Title: With the benefit of Hindsight
Author: Bob Hind
Publisher: Venture Publications
ISBN: 978-1-90530-472-1
Specification: 235mm x 165mm, 112pp, softback
Price: £20
From an editor’s point of view, Bob Hind’s articles for Buses since December 2012, describing his bus rides around Britain and beyond, have been a high point of 17 years in this hot seat. An unanticipated pleasant surprise.
Around the time he retired as managing director of Arriva Midlands, he e-mailed suggesting an initial set in which he would revisit the routes of the old Midland Red that he had explored as a teenager half a century earlier.
It was an interesting idea, especially from a professional busman owning up to his enthusiast side, sampling the industry as a customer and bringing a realistic operational perspective to his experiences. It was worth a whirl.
The unexpected part was the audience reaction. Unsolicited letters arrived from readers saying how much they enjoyed them and asking if could there be more. The next summer he embarked on an ambitious round Britain ride. Ambitious not just for the ground covered but how much of the ground he covered each day.
Besides describing things readers wanted to read about, he related them w…
