A WELL-KNOWN bus driver from Lochgelly who would hear "everybody's troubles on the road" has passed away.

Jim Swan, who was 77, died peacefully at home on Christmas Day and was laid to rest at Lochgelly Cemetery on Monday.

Born on June 22 1943, Jim was an elder brother to Adam, Alistair and David, and was brought up in the town by his mother - a dinner lady so popular with school pupils that they continued to visit her even after she retired - and his father, a coal miner.

After leaving school at the age of 15, and then working at Easter Colquhally Farm before a six-week stint working on the railways, he ended up in employment as a lorry driver.

However, Jim had decided to try and become a bus driver and, by around 1967-68, he was working with W. Alexander and Sons from their garage in Lochgelly.

On September 27 1968, Jim and his wife, Margaret, were married and they went on to have two daughters, Fiona and Heather.

In between times, in 1972, Jim was carrying out a school run on the bus when, whilst driving along Liza Brae, between Lochgelly and Cardenden, fault brakes saw him crash into a tree.

He had to be cut out from the vehicle by fire services from Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath – who the family said saved his life – and, after spending time in hospital and off ill, was told he was losing his job. However, with trade union official, Tim Fraser, proposing strike action, Jim was reinstated.

When the Lochgelly bus depot, on Auchterderran Road, was closed, Jim transferred to Cowdenbeath, and would continue to work for W. Alexander and Sons, Fife Scottish – which was formed as a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group from W. Alexander in 1985 – and latterly Stagecoach.

He was a familiar face on the number 19 route, between Ballingry and Dunfermline, where Margaret fondly recalled him hearing "everybody's troubles on the road", and receiving "sweeties from the ones that went to the bingo"!

A well-liked character who was popular with passengers, Jim once stopped his bus – at Woodend – to ensure a hedgehog he had spotted ahead was lifted across the road and out of harm's way, whilst also once forgetting he was behind the wheel of his bus by taking a slip road towards Edinburgh as he chatted about the city with one of his friends who had boarded!

Jim, who was never off sick apart from the time of his accident continued to work until the age of 65, retiring in 2008.

In his spare time, he enjoyed caravan holidays to Newtonmore, as well as building and giving away bikes for kids, with Heather noting: "One actually commented that you were not a cyclist until you owned a bike from big Jim Swan!"

In August 2019, Jim was diagnosed with illness, and was given a prognosis of between 14 months and two years, but sadly passed away at home on Christmas Day.

Jim is survived by wife Margaret and daughters Fiona and Heather.