No traffic. I was very excited.
I scraped the ice off my bedroom window (no central heating in those days) and couldn't believe the amount of snow I could see. I went into the bathroom at the front of the house, from where I could see a green bus outside, and by standing on the bath I managed to open the top window.
This single decker bus was right up against our wall as he couldn't see where the pavement was. I went and woke my Dad and told him that there was a bus outside and that they wanted him, and that the deep snow was right up to the fence. He told me to go away and stop messing about, but then he heard the bus hooting! Dad had to climb over the garden gate to get out because the snow was so deep it wouldn't open!
At about the same time, there was a certain day when the roads were particularly icy and Dad happened to be driving a single decker on the route from Woking to Weybridge. Driving between West Byfleet and Old Byfleet he had to cross the old Parvis bridge over the canal.
The bus slid and the front end went through the railing - and my Dad was petrified of heights! He made the radio news where the incident was reported.
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