PHIL HOOLE
One of the most familiar faces at Wythall, Phil Hoole, sadly passed away in January at the age of 84
Phil's father worked for Midland Red at Bearwood and often took his son into his
place of work. Bearwood was more than just a garage in the 1930s, undertaking many of the activities later transferred to the rebuilt Carlyle Works. All the experimentals would have run from there and Phil belonged to a time when you could see the antediluvian-looking SOS Queens alongside Shire's futuristic rear-engined prototypes. Phil would wander down to the Kings Head stop and, as his dad's bus passed on its way to 'Town', he would hand him his lunch to eat during layover time in the city centre. Phil would wait for him to return on the outward journey to receive the empty tea can etc. In those days it was considered quite safe to leave a young lad hanging around for an hour and be confident that he would not get into mischief. While there Phil would have seen all manner of Birmingham Corporation buses on the Outer Circle while the 9 would have been an early recipient of modern Daimler COG5s. Trams worked the Bearwood via Dudley Road route, numbered 29: Phil would have seen them replaced in 1939 by so-called 'gearless' Leylands on the replacement B82. The quantity of Midland Red buses along the Hagley Road was considerable and just about anything would have come along; plenty to keep Phil fascinated for an hour.
Phil had several brothers and a sister but, sadly, tragedy visited early in his lifetime when his mother died. The 1930s were hard times and we can understand the making of the man and why he was still working busily for the Museum right up until the end, also explaining his particular leaning towards the housekeeping jobs.
Phil was often described as the perfect volunteer. For thirty years, he arrived on site, sometimes thrown from a speeding car by Audrey, his delightful wife en route to somewhere else. On event days he would be laden with food for the café. He knew what to do, he did it excellently and he didn't grumble. Better than that, if he saw someone with special talents doing a job he could do, he'd offer to take over and release them. He didn't need to be asked. His regular job at Wythall on non-event days was not one people rush to do - cleaning toilets and the insides of the buses that had been on the road. Our high reputation of cleanliness is testament to his efforts.
Of course he loved the buses, especially the Midland Reds. Conducting buses was a job we could not separate him from, despite his advancing years. I remember sending him on a private hire with a driver sixty years younger and wondered if there had ever been such an age gap in the entire history of the British bus industry.
Happily Phil is immortalised as a conductor on page 4 of the Museum's latest guidebook. He's working a Birmingham City Transport bus but he's looking at the Midland Red D10 going the other way - certainly a bus that would get his attention.
Phil looked every inch a Midland Red conductor; it wasn't just the uniform, he simply oozed the part. You couldn't get him to sit down - "Real conductors don't sit down, Malcolm!" he would grin. Ironically he was never one in real life - he worked for GKN - but, of course, Midland Red was in his genes from his dad. Remember too, most of the conductors at Wythall know what they're doing because Phil made them welcome and taught them - another skill we're going to miss.
Everybody loved Phil and his easy-going manner. If he did express concern then you had better sit up and take notice. A quiet man yet his dry wit wins him the prize for the best-ever put-down at Wythall. One of the more talkative volunteers was sounding off at even higher decibels than usual. Phil sauntered past, loaded with cleaning materials, and simply asked, "No school today, Peter?"
A lovely memory of a great bloke.
Malcolm Keeley
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
