mushroomman:
Hi Mick, all is well down here, how are the hospital appointments going, all good I hope.
Irish John used to come on Trucknet a few years ago and he should of retired by now. Itâs about time that he spent some time laying in the sun, he had plenty of practice over the years.2
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Yeah. All going OK at the moment Steve thanks.
sandway:
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
mushroomman:
Hello Mick, I was looking at some old photos and came across this one. The lad at the front is Irish John Conneely but I wonder who the other guy is, maybe you might know him.1
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Hi Steve. Yeah, I recognise John. I have a sneaking suspicion that the other driver might be Efes. No doubt he will confirm it if it is.
Hope that allâs well for you down in sunny Oz mateYou could be right about Efes Micky T. Canât be many around with those boyish good looks.
Or manly physique Sandway. Not to forget that !!!
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
sandway:
Vodka Cola Cowboy:
mushroomman:
Hello Mick, I was looking at some old photos and came across this one. The lad at the front is Irish John Conneely but I wonder who the other guy is, maybe you might know him.1
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Hi Steve. Yeah, I recognise John. I have a sneaking suspicion that the other driver might be Efes. No doubt he will confirm it if it is.
Hope that allâs well for you down in sunny Oz mateYou could be right about Efes Micky T. Canât be many around with those boyish good looks.
Or manly physique Sandway. Not to forget that !!!
Boyish good looks, manly physique⌠yes, all true. But itâs not me as I would never wear white socks and never, EVER wear socks with sandals. You missed out âstylishâ from your description.
âSome are born great,some achieve greatness,and Efes has greatness thrust upon himâ !!(twelfth Night) 
You are correct there, Efes. I was always concerned that stylish was usually missing from your description. 
Obviously, you would not be wearing socks with sandals. I should have realised that. So, the question still remains âWho is that dedicated follower of fashion, in Steveâs photoâ?â
By the way, NN, nice quote from Shakespeare. I just wondered whether you were referring to Buggsy, because Efes always seemed to get lumbered with running with him ? 
Hello Mick, I donât know if you ever met Big Jim Smethurst from Manchester, he used to work for Chet Trucks, Falcongate and Dow Freight. Jim is the bloke in the red checked shirt, the guy in the blue checked shirt without the jacket I think was an owner driver from Rochdale called Frank Brandon. I donât know who the others are but their faces do look familiar. 
The photo was taken in The National Hotel in Belgrade in the early eighties, no doubt they were discussing âprevious missionsâ.
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
Hello Mick, I donât know if you ever met Big Jim Smethurst from Manchester, he used to work for Chet Trucks, Falcongate and Dow Freight. Jim is the bloke in the red checked shirt, the guy in the blue checked shirt without the jacket I think was an owner driver from Rochdale called Frank Brandon. I donât know who the others are but their faces do look familiar.Regards Steve.
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Donât recognise any of them myself mushroomman but as far as pictures of the National are concerned youâd think there would be hundreds considering the time we all spent there. Iâm perhaps the biggest perpetrator as I didnât take one.
A favourite photo of mine taken by John Preece. We had tipped in Sulamamiah in Kurdistan and are about to cross the Syrian desert on our way back to catch the ferry in Tartous. Early 80âs.
mushroomman:
Hello Mick, I donât know if you ever met Big Jim Smethurst from Manchester, he used to work for Chet Trucks, Falcongate and Dow Freight. Jim is the bloke in the red checked shirt, the guy in the blue checked shirt without the jacket I think was an owner driver from Rochdale called Frank Brandon. I donât know who the others are but their faces do look familiar.Regards Steve.
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Yes, I remember Jim, Steve. I donât recognise the others though. Ah, the National. Getting called George and drinking B.I.P.
We speak of Promotor in the past tense but that is not strictly true. The company still exists under the name of âPromotor Events Ltdâ and has done for many years. OK, a slightly different beast to the one set up by Peter and Liz Calderwood back in the early 70âs but still run by a Calderwood, namely Simon their son.
I was in contact with Simon a few days ago and he told me that much of his business is the same as it was in the 70âs and early 80âs namely car clinics interspersed with other events that his customers require.
I have attached a photo of Simon and myself at the Tehran International Trade Fair sometime in the late 80âs. Note the green t shirts. I thought they were great and handed them out to all our workers on site. I have another one of him somewhere but hopefully he has some himself which can be shown on this Promotor thread.
I knew I had another photo of Simon in my shoebox somewhere. The attached picture was taken in either 93 or 94 and was possibly the last one of myself whilst still with the company. It had been a brilliant ride. I had been employed by Dave Stagg as a driver mid 78. Ten or eleven years later I obtained a substantial equity holding in the company together with a directorship. It had been a fantastic trip.
This is not me signing off. I still have some photos and tales to tell and with a bit of luck Simon can be persuaded to join in. I hope he has some photos or memorabilia from the early days to entertain us with. Lets be hearing from you Simon.
I have attached a scanned picture from a brochure showing one of the outfits we had touring the UK in 1987. We had three or four drivers who loved doing this kind of work. I was not amongst them.
I notice these Promotor pics are on ebay this morning lads. Robert
A great find Robert. Plenty to think about in those photos. Must get my magnifying glass out though. But the last photo I find most interesting as 1) its my old lorry, but not me driving, which I had from new and 2) I am sure thats the only picture we have of our very own cherubic Dave Boulding who posts on here regularly.
That Volvo is new to me though!!! Any ideas anyone?
ERF-NGC-European:
I notice these Promotor pics are on ebay this morning lads. Robert43210
Good heavens. Quite a findâŚ
Iâd say (my guess) top image Tony Grainger
2nd Geoff Gardiner in Volvo
3rd driver not visible but looks like Richard Philips as passenger
4th - no idea
5th David Boulding
Delighted to see this image listed on ebay as Promoter no 1
ebay.co.uk/itm/M20-Truck-Pho ⌠Swzx9ZyBch
M20 Truck Photos - Scania 112m - ProMotor #1.
Looking at the 5 photos again I think you are correct Efes.
Would be interesting to know when the photos were taken. Perhaps there is a clue in two of the photos as the hired in trailers are tri-axle not to be confused with our tri-axle supercubes.
Just to confirm I too have identified the guys the same as you. As to when they were taken I would say 83/84 as I only had BPV for two years before I was handed B283 in late 84. It also appears that all pics were at Eastern docks but probably not the same day as some of the trucks are pictured arriving while others appear to be leaving. Definately Richard(Bill) Phillips in the passenger seat and he would wish that he looked that slim now !!, He is TWICE the size he was, I think he is quite ill. Incidentally I hear from Geof Gardner from time to time, he is fine and living in the Peoples Republic of Trump in Pasadena I believe but I think he has a plan to return to Blighty some time soon.
Just had another look and have come to the conclusion that behind the pic of JNO 408Y there is a Volvo F10 or 12 which could well be Bobby Bennett who by then had his own tractor and did a fair bit of work for us along with Tommy Birch, both of whom used to work together at Lion Garage,Gravesend I think. Tommy took the safer option and joined us as a driver. Last I heard of Bobby Bennett he had split from his wife and moved up to Cheshire and was delivering salt from the Cheshire salt mine.(Yes,its true! there is a salt mine in Cheshire!)
Laptop broke down a few days back. Tried to mend it myself!! duhh⌠Have now had to have it towed in to a garage down town. Not to a main dealer⌠to expensive. Been told its gonna be off the road for a few days and he aint got another unit to enable me to keep working. Oh well⌠shall have to have a few days off. Wife aint gonna like me hanging around though. Suppose I could always mend the gate sheâs been complaining about for the past 5 years.
