Quote Originally Posted by BLUETIT View Post
There was no such thing as "School Busses", in my day (left St Illtyds in 1968)

When it moved to Llanrumney/St Mellons, the travelling pupils from Splott, Tremorfa, Roath and the such, were allocated bus passes.

The boys I used to travel with all had passes, as they were supposed to catch a bus to the Royal Infirmary, then a connecting bus to Llanrumney. Most of them didn't, they used to walk over Moorland Road bridge, meet me (I never had a pass), then catch the bus at the Royal Oak Pub (which I might add, is in ROATH)

Now here's the thing. We all used to try and catch the 44, which went straight along Newport Road and stopped outside the school gates.

Two other busses (can't remember the numbers), used to turn left onto Llanrumney Avenue, then one used to turn left again onto Ball Road. We would get off these busses at Countisbury shops and walk up Mount Pleasant Avenue.

Two other busses went through Rumney, into Trowbridge, but we tried to avoid these, as you had a gigantic hill to climb up, at the back of the school.

Boys I can remember on the busses are, Andrew North, John Houlston, Terrance O,Reagan, Peter Finn, The Nagle brothers, Ian Murphy, all these from Splott or Tremorfa
This was interesting to me. Thank you for it. I knew, of course, that some far-flung kids rode a public bus to school, but in my complacency I just thought — if I thought about it at all — that the bus picked them up at their front doors and dropped them off at the school gates. That was quite the journey you all took. For me it was just a 15-minute walk every morning, and a decent bit of exercise it was too.

You left St. Illtyd's the year I arrived, so I can't accuse you of being one of those nasty prefects who glared us newcomers down during school lunch and rapped our fingers if we reached for the salt in a way they considered unmannerly. I always swore that if I was ever designated a prefect I would be a nice guy, and I hope, when that day in fact came, that I proved true to my intention.

Llanrumney, as I recall, was at one time or another served by almost all the "40s." I remember the 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49. Even the 50 would stop at the top of the estate on its way to St. Mellons. Which of those I caught was important, since some would take the long route around the estate via Ball Road, whereas others would stop right outside St. Cadoc's Catholic Church, which was ideal.

Now, of course, everyone drives. I wonder if the new St. Illtyd's has a massive car park, like American high schools.