Notes on Huddersfield

Trolley bus driver dies, 91
Aug 18 2003

By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD'S last trolley bus driver, Mr Willie Ward, has died at the age of 91.

Mr Ward, better known as Bill, was a well-known Huddersfield personality and a talented rugby league player. Retiring from the public transport service in 1977, he had been the last man to drive trolley buses in Huddersfield.

The youngest of four brothers, sport-loving Mr Ward grew up at Berry Brow. Nicknamed the flying wingman for his ability to elude tackles, he often left the rugby field with kit as clean as when he walked on. He played for Wakefield Trinity, Underbank and Brighouse Rangers. He also tried out for Fartown, a great team in the 1930s.

Married three times, he had two daughters, Barbara and Jacqueline, to his first wife Janey. He later remarried and had a son, Ian, with Maud. After Maud's death Mr Ward married Alice in his late 70s. The couple had been living at St Winifred's Nursing Home, Rastrick.

A former mill worker, Mr Ward joined the bus service after the Second World War. During the conflict he had served on searchlights on the Humber estuary.

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8 SE 2003