Small bus for Small Heath

A National Express West Midlands bus driver has created a large model of the number 17 bus he drives every day from Small Heath to central Birmingham. Gary Woodward has donated the model he created out of random materials he had lying around to the company and has named it in memory of a former colleague from the Bordesley Green depot.

Gary said, ‘I was driving this particular bus one day and I thought it would be a real challenge to make a model of it. All in all, it took me about seven weeks. When I’d finished it, I named it in memory of Paul Fieldhouse, our late traffic controller here at Bordesley garage in Birmingham. Paul was a personal friend of mine and this model is a homage to him.’

Chief Operating Officer for National Express West Midlands, Paul Thomas, accepted the model, which now has pride of place in the reception area at company HQ. He said of the gift, ‘You only have to look at this model to see that a great deal of time and attention has been given over to re-create this model, the detailing is so precise. We are delighted to receive such a lovely gift.’