Our town is bidding farewell to a dedicated coach driver and great-great-grandfather, a man who finally gave up work at 92 – albeit very reluctantly.
Whether you knew him as Jock, Granddad Bus or simply as John Baxter, here was a man who always had a story to tell.
To his family, said John’s daughter, Sandra May, John will be remembered as cheeky, cheerful and chatty. He was a fun-loving dad, uncle and grandfather, always ready with a joke and often taking them away on adventures in his trusty coach.
It was chance that brought John, a proud Scotsman, to Ipswich, and it was love that made him stay.
John was born in Musselburgh, five miles from Edinburgh, on April 16, 1924, to parents George and Jessie. Peace and quiet were scarce commodities, for John was the eighth of the couple’s 11 children.
At 17, John joined the army and was enlisted into a regiment running checks on the tanks which would be used to go over mines. This was how John arrived in Suffolk, testing out tanks in Orford and Sudbourne.
He was testing a Churchill tank destined to be used at D-Day when he was seriously injured. Initially, it seemed certain John’s right leg would be amputated, but fortunately his surgeon put his foot down, insisting that John was too young and the leg could be saved.
John took 18 months to recover, first at Ipswich Borough General and then in Chantry Convalescent Home.
It was in Ipswich that John met Elsie Cowdell. Accounts vary, with John believing they met at a dance while Elsie insisted she sold him a raffle ticket outside Footman, Pretty & Co in the town centre which later became Debenhams
Either way, they tied the knot at St Michael’s Church on January 29, 1947, before travelling back to Scotland.
Elsie and John’s first child, Raymond, arrived in Edinburgh in 1948. However, Elsie did not take to Scotland, so they soon returned to Ipswich where they welcomed two more children, Sandra in 1952 and Robert in 1964.
John had to leave the army as a result of his injury, which was how he came to meet the next love of his life: coaches.
“He drove coaches nearly all his life,” said Sandra. There was a brief period when John drove lorries for Tolly Cobbold brewery – including driving through town in a celebratory procession held for the late Queen’s coronation in 1953. However, he soon returned to his beloved coaches.
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Working for a variety of companies over the years, John drove tours up to Scotland, all over Europe, and even a memorable trip with an American choir performing overseas.
During these trips, John was known to his passengers as ‘Jock’, and even had a small plaque on the front of his coach which read: ‘Your driver will be Jock’.
John was a fount of knowledge and a certified tour guide and would act as courier, regaling his intrigued passengers with facts and stories wherever they went.
“He had a fantastic memory,” said Sandra. “People used to think he was reading these things out, but he wasn't – they couldn't believe it, so no, but Scotland was his forte.”
Before she became Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher had the pleasure of being driven by John when she was working for BX Plastics in Colchester.
Later, having become the first woman voted into Number 10, Thatcher needed a coach driver take her on a visit to the Port of Felixstowe.
Stepping onto John’s coach, she did a double take and said: “I know you!” To which John replied: “Yes, I know you, Margaret Roberts!”, using the Prime Minister’s maiden name. The family now treasure a snap of the two of them having a forthright exchange of views at Felixstowe.
John and Elsie separated but stayed friends. Elsie still sometimes did washing and ironing for John and they holidayed together, remaining on such good terms that some people didn’t realise they were no longer together. John liked to joke that he must be the only divorced henpecked man in Suffolk.
John was delighted to become a grandfather to 11 grandchildren, to whom he was affectionately known as ‘Granddad Bus’. Great-grandchildren followed, and even great-great-grandchildren.
At 83, John reluctantly stopped driving coaches, but continued to go on tours, acting as courier. He finally retired aged 92.
John was blessed with good health, for which his family were grateful. When they visited him at the Prince of Wales care home, they would often find him telling stories to his carers, whose names he never forgot.
John Baxter died on May 2, aged 102.
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