any old promotor drivers around

[sandway]

Another photo that hasn't seen the light of day for over 30 years. Taken at the Baghdad Fair on the Saftcrest stand. John Preece trying to knock out this young Iraqi girl with his boxing skills. All he really wanted was to get her into his (dark) corner in case he needed the kiss of life.

I'm so pleased its John who's first up on this page. A fitting image to celebrate the fifty pages of this thread.

[sandway]

Evening Efes. I bow to your more intimate knowledge of Promotor driver David Boulding. Obviously My memory is playing up again as just proved on the 'Kent transport' thread where I confused two companies with similar names. However, the little anecdotes concerning the French lessons were true but I admit I did apply a bit of artistic licence to the story.

Getting back to the John Preece photos. I have trimmed the one of John on the beach as he looks most uncomfortable with those brazen hussies forcing themselves upon him in a titalising pose. I'm sure nobody wants to see those kind of photos on here when there are plenty of lorry photos to be seen and ogled at. He was no doubt taking his midday constitutional to clear his head before they forced themselves upon him. For all we know he may have been on night shift and only just got up. You have to feel sorry for him.

I note you mention bendy busses in one of your posts Efes. This was of course when he was running Gatwick Airport. It must be my 'little grey cells' letting me down again but I always thought he drove 'jumbo jets'. Maybe he did that for a bit of overtime. I must admit I have never seen him looking so sad as he does in that photo though.

The photo of John with, you assumed, a Swedish lady was interesting. She was indeed Swedish and together with another Swedish lady worked in their countries pavilion at the Baghdad Fair. I met them as they often popped in to our pavilion for a coffee and and were always there for the end of show party arranged by Promotor. I believe both of the ladies husbands worked in their embassies. They may also have worked there themselves. I visited the villa where one of the ladies lived on one occasion, a single story structure in a select area not far from the river. The embassy no doubt paid the rent but I remember thinking at the time that the property seemed much superior to those I saw that our embassy personal lived in. I have a photo that I will attach of myself and the other lady at one of the parties. I only wish I could remember their names.

I still have many photos from my Baghdad Fair days in which John, Chic, Peter, myself and Clive Newman appear occasionally. I will post them at some stage.

[sandway]

A while back I posted some photos of my old Promotor lorry EPU 305T that had been given a facelift and an extra axle. It had been painted pink and given the name 'Pink Panther'. However, recently I have come across another 'Pink Panther'. This one is also a T reg but it's in a sorry state and obviously in need of some major tlc.

The question is which one was done first and which one is the imposter?

[Buzzer]

One from FB nmp, Buzzer.

[sandway]

Thanks for posting that photo Buzzer. I put it on three Facebook sites asking if anyone had the original as its not a very good reproduction. One guy thought it was in Mick Twemlows book 'Trucking Magic'. It is indeed in there but its a bad photo so does anyone have a better copy or the original. I was also interested in the Al Mannah comment.

[sandway]

Yet another photo of Promotor driver John Preece boxing the ladies. Photo taken during the afternoon break at the Baghdad Fair. It was a three hour lull in the proceedings when most of us returned to the hotel but this particular Fair had the British company Saftcrest exhibiting. They were a sports equipment supplier and we soon found plenty of things to do as did the girls. It seems Saftcrest only had one customer in Iraq and seeing as he controlled the countries purse strings they were on to a good thing. I'm talking about Sadaam of course.

[sandway]

A couple of posts back I mentioned our old mate, Micky Twemlow, a Promotor driver for five years in the late 70's and early 80's. As most of you know he wrote three books of his driving exploits and I have borrowed a couple of photos from those books.

The first photo is of Micky in about 82 but its the second photo thats the interesting one. Taken in the early to mid 90's it shows a group of Kepstow Freight drivers and subbies standing in front of Micky's lorry, who were on their way to an Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. A few Promotor drivers ended up on Kepstowe's and in the photo, third from the right, is John Mantle. Its the only photo I've seen of John. He worked in our workshop as a fitter before becoming a Promotor driver in about 84. I never ran with him and in the years we were on Pro's together I doubt if I saw him more than half a dozen times and most of those were when he was in the workshop.

[Efes]

A couple of posts back I mentioned our old mate, Micky Twemlow, a Promotor driver for five years in the late 70's and early 80's. As most of you know he wrote three books of his driving exploits and I have borrowed a couple of photos from those books.

The first photo is of Micky in about 82 but its the second photo thats the interesting one. Taken in the early to mid 90's it shows a group of Kepstow Freight drivers and subbies standing in front of Micky's lorry, who were on their way to an Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. A few Promotor drivers ended up on Kepstowe's and in the photo, third from the right, is John Mantle. Its the only photo I've seen of John. He worked in our workshop as a fitter before becoming a Promotor driver in about 84. I never ran with him and in the years we were on Pro's together I doubt if I saw him more than half a dozen times and most of those were when he was in the workshop.

That's "Boshing Pete" on the extreme left. Good chap! Ran back from Moscow a few times with him and had one of the funniest nights ever one very, very cold winter night in Warsaw on the way home at the hotel just opposite the Palace of Culture, one of Stalin's "wedding cake" buildings that were built around the Commie bloc. A building hated by the Poles. I shall relate this story a bit later... I wonder if Pete's around these days? I am in touch with Henry Osbourne late of Kepstowe (management) still and must ask. Had many a good night out with Henry in Bulgaria (Plovdiv).

Happy days.

I read that Johnny Mantle was very badly damaged recently in a motorbike accident and was at Stoke Manderville... The now late Mick Twemlow told me this by email shortly before he died of cancer. I wonder has anyone any news on Johnnie?

[sandway]

A couple of posts back I mentioned our old mate, Micky Twemlow, a Promotor driver for five years in the late 70's and early 80's. As most of you know he wrote three books of his driving exploits and I have borrowed a couple of photos from those books.

The first photo is of Micky in about 82 but its the second photo thats the interesting one. Taken in the early to mid 90's it shows a group of Kepstow Freight drivers and subbies standing in front of Micky's lorry, who were on their way to an Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. A few Promotor drivers ended up on Kepstowe's and in the photo, third from the right, is John Mantle. Its the only photo I've seen of John. He worked in our workshop as a fitter before becoming a Promotor driver in about 84. I never ran with him and in the years we were on Pro's together I doubt if I saw him more than half a dozen times and most of those were when he was in the workshop.

That's "Boshing Pete" on the extreme left. Good chap! Ran back from Moscow a few times with him and had one of the funniest nights ever one very, very cold winter night in Warsaw on the way home at the hotel just opposite the Palace of Culture, one of Stalin's "wedding cake" buildings that were built around the Commie bloc. A building hated by the Poles. I shall relate this story a bit later... I wonder if Pete's around these days? I am in touch with Henry Osbourne late of Kepstowe (management) still and must ask. Had many a good night out with Henry in Bulgaria (Plovdiv).

Happy days.

I read that Johnny Mantle was very badly damaged recently in a motorbike accident and was at Stoke Manderville... The now late Mick Twemlow told me this by email shortly before he died of cancer. I wonder has anyone any news on Johnnie?

Pete Newlyn aka 'Boshing Pete' passed away at the end of 2015

[sandway]

This Leyland unit suddenly appeared one day during the build up to the Baghdad Fair. Not sure what year it was but at a guess 87 or 88. We didn't ship it in but maybe Davies Turner did.

Does anyone know anything about this model?

[sandway]

This Leyland unit suddenly appeared one day during the build up to the Baghdad Fair. Not sure what year it was but at a guess 87 or 88. We didn't ship it in but maybe Davies Turner did.

Does anyone know anything about this model?

I'm fairly confident the Iraqi's were about to place a large order for this type of lorry hence the reason for it's presence. Knowing them the order could have run into the thousands. Needless to say Leyland didn't get the contract.

[ERF-NGC-European]

This Leyland unit suddenly appeared one day during the build up to the Baghdad Fair. Not sure what year it was but at a guess 87 or 88. We didn't ship it in but maybe Davies Turner did.

Does anyone know anything about this model?

It appears to be a Leyland Landtrain, usually a 6x4 export model with either TL12 lump or Cummins. A rather fine example is seen here in the United Arab Emirates. Robert

[Efes]

A couple of posts back I mentioned our old mate, Micky Twemlow, a Promotor driver for five years in the late 70's and early 80's. As most of you know he wrote three books of his driving exploits and I have borrowed a couple of photos from those books.

The first photo is of Micky in about 82 but its the second photo thats the interesting one. Taken in the early to mid 90's it shows a group of Kepstow Freight drivers and subbies standing in front of Micky's lorry, who were on their way to an Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. A few Promotor drivers ended up on Kepstowe's and in the photo, third from the right, is John Mantle. Its the only photo I've seen of John. He worked in our workshop as a fitter before becoming a Promotor driver in about 84. I never ran with him and in the years we were on Pro's together I doubt if I saw him more than half a dozen times and most of those were when he was in the workshop.

Henry Osborne formerly of Kepstowe told me about this photo "on the first convoy to Baku for the Caspian Oil and Gas. They had an armed escort and shot a lot of duck one night with a Kalashnikov machine gun!"

[sandway]

A couple of posts back I mentioned our old mate, Micky Twemlow, a Promotor driver for five years in the late 70's and early 80's. As most of you know he wrote three books of his driving exploits and I have borrowed a couple of photos from those books.

The first photo is of Micky in about 82 but its the second photo thats the interesting one. Taken in the early to mid 90's it shows a group of Kepstow Freight drivers and subbies standing in front of Micky's lorry, who were on their way to an Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. A few Promotor drivers ended up on Kepstowe's and in the photo, third from the right, is John Mantle. Its the only photo I've seen of John. He worked in our workshop as a fitter before becoming a Promotor driver in about 84. I never ran with him and in the years we were on Pro's together I doubt if I saw him more than half a dozen times and most of those were when he was in the workshop.

Henry Osborne formerly of Kepstowe told me about this photo "on the first convoy to Baku for the Caspian Oil and Gas. They had an armed escort and shot a lot of duck one night with a Kalashnikov machine gun!"

Attached is a photo of the Kepstowe convoy to Baku taken from Micky Twemlow's first book 'The Vodka-Cola Cowboy'. Didn't know there was more than one convoy though.

[ERF-NGC-European]

A couple of posts back I mentioned our old mate, Micky Twemlow, a Promotor driver for five years in the late 70's and early 80's. As most of you know he wrote three books of his driving exploits and I have borrowed a couple of photos from those books.

The first photo is of Micky in about 82 but its the second photo thats the interesting one. Taken in the early to mid 90's it shows a group of Kepstow Freight drivers and subbies standing in front of Micky's lorry, who were on their way to an Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku. A few Promotor drivers ended up on Kepstowe's and in the photo, third from the right, is John Mantle. Its the only photo I've seen of John. He worked in our workshop as a fitter before becoming a Promotor driver in about 84. I never ran with him and in the years we were on Pro's together I doubt if I saw him more than half a dozen times and most of those were when he was in the workshop.

Henry Osborne formerly of Kepstowe told me about this photo "on the first convoy to Baku for the Caspian Oil and Gas. They had an armed escort and shot a lot of duck one night with a Kalashnikov machine gun!"

Attached is a photo of the Kepstowe convoy to Baku taken from Micky Twemlow's first book 'The Vodka-Cola Cowboy'. Didn't know there was more than one convoy though.

When I did it the only convoy was from the Turk/Georgia border at Sarp, to Kutaisi in Georgia. You didn't need to join it coming back empty. Robert

[kmills]

Robert, do you know Richard who owned Fleetwood tpt?, he did a lot of the same work that you did.
I'm pretty sure that the blue & white Scania (ex Traction GB) to the right of centre is the one Richard drove himself on the Russian work - he ended up having a 'head-on' with a Russian who was on his side of the road and wrote it off.

Cheers Keith

[ERF-NGC-European]

Robert, do you know Richard who owned Fleetwood tpt?, he did a lot of the same work that you did.
I'm pretty sure that the blue & white Scania (ex Traction GB) to the right of centre is the one Richard drove himself on the Russian work - he ended up having a 'head-on' with a Russian who was on his side of the road and wrote it off.

Cheers Keith

Morning Keith! Yes, it might be. When Richard got himself back on the road he had an ex-ROF Black F16 Gobbstopper and I helped him a bit to get set up pulling for John Mann on North Africa work (which I was doing at the time). A good lad to work with. Good mate of Simon's at Harrier. Haven't seen him for years. Robert

[sandway]

Haven't mentioned Dave Stagg on here for a while. 'Staggie' who had worked his way up from lorry driver to the position of Director in charge of exhibitions had by 89/90 a wealth of experience. From the mid eighties he had organised British group participation in Trade Fairs or stand alone shows for British industry in a number of countries including Iran, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The pinnacle of his career was an all British Exhibition in Casablanca held in the spring of 1990. But at the end of 90 or possibly 91 he organised his last event for Promotor in a country that I never thought I would have the opportunity of visiting. A country that I had only ever heard its name mentioned in a derogatory way by anyone who visited the place. But Dave in his infinite wisdom saw opportunities for Promotor there.

[Jazzandy]

This Leyland unit suddenly appeared one day during the build up to the Baghdad Fair. Not sure what year it was but at a guess 87 or 88. We didn't ship it in but maybe Davies Turner did.

Does anyone know anything about this model?

Just for the record Orient Exhibitions brought out the Leylands at that show which was in 1988, and the 600 group pavilion which involved 23 trailer loads. That Landtrain was stranded at Zackho with paperwork problems three days before the opening so I took off in a taxi with a driver, who I later learned was part of Saddam's secret police, to head north and sort it out. The moment my driver started shouting at people, customs, police etc., they all quaked in fear and the trailer, one of M&C's I think, was released immediately. We ran with him all the way down to the fairground and I offloaded it down that rickety steel ramp which I think Promotor used for all the Lansings etc. Leyland signed a contract for 350 municipal trucks for Baghdad during the exhibition. We also had the Tom Collins Jazzband out there playing at the fair and at the British Embassy!

Incidentally all the machine tools on the 600 stand were designed for the production of artillery shells and taken, with many more loads which we shipped over the next months, to a new military factory which was one of the first to be obliterated by the RAF at the the start of the Gulf war.

[sandway]

Thanks for setting the record straight regarding the Leyland lorries Andy. Once the old grey stuff has a jog it starts to function again albeit slowly and briefly but what I vividly remember were your epic solo's on the skins when guesting with the Tom Collins Jazz Band. Out of this world!!!!!! Ye, well! thats enough of that.

[Jazzandy]

Thanks for setting the record straight regarding the Leyland lorries Andy. Once the old grey stuff has a jog it starts to function again albeit slowly and briefly but what I vividly remember were your epic solo's on the skins when guesting with the Tom Collins Jazz Band. Out of this world!!!!!! Ye, well! thats enough of that.

That was a good little band. Was it at that fair that you guys hosted a dinner at the Meridian and kindly asked us, your competitors to join you? It was greatly appreciated anyway.

[sandway]

Thanks for setting the record straight regarding the Leyland lorries Andy. Once the old grey stuff has a jog it starts to function again albeit slowly and briefly but what I vividly remember were your epic solo's on the skins when guesting with the Tom Collins Jazz Band. Out of this world!!!!!! Ye, well! thats enough of that.

That was a good little band. Was it at that fair that you guys hosted a dinner at the Meridian and kindly asked us, your competitors to join you? It was greatly appreciated anyway.

Well, you knew Promotor Andy, magnanimous to all.

That got me thinking? 'Magnanimous' exactly what does it mean? So googled it and the meaning I like best is 'generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival or less powerful person'. Yes that definitely sums up the Promotor/Orient scenario. Promotor led whilst others followed. I like it.

At both the Baghdad and Tehran Fairs you were always there like an itch in our side Andy. We would give the itch a good scratch and it would disappear for a while but always came back. Glad it did though as we loved having you around. It kept us on our toes.

[sandway]

Haven't mentioned Dave Stagg on here for a while. 'Staggie' who had worked his way up from lorry driver to the position of Director in charge of exhibitions had by 89/90 a wealth of experience. From the mid eighties he had organised British group participation in Trade Fairs or stand alone shows for British industry in a number of countries including Iran, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The pinnacle of his career was an all British Exhibition in Casablanca held in the spring of 1990. But at the end of 90 or possibly 91 he organised his last event for Promotor in a country that I never thought I would have the opportunity of visiting. A country that I had only ever heard its name mentioned in a derogatory way by anyone who visited the place. But Dave in his infinite wisdom saw opportunities for Promotor there.

Staggie flew out to this back of beyond country on a 'recce' trip well in advance of the exhibition he had planned for there. The attached photo possibly shows him looking for somewhere flat to hold the event.

[sandway]

Haven't mentioned Dave Stagg on here for a while. 'Staggie' who had worked his way up from lorry driver to the position of Director in charge of exhibitions had by 89/90 a wealth of experience. From the mid eighties he had organised British group participation in Trade Fairs or stand alone shows for British industry in a number of countries including Iran, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The pinnacle of his career was an all British Exhibition in Casablanca held in the spring of 1990. But at the end of 90 or possibly 91 he organised his last event for Promotor in a country that I never thought I would have the opportunity of visiting. A country that I had only ever heard its name mentioned in a derogatory way by anyone who visited the place. But Dave in his infinite wisdom saw opportunities for Promotor there.

Staggie flew out to this back of beyond country on a 'recce' trip well in advance of the exhibition he had planned for there. The attached photo possibly shows him looking for somewhere flat to hold the event.

And this is where Staggie was to hold his last exhibition for Promotor. You gotta be joking Dave!!!!!!!

Anyone got any ideas? Apart from the photos there is one big clue.

[ERF-NGC-European]

Haven't mentioned Dave Stagg on here for a while. 'Staggie' who had worked his way up from lorry driver to the position of Director in charge of exhibitions had by 89/90 a wealth of experience. From the mid eighties he had organised British group participation in Trade Fairs or stand alone shows for British industry in a number of countries including Iran, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The pinnacle of his career was an all British Exhibition in Casablanca held in the spring of 1990. But at the end of 90 or possibly 91 he organised his last event for Promotor in a country that I never thought I would have the opportunity of visiting. A country that I had only ever heard its name mentioned in a derogatory way by anyone who visited the place. But Dave in his infinite wisdom saw opportunities for Promotor there.

Staggie flew out to this back of beyond country on a 'recce' trip well in advance of the exhibition he had planned for there. The attached photo possibly shows him looking for somewhere flat to hold the event.

And this is where Staggie was to hold his last exhibition for Promotor. You gotta be joking Dave!!!!!!!

Anyone got any ideas? Apart from the photos there is one big clue.

The architecture and the qat-chewers point to Yemen. It's pronounced qat (with a back of the throat k) in Yemen but in some countries they use the guttural kh and say khat. Robert

[sandway]

Haven't mentioned Dave Stagg on here for a while. 'Staggie' who had worked his way up from lorry driver to the position of Director in charge of exhibitions had by 89/90 a wealth of experience. From the mid eighties he had organised British group participation in Trade Fairs or stand alone shows for British industry in a number of countries including Iran, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The pinnacle of his career was an all British Exhibition in Casablanca held in the spring of 1990. But at the end of 90 or possibly 91 he organised his last event for Promotor in a country that I never thought I would have the opportunity of visiting. A country that I had only ever heard its name mentioned in a derogatory way by anyone who visited the place. But Dave in his infinite wisdom saw opportunities for Promotor there.

Staggie flew out to this back of beyond country on a 'recce' trip well in advance of the exhibition he had planned for there. The attached photo possibly shows him looking for somewhere flat to hold the event.

And this is where Staggie was to hold his last exhibition for Promotor. You gotta be joking Dave!!!!!!!

Anyone got any ideas? Apart from the photos there is one big clue.

The architecture and the qat-chewers point to Yemen. It's pronounced qat (with a back of the throat k) in Yemen but in some countries they use the guttural kh and say khat. Robert

Yes, I knew some knowledgable person would finally suss it out especially as I said there was a clue. My deliberate miss-spelling of qat and khat had the desired affect but there was also a visual clue and that was in the photo of the lads under a tree and the 'janbiya' in their belts. This dagger has other very similar names and is the arabic term for a specific type of dagger that originated from Yemen. Men above the age of fourteen wear it as an accessory to their clothing and of course the architecture gave it away. So endeth the lesson!!!!!

[ERF-NGC-European]

Yes, I knew some knowledgable person would finally suss it out especially as I said there was a clue. My deliberate miss-spelling of qat and khat had the desired affect but there was also a visual clue and that was in the photo of the lads under a tree and the 'janbiya' in their belts. This dagger has other very similar names and is the arabic term for a specific type of dagger that originated from Yemen. Men above the age of fourteen wear it as an accessory to their clothing and of course the architecture gave it away. So endeth the lesson!!!!!

Spot-on Sandway! Yes, this rite-de-passage obligatory dagger was also known as a khanjar. I bought a blunted-off one in Syria but still had it confiscated in customs! Robert

[sandway]

As I flew down the Red Sea high above its shimmering waters seen through the heat haze I looked across to Jeddah to my left and inland I thought I could just make out the mountain range of Taif. Saudi looked hot and uninviting but I wasn't stopping there. I was heading further south almost to the tip of Arabia, to Sanna the capital of North Yemen. Sanna, at 2,300m is one of the highest capitols and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. I was aboard a Yemenia flight out of Heathrow which was surprisingly good. I had heard many stories, all bad, about this airline but having flown on Iran Air, Iraqi Airways, Aeroflot and a few other third rate airlines I had no complaints.

Dave Stagg, Promotor's director of exhibitions, had against all the odds, managed to pull together a small group of British companies who thought it worthwhile to participate in an all 'British Trade Fair' in North Yemen to be held in the Taj Sheba Hotel in central Sanna. Dave had flown out on a recce trip to this mountainous country the year before but now I was going in at the sharp end to set it up. After landing at Sanna International Airport I found a taxi and asked to be taken to the hotel not realising it was the main hotel in the city. The driver spoke some english and whisked me there in no time. I'm not too sure what I was expecting but the city looked just like any other middle eastern 'crummy place' that I had been to. However, I was glad Dave had managed to get some concessions from the hotel and that meant a free room as I didn't like the look at some of the other 'doss houses' I saw on the way in from the airport. No, I thought, I'm going to enjoy myself here especially round the pool.

One of my first tasks at the hotel was to make myself known to my contact who turned out to be an Indian lady. Of course as the hotel was run by the Taj Group this should'nt have been surprising. We had two areas for our use, both on the first floor. A banqueting hall and an area outside on the terrace. We had contracted George Stavaros from Cyprus to build the stands. George had built stands in a couple of places for us in the past few years so it was a no brainer that he should build these, but as it was only a small exhibition he sent just two men to Sanna. These two men were booked into a small hotel up the road, just glad we had a free room in the Taj Sheba as they didn't paint a rosy picture of their accommodation.

Although Dave had worked hard we only had twelve or thirteen exhibiting companies and their freight fitted in one twenty foot container. Of course when you organise an exhibition you don't just make your money from shipping the exhibits. You sell the space, build the stands, book hotel rooms and flights and provide any other services to the exhibiting companies that are needed. George had also sent one twenty foot container of standfitting material from Cyprus and both containers were shipped in via Hodeidah, the main Red Sea port about a hundred and twenty km from Sanna.

We had an agent in Sanna who handled the customs and transport side and I visited his office on my second day there. It was late afternoon when I walked into their office and was taken aback by the sight of three men lazing around on broken down old settee's with one bloated cheek each and all a bit spaced out. They were of course chewing qat, the plant grown by all the farmers as it was and is a more profitable crop than vegetables. Qat or khat is a mild narcotic used by almost 90% of the male population in the Yemen and 25% of the women. Perhaps the women were piss-d off with their men having badly discoloured teeth so decided to join them.

My contact in the agents office was a young guy and more with it than the other three. I will be posting a photo later of the two of us but I'm not 100% sure its of him. Well, it was a long time ago. I found out the two containers still weren't available but were in the port of Hodeidah. I told the agent that we needed to go to the the port to get things moving. He readily agreed and early next morning we flew down to try and speed things along by whatever means necessary. Once we arrived we went to the agents port office and then visited the head of customs. In no time at all both containers were cleared and ready to be loaded onto the two lorries that were to take them up to Sanna and I was very surprised how little greasing of palms was required. We didn't fly back to Sanna but drove. I don't remember why. Perhaps the company had a car that was needed in the city office but I wasn't worried. It was a most interesting drive back up the mountains and to the hotel where he dropped me off.

I had about eight days initially to set things up and once the containers had arrived we still had three days left. I contacted the embassy and spoke to the guy in the commercial office. Think he was glad to have something to do. George's men had arrived and had the stands built in under two days. I and a couple of local labourers brought the exhibits in and put on the stands ready for the exhibitors arrival. The largest exhibits were a couple of Massey Ferguson tractors but they came from local stock and were parked outside the front of the hotel. There was no mad rush and I still managed some time by the pool. Dave arrived with the main group of exhibitors a day and a half before the event was due to open. I had done my job. Everything was ready for them.

I had very little to do whilst the exhibition took place so mainly lazed around the pool as did the two standfitters. One evening we and all the exhibitors involved in the event were invited to the embassy guys house where a boozy evening was enjoyed by all.

To obtain permission to hold the exhibition in Yemen we had to have a local sponsor and Dave was given details by the embassy of a local guy who may be prepared to help out. He was a businessman who, we were led to understand, had a factory in Southampton. He wouldn't have to do anything accept write a letter officially sponsoring us and very little else. We hardly ever saw him but on the last day he came good and organised a couple of buses to take us out of town to the area containing the wonderful old houses built up on rocks that are part of the Yemen heritage. It was quite a wild rocky area which was just as well as he brought out a pistol and started firing off into the scrubb. He then let some of us have a go. I thought best to keep our heads down as bullits were ricocheting off the rocks everywhere.

The event was a success and everyone was happy. North Yemen was not a big market for British companies but maybe those that attended the exhibition were looking ahead as it wasn't long after that that the North and South reunited. However, our sponsor, many months later, attempted to spoil the euphoria surrounding the exhibition by sending us an invoice for services rendered. It was huge, amounting to almost half the revenue generated by the event. Needless to say it didn't get paid.

Unfortunately, for some strange reason, I have no decent photos of the exhibition once up and running. It may be that I only had one roll of film and was hanging on to it until something really interesting came along. I do remember, especially during my driving days, I seemed to have no film or sometimes even my camera when I needed it most.

[sandway]

At the close of the all British Trade exhibition our sponsor laid on a couple of busses for the exhibitors and ourselves and took us on a tour of the sites around Sanna. Luckily nobody got shot.

[sandway]

I mentioned the customs agent we used in North Yemen recently. I am now sure that the guy in the attached photo was him but was confused by the number plate on his car as it looked like a Saudi plate. I have since googled images of vehicle registration numbers in both countries from the late 80's and believe it could be a Yemen plate or of course could be a car brought in from Saudi. So still a bit of a conundrum there but the guy was definitely our agent. Would be interested if anyone has any photos of Saudi registered vehicles to compare them or indeed anyone who can read arabic.

The last photo I have from my time in Sanna is a view from my hotel room. It shows a pretty ordinary city with the mountains nearby. I never had the opportunity to return and maybe didn't want to but I have to thank 'Staggie' for giving me the chance to see the place which could only have been bettered if I had also visited Aden, the capital of South Yemen.