Roddie’s road trip at an end – after 74 years
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
They say it is not the destination that matters, but the journey itself.
For Roddie Ross, the road has been long and winding, but endlessly fascinating through a lifetime spent behind the wheel.
The super-fit and razor sharp 87-year-old HGV driver reluctantly completed his last school bus run just three days before Christmas after a Highland Council contract passed from his employer to another operator.
The Beauly man’s farewell to pupils, parents and teachers at Teanassie Primary School drew a line under a relatively short couple of years on the rural Inverness-shire route.
But for Mr Ross, it held greater significance – spelling the likely end of a driving career spanning no fewer than eight decades.
The council recently removed owners Gordon and Mhairi Cormack from the contract for several local school journeys after their own 32 years of dedicated service.
Mr Ross officially started lorry driving with the firm Logan’s in the 1950s, delivering materials to various hydro-electric dam developments in the Highlands.
In reality, though, his driving skills were forged from the age of just 13 when he began moving trucks and tractors on estate and forestry roads around sawmills where his father Roderick worked.
While he retains an HGV licence and a keen appetite for part-time driving, Mr Ross now fears his incredible road trip may be over.
The last run proved emotional with he and Mr Cormack receiving a presentation from Teanassie Primary for their service.
“Gordon and Mhairi are such a lovely couple and very good to me, as were the parents, teachers and children. So it was a sad day for me,” Mr Ross of Aberforn Terrace, Beauly, said.
“I’ve been a driver for 67 years in an official capacity. In 1955, I started with Logan’s as one of the dam builders, driving lorries to hydro schemes at places like Invermoriston, Invergarry, Glen Orrin and Glascarnoch.
“But I’ve actually driven, unofficially, since I was 13 as my father was a sawmill contractor and I worked with him during my school holidays.
“I’d be running about with timber merchants’ vehicles, driving timber into the sawmill and I could reverse a 4-wheel bogie with the tractor.
“I lost my wife Christine a year and a half ago after 64 years of marriage. The school run gave me a purpose to get up in the morning and passed the day for me better, two hours in the morning, two in the afternoon.
“I enjoyed the company, whether it was the wee ones or the parents in the morning.
“I’m going to miss it, but I have just renewed my HGV licence and perhaps someone will offer me the odd day here or there.”
Mr Ross once drove as far as the Inverness twin city of Augsburg, just 40 miles from Munich in Germany, and also worked for a spell with the famous Ross-shire bus firm Newton’s Coaches.
During that time, he was tasked with driving Celtic on a pre-season tour of the Highlands.
On the final night, the legendary Jock Stein, mindful of an early start the next day, asked him if he would like to stay in the team hotel.
Mr Ross thanked Mr Stein and ended up rooming with Kenny Dalglish for a night.
Mr Ross’s son Fraser (64) paid tribute to his dad’s remarkable service.
“His contribution over nearly 70 years to the Highlands is immense,” Mr Ross Jnr said. “From helping build roads, dams, construction projects, supplying shops, transporting people and children for this long, it is just amazing.
“On the great many roads I’ve travelled with him along in the Highlands, he will mention he took the tar for this road or supplies for that building.
“He is a walking encyclopaedia of Highland social history and how it developed.
“My dad doesn’t want to finish work and he’s fit as a fiddle to continue, but he just has to.
“He was driving lorries up until a couple of years ago when my mum got ill. It is his eighth decade as a professional driver.
“He had bowel cancer when he was 80 and went into hospital. The surgeon was explaining everything and asked if dad had any questions.
“His first question was ‘how long will I be off work?’. The surgeon could barely believe he was still working but he was back behind the wheel within three months.
“He’s been a bit lost without my mum, but the school run kept him going.”
Teanassie Primary’s principal teacher Sharon Gallacher said: “The pupils and staff will miss Roddie’s friendly face and caring nature. They loved how he would tell them stories about when he was a young boy, growing up near Beauly.
“They wanted to give him a heartfelt send-off so we invited him to a farewell morning, where pupils presented him with a gift and cards. Afterwards he was treated to entertainment by the pupils and a morning tea with the children on his bus run.
“We will all miss having him around and have told him he is welcome back at any time, as there are always jobs to be done!”
