Crawley independent children’s author; known as The Lego Lady writes books inspired by Bewbush Playbus history

Sue Wickstead, from Furnace Green, has written a series of children’s books inspired by her work with the Bewbush Playbus and her time as a teacher.

Mrs Wickstead and her husband became involved in the original Bewbush Playbus when her son and daughter attended the playgroup.

Her involvement included repainting the original bus, volunteering and helping to raise funds to buy a replacement bus.

Unfortunately, Bewbush Playbus had to stop because of funding issues.

However, Mrs Wickstead has revived the history of the Playbus with her first, independently published book ‘Bewbush Playbus’. The book is a photographic record of the project and includes articles and photographs, which has been used to publicise the work of the ‘Playbus’.

Mrs Wickstead left her full-time teaching to write the history book and took on the role of a supply teacher. She had the opportunity to visit many schools in Sussex and Surrey and mentioned the Playbus, to the children she met.

Mrs Wickstead's books have been on the shelves of London Transport Museum, Crawley Museum, Waterstones, Foyles and independent bookshops. Her Playbus books have even taken her to Spain.

The children asked lots of questions about the ‘Playbus’, and as a result Mrs Wickstead finally decided to write the first part of its journey as a ‘Young Fiction Picture Book’. Her first story book was 'Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus' and is the fictional tale of the real bus.

Each of Mrs Wickstead bus story books have a real-life page included at the back with photographs and information on the buses, this is because she found that readers are still curious about where the stories came from.

On discussing Mrs Wickstead's journey to becoming a children's author, she said: “I didn’t intend to write stories, they crept up on me.

“Having a book in print in front of you is a nice feeling. It’s excellent when you get good feedback from children and adults. I go on book tours and my followers enjoy the books.

“I always wrote. As a teacher, I would write alongside my students. Being a writer wasn’t something I was inspired to do, I wanted to teach.

“I was involved in the Bewbush Playbus. My exhibit on the Playbus has been in the Crawley Museum and Library. I left teaching full-time and put the book together. I was surprised when I went to schools and the children would ask “What is a Playbus?”

“I told them about it and the story became a fictional story. The questions from the children have made me want to carry on writing.

“My book ‘A Spooky Tale’ was written in part by my class. I took my children out on a walk around Bewbush, which helped give me inspiration for the book. Lots of ideas come from what the children say to me.

“Lockdown should have blocked me but the bus stories have come in thick and fast in the past few years. Lockdown has stopped me going to events like bus rallies, stopped me going into schools as an author.

“Next book coming out is ‘David’s Bin Day’ on April 2nd.

“Don’t know the next step, time to breathe. I’m self-published, which gives me ownership of my work and to ensure it’s at the right standard.

“Children all love big lorries, my grandson is into tipper trucks. Anything that makes a lot of noise! Crawley has single decker buses, there are still double decker buses, which you can go upstairs and see a lot of the view. Not as many Playbuses though.

“All my books are on Amazon and every primary school in Crawley has a copy of Bewbush Playbus, with a copy of Jay-Jay the Supersonic Bus.

If you would like to purchase one of the children’s books, please visit: https://suewickstead.co.uk/