Dids and Flossie Williams and their ‘‘banana bus’’ were well-known to Middlemarch folk and the children who travelled from the Rock and Pillar area to school each day.

 Three generations of schoolchildren knew ‘‘Mr Dids’’, the bus driver, and his wife who was sometimes referred to as ‘‘Mrs Dids’’. The roads had vastly improved, and a peak load of 36 children had decreased to a mere eight. And next Friday (May 9, 1986), an irrevocable change was being made because Dids and Flossie had reached the end of the road and were relinquishing their contract. When the banana bus door swung shut after the last pupil headed home on Friday afternoon, it was truly the end of an era for Dids and Flossie and the people of Middlemarch.