Alan Payling meets up with a couple of tour drivers who, having fallen in love after meeting in a coach park, got married and then carried on touring. Did they live happily ever after?
There’s a bit of romance about being a tour driver and the wanderlust that is part and parcel of their way of life. They get up at the crack of dawn, and as the sun is coming up, they head off into the wide blue yonder ending up anywhere in Europe – or at least, in Blackpool. That romance can also turn to love. For example, I’ve come across drivers who have fallen for one of their passengers. Sometimes the other half then ends up travelling with their spouse acting as tour manager so they don’t have to worry about whether absence will make their hearts grow fonder. But what happens when a tour driver meets another tour driver and they fall in love? Then they get married and carry on touring. For the same firm. How does that work? [wlm_nonmember][…]
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I was able to get a glimpse into perhaps the unique marital relationship of Michelle and Chris Dawson of Lakeside Coaches from Ellesmere in Shropshire when they were both in Torbay recently. When I say they were ‘in Torbay,’ to be more precise, they were each running a separate tour. Chris was staying at the Headland Hotel in Torquay while Michelle was at the Queens Hotel in Paignton. When they got to the end of The Kings Drive where the road into town hits the seafront, Michelle turned right while Chris turned left. Talk about coaches passing in the night. So close…
Cupid parks up…
When most tour drivers head off to a coach park, they’re expecting a place that’s not too far from the drop off point, is easy to find, provides easy access, has a free space and doesn’t cost a lot. My guess is that they’re not as a rule expecting to find a soulmate. Neither were Michelle and Chris, as it happens, when they headed to the coach park in Walsingham in Norfolk in May 2010. They were both running tours as part of pilgrimages to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. But, possibly in an act of divine intervention, a soulmate is what they both found when they’d parked up and started to do what most tour drivers do when they’re in a coach park; and that’s talk. And, they’re still talking. Chris said: “Most days!”
At the time, Chris was employed by Roy McCarthy Coaches of Macclesfield where he’d worked for some six years. His group on the pilgrimage were from Stockport while Michelle was working where she still works, for Lakeside Coaches, having now clocked up 12 years’ service there. Her pilgrims were from Chester. When they started to chat, they found that they had quite a lot in common. For example, Chris was struck by Michelle’s enthusiasm for heritage railways, an interest he very much shares. This was to be a feature of the day when they eventually tied the knot. More of that later. Also, a shared interest for vintage buses was a common denominator.
Michelle said that when they parted that day, they parted as friends. Michelle then took off on her bike to enjoy one of her other interests: visiting churches, an interest Chris now enthusiastically shares with her! As they were both in Walsingham for the week, and even though their hotels were at opposite ends of the small village, they met up in the evenings while they were socialising with their respective groups. For three nights they did what drivers do when they’re away on tour, and spent the time chatting. For the romantics reading this, it wasn’t quite love at first sight. However, looking back, Michelle says that she had a feeling of sadness when she parted from Chris later that week.
…and lets his arrow go
After that, they kept in touch via long phone calls and Facebook. To give you an idea how long one call was, Chris recalls that he washed three coaches down while they were chatting away. His coaches are always kept very clean. But July 2010, saw their paths cross again in Lichfield coach park where they were both doing excursions to the cathedral city. It was during this rendezvous, and while chatting on Chris’s coach for a couple of hours that the spark occurred and Cupid’s arrow hit the spot. That’s when the phone calls got longer, particularly when they were trying to arrange a date. The difficulty was trying to arrange to meet given their work schedules and the fact that they lived an hour and half’s drive apart. But, they overcame those hurdles and having met up, that was when Chris started to appreciate the delights of visiting churches and in particular, for eating cake – lots of cake – another great love in Michelle’s life. They now share a love of cake. They also enjoyed time together visiting heritage railways such as the Llangollen Railway.
As their relationship grew, having spent more time together, they wanted to be closer to each other. The first step in that direction was for Chris to start working for Lakeside Coaches in September of 2010 alongside Michelle. In October that year, Chris relocated to a house in Cockshutt near Ellsmere. Initially, Chris worked in the office at Lakeside as Transport Co-ordinator but having been sent out on the road occasionally, he realised he missed the open highway, and back on tour he went. The MD of Lakeside, Neal Hall, was aware of their relationship as soon as Chris started working alongside Michelle and they both acknowledge the support they received in being allocated holidays together and where possible, time off together. Also, and again where possible, they are allocated work together where two or more coaches are on the same job, where it is a two driver job, and where two coaches will be in the same area.
This was the case when I met them in Torbay; Michelle was in Paignton while Chris was in Torquay. Michelle and Chris have also received considerable support at times of family emergencies from the company. This they put down to the fact that as Lakeside are a family business, so they are understanding of the domestic needs of their drivers. Michelle covers most of the work that Lakeside do, but doesn’t go into Europe or Ireland. Chris however, goes further afield covering continental tours. These take him as far away as Croatia. He is more than happy to travel abroad enjoying new challenges which included the first time he drove in Germany on his own on a five-day Rhine Valley tour in 2018.
Tying the knot
Michelle and Chris were then seeing each other regularly and they got engaged on 15 July 2012 when they were on holiday together on Lindisfarne. It was while they were on the beach there that Chris got down on one knee and proposed to Michelle. She was aware that a proposal was on the cards as Chris had asked about ring sizes, but she has very fond memories of the moment. They got married on 15th July 2017, five years later. While Lakeside provided a coach to take guests to the wedding at the Llangollen Railway, they didn’t go on a coach holiday on their honeymoon. Instead, they had a minimoon in Llanon in Ceredigion for a week. The main honeymoon was that New Year when they shared their love for each other and railways to travel around on the very scenic rail network in Switzerland. Those eight days they remember very fondly.
Then, as ever, it was back to work, heading off on many occasions in different directions. This can happen most weeks and they sometimes wave to each other from different sides of the M6. The furthest they have been apart was when Chris was on tour in Krk, a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic, and Michelle was away in Fort William, a distance according to Google Maps, of 1,548 miles. As they both run some 40 tours a year, mainly in the UK, they are apart quite a bit.
This is where the benefits of social media and modern communications come in. As Michelle was in Paignton, I gave her a lift to Chris’s hotel to interview them together. While we were waiting for Chris to come back from Trago Mills, Michelle picked up her phone and said that she would just see where Chris was. “He’s on the new bypass coming into Torquay,” she very quickly told me, showing me exactly where Chris’s coach was. This was a benefit of Lakeside’s coach tracking system, TomTom Webfleet, as the company allow their drivers to have access to the system. This is of course primarily for the company’s business activities, but as far as Chris and Michelle are concerned, it enables them to see exactly where their other half is to be found. Michelle did point out this wasn’t to keep tabs on one another, but is useful to see that they are OK. Additionally, as they communicate a lot by phone, they can see whether their other half is driving or not before they call them. They also use Facebook Messenger to keep in touch.
A lot in common, but not coaches
Like many coach drivers, they have a personal enthusiasm and loyalty for the coaches they are allocated. Michelle drives a 62-plate Sunsundegui Sideral Volvo B9R while Chris drives a 15-plate Mercedes-Benz Tourismo. As a result, there is some friendly banter about the relative merits of their respective coaches. Chris is of the view that the Mercedes-Benz is comfortable and well built, has a good specification with comfortable seats, a Webasto, a good entertainment system and a good video set up with three screens. Michelle is a fan of the Sunsundegui because she particularly likes the Volvo I-Shift gearbox. She says the I-Shift gives her a smooth drive and provides lots of control in all sorts of conditions. Michelle also appreciates the electronic key fob that opens the front door from a distance, which means that when it’s raining she can get on the coach quickly. Her coach also has central locking and powered locker doors which means she doesn’t have to lift heavy locker doors when loading cases. She is also a fan of the way the mirrors are set up, which she says reduces blind spots and makes manoeuvring in tight spots much easier and safer – particularly in heavy traffic in places like London. Their differing opinions of their coaches make for some friendly banter between them as I found out when I was talking to them. I won’t repeat what Michelle said when I was taking photos of Chris’s Mercedes as he parked up at the Headland Hotel.
Being together
Speaking of London, and occasions when they have worked together, they have some fond memories of the time they were both assigned to cover the Olympics back in 2012. They recall that while Michelle is not that fond of driving in London, it was a very useful learning exercise for her as she didn’t know London that well at the time. She does now. But what they recall is that over the month they were in London, they made a lot of friends in the coach trade that they still keep in contact with. But importantly, they were together for the whole period of the assignment. So they made the best of their days off as the seven Lakeside drivers covering the games were allocated a car for private use by the company, which Chris again credits as a way that the company looks after them.
On their days off, they went to visit, that’s right, churches. As they were staying in accommodation in High Wycombe, they headed off into the surrounding countryside. Here they referred to Michelle’s and now Chris’s Bible: England’s Thousand Best Churches by Simon Jenkins. It is now their joint ambition to visit all one thousand. Michelle is halfway through, having been ticking them off for 10 years now. They have fond memories of making the best of the job on the occasions that they have free time to pursue a passion they both share.
They certainly make the most of their days off together when in resort. They told me about the time they were in Torbay when they hired a car from Enterprise Car Hire. The beauty of that company is that they picked them up from their hotel, took them to pick up the hire car, and off they went. They have done the same in places like Lowestoft in Suffolk. On such occasions, they head off to visit more churches in the local countryside.
When they work together on two driver jobs, they let their passengers know that they are a couple as they sense that the people they carry are wondering about them. The passengers like this apparently and as a result, comments are passed. One of them concerns who the passengers on board think is the better driver. It is always Michelle, apparently, which Chris admitted with good grace. I can certainly vouch for Michelle’s driving skills, having been engaged by her to act as guide on a Dartmoor tour a few years ago. The moor is a place that can test drivers. Michelle took it in her stride. When they’re working together, it does catch some people out because of their stereotypical attitudes. This arises amongst those who think Michelle is the courier. This they dispel, when having got under way with Michelle at the wheel, Chris then walks through the coach. Up goes the cry, ‘who’s driving?’ or, ‘I didn’t realise she could drive!’ But overall, as they have similar standards as to how to do the job, they are very compatible and work well together, so my guess is that passengers would find it difficult to favour one of them over the other.
The downside of the job is that they have to be apart at times. However, as they met when they were both working in the industry and knew full well what the job entailed, they each went into their relationship with both eyes open. As a result, they accept the fact that they will spend time apart and that aspect of their relationship wasn’t a big surprise – I didn’t hear a murmur of complaint. But their paths cross in surprising places, and as they get support from Lakeside, they accept their way of life and make the most of it. For example, after I met them in Torbay, over the following weekend they were having time off together. It’s during the busy mid-season that they sometimes spend more time apart because of varied schedules. But when they’re apart, there is always the consolation of cake – free cake too!
But, overall, they are very happy with their lot and having found the person they love, they are more than happy to work in the industry they love. So, in answer to the question I asked at the beginning, yes, Chris and Michelle are indeed living happily ever after. And as I would have said to my passengers back in the day when I told them a happy story: ‘All together now ladies and gentlemen – awww.’
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