Buses were laid on by the factory owners and collected the workers from all of the surrounding towns and villages. Mine went from Sudbury via Long Melford, Bildeston and possibly Acton (the ‘scenic route’). If you didn’t get out of the factory fast enough at the end of the day the buses would leave without you! It was always a challenge to find the right bus in the car park as they were not always parked in the same place each day and they had no signs on to say where they were going.
One day I missed my bus home but remembered that the last public bus back to Sudbury would stop in the High Street approx 5.15pm. I ran all the way up the hill and just managed to catch it (luckily I had just enough spare change for the fare!)
As humans are generally creatures of habit, we always used to sit in the same seats every day. I hated getting up at Mad O’Clock in the morning and was always tired, so I liked to sit alone and grab an extra 30 minutes doze on the way to work. One day a new girl sat next to me – she was Australian with blonde hair (Jill?). For several weeks we’d sit together on the bus chatting, but I was getting increasingly tired without my naps, so one day I deliberately moved to the back of the bus so that when she got on she didn’t see me, and that’s where I continued to sit. She eventually saw me but made no attempt to sit next to me again and I’ve always regretted the fact that I didn’t simply admit to her that I was tired and needed some extra sleep, and I hope that she didn’t think that she’d said or done something wrong…
