The Campbell fleet at that time included JS 4387, a Bedford WS model 30 cwt, which originally came from Lochs and was later owned by Murdo ‘Polly’ MacDonald, Old Police Station, Lionel.  Norman Campbell also owned a 1934 Bedford WT model, registration number US 7869 (unladen weight 1 ton 19cwt 84lbs), which was painted green and had a coat of arms on the door. It was originally owned by the Customs in Glasgow.

Angus remembers this vehicle well: he broke his arm one morning following a ‘backfire’ while trying to start it. Remarkably, in a corner of his wallet is the last licence that was on it, dated September 1948 and cost six pounds, seventeen shillings, and six pence for three months!

When asked about early tractors in Ness, Angus replied: "Donald MacDonald (Domhnall Roasag) 18 Habost had the first tractor, a Fordson Model N which he acquired in 1932." 

He also acquired another Fordson just before the outbreak of WWII.  It was the first tractor on the Island to have rubber wheels. One of it’s first jobs was ploughing at Stornoway airport.   The first Ferguson tractor, a TEA-20 Model (Tractor with standard petrol engine), arrived in1947 and was new to John MacDonald (Seonaidh Shiurra) of Eoropie.  Donald MacDonald, 18 Habost, also bought a new one in 1948, registration number JS 8124. Peter MacLeod (Padruig an Uigich), 137 Cross Skigersta Road, also bought one in 1948.

The first Ferguson on the island may have belonged to Angus Morrison (Millichan) of Galson Motors, Barvas. A new petrol paraffin Ferguson was bought in February 1950, registration number, JS 8825, by Murdo Smith, (Murchadh beag Mhurchaidh Ailein) 1 Lionel.

The first TEF-20 (tractor with standard diesel engine) was purchased in 1951 by Donald MacRitchie (Domhnall Chaibs), 33 Cross. Another man from Cross - Murdo Morrison, (Phiarraidh), 3 Cross - had the honour of owning the first tractor in Ness that had a speedometer. It was a Ferguson FE-35, grey gold (gold engine and transmission, grey tinwork), registration number BSS 599.

To revert back to Angus’ early driving days, he was asked what his first driving job was? He said that he was sailing with the New Zealand Shipping Company and was unable to find time to sit a driving test. But on one occasion he was home on leave for four months, and two days before he was due to leave for his ship he sat his driving test and failed. Following two more trips to sea, Angus passed his driving test.

Angus MacLeod (Aonghais Drogaidh), 12 Edgemoor Square, Lionel, a local haulage operator who had a Bedford O Model (reg. no. HTM 919) was incapacitated after breaking his ribs and asked Angus if he would stand in for him. So for several weeks he was engaged in hauling sand, which was mainly used for land reseeding work. Shortly after this he acquired the Bedford for himself and used it to haul peats during the summer seasons of 1961-64. He can remember the peat loads being stacked so high that someone would have to sit on top of the load and lift the overhead telephone wires to prevent them snagging on the peat.

By this time tractors had largely phased out lorries in crofting townships as people increasingly bought their own tractors and became less dependent on commercial vehicles.

When asked about the worse load he carried, Angus replied that it was cattle, which he carried to the slaughterhouse on Monday mornings. He also recalled hauling a badly loaded consignment of timber for John MacLeod, the boat builder in Port of Ness. It kept moving in the back of the lorry as he made his way across the moor to Ness, a journey which usually took about two and a half hours.

Angus usually had a different kind of load on a Friday night. Like a lot of lorries at that time they were used to carry people to dances and the ‘bothans’ (unlicensed drinking dens). The girls would sit in the front, with the boys in the back. Quite often they would travel as far as the bothan in Borve – several miles away.

He worked for a time with Donald MacLeod, Eoropie, driving a Morris Commercial 2 tonner they had at that time (registration number HST 31), and that year took the entire wool collection for the parish of Ness over to Stornoway.

Later, he worked for Morrison Brothers, Lionel (Balaich na Casag) and drove a Bedford TJ (reg. no. HJS 87), one of two bought in 1960, and a Ford D.   Morrison Brothers had a contract at the Decca Navigator station in Lionel, hauling material from the Wm. Tawse quarry in Stornoway to build the concrete bases that supported the aerial masts. The firm also hauled sand to Dell Farm and Swainbost Farm for reseeding work.  Three pounds would buy you thirteen gallons of petrol at Waddell’s garage in Barvas, which sounds cheap but the pay was only fifteen shillings per hour.

On the 18th December 1965 Angus MacKenzie married Margaret Ann from North Tolsta, and moved to their new home in London with Angus returning to work at sea. However, with the seaman’s strike looming in1966 and uncertain times ahead, he decided to look for another job. He was surviving on four pounds a week strike money, and most of that was being spent on fares.

There were plenty of jobs on shore, and he soon met a bus inspector and inquired about work as a bus driver. He was offered a ‘spin’ on a training bus and went on to pass his PSV licence on 6 June 1966. He did his first solo run on 24 June with a double-deck Leyland RTW. He later went on to drive AEC Routemasters’ and AEC RTs’ to name but a few.