Anyone know Peter Lynch. Was from Manchester area, ran maybe four or five lorries and did some M/E 70’s or early 80’s. More recently he had an old refurbished unit, an Atki I think, which he took to shows.
Sometime in the early 80’s, not sure of the date, but I have the new Scania 112, we picked up a job to take a prefabricated mobile office for some company in East Anglia to the Messe in Hanover. I think it was for an exhibition called Pig and Poultry. Apart from it being a wide load it was a very straightforward job. I shipped over Harwich to Europort on the night crossing and ran from there to Hanover.
The only thing I can’t workout is how I secured the load to the trailer?
Attached are two photos taken at the 1980 Baghdad Fair. The exhibits are forklifts shipped out by Davies Turner for another exhibition freight forwarder. Can’t remember their name but the guy squating down in the middle with the beard is their site rep. Some others in the picture are from the left, the boss of the Italian stand fitting company who had the contract to build the stands in the British Pavillion. The chap in the red shirt is Alan from Davis Turner’s Southampton depot. To his right squating down in the white shirt and wearing glasses is Davis Turner’s Baghdad office manager, Roger Lucy. I understand he returned to the UK a few years later to run the Avonmouth depot. The guy on the right partly hidden in the white shirt is Promotor’s site rep, Chic Steadman.
Don,t know if you knew Brian but we lost Chic around 2 years ago. He hadn,t been well for quite a while having had various internal parts replaced and/or bypassed. I last spoke to him around 12 years ago when by chance he found an old ph.number of mine and decided to see if it was still in use. He was living in Leipzig I think, having left his wife and family and moved in with a lady from a hotel he used to use during his Expo days. He was working as the maintenance guy in that same hotel. On a change of subject Im sorry I can,t support ny ramblings with photographic proof, I have moved house twice in the last 10 years and although I have searched high and low I fear my old photos have been thrown out, I will keep looking though.
No, I didn’t know that Chic Steadman had died Nottsnortherner. I’m sorry to hear that news. I would think he was with the company from around 1975 up to about 1988. I always regarded Chic as one of the most reliable guys to have around when the going got tough. He was already on Promotor when I came on the scene. Ex marine he was strong as an ox and I was always happy to be working with him. We worked on many exhibitions together and if I cared to count up, I am sure I spent more nights in hotel rooms with him than I have with my wife. From Tehran and Baghdad hotels to digs in Poznan and Budapest and many towns and cities in between.
He was highly thought of by Peter Calderwood, our boss. On one occasion I made a simple remark concerning Chic, not running him down you understand, and Peter rounded on me and said he would have nothing said against him, and that he had been and was a great asset to the company. That was an understatement in my view. One of the jobs he loved doing was driving the big Coles Cranes to exhibitions all over europe. The bigger the better. I have some photos that I will post of Chic and Coles Cranes in the next few days.
I heard, just after he left the company, that he had gone to Germany to live. His wife rang the office one day and asked if we knew where he was as he had just disappeared. None of us knew but we had a good guess. I remember talking to Angela, one of the three “Promotor Travel Tarts” as they called themselves and she said they had all voted Chic the sexiest man in the company. Well, he seemed to know ladies all over the commie block! Later his son Scott joined Promotor as a driver and appeared to be a chip off the old block. More like a splinter though as there was only one Chic.
Ple ase don,t quote me on this as I can,t substantiate the story but I did hear a rumour that Scott took his own life.
Roadside cay shop between Gaziantep and Kiziltepe in southern Turkey. Stopped here for refreshments whilst on a Coles Cranes job to Baghdad. More photos tomorrow.
I was heavily involved in Trade Fairs and Exhibitions in the late 70’s and early 80’s with most of my involvement being in Baghdad, but Mosul and Basra were also included. In the early days I would drive out to the Baghdad Fair (later I flew). After tipping I would work there during the build-up, stay during the fifteen days of the show, working in our onsite office. Afterwards I would help dismantle and repack the exhibits then reload and return home. These trip normally lasted about eleven weeks. It was hard work which I shared with Chic Steadman and sometimes our boss Peter Calderwood and any other drivers that could stay on for a few extra days. We would employ Egyptian labourers to do a lot of the hard graft but at the end of the day it was us who did the bulk of the work. In those days we all stayed in the second or third rate hotels that were at the lower end of Sadoun Street. Down towards the Opera House.
In October 1981, after slogging away during the build-up, both Chic and I were looking forward to a well earned rest whilst the trade fair was in progress. However, it was not to be. We had completed all our tasks which included, unloading the trailers, doing custom clearance, unpacking the exhibits on the stands, removing the empties to the store, delivering stand furniture and a hundred and one other jobs that always cropped up. But on the evening before the exhibition was due to open on the 1st of November Peter told us we had to return to Turkey to collect some Coles Cranes that had been shipped out to Mersin and Iskenduren.
I can’t remember exactly who we had in Baghdad at that time but Promotor drivers, John Preece, Paul Linscott and Ramsey Patterson were definitely there as well as Chic and myself. The idea was that we would run back to Turkey in a couple of the lorries. Chic and I would go to Iskenduren where there were a couple of cranes, whilst the others would go to Mersin to collect the remainder. A further complication was that another crane had got as far as Cizre before breaking down and that driver was holed up in an hotel there. We had to get him mobile on the way back and bring him down to Baghdad with us.
We had to rely on hotels during this trip as we couldn’t all sleep in the lorries. The first night we got to Zakho after an early morning departure from Baghdad. There is, or was, an old colonial type hotel on the left as you get to Zakho. We all piled in there looking for a decent meal and a nights rest. I think the staff thought an invasion was occurring. They certainly seemed pleased to see us. Not sure about the kitchen staff though. They no doubt had to go out and kill another donkey. Next day we pushed on through the border and up to Cizre. Here we found the broken down crane and the driver. We gave him the news that he had to wait until we returned, when we would get him mobile again and that he would then run down to Baghdad with us. He was not a happy bunny but we needed him to stay with the crane and guard it.
We pushed on across southern Turkey. I can’t remember where we dossed down but Gaziantep comes to mind. We stopped in a roadside cay shop where I took some photos. It shows five of us posing but there were possibly six. The next day found Chic and I in a third rate hotel near the port in Iskenduren. The others went on to Mersin but for some reason John Preece, who was driving his own lorry continued home. Possibly we had flown someone else out from the UK. Ramsey Patterson’s lorry was parked up safely as he was driving a crane back to Baghdad before returning for it later. We all of course had re-entry visas for Iraq sourced before we left.
More to follow later.
After collecting the Coles Cranes from Mersin and Iskenduren we all met up again somewhere east of Adana where the two roads meet. I can remember very little of this part of our trip except there were five cranes in total with a sixth one waiting for us in Cizre together with its driver. We stayed in hotels, yes there were some doss houses enroute, as our convoy made its way across southern Turkey.
In the second photo is Paul Linscott, the coloured lad. Now, those who have been following this Promotor thread will know I posted a story a little while back about Paul working on a film shoot for the company up in the arctic circle. Dave Stagg our transport manager then was going to write an article for Truck magazine or some other publication saying it was “the furthest north a British lorry driver had ever been”. If someone said they had been further north he was going to change it to “the furthest north a coloured gentleman lorry driver had ever been”. (or words to that effect).
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
A brilliant story Brian. I can’t remember this. Old Age eh?
hey micky t do you still need the photos for your other book need a address to send them to best wishes steve
We made our way back to Cizre to link up with the other driver, a Promotor part timer, waiting for us there. His crane had suffered damage on the way down and we had to try and get it to Baghdad. We all booked into a flea pit of a hotel for a couple of nights whilst it was sorted out. Luckily it was nothing major but Chic was in his element. He loved cranes and getting dirty. The exact opposite to the rest of us so he did most of the graft. The cranes were mostly six wheelers with one eight wheeler. Toys as far as Chic was concerned. He loved the hundred ton ones.
I didn’t realise until I looked closely at the third photo that Promotor driver George Fardell was there. He must have flown out from the UK to Mersin. It’s difficult to identify him as it’s not a clear picture but it certainly resembles him and the clincher for me is that he’s wearing two watches. One set on UK time and the other on Rhodesian. It’s been mentioned on here before that George has dual nationality. British and Rhodesian. If you really wanted to get him wound up you just had to mention the word "Zimbabwe"and he would go ballistic. It’s also been mentioned that Dave Stagg, our transport manager then, employed Paul Linscott, the coloured lad for the same reason, just to get him wound up. Dave certainly had a warped sense of humour sometimes, but was it that warped!!!
After the repairs were done we continued on our way. Now I can’t be sure (it was a long time ago) but I had the feeling that if you were driving plant of any kind you didn’t have to join the queue at Habur. You drove straight to the border gate. Anyway, we were through quite quickly and had no more problems. The only thing I remember later was drifting off he road well south of Mosul and almost losing it. Got it back though but next time we stopped Ramsey Patterson came across to me and took great delight in saying I didn’t have to worry as there were plenty of cranes around to get me back on the road.
I am fairly sure that it was November 1981 that we completed the delivery of Coles Cranes outlined in the previous posts to the Baghdad Fair. The attached photo shows Chic, Peter and myself outside our office at the Fair sandwiched between two of our valued customers stands, Petbow Generators and Coles Cranes. The other person in the photo is Andy Mclean of F G Hammond, better known on TNUK as jazzandy. Perhaps you can confirm the year Andy but I think this photo was from the next Fair in 82.
I was not involved with the organisational side of things in those days but I believe Coles Cranes exhibition manager was a Geordie by the name of Stan Mountain. Later, after Coles disappeared, he moved down to Chard in Somerset and set up a small company of his own providing standfitting services. We employed Stan to build the stands on a big job we did in Libya in 1983. I have many photos of that job which I will post sometime.
After Chic and I had finished the crane job Peter suggested both of us take a week off and go out to Lake Habbaniya Tourism Village and stay in the hotel. It is situated between Ramadi and Fallujah. We drove out there in my Scania unit but were wondering if we would be let in, thinking perhaps we should have gone by taxi. We needn’t have worried though as there were only a handful of us there.
To concluded this Coles Cranes to Baghdad post. Of the six drivers involved three had gone back to the Uk the fourth, Ramsey Patterson had returned to Turkey to collect his lorry before reloading out of Yugo and Chic and I had gone to Lake Habbaniyah for a spot of R and R. As I have already intimated it was quiet at the lake and after taking in the sites offered by the lake and hotel for the twentieth time we decided on the third day we had had enough of R and R and would go back to Baghdad. To the dizzy crazy heights of nighttime living in downtown Baghdad where it was wine women and song from dusk to dawn!!! Well, er no, thats just about the last thing that was on offer but certainly more lively than out at the lake.
Talking about things to do, apart from going to the Brit Club. There was the British Embassy bar in the grounds of the Embassy open every Thursday afternoon, or you could hire a taxi and go down to Sammara and look at the ruins or you could stare at Saddams pictures dotted all over town and read about his exploits and what a great guy he was. Or you could sleep, which I suppose was just as exciting.
I think those pics. are 1981 when we were working with Bannon after you naughty people at Promotor went out on your own! Bannon folded while we were out there and poor old Pugsley found they had not been paying his NI stamps for years. He was driving the MHC hospitality trailer with their Bedford TM daycab.
Jazzandy:
I think those pics. are 1981 when we were working with Bannon after you naughty people at Promotor went out on your own! Bannon folded while we were out there and poor old Pugsley found they had not been paying his NI stamps for years. He was driving the MHC hospitality trailer with their Bedford TM daycab.
I remember Chic telling me about Phil Pugsley’s pension problems. He said it was money Phil was putting aside which was meant to be put into a private pension pot and Bannon’s were handling it for him. Chic and he were mates and in his view Bannon’s got what they deserved when they were kicked into touch.
sandway:
Jazzandy:
I think those pics. are 1981 when we were working with Bannon after you naughty people at Promotor went out on your own! Bannon folded while we were out there and poor old Pugsley found they had not been paying his NI stamps for years. He was driving the MHC hospitality trailer with their Bedford TM daycab.I remember Chic telling me about Phil Pugsley’s pension problems. He said it was money Phil was putting aside which was meant to be put into a private pension pot and Bannon’s were handling it for him. Chic and he were mates and in his view Bannon’s got what they deserved when they were kicked into touch.
Bob Glover was never on my favourite person list, but having said that nor was Phil Pugsley.
Found this old photo from the 70’s in my collection. I am sure I was in Hungary when I took it. I think I was at the Komorom/Kamarno border heading home. Note how few lorries there are and I was at the back of the queue.
On another occasion about the same time and at the same border crossing, I was on my way to Yugo and was weighed on the Hungarian side and found to be a ton and a quarter overweight on my drive axle. They wanted an exorbitant amount in DM to let me through and rather than pay I turned around and went back to Czecho. I knew there was another border crossing further east, Esztergom I think, above Budapest which didn’t have a weighbridge, and decided to give it a try. I drove there late evening in fog but finally found it. I had no problems and was in Hungary and on my way in an hour or so. My big problem came when I got to Budapest as I was coming in from the north. A route I’d never done before. I had no map and it took me hours to find my way out the other side.
All part of the fun in those days.
Maybe it was this mapless sortie around Budapest which led you to “obtaining” that hideously expensive detailed map book of Europe of yours Brian !!!
Nottsnortherner:
Maybe it was this mapless sortie around Budapest which led you to “obtaining” that hideously expensive detailed map book of Europe of yours Brian !!!
I did have a very detailed map book of Europe. It had a red cover. You remember that!!! Now what did I do yesterday?
sandway:
Found this old photo from the 70’s in my collection. I am sure I was in Hungary when I took it. I think I was at the Komorom/Kamarno border heading home. Note how few lorries there are and I was at the back of the queue.On another occasion about the same time and at the same border crossing, I was on my way to Yugo and was weighed on the Hungarian side and found to be a ton and a quarter overweight on my drive axle. They wanted an exorbitant amount in DM to let me through and rather than pay I turned around and went back to Czecho. I knew there was another border crossing further east, Esztergom I think, above Budapest which didn’t have a weighbridge, and decided to give it a try. I drove there late evening in fog but finally found it. I had no problems and was in Hungary and on my way in an hour or so. My big problem came when I got to Budapest as I was coming in from the north. A route I’d never done before. I had no map and it took me hours to find my way out the other side.
All part of the fun in those days.
Hi Sandway, I don’t think that it is Komorom/Komarno as that border post was I.I.R.C. on a small island in the middle of The Danube. Trucks waiting on the bridge had to be parked 50 metres apart to distribute the weight and I can remember on one occasion getting a rollicking from the Czech soldiers for being parked too close to my mate. Komarno for trucks closed about 1981ish when they built a new bridge and border post further east along the river. The photo to me looks more like you were coming out of Hungary at Raijka although it does look a bit like Nadlak going into Rumania.
Regards Steve.