In a new series, we get to hear from some of the drivers and conductors who play such a crucial role at The Red Bus. Our first interview is with Gordon Stirling, who joined us more than 10 years ago. Also a keen piper, Gordon was apparently interested in buses before he was even born!

The Red Bus driver Gordon Stirling with one of the buses on his birthday

When did you first get the bus bug?

At the very start of my life, if not before. My mum says that when she was pregnant carrying me, whenever she stepped on a bus I would kick like mad! Where we lived in Uddingston, in Lanarkshire, was near a bus terminus. When I was very small, if we were walking past the bus stand or at terminus I would be desperate to get on the bus and often the drivers would recognise me and they would lift me up into the cab and I would be in heaven. So basically I’ve been a lifelong bus enthusiast.

Did you have friends with a similar interest?

I was about 18 or 19 before I discovered there were other enthusiasts – before then, I thought I was the only one!

When did you first work on the buses?

I studied accountancy for a couple of years but it was always my ambition to be a bus driver. The first company I worked for was called Fife Scottish, or Alexander’s. I worked in their planning dept for a year, back in 1981. I worked on a big marketing project which was coming to an end when they took me on, and when that was finished I got made redundant. Somebody suggested that I move to Edinburgh and drive buses there, so I drove for Lothian Regional Transport between 1982 and 1990.

How was that?

I did the normal service work and I also did tours. Guide Friday arrived in 1986. That sparked fierce competition – Lothian Regional Transport had to quickly convert about eight buses into open top buses and we did the city tours; we had to drive, give a commentary, take fares, sell the tickets – it was a tough shift. I did that for three or four years.

Then you had a change of career. What happened?

Gordon and conductors Fiona and Calum on the way to Gosford House

Gordon and conductor Yana on another trip, this time to Barnbougle Castle

In 1990 I got attacked one night on a bus, a no. 41 bus at Barnton, of all places [Barnton is known as one of Edinburgh’s wealthier areas, and the home of J K Rowling]. I never got hurt physically but I got a real fright. These kids were throwing rocks and bricks at the bus, they ripped up all the for-sale signs in the gardens and they were throwing them at the bus. There were no passengers onboard – the bus had actually broken down. So that was quite scary. I then joined the ambulance service as a stop-gap measure and that went on for 28 years.

Gordon hard at work ensuring that the buses are shiny and squeaky clean, ready for events

What about buses?

In between times I always did a bit of bus driving. I also acquired and restored an old bus myself, a Western Scottish Leyland Leopard. I sold it to a guy who lives in Australia but it’s still stored at the Scottish Vintage Bus Musuem in Fife. He’s only taken it out a couple of times in the last 20 years or so!

How did you come to drive for The Red Bus?

In 2013 there was a road accident at Dunbar. Your nephew Patrick was there as a paramedic. He happened to mention to some of my colleagues in the Scottish Ambulance Service that his uncle owned a bus company in Edinburgh. One of them told Patrick: we’ve got a guy working for us who’s buses daft and if your uncle needs drivers, then Gordon’s the man!

What do you like about driving these vintage Routemasters compared with modern vehicles?

Wherever you drive in Edinburgh the bus just seems to catch people’s eyes – it will raise smiles, raise spirits. Everywhere you go people will point cameras at you. I love the acoustics of the engine. And I love driving them with sympathy – in my view it’s like an antique, it deserves respect. It’s been remarkably engineered so I just like to pay homage to that, drive it how it should be driven. It’s a joy, it’s such a pleasure. I also love the way you’re enclosed in the cab – you can concentrate on the driving and you get no grief!

Often people assume these buses must be hard to handle because of their age. How do you find them?

I find the Routemaster is effortless: the power steering, the semi-automatic transmission. It’s also a lovely size [smaller than most modern double deckers], so you can take it most places.

On set at *Dead Shot* during filming in Glasgow

Any particular favourite hires?

I loved the film one in Glasgow a few years ago [Dead Shot, starring Aml Ameen and Colin Morgan]. The makeup department went to great lengths, trimmed your hair, put a patch over your jacket. I thought, how close am I going to get to the camera? Sure enough, I never appeared in the final cut! But it was fascinating to see everyone at work, and I’ve never been so well fed.

Then there was an old bus driver’s birthday. That was a lovely one in West Lothian. We reversed into the guy’s cul-de-sac and his family were there. It was a surprise from his wife – the look on his face when he saw the bus! He’d done nearly 40 years in the industry and he absolutely loved that trip.

Another favourite was the Sons of Scotland Pipe Band, from Canada. I loved that. It was crazy from the start! We agreed to collect them at Market Street and they slowly started to filter towards the bus. I could see the pipers, drummers, dancers, the mums and dads. The bus was really starting to fill up. There were still a lot of people to get onboard. But they put drums on laps and everyone squeezed on. I was amazed the bus made it up the Queen’s Drive round Arthur’s Seat. They were so nice, so friendly. They played at Salisbury Crags. I made a video (below). That was an absolutely lovely hire.

Pipe bands are right up your street, aren’t they. Tell us more!

The pipe band world is like that hire with Sons of Scotland, that’s how they operate all over the place. They go into the community and make all these memories for the kids and their families. I’ve been involved since the age of about 12. I was initially a snare drummer but gave up when i was 16 or 17. Then when i was 44 i started to learn the pipes. I got involved in Haddington Pipe Band [in East Lothian]. The pipe major, who’s a lovely guy, offered private tuition on Tuesday nights for just £4. I thought it was a mistake it but it was true, so three or four of us had lessons at the rugby club. After three years or so I graduated to the band.

What did you enjoy most about the pipe band?

We started to visit France every two years. I would drive the coach to France and we went to visit Aubigny-sur-Nère, Haddington’s twin town. Haddington helped them form their own pipe band about 40 years ago, so there’s a close relationship between the two and when we went there, we were treated like VIPs. It was eight days of pipes and drums – barbecues receptions, parades. We were really busy – everyone was so friendly and it was absolutely lovely.

The French hospitality sounds incredible. Can you give us a bit more detail?

One memory that sticks out is when made our way to France in 2016 or 2017. We went Newcastle to Amsterdam, with two drivers. It was a Dutch bank holiday and the traffic was horrendous. The AA Routeplanner had estimated 7.15pm at night but we arrived about quarter past one in the morning. Everyone was emotionally drained. It had been a hot, hot day and the two drivers at the front, we just got fried. Though there was air con, the sun was beating in on you. When we arrived in Aubyigny, their pipe band struck up at quarter past one in the morning and then we had a civic reception! It was absolutely incredible.

We would normally arrive on the Thursday night then on the Friday night we’d be invited to the town hall, with drinks and canapes – a lovely spread for us. It was a kind of one horse town, nothing much happened but for this one weekend to coincide with Bastille Day. On Friday the other bands would start to come in from France, Switzerland, Belgium. We’d form a guard of honour to welcome them, then form a big circle with probably about 200 pipers and drummers playing till after two or three o’clock in the morning. And as soon as you finish, local people are giving you a glass of wine or beer.

Gordon and conductor Fanni, ready to take clients on a tour of Edinburgh’s highlights

Back to The Red Bus, what kind of job satisfaction do you get here?

Essentially the bus is there to make the client’s day extra special – it very rarely fails to do that. So because you can see people are engaged with the bus, it’s easy to go that extra mile and try to make their day even more special.

Thank you Gordon. We’re so glad our nephew got things rolling all those years ago. Here’s to many more years of you behind the wheel at The Red Bus!