does anyone remember the eager beaver buses they put on the routes 13/14 and the drivers my friend at the time used to be i think what you called a groupette and travel all day round with them

My brother used to drive them on the 52 route.

I had to administer first aid to an EB driver about 10 yrs ago, at the bus stop by the top of Prince of Wales Road.

There was a problem with the bus's engine.

He went to open the bonnet, and, just as he did this, the radiator cap, which wasn't fastened on correctly (causing the problem) flew off, and he was scalded all on the face and chest with red hot steam.

It made a mess of him, as you can imagine, and he was in pain.

I got someone from the houses by the bus stop to bring out buckets and bowls of cool water, and we doused him in the cool water, till help arrived.

PT

I remember the Eager Beaver buses very well. I remember the Little Nippers better though, as they were on my route. I think there were the slightly larger version of the Eager Beavers.

The Eager Beevers were not very popular with drivers, they were built on a Renault chassis, identical to the one used for bread vans, and very quickly became known as the bread vans to all staff. The springing in particular was pretty poor, the ride being very harsh.