Grandpa Kenny Beckers is Britain’s longest serving bus driver, having been on the road for 58 years, carrying seven million passengers.
Kenny, 76, has been riding the bus since 1966, fresh out of college. He estimates he has already traveled to the moon and back twice.
He became a bus conductor at 18 after just two days’ training in fare-taking and ticket-checking in the Swinging Sixties – when smokers would light up on the roof of his double-decker. He joined the now-defunct South Wales Transport and three years later, in November 1969, was legally allowed to drive a bus at the age of 21.
Kenny, from Sandfields, Swansea, has worked for five different companies during his bus career – through acquisitions and management buyouts – but is proud to have stayed in the same place and role. Now semi-retired, Kenny’s two-day-a-week driving is a far cry from when he started in the 1960s – working six days a week for the equivalent of £38 a month.
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Kenny recalls his early years as a driver on the quieter roads, saying: “It was great being a driver in 1969. We had so many routes and carried so many passengers, including lots of people from all the factories, the coal mines and British Steel.
“I also remember that we had double-deckers back then, but passengers were only allowed to smoke on the upper deck. It was like a fog up there. All the factory girls and everyone else was up there smoking, it was unbelievable.”
(Image: First Cymru/WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Kenny has enjoyed getting to know his passengers over the years and has seen three or four generations travel with him.
But his fondest memories are of regularly picking up the Swansea City team (Swansea Town until the late 1960s) on their way to their training ground in the 1960s and 70s. Sign up to our newsletter for the latest Welsh news direct to your inbox.
He describes the bus industry at one point as reminiscent of the hit ITV sitcom On The Buses. He said: “We could do and say things that you can’t do now. We had about 300 drivers and 300 conductors, and we could really wind each other up, just like the antics on that comedy show.”
Now, British transport company First Bus has named him its longest-serving member of staff and believes he is the most experienced bus driver in the country. During his long career, the Swansea-born grandfather has driven an estimated seven million customers and covered around 800,000 miles.
He credits his long career in the bus industry to his supportive wife Linda, 73. He said: “She played a major role in me being able to work on the buses for so long, as she was often left alone for long periods of time to look after our four children.”
Kenny has seen decades of change in his life, but most notably the huge shift in the bus industry. He said: “The loss of commuters has been the biggest change. The reduction in office and retail workers, and more people buying cars, means we have seen a decline in bus travel.
(Image: First Cymru/WALES NEWS SERVICE)
“But now we do a lot more for disabled people. Buses used to have steps, so if you had a pram or buggy you just had to fold it up and get in. Now we have buses that are lower, pavements that are higher and ramps.
“It’s great to see services in Swansea increasing again because the key to getting people back on the bus is to provide more services, but I fully understand that it’s a fine line. But business is definitely picking up and that’s great news.”
Despite being in his late 70s, Kenny says he has no plans to stop driving his beloved vehicle anytime soon. He said, “When my body feels like it’s had enough, I’ll give it up, but I don’t like to put a date on things. I’ve seen people who put a date on things, and then everything goes haywire for a while. I don’t want to put a date on it.
“In all my years of working, I’ve never really thought about quitting my job, and I can honestly say I’ve never had that moment of ‘I’ve had enough, I’m leaving.’ As long as I feel good and my health is good, I’m going to keep going.”
According to Scottish First Bus, Kenny is the longest-serving driver of the company’s 14,000 employees, praising him for being “a wonder behind the wheel”.