(07 Jan 2015, 10:42 pm)Robert wrote I am all for concessionary passes for old people. Most can't drive and depend on the bus to get them out and about to the shops and they will be retired and living off a pension. However, disabled passes are where the line is drawn with me. If you are disabled or have an illness which is so bad that you are unable to work then yes, i completely agree. However, if the person has a minor disability but they can still work and pay taxes etc why should get the benefit of free travel?

I'm 100% in agreement. While I think some pensioners can be moany old twats that don't deserve to live - I would be devastated if my grandad was still alive and he had to pay. Fair enough he could just get a return from his house in Pelton to Chester, another thing I link him fondly to with my bus trips out with him as a little one, was it was literally the highlight of his day.

Sad really, that an innocent old man only really left the house to get a bus into the nearest town for a paper and to stock up on his essentials. You see, he was a miner, so he was used to getting up at the crack of dawn to do the most awful shifts imaginable. He would make up at 05:00, and over time found the 08:52 #78 (got to Chester for 09:04) was a nice quiet run that many of his old friends used to get too. Every morning, that same bus down, and the 09:45 #8 back up. After that, he was in for the day to watch the TV. He couldn't do much else other than try and maintain his garden.

It's upsetting to think how depressed he must have been, just sitting in his chair in the living room watching DVDs and his old comedies. I feel a bit selfish in hindsight in the respect that he used to wait especially for me to go up and see him on a Saturday, while I would be out enjoying myself riding a variety of buses, he would sitting on the edge of his seat with one eye on the TV and one eye on the little cut where I would walk along.

But, I would always bring him something special, whether that be a Steak Bake from Gregg's, a 6-inch Turkey from Subway, the list goes on. It made his day when I went up to see him. In Year 6 we would put bets on and watch the horses race before putting one of his favourite DVDs afterwards, before my mam or dad came to get me. I should have really made more effort, because at the end of the day, the only other people he would have made contact with were the people on the bus, and the folks at the club on a Monday or Friday night...my mam would spend entire days with him when she was off, though, but that still meant 3 days of sitting in the house by himself.

Anyway, back on topic, my point is - my grandad relied on that bus pass so he could go out in the morning and get what he needed. He wasn't a Victor; not an example of the others. If he saw somebody fall over in the distance, while it could take him 5 minutes to get there - he would make the effort to walk over until he saw they were up again, even though his back would be killing him.

I would be mortified if he had ever had to hand in his bus pass because it was rendered useless, he was a brilliant person who earned that bus pass.