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1947 bus named in honour of female conductor

South Yorkshire Transport Museum A woman wearing a purple coat, Julie Askew, stands next to a large print of a photograph of her mum wearing a bus conductor's uniformSouth Yorkshire Transport Museum
1960s Sheffield bus conductor Betty Foster's daughter, Julie Askew, at the museum

A restored 1947 bus has been named in honour of a female conductor who once worked on Sheffield's fleet.

The South Yorkshire Transport Museum in Rotherham has completed seven years of work on the single-decker vehicle and put it on display.

The bus is called Betty in memory of Betty Foster, a "clippie" who appeared in a photograph taking a tea break on board in the 1960s.

The late Mrs Foster's daughter, Julie Askew, said she was "delighted" by the tribute.

South Yorkshire Transport Museum A woman in bus conductor uniform stands inside a bus, with crew seated behind her drinking teaSouth Yorkshire Transport Museum
Betty Foster was in her late teens when she appeared in this 1960s photograph

The bus was once owned by Sheffield Transport, and was converted into a mobile canteen for staff after it was retired from the roads. Mrs Foster was pictured with colleagues inside it, wearing her conductor's uniform.

Mrs Askew originally saw the photograph in local newspaper The Star and showed her mother when she was still alive. She said: "Mum told me she was aged 18 or 19 when the photo was taken. She's no longer with us, but I'm delighted that there is something tangible with links to Mum and the past, and for it to benefit other people by being on display."

South Yorkshire Transport Museum A restored 1940s single-decked bus in cream paintwork, bearing the name 'Betty' on its frontSouth Yorkshire Transport Museum
Betty has been restored to her original 1947 condition

The wooden-framed bus was manufactured in 1947, when post-war materials shortages meant it didn't have regular road tyres.

Andrew Tyler from the museum said: "We've restored the bus to how it would have been when it came off the production line brand new in 1947, rather than when it was a mobile canteen."

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