There is so much to enjoy about these photographs which were taken after Bolton Corporation opened a new school for bus drivers and conductors at its Shifnall Street depot in 1949.

Bolton bus conductors at school, 1949

In one photo, Inspector Hilton instructing some new recruits on how to use their ticket machines.

The other photo shows drivers in training using a model road layout.

If you thought that motivational signs were a product of the ‘yuppie’ generation then just look at the five boards above the heads of the trainee conductors.

Every one carries a message which they no doubt knew off by heart by the end of their training.

Driver training Shifnall Street depot, Bolton, 1949

It’s interesting to see the blackboard behind the instructor which gives a breakdown of the ticket receipts sold on the Swan Lane - Great Lever route.

If we’ve read it right, it shows that 452 tickets at one penny each were sold and 389 halfpenny tickets, possibly children or OAPs. In total that’s a lot of passengers!