Bubbly send off for Bob

I’VE often written in this column how fortunate we are to live so close to the Exeter-Waterloo railway line and, generally speaking, what an excellent service it is.

I take the train to London sometimes two or three times a week and have come to appreciate it more. The trains are usually on time and the service on board is courteous and friendly on most occasions.

However, like many others who take the train from Axminster regularly, I am going to miss ticket clerk Bob Driscoll who has retired after a career spanning 50 years.

If there was an award for Britain’s most helpful railway official, Bob would surely be in the running. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him and he was always anxious to make sure all railway travellers were treated fairly and politely.

It wasn’t so many months ago that I nearly got into a fight when I jumped to Bob’s defence when he was treated in an appalling manner by an obnoxious toffee-nosed ignoramus. You know the type. Those who treat anyone in the service industry with total disdain. I can’t stand them. Bob took the abuse in a calm and respectful manner; me on the other hand - I was close to lamping him one.

Bob was so highly thought-of by the customers of Axminster station that on his last day at work a number of them, accompanied by the Mayor, Councillor Douglas Hull, turned up at the station with a bottle of bubbly to toast him.

Bob was not only a credit to British Rail in an age when the service industry leaves much to be desired in many sectors, but also a credit to Axminster. 

He will be much missed!

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