Safeguard Coaches Director Andrew Halliday sits down with one of the company’s engineers, Dave Barratt, who at 70 years old has recently retired after 53 years in the industry
Andrew: Where did you start your career?
Dave: I started when I was 17 at Stevensons. One of the first things I did was a local school run. They used to have hire cars, so all the hire cars used to be used on the prison service.
A: You hadn’t done your test by then? And you started driving commercially when you were 17?
D: I hadn’t done my PSV then, there was no such thing in those days. When I think about it, it’s been a long time. I stayed with Stevensons and took my test when I was 21, this was in about 1967. I did schools in the mornings and evenings, driving Leyland Leopards, Bedfords, double-deckers… all sorts of things.
A: So you were primarily driving then, rather than engineering, which you’d been taken on to do.
D: I also worked in the garage, and I’d been taken on to do engineering. It was always thought that all the mechanics had to do the school run, and that paid the wages. I stayed at Stevensons for 17 years, and then I left and worked for myself for a couple of years. This was in about 1983. I went onto trucks for a few years, spraying and repainting trailers with my son. I left there and went to Macpherson Coaches in Donisthorpe.
A: So it’s not far away, you stayed all around the same area.
D: Yeah. I stayed at Macpherson’s until I got the job with Safeguard in 1999. I was given the job six months before I moved down here.
A: And you’d met your wife Sandra on a Macpherson’s coach?
D: Yes, I met my wife Sandra on a Macpherson coach holiday. She came from Burton as well. She did holidays with her mother, and they’d been doing that for a few years. I jumped on the coach because the hotel had a nice gym… but I never ended up going to the gym. I had known about Safeguard, and it was well recommended.
A: So you worked at Safeguard, that’s where I remember you being.
D: Yes, I worked at Safeguard, and then moved over to Farnham. I moved to Hodges where I stayed for nine and a half years.
A: That must have been in about 2003?
D: Yes. While at Hodges I decided I wanted to do three days, but Hodges wanted all or nothing, at which point I came back.
A: So you came back to Farnham Coaches. It’s fascinating to go back that far in the industry, it’s remarkable really. And you’ve met some personalities over the years, I’m sure.
D: Definitely. Harry Macpherson is 83 now, and he’s still driving. I call him the master. His knowledge is so good, and if he doesn’t know, he does his homework and finds out. You’re learning all the time – never stop learning, that’s the secret, isn’t it?
