During his long career on the buses, Denny Swanson, from Wick, is estimated to have clocked up around 1.5 million miles.

He has seen many changes in the service and different companies come and go. When Denny started as a driver on September 13, 1962, he joined Highland Omnibuses Ltd and was originally based in Thurso until a vacancy arose in Wick and he was transferred there.

Over the years he has been employed by Highland Scottish, Rapsons Coaches and latterly was working for Stagecoach in Caithness.

The type of buses he drove almost 50 years ago were a lot different from the models used today. Denny would have driven mostly single-deck buses but also double-deck vehicles with a back entrance, no door and no heating, no demisters and no tachograph instruments.

Veda Swanson, who is the Thurso-based operations manager for Stagecoach in Caithness, reckoned that Denny would have driven about 600 miles a week. This adds up to a staggering 1,466,400, at a conservative estimate, over his 47 years.

Although Denny, a football fan, has officially retired, he is to continue driving the Wick Academy FC team bus to their away games. Apart from football, his other interests are motorbikes and travelling.

He and his wife Ruth were in Aberdeen recently when Denny received a long-service medal from the company.

Bus driver Denny Swanson, who has retired after 47 years, with his wife Ruth.

He also chose a Panasonic 37 HD television as a retirement gift and is to buy a quality crash helmet from money he received from the Caithness Classic Motorcycle Club and passengers.

The couple set off for a fortnight's holiday in Egypt tomorrow (Saturday).

Looking back over his long career, Denny, a plumber to trade, said the time had passed "pretty quick".

"I liked the people I worked with and the crack was good. I quite enjoyed going to my work in the morning," he said.

But he also remembered some of the difficult times, especially in the 1960s and '70s driving buses to Dounreay in the early winter mornings when the road conditions were bad.

"It could be tricky heading out there at 6.30am when there were no gritters until after 7am," he said.

Veda Swanson paid tribute to his many years service as a bus driver and said: "Denny has been a valued member of staff and on behalf of the company and his fellow colleagues we wish him all the best for a long and healthy retirement."

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