Thought this may interest some of you Chris History of the villages of Dorset, Hampshire and Isle of Wight http://southernlife.org.uk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clippies take a trip back in time By David Newble - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 http://iwcp.co.uk/news/news/clippies-take-a-trip-back-in-time-29224.aspx IT was all aboard at Newport Quay on Sunday when former Southern Vectis 'clippies' recreated bus travel from 70 years ago. Three historic buses, all dating from the year the Second World War broke out, operated a service between Newport, Cowes and Gurnard, running to a 1939 timetable. The outbreak of war meant that lady 'clippies' were recruited to work on Southern Vectis buses to replace their male counterparts, who had joined the forces. Some worked for just the war years until the demobbed men returned home but many stayed on until retirement or until driver-only operation was introduced. The recruitment of women continued in the post-war years but women drivers only appeared in the late 1970s on the Isle of Wight. Six wartime conductresses had trained as drivers in 1945 but the war ended before they took their test. The clippies' reunion was staged by the Isle of Wight Bus Museum as part of its annual autumn running day. As well as the recreation of the service between Cowes and Newport using historic vehicles, there were more than 20 preserved vehicles on display which visited the Isle of Wight from the mainland, as well as the museum's own vehicles. Reporter: davidn@iwcpmail.co.uk This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm