"Bob the Bus" looks back on a life spent in the driving seat

March 13, 2026

"Bob the Bus" looks back on a life spent in the driving seat

By Ros Dodd

Although it's a long while since he retired, Robert Roberts is still known locally as "Bob the Bus". For almost two decades he was a familiar face behind the wheel of the S28 and S30 services to Dolgellau and Minffordd that started from Bryncrug, in the days when the village had a depot.

Now in his late 80s, Bob is still a familiar face on the same bus routes - but these days only as a passenger. "I live in Abergynolwyn now and occasionally catch the bus into Tywyn," he says. "I've always enjoyed being on a bus - either as a driver or a passenger."

Although his long career included long-distance driving, Bob hasn't moved far since he was born in Tyddyn Bach (now a modern bungalow; then a house constructed with soil walls) on the Bryncrug to Craig y Deryn (Bird Rock) road in 1939. Later, the family settled in the village.

Leaving school at 15, Bob worked on farms in the area before switching to driving haulage lorries, transporting livestock. After a few years, he was offered a job as a bus driver, based at the small depot in Bryncrug situated opposite the Peniarth Arms.

Bryncrug bus depot, circa 1960s

"The depot and buses were originally owned by someone called Archie Bach (real name Archie Richards), before he was bought out by Crosville Motor Company in the 1930s," remembers Bob. "Archie was very short, with a 'boxer's nose', and he was full of beans and liked his pint. When he sold to Crosville, he did so on the basis that he would never be sacked! He was quite a character: he used to take the boys on bus rides up the valley to Caerberllan.

"I was offered a job by a guy called Tommy Rogers - this would be in the late 1960s. The depot was a tumbledown old place, but there was enough room inside for two buses. There was a diesel pump there so we could refuel every night. That was the job of the last driver of the day - to clean and refuel."

Back then, as today, there were two bus routes that served Bryncrug - the S30 from Tywyn to Minffordd, and the S28 from Tywyn to Dolgellau via Fairbourne - as well as a coach service from Aberdyfi to Liverpool every Saturday. "People would go on days trips; it was very popular. There were four of us drivers working out of the Bryncrug depot, which meant each of us did the Liverpool trip once a month. Later, we were down to two drivers, so we did the Liverpool trip every fortnight. But I didn't mind; I enjoyed it."

After the Bryncrug depot closed in 1970 and the site was sold off for housing, buses used the Tywyn depot, which was situated in the railway station yard.

Bob often found himself in the role of helpmate as well as driver. "The local doctors would hold a surgery in Abergynolwyn on a Friday, and sometimes older people would come down and meet the bus and ask if I could take a prescription to the pharmacy in Tywyn. So I'd drop it off at the chemist and then pick up it up on a later bus back, and whoever's prescription it was would meet us at the Railway Inn. Also on Fridays, women from Llanegryn would go into Tywyn shopping and it was hilarious: they would chat and gossip and ask why so-and-so hadn't got on the bus."

What Bob doesn't remember fondly are the times he had to inform people that they'd come to the wrong Tywyn! "There were a few times at the Tywyn depot when a family, who'd got off the train laden with luggage, would get on the bus and ask to go to a particular caravan park. When I didn't recognise the name, I had to tell them they'd come to the wrong place; they should have been in the Tywyn near Rhyl. That was tough."

After nearly 20 years, Bob - whose younger brother Ron was also a bus driver and now lives in Abergynolwyn too - retired from the buses and went to work as a private chauffeur. He then became a driver for his eldest daughter Bethan's Bryncrug-based engineering parts company Greenaway UK until, when he was 81, Covid hit. "When the pandemic came, Beth said 'you must stop', so that's when I stopped altogether."

As well as driving, music has played a big part in Bob's life. "When I was young, singing was a big thing for me. I started when I was five. I used to practise with the primary schoolteacher after school every night, from 4pm until 5pm, and I started going around Eisteddfods."

He remembers the days when on Sunday evenings during the summer, the menfolk of Bryncrug would gather on the bridge in the village and sing.

"I was probably about 12 at the time. It was just an informal thing; people would come along and farm workers from around and about would travel into the village and join in. Everyone would be having fun and would start singing. And the singing and the harmonies were fantastic."

As an adult, Bob - together with his brother-in-law Emlyn Williams - was a founding member of Côr Meibion Bro Dysynni (Dysynni Male Voice Choir), where he regularly performed tenor solos. "There were 16 of us to start with, and we formed initially to sing at the Eisteddfod in Arthog, where we performed Myfanwy. And then the choir kept going - and it's still going today."

Bob remembers the time when the choir gathered on Pont-y-Garth, with Craig y Deryn in the background, for a promotional photo - and started singing. "Soon after that, I met a woman who said she'd been at the top of Craig y Deryn at the time and had heard us!"

On Pont-y-Garth. Bob is fifth from left, front row

Years later, Bob was invited to join Parti Min-y-Marian, a close harmony ensemble known for its duets that sang at events and parties. The group would practise each week, usually at member Ieu Thomas's home in Bryncrug, "and a lady from Llanegryn played the piano for us".

Today, Bob still gets much pleasure from music - just as he still enjoys bus journeys. To mark his 80th birthday in 2019, his family organised a surprise trip to Bwlch Nant y Arian, near Aberystwyth - by bus, naturally!

"They hired a Lloyd's Coaches bus, which my brother Ron drove, although I got to sit behind the wheel. All the children and grandchildren were there, and it was a really fun day - a real busman's holiday! I loved it."