Rushing for the back seat of the bus on school trips

Martin2012 · 24 Jun 2018

Title of the thread says it all. On virtually every trip I went on from about Year 5 onwards I remember everyone would be rushing to get the back seats.

I always found it always seemed to be the "popular" kids who ultimately got there first and remember several instances where they failed to reclaim it on the return trip and insisted that "we have to sit in the same seats".

Does anyone else remember this from school trips that they went on?

Additionally I'm guessing there's much less of this now that a lot of coach companies seem to dictate an adult has to sit by the emergency exit?

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eastwestdivide · 24 Jun 2018

Aagh, school coach trips. Sweltering smelly coaches with not enough ventilation, sandwiches from sweaty tupperware lunchboxes being swapped round for stashes of sweets, all sorts of questionable behaviour, and me getting travel sick every single @%!*£ time.
And yes, there was always a "bundle" for the back seats.

AlterEgo · 24 Jun 2018

Martin2012 said:
Title of the thread says it all. On virtually every trip I went on from about Year 5 onwards I remember everyone would be rushing to get the back seats.

I always found it always seemed to be the "popular" kids who ultimately got there first and remember several instances where they failed to reclaim it on the return trip and insisted that "we have to sit in the same seats".

Does anyone else remember this from school trips that they went on?

Additionally I'm guessing there's much less of this now that a lot of coach companies seem to dictate an adult has to sit by the emergency exit?

Yes, the back seats were always for the popular kids and there was usually a scrum for them.

yorksrob · 24 Jun 2018

Yes, someone always vommed. Every single time.

Welshman · 24 Jun 2018

The scrum for the back seats never worried me, as I preferred to sit at the front to watch the driver and the road ahead.
Unfortunately, I was usually then turned-out of the front seats by the teachers, who thought they were their perogative!

Martin2012 · 24 Jun 2018

I don't think I ever sat in the front seat of a coach on a school trip (or even a college or university one for that matter) as they were always reserved for staff.

robk23oxf · 24 Jun 2018

On school trips which utilised a double-decker we weren't allowed to sit at the front of the top deck as it was feared that we would go straight through the windscreen in the event of an accident.

delt1c · 24 Jun 2018

who remembers the old Bedford coaches with 2 seats in front of the door and beside the driver, they were the seats to go for, great leg room and fantastic view ahead

Surreyman · 24 Jun 2018

Agree about the back seats.
Remember once when there was a trip with other schools, 2 coaches arrived with other schools on, we all piled onto the second coach, I was last, teacher said one too many, you will have to go on the other coach, sat in the second row right behind the teachers!

Mojo · 24 Jun 2018

I always remember a rush for the front seats rather than the back seats!

Olympian · 24 Jun 2018

Martin2012 said:
I don't think I ever sat in the front seat of a coach on a school trip (or even a college or university one for that matter) as they were always reserved for staff.

I sat in the very front seat on a couple of our university trips as I was the coach driver, which gave my fellow students a bit of a surprise the first time one of our lecturers had orchestrated it. Most of them knew I was driving buses part-time evenings and weekends, but as soon as I turned 21 I was also doing private hires and usually in my favourite Leyland Tiger. Happy days!

satisnek · 25 Jun 2018

Ah yes, my first field day at the 'big school'... One of the teachers said, "Those of you who suffer from travel sickness, get on first" (presumably so that they could get the seats over the wheels, etc.). So a load of kids boarded the coach, followed by more. And then more. By this time I had twigged that it was a 'free for all' and went to get on. Then one of my classmates who I had known at middle school said, "I didn't know you suffered from travel sickness" :oops:

Mikey C · 25 Jun 2018

delt1c said:
who remembers the old Bedford coaches with 2 seats in front of the door and beside the driver, they were the seats to go for, great leg room and fantastic view ahead

All I remember about elderly Bedford coaches is the driver struggling to change gear, with what looked like a foot long gear lever! Crunch, crunch, chug, crunch

yorksrob · 26 Jun 2018

I remember one of our teachers saying "if you suffer from travel sickness, bring a travel sickness pill. You can't all sit up the front".

delt1c · 26 Jun 2018

Mikey C said:
All I remember about elderly Bedford coaches is the driver struggling to change gear, with what looked like a foot long gear lever! Crunch, crunch, chug, crunch

Dont you mean a yard long gear lever

Taunton · 26 Jun 2018

Those old Bedfords (SB model I think, and already about 10 years old) were used on afternoon tours in the 1960s from Taunton to Lynmouth and back, including the ascent of Porlock Hill outwards and Countisbury Hill on the return. Both are 1 in 4, Countisbury is at least straight. An invaluable feature of the Bedfords was a very low first gear, so change down into it just before the steep bit (which with no synchromesh meant coming to a stand, and a clutch-juddering hill start), and they would plod up at walking pace quite OK, even with a full load. Cars behind actually found it difficult to maintain such a slow pace. Because of the poor gearchange you couldn't try to change up to second until you had a good speed, so it was first gear flat out all the way up.

The drivers were often elderly part timers, but knew what they were doing - many had experience of even cruder military vehicles from the 1940s.

Busaholic · 26 Jun 2018

delt1c said:
who remembers the old Bedford coaches with 2 seats in front of the door and beside the driver, they were the seats to go for, great leg room and fantastic view ahead

Only been on them a handful of times, incredibly enough operating London Transport services in the Central Area! The occasion was during a union overtime ban/ work to rule in the early 1960s which resulted in Catford Garage being unable to operate route 160 on Saturdays, which was my bus route to school and, yes, that included Saturdays, much to my chagrin. The driver had to get out and open/close the door at each stop, as the coaches carried no conductor that I remember and therefore no fares were collected! Us school pupils had our passes anyway, which unusually (I believe) included Saturday travel. I've no idea who operated the services, which were rather sporadic iirc.

Jordan Adam · 26 Jun 2018

I've not that long finished school, so can perhaps speak on behalf of the "current generation". The general rule was that you fill the vehicle from the front working your way back. Although i can recall at Primary School they didn't let anyone (other than teachers) sit in the front row, probably due to the lack of a soft seat back in front.

The enthusiast in me always goes for the seat closest to the engine/Gearbox :lol:

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Rushing for the back seat of the bus on school trips

Martin2012

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eastwestdivide

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AlterEgo

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yorksrob

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Welshman

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Martin2012

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robk23oxf

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delt1c

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Surreyman

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Mojo

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Olympian

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satisnek

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Mikey C

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yorksrob

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delt1c

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Taunton

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Busaholic

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Jordan Adam

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