Many of the 176 drivers, engineers and admin personnel based at Stagecoach’s Portsmouth depot joined family and friends to wish their driver colleague Mick Crockford a long and happy retirement.  Mick, now aged 70, joined the corporation owned bus company in the nineteen sixtys as a conductor before training to gain his PSV licence.  He then worked as a coach driver for White Heather Coaches and Summerbee’s in Southampton  before returning to Southdown, the Portsmouth bus operator in 1973.  The company was acquired by Stagecoach in 1990. 

Mick remained a driver but spent some years as a union representative and branch chairman.  But Andrew Dyer, Regional Managing Director at Stagecoach, says that Mick will be remembered not only as being a highly respected driver by their customers, but for his charity work as President of the Sports and Social Committee based at Portsmouth. 

“Over the last 10 years Mick and his colleagues have performed bus pulls and created other events resulting in more than £50,000 being raised for charities.  Mick has also dressed as Santa each Christmas for many years, bringing the festive spirit to Portsmouth buses.

Not only do I thank him for decades of dedication to public transport in the region, but on behalf of everyone who has benefited from his energy towards fundraising.” 

On his last day, the team arranged for two of the double deck buses he drove - a 1956 Leyland Titan PD2 and a 1964 “Queen Mary” Leyland PD3 - to be present at the depot.  He was then asked to cover a driver for route 23 from Havant to Leigh Park.  The bus, a 1975 Bristol VR, was handed over to him by Andrew Dyer with passengers including Mick’s family and former colleagues. 

Mick, who lives in Leigh Park, admits that he now feels it is the right time to retire: “I’m looking forward to spending more quality time with my wife Phyllis and my daughter and the grandchildren.  We are looking forward to travelling and I have joined the Bedhampton Bowling Club.”