By Saul Cooke-Black

STUDENT protests came to Stonehouse in 1975 after a rise in bus fares.

Angry pupils from Maidenhill School turned up for lessons more than one hour late in protest.

Fifty-four youngsters, aged 15 to 16, set off from outside a school in Leonard Stanley on a three-mile march to Stonehouse, and threatened further action if their demand for concessionary bus passes was not met.

Stephen Luff, 15, said they would stay away from school until the end of the week and longer if necessary.

“We are willing to risk any trouble we might get into and are going to carry on until they change the price of the fares,” he said.

Stephen said the protest had been planned after he had been unable to discuss the problem with the headmaster, Mr Cecil Thursby.

Mr Thursby said: “I know how they feel, but this is not an argument in which I want to get involved.”

He added that no disciplinary action would be taken.

Two weeks later, some 30 parents and pupils from Maidenhill, Archway, Manor and the Rosary Schools hired a coach to Gloucester to hand a petition bearing 2,000 signatures to the Secretary of State for education and science, Fred Mulley.

Mr Mulley said he supported the protesters’ stand and had sent proposals to local authorities suggesting ways to change the bus pass procedure.

One parent, John Lovelady, told the SNJ he was sending three of his five children to Manor School ‘in rotation’ as he couldn't afford the fares.