any old promotor drivers around

[sandway]

Promotor driver John Preece with one of the old pavilion guards at the Baghdad Fair. Could be 86/87. This is one of my favourite photos of John in a pose that was so typical of him. Unfortunately due to his mood swings we also saw the other side of his character but John in that photo is the way I shall always remember him. Wish we knew where you were now my friend.
Click on John to see him jump out at you.

[sandway]

OK Efes. Enoughs enough. You gotta find those photos of yours. You gotta put you foot down and tell that wife of yours to stop hiding them. My shoebox is not bottomless you know but I'm glad I've still got a few photos of John in there. Don't know if you noticed but behind John is part of the Saftcrest stand. Now get down to the boiler room and find those photos.
ps. Glad I wasn't on board when the weather played up. Never wanted to be a sailor.

[sandway]

Promotor driver Roger Oakley was with the company during the 70's leaving in the early 80's I believe. I didn't know him well only meeting him three or four times. He drove rigids and as far as I know didn't have a class 1 licence. I think Nottsnortherner confirmed that in a post a while back. However, I have come across a photo of a Bosman Volvo lorry in which somebody indicated the driver was Roger. I have since been in touch with Christian Bosman who confirms it was our Roger at the wheel. Year, going by the reg, was somewhere I reckon from 96 to 2000.
Unfortunately Roger is no longer with us.

[sandway]

Micky Martin operated as an owner driver under the name MARTINFREIGHT and was a Promotor subbie for three years or so from about 74 to 76. He also had other companies he worked for but he did a lot of eastern bloc work for us especially Yugo. He travelled to Iran as an owner driver as well as other destinations. Micky tells me he bought the Scania 110 new, it came with a M/E spec and he did 360,000 miles in it in three years or so. Best lorry he had he reckoned. On one trip he was stuck on Tahir in eastern Turkey for three days with temperatures down to -32 degrees. I have attached a photo Micky took on Tahir in 75 when the weather was a bit better.

In the first photo of him standing in front of VGF 891M his Scania he is on the right wearing the hat. It seems Micky is a bit of a squirrel as he still has that hat. On the left is Promotor driver Mick Mitchell. However, I am pleased he did stash things away as he has given me part of a newsletter Peter Calderwood (Mr Promotor) put out in 75. We have seen part of it on here before, that being the drivers list, but not all of it. Its a load of gobbledygook really but makes interesting reading but one thing I recognised immediately I saw it was where Peter had initialled a change of units. His initials, PC, are very distinctive as was his signature, something I would see hundreds of times during my association with the company.

I have attached all of Micky's photos and thank him for letting me post them on here.

[Efes]

Promotor driver John Preece with one of the old pavilion guards at the Baghdad Fair. Could be 86/87. This is one of my favourite photos of John in a pose that was so typical of him. Unfortunately due to his mood swings we also saw the other side of his character but John in that photo is the way I shall always remember him. Wish we knew where you were now my friend.
Click on John to see him jump out at you.

I may have found an address for John in Weston super Mare... How far is that from you Sandway? I'm pretty sure it's him "John Leonard Preece". Can't find an email address for him. Perhaps he never made it to the digital age? I am fairly certain that it's "our man". I may try the old fashioned letter to see...

A letter in the post. Let's see if anything happens.

[sandway]

The following tale is of how things can go disastrously wrong even when planned down to the last detail.

By 1976 Promotor (Europe) Ltd were going from strength to strength in their own small way. They were never a big company but had a diverse range of customers who provided the drivers with a wealth of varied and interesting work. From the early days in 1970 handling Fords development and promotional work to spreading their wings in 72 to far flung destinations as diverse as Moscow and Tehran. Bob 'Supercube' Heath has told us in the very early days Peter Calderwood subbed some work from Astran until he got established which didn't take long and also picked up work for a UK importer bringing Tiger Tyres back from Pirot in Yugo. By 75 the number of units had increased to twelve and a number of rigids were still required for car movements. Come 76 everything was going swimmingly, but that autumn a job would bring Promotor almost to the point of extinction.

The exact year is open to discussion but I understand from John Smith, a driver who was working for Simon International that it was 76 or according to our own Nottsnortherner possibly 77. But I believe it was 76 as our P reg Afro Camion lorry was still looking quite new and that would have been registered in August 75 and there are no pictures of later reg lorries. During late summer Peter bid for and won a contract from Westfield Homes in Kent to transport frames for mobile homes to a site south of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. There were, it is believed, ten trailer loads in total.

These loads would have to be transported on stripped down supercube trailers and would be semi wide loads but not wide enough to require an escort. I don't know the weight on each trailer but looking at the few photos from that time I doubt they exceeded 12 ton. There would be very little chance of finding any kind of return load for these trailers so the job was priced to run back empty. As Promotor didn't have enough trailers some were rented in and we have pictorial evidence that at least one unit was hired from Brighton Van Hire. We also know that at least one of the loads was pulled by a subbie.

As I didn't join the company till 78 much of the information concerning this job has been gleaned from people who were around at the time, ( not just Promotor personel) or responded to my request for information on Facebook.

By 76 Promotor had appointed Bob Charlton as transport manager but he had been replaced by Joe Alexander before the big job started. The company needed to employ extra drivers and Joe knew a couple of guys with M/E experience who could start almost immediately. One was Ken Brazier and the other was Ray Scutts. Ray had worked for Astran and later had two or three of his own lorries but I believe that venture failed. Certainly they brought experience to the job but some of the existing Promotor drivers also knew their way to Saudi and beyond. I don't have the full list of drivers who took part in this job but I know that Stevie Smith, Ken Brazier, Ray Scutts, and subbie Big John McFall were there. I have also been told by Promotor driver John Evans, who wasn't on the job, that Billy Proudlove may have been another one. Another possible driver is Carl Dehnert as he was the designated driver for GYX 764N and that lorry is shown loaded and ready to go in one of the photos.

Peter Calderwood was a planner and there's a very good chance it was he who put the basic plan together. It was simple enough. Load ten trailers and haul them down to Riyadh . What could possibly go wrong. Permits weren't a problem, finance wasn't either. Loads were wide but not too wide. Hire in trailers, units and subbies as needed. No, there was nothing that could go wrong as long as you had the right men for the job. Hmmm.. Yes, you've guessed it! Nine of the ten drivers were fine dependable types who, if they had set out on their own, would have completed the job in their usual quiet and determined way. But unfortunately the tenth driver was chosen to be team leader. It is here I have to inform you that I cannot name this driver. A name has been mentioned but as I don't have the full drivers roster for the trip and I've only been given hints of who it was its best I keep it to myself.

It was decided to stagger the loads and split them into groups of pairs who would leave a few days after each other. The team leader and another driver set off with the idea that they would arrive first and make sure everything was in place for the rest when they arrived. Customs clearance and cranes were required to be ready so as each pair arrived they would spend the minimum amount of time waiting. However, the first pair only got as far as Belgium before a halt was called. The story goes, and it may be just hearsay, but the chap in charge bought an American car using the running money, drove it back to the UK where he sold it before making his way back to Belgium and the other driver who was tasked with looking after the two lorries. By this time the second pair of lorries had caught up and they then made slow progress down to the National in Belgrade. By this time others drivers with a bit more momentum caught up and most of the ten loads ended up parked around the hotel there.

It then transpired that the team leader met a Bowkers driver returning from Turkey who told him the Bulgies were no longer issuing transit visas at the border. After wasting more time discussing what to do the team leader declared he would take everyones passport and fly back to London and obtain them there. Why they didn't go via Greece is anyones guess, although I have a sneaking feeling one or two of them did just that. Anyway, six or seven drivers were left mooching around the National doing nothing and that was really getting under the skin of Big John McFall as he was an owner driver. However, things then took a turn for the worse when the police carried out a routine passport check at the National. As our drivers didn't have theirs they were all placed under house arrest.

Whilst all these shenanigans were taking place other Promotor drivers were very busy on the exhibition work in eastern europe and one of those drivers called into the National on his way to Bucharest where he found most of the loads parked up. This was about four weeks after the first pair left the UK. There was no sign of the team leader as he had flown back with the passports by then. He spoke to Big John who wasn't at all impressed and then left next morning for Bucharest. He returned to the National almost a week later to find most of them still parked there. He didn't hang around and made his way back to the UK where he was concerned enough for the state of the company that he arranged a meeting with Billy Heath, road foreman at that time who suggested they had a private meeting with Peter, the boss.

I don't have the full chronological order of events after that but what we do know is that Joe Alexander was flown out a few weeks later, accompanied by another driver George Fardell. Joe was to sack the team leader, sort out any problems and get the job back on track. I don't know where Joe met up with the convoy but I understand there were more problems as they made their way to Riyadh. I mentioned earlier John Smith of Simon International. He says he was driving in the desert somewhere near Riyadh when he came across a Promotor lorry that was empty and on its way home. They both stayed the night there and left next day which was Christmas day. He said the driver knew what he was up to and they ran together for a few days. As they departed on the first morning John took some photos of the Promotor lorry disappearing ahead of him. Thanks for letting me use those images John.

One casualty of this trip was Big John McFall. Even though he was a regular Promotor subbie driving a lorry he bought from the company he never did another trip for them. Another well known little ditty or popular story is that one of the lorries lost part of its load on H4 but continued on to the destination where the driver obtained a clear signature. I think that just about sums up this disastrous job that almost saw the demise of the company.

There is a lot more to this story of course and maybe some of the facts I have been given are not as accurate as I would like but come on you guys who were around at the time. Do you have any recollections of that job or even photographs. If so I would love to see or hear about them.

[ERF-NGC-European]

Some cracking posts ^^^^^^^^ from Sandway there, again - much appreciated! Robert

[Steve H]

Guys,

I love this thread. Please keep it up.

Particularly interested in the car transport side as well as the work carried out for Ford at Dunton. (I am in there regularly now - some place!!)

Thanks

Steve

[Efes]

Just had contact from Roger Graber who apparently had a major operation for something or other but is recovered and alive and well although not quite as mobile as he used to be and moves now with the aid a zimmer frame or some such.

Good to hear that Roger is still going strong. I saw him last at Mick Twemlow's funeral a while back

Roger called to ask me where Promotor had their depot in Spain (where Staggie lived on a campsite nearby). Does anyone know? This was before my time.

No answer from my letter to Preecy as yet (if it indeed was "our" John Preece I wrote to...)

I'll keep you all posted.

[Efes]

Promotor driver John Preece with one of the old pavilion guards at the Baghdad Fair. Could be 86/87. This is one of my favourite photos of John in a pose that was so typical of him. Unfortunately due to his mood swings we also saw the other side of his character but John in that photo is the way I shall always remember him. Wish we knew where you were now my friend.
Click on John to see him jump out at you.

I may have found an address for John in Weston super Mare... How far is that from you Sandway? I'm pretty sure it's him "John Leonard Preece". Can't find an email address for him. Perhaps he never made it to the digital age? I am fairly certain that it's "our man". I may try the old fashioned letter to see...

A letter in the post. Let's see if anything happens.

A message from John L Preece in Weston super Mare today saying he's the wrong John Preece. Did anyone know what the "L" in John's second name stood for? Lindsay?

There was another John L Preece of Sutton Coalfield but he died in 2009. He was living with a family of Preeces (brother?) so I don't think this is our man either... I also checked Australia

Sadly there are lots of "John Preeces" so he may be in with those. I found his second wife, Rae, listed in Lancing in 2002 electoral roll but after that nothing. She married John in 1988 in Shoreham.

So sadly I've drawn a blank. Shame!

[sandway]

Good stuff Efes. I am away on a trip a present and my mifi unit has let me down so keep up the good work. John has to be out there somewhere.

[Efes]

Good stuff Efes. I am away on a trip a present and my mifi unit has let me down so keep up the good work. John has to be out there somewhere.

He had a son I think... Anyone know the son's name and approx age?

[Nottsnortherner]

Hi Efes, in answer to your location request for the "Spanish depot" I am pretty sure it was a campsite just outside Canet de mar near Barcelona. I dont know of another storage site but there was an un-used area at the campsite where Stagg and his wife were living temporarily. Stagg had a "D" series flatbed and car trailer which he used to go around Spain collecting the broken down cars under the AA 5 STAR recovery scheme bringing them back to the campsite where they were stored waiting collection toreturn to the UK. One of my early long(timewise) trips I can remember was a 3 weeker which involved the Carriemore car trailer loaded with taxi spec Ford Cortinas bound for a trades fair in Brno and then going empty to Canet to reload with broken cars to take home. Some of the other Promotor drivers were down there as well having unloaded new machinery at the then new Ford assembly plant at Valencia. We all had to wait a couple of days for Stagg to return before we could load up. 3 or 4 drivers, Spanish camp site, sun,sand,beer and barbie and days to kill !!!!!How boring could it get! Oh and a few bikini clad girlies on holiday at the campsite too, I almost forgot that! PS, Roger Oakley took over from Stagg eventually and moved his wife down there with him too. Rumours were rife that a little bit of malarky took place at that time but I cant(wont) say more than that as sadly, Roger isn,t with us anymore to confirm or deny.

[sandway]

Good stuff Efes. I am away on a trip a present and my mifi unit has let me down so keep up the good work. John has to be out there somewhere.

He had a son I think... Anyone know the son's name and approx age?

John had two sons. One was named Bryn (spelling) and when I met him in about 81 or 82 I think he was aged about 18. He worked as a groundsman at Wrotham Golf Club, opposite side of the road to the Astran depot. The other son I met but can't remember much about him but I believe he was the one who moved to Tasmania where I thought John ended up.

[sandway]

Good stuff Efes. I am away on a trip a present and my mifi unit has let me down so keep up the good work. John has to be out there somewhere.

He had a son I think... Anyone know the son's name and approx age?

John had two sons. One was named Bryn (spelling) and when I met him in about 81 or 82 I think he was aged about 18. He worked as a groundsman at Wrotham Golf Club, opposite side of the road to the Astran depot. The other son I met but can't remember much about him but I believe he was the one who moved to Tasmania where I thought John ended up.

[Efes]

Good stuff Efes. I am away on a trip a present and my mifi unit has let me down so keep up the good work. John has to be out there somewhere.

He had a son I think... Anyone know the son's name and approx age?

John had two sons. One was named Bryn (spelling) and when I met him in about 81 or 82 I think he was aged about 18. He worked as a groundsman at Wrotham Golf Club, opposite side of the road to the Astran depot. The other son I met but can't remember much about him but I believe he was the one who moved to Tasmania where I thought John ended up.

[Efes]

Good stuff Efes. I am away on a trip a present and my mifi unit has let me down so keep up the good work. John has to be out there somewhere.

He had a son I think... Anyone know the son's name and approx age?

John had two sons. One was named Bryn (spelling) and when I met him in about 81 or 82 I think he was aged about 18. He worked as a groundsman at Wrotham Golf Club, opposite side of the road to the Astran depot. The other son I met but can't remember much about him but I believe he was the one who moved to Tasmania where I thought John ended up.

I have been in contact with Bryn and - very sad to say - John crossed the line in 2006 of a heart attack. I'm going to meet up with Bryn for a beer and to see the photos he says he has and a trip down memory lane.

What a terrible shame as John was one of those great characters one meets so rarely in life. Trips with John were always an immense amounts of fun.

He will be sadly missed - but not forgotten - as these pages testify.

[sandway]

Hello Efes. You have done sterling work in your endeavours to trace John. Its sad that all your hard work was in vain and that John was another one to leave the party early. That reminds me of the time John and I were locked up for the night near Cluses. We had left a group of drivers in a local drinking hole early as he was pissed off with one of them, intending to walk back to where our lorries were parked at Cluses customs depot forgetting it was 7 or 8km away. On the way we were picked up by the local gendarmerie...... Yes, I've told the story before on here so won't go on, suffice to say, I can't think of a better cell mate than John. Miss you lots old fellow but I would like everyone to know it was all your fault as you got me drunk.

I hope Bryn is able to supply some old photos of John before he worked for Promotor Efes. Please remember me to him. I doubt he will remember but I stayed the night at their house then at five next morning Bryn, John and myself went up to the golf course at Wrotham where Bryn was working and John and I knocked a few balls around.

As you have no doubt ascertained I am back on line, albeit perhaps only temporary. I have been in the high Pyrenees but the first snow of the winter arrived a couple of nights ago and I don't like the cold so have moved to lower levels. At least here I can get a wifi signal. I have added a few photos but at home I know I have one or two more of John but thats gonna be three or four weeks before I can look for them.

[sandway]

Whilst carrying out some research into the infamous job Promotor did to Riyadh a few posts earlier I found out from his son that Bill Sallis took some of the photos. Around that time, mid 70's, he worked for Knight International and ended up doing some internals for them. He took photos of one job he was on that I thought are worth showing on this thread. I got those photos courtesy of Neil Trickett.

Knights had three caravans to move and managed to get two of them in the trailer but rather than delivering them and then coming back for the third they decided to weld a ball hitch on the back of the trailer and get the job done in one go. Unfortunately the ball hitch broke soon after setting off and the mobile welder had to be called in to reattach it. Bill did finally get to his destination wherever that was.

[sandway]

Been a few old Promotor drivers mentioned recently. I know there are a number out there who watch but don't contribute. Thats fine with me but would be nice to hear from you with some of your stories, however mundane. I was in touch with Sue Evans, Johns wife. John worked for Pro's from 72 to 78 leaving just before I joined the company. It seems he drove one of the red Brighton Van Hire Transcons for a while and also Roy Cloaks Transcon. I thought John was known as Johny but maybe Nottsnortherner can answer that one. John and Sue are going to Devon this month to see two of our old drivers. George Fardell and Sue Ashdown.

Roger Graber has been mentioned by Efes. Shame he's immobile at present. What he needs is a Staggie yelling at him!

I am attaching some more photos of Promotor subbie Micky Martin of MartinFreight taken on a trip to Tehran in 74. As there are so many of them I will put them on in two lots. I'm sure some of you who did this run years ago will recognise some of the places shown

[sandway]

More of Micky's photos. He was saying the Scania 110 was the best motor he ever had. Bought it new and came home with full middle east spec. Did something like 360,000 miles in it.

[sandway]

I recognise that hat and those legs!!!!!!

[sandway]

Looking at the pics below its obvious who it is especially as theres a can of coke on the dash.

[240 Gardner]

Whilst carrying out some research into the infamous job Promotor did to Riyadh a few posts earlier I found out from his son that Bill Sallis took some of the photos and that he drove for Bowkers . Around that time, mid 70's, he also worked for Knight International and ended up doing some internals for them. He took photos of one job he was on that I thought are worth showing on this thread. I got those photos courtesy of Neil Trickett.

I've done some work on Bowker's history lately, and also worked there for almost 20 years, and I never came across any mention of Mr Sallis, so I've learned something there. I'd love to see any more photos he might have, of Bowker motors in the M/E as it wasn't a market they stayed in for very long

[sandway]

Whilst carrying out some research into the infamous job Promotor did to Riyadh a few posts earlier I found out from his son that Bill Sallis took some of the photos and that he drove for Bowkers . Around that time, mid 70's, he also worked for Knight International and ended up doing some internals for them. He took photos of one job he was on that I thought are worth showing on this thread. I got those photos courtesy of Neil Trickett.

I've done some work on Bowker's history lately, and also worked there for almost 20 years, and I never came across any mention of Mr Sallis, so I've learned something there. I'd love to see any more photos he might have, of Bowker motors in the M/E as it wasn't a market they stayed in for very long

Oh dear! Its the 'little grey cells' letting me down again. I've been back through all the correspondence I had on various Facebook sites and find that I muddled up a couple of companies/lorries. Bill Sallis was a driver for Knights of Old or Knight International as shown in the photo. Unfortunately there was also a Bowker lorry there and I got muddled up. Yes, comes with age so my wife keeps telling me. Sorry for the confusion.

[sandway]

Yes, I know you knew the driver was George Fardell all along. The photo I have attached this morning has been on Trucknet many times and I thought was one of Bubbleman's own. But it isn't only on here that I've seen it. Its been shown by many people on many sites, mainly Facebook, and is well known.

However, what I find interesting is that the first photo, shown in an earlier post, which was given to me by Paul Willis, shows George climbing out of his lorry and hasn't been seen before as far as I know. This could well be because its not the finished article. Its not staged or posed and because of that it adds more realism to the shot. There must be many photos like that that people are perhaps under the misconception that they aren't interesting enough to show. But they are so don't keep them hidden in your shoe box. Lets see them especially if they are to do with Promotor.

[Efes]

Friday night out for a beer with John Preece's son, Bryn, who was wearing his father's style all year round short trousers (but without his father's flip-flops). Bryn was accompanied by his charming wife, Alison. My goodness, he looks like John and sounds like John! A real chip off the old block. It was a very pleasant evening indeed as Bryn had been on several trips with his father to Yugo and elsewhere and so we swapped stories of the old days...

Bryn has given me a pack of photos to put online and I hope that over the coming week or two I'll find a moment to post these for him.

Watch this spot!

[sandway]

Back in the harness again after another gruelling trip. Well, not as bad as the ones we did to Yugo or Romo in the depths of winter many years ago. Some of those I hated with a vengeance. Mind you after a few days off I was always looking forward to the phone call telling me where I was off to next. It could have been the usual or it may have been a trip to Lisbon, Athens or Rome. That was one of the great things about Promotor. You never knew what the next job would entail.

Hi Efes, glad to hear you met up with Bryn and his wife. I'm looking forward to seeing the photos of John. If you don't have time to copy and post them I would be happy to do it for you. I'm retired remember!

I know I'm not going to be thanked by some old Promotor drivers but I am attaching some photos of Ray Scutts old lorries. He worked for the company for a spell in the mid 70's so is part of the Promotor history. At one time, after leaving Astran, he started up on his own with two or three F88's. I don't think the venture lasted long and a couple of the photos show the lorries with different names on the headboards. It seems Ray has a very good photo album. I'm sure he has a lot of unseen photos hidden away.

The last photo is interesting. The guy on the right is, I think, Chris Bosman of Bosman Transport out of Farleigh near Maidstone.

[Efes]

I have a series of images which I photographed as my scanner is unavailable at the moment. I'll re-do these properly when I have a moment.

Brian Holmes on left and John Preece on the right. Looks to be a serious time either in Baghdad or Tehran. Brian? Over to you.

[Efes]

John Preece and his wife Annika (as featured on on John's truck in an earlier photo on this site) at work in the Joiner's Arms in West Malling. John had a stamp in his passport from the Joiners Arms and I remember the Waterguard at Dover asking where we'd been as he examined our passports. He observed that John had been to the Joiners Arms!