‘Great minds think alike. Lesser ones seldom differ’. Not sure where we fit into that scenario mushroomman but I must say my overriding impression upon entering the Blue Mosque was of the plethora of electric cables and very poor lighting. In fact I remember very little of the first of my two visits to the mosque. The first visit was about 79 or 80 when I took the two attached photos. I don’t remember anything about the trip or if I was with anyone. As a not very gregarious person I reckon I was alone. All I remember was how dark and dismal it was in there. The second visit was about 85 or 86 when I unfortunately didn’t take any photos of the interior but have plenty of the exterior and general pics of Istanbul which I will post later. Non of my photos show ‘The Pudding Shop’ as I never went there.
sandway:
Does anyone out there recognise any of the drivers.
The chap on the far left in both pic’s is Ken Ward, driving his own MAN on behalf of
M+C Transport.
Steve.
M&C steve:
sandway:
Does anyone out there recognise any of the drivers.The chap on the far left in both pic’s is Ken Ward, driving his own MAN on behalf of
M+C Transport.Steve.
Its a pity that with all that camera hardware on display we’re not seeing the pictures posted. Or were they posted before I joined TNUK?.
Many thanks Steve.
I am acutely aware that my posts are read by some here on TNUK and to that end I try to make them as interesting as possible. However, I always try to be honest giving a simple factual true interpretation of what I remember without adding gloss, well not much. Somebody once asked me how I remember what Staggie, our transport manager, said in a phone call 38 years ago. My answer is that 95% of his calls followed the same pattern. It was just a bit fun, of banter between us before he got down to business. The following summary of a trip is similar to many done by Promotor drivers not just me.
It was sometime in the mid 80’s. I was at home having a few days off when I got the call. “An important job has come up and its right up your street” I was informed by Staggie. Oh yes, I thought. Obviously got nobody else around. “Come on then, give me the bad news” I said. “No no, this is genuine” he said. “A little trip to Istanbul, no need to rush, stay in the Hilton Hotel all found, do the put in at a medical equipment exhibition, stay over during the show and see the sights of Istanbul or laze around the pool then pack up and come home”. “Come on Staggie” I said “there has to be a catch”. “Its not a catch” he said “but you’ll be working with Miss Prissy and her boss has asked if you could keep an eye on her and if she has any problems perhaps discretely help her out”. Oh well I thought, never worked as a nursemaid before, could be fun.
Now Miss Prissy is what I’m calling her here. Once again my memory has let me down and I can’t recall her name but she was the exhibition manageress for the British Health-Care Export Council who, as a Trade Association, represented companies that made equipment for the healthcare industry around the world. I had worked with her and her boss, who fancied her and had promoted her to a position where she was a bit out of her depth, in both Tripoli and Bengazi where Promotor provided all the services they needed at a two venue exhibition a year or so previously. At least in Istanbul I only had the freight and customs clearance to look after, and Miss Prissy of course.
After a very uneventful trip I arrived in Istanbul, found the agent and parked the lorry in a secure compound. I was provided with a driver who ran me to the Istanbul Hilton where a room was reserved for me. I think now there are maybe ten Hiltons, maybe there were then and I have no idea which one I stayed in but the exhibition, an all British event, was to be held in the conference rooms attached to the hotel. That evening I sussed out the location of the exhibition and looked at the access roads to the rear of the hotel.
It took a couple of days to complete the customs formalities after which I brought the lorry to the rear of the hotel where the agents men unloaded it. Miss Prissy arrived later that day and was over the moon to see the exhibits already delivered to the stands. I was pleased to see she was much more confident than on the Libya job and although I kept close to her during the days leading up to the opening ceremony there was thankfully no need for me to nursemaid her at all.
At the opening ceremony some guy from the Turkish Healthcare Ministry said a few words, mainly in Turkish, and the show got under way. I now had nothing to do for a few days so I did as Staggie suggested, I visited the sights. I would have taken up his other suggestion of lazing by the pool but the weather was not conducive to sunbathing. In other words it was cold. Miss Prissy was busy at the show most of the time but after a couple of days she told me we had been invited out the next day to see the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and then to lunch at a very swish restaurant courtesy of a very influential and worldly chap who was involved in the manufacture and supply of medical equipment in Turkey. I must admit I hadn’t taken my suit with me in the lorry but what the hell, it was a free meal.
At the conclusion of the exhibition I sorted out the paperwork, a lot of the exhibits had been sold, loaded up what was to return to the UK, completed customs clearance and set off for home. At the beginning of the 80’s Promotor drive John Preece did the pullout of an exhibition in Istanbul. He had problems with paperwork and sat there for three weeks before it was sorted out. He then went up to Kapic where he again had problems. In the end the company flew him home for a rest whilst the agent sorted it out. Three weeks later he flew back to resume his journey. For me though it was the exact opposite. It was one of the easiest, least trouble and most enjoyable jobs I was to be associated with. Thank you Staggie.
I have attached some photos I took during my days off from the exhibition I was working on in Istanbul in the mid 80’s. I loved wandering around on my own taking in the sounds and smells and the atmosphere of this great Turkish city and there was plenty of all that down by the Bosporus. I’m sure a lot of drivers will recognise these scenes down on the waterfront. Please click on each photo to see it at its best.
sandway:
I am acutely aware that my posts are read by some here on TNUK and to that end I try to make them as interesting as possible. However, I always try to be honest giving a simple factual true interpretation of what I remember without adding gloss, well not much. Somebody once asked me how I remember what Staggie, our transport manager, said in a phone call 38 years ago. My answer is that 95% of his calls followed the same pattern. It was just a bit fun, of banter between us before he got down to business. The following summary of a trip is similar to many done by Promotor drivers not just me.It was sometime in the mid 80’s. I was at home having a few days off when I got the call. “An important job has come up and its right up your street” I was informed by Staggie. Oh yes, I thought. Obviously got nobody else around. “Come on then, give me the bad news” I said. “No no, this is genuine” he said. “A little trip to Istanbul, no need to rush, stay in the Hilton Hotel all found, do the put in at a medical equipment exhibition, stay over during the show and see the sights of Istanbul or laze around the pool then pack up and come home”. “Come on Staggie” I said “there has to be a catch”. “Its not a catch” he said “but you’ll be working with Miss Prissy and her boss has asked if you could keep an eye on her and if she has any problems perhaps discretely help her out”. Oh well I thought, never worked as a nursemaid before, could be fun.
Now Miss Prissy is what I’m calling her here. Once again my memory has let me down and I can’t recall her name but she was the exhibition manageress for the British Health-Care Export Council who, as a Trade Association, represented companies that made equipment for the healthcare industry around the world. I had worked with her and her boss, who fancied her and had promoted her to a position where she was a bit out of her depth, in both Tripoli and Bengazi where Promotor provided all the services they needed at a two venue exhibition a year or so previously. At least in Istanbul I only had the freight and customs clearance to look after, and Miss Prissy of course.
After a very uneventful trip I arrived in Istanbul, found the agent and parked the lorry in a secure compound. I was provided with a driver who ran me to the Istanbul Hilton where a room was reserved for me. I think now there are maybe ten Hiltons, maybe there were then and I have no idea which one I stayed in but the exhibition, an all British event, was to be held in the conference rooms attached to the hotel. That evening I sussed out the location of the exhibition and looked at the access roads to the rear of the hotel.
It took a couple of days to complete the customs formalities after which I brought the lorry to the rear of the hotel where the agents men unloaded it. Miss Prissy arrived later that day and was over the moon to see the exhibits already delivered to the stands. I was pleased to see she was much more confident than on the Libya job and although I kept close to her during the days leading up to the opening ceremony there was thankfully no need for me to nursemaid her at all.
At the opening ceremony some guy from the Turkish Healthcare Ministry said a few words, mainly in Turkish, and the show got under way. I now had nothing to do for a few days so I did as Staggie suggested, I visited the sights. I would have taken up his other suggestion of lazing by the pool but the weather was not conducive to sunbathing. In other words it was cold. Miss Prissy was busy at the show most of the time but after a couple of days she told me we had been invited out the next day to see the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and then to lunch at a very swish restaurant courtesy of a very influential and worldly chap who was involved in the manufacture and supply of medical equipment in Turkey. I must admit I hadn’t taken my suit with me in the lorry but what the hell, it was a free meal.
At the conclusion of the exhibition I sorted out the paperwork, a lot of the exhibits had been sold, loaded up what was to return to the UK, completed customs clearance and set off for home. At the beginning of the 80’s Promotor drive John Preece did the pullout of an exhibition in Istanbul. He had problems with paperwork and sat there for three weeks before it was sorted out. He then went up to Kapic where he again had problems. In the end the company flew him home for a rest whilst the agent sorted it out. Three weeks later he flew back to resume his journey. For me though it was the exact opposite. It was one of the easiest, least trouble and most enjoyable jobs I was to be associated with. Thank you Staggie.
First word on the pelmet is English…
David
First word on the pelmet is English…
David
[/quote]
and the second is?
sandway:
First word on the pelmet is English…David
and the second is?
[/quote]
Sorry David. Not a full enough answer to win todays super first prize.
I’ve just tried googling it and I think its maybe ‘English Health Household and Services’ or something like that.
HI ALL, I GOOGLED THE TRANSLATION FOR THE TURKISH SIGN = BRITISH HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND SERVICES.
sandway:
mushroomman:
Hi Brian, the guy sat next to my wife was John Bruce who was driving for Astran at the time. The two guys on the other side were both Hick’s drivers, Peter (the Plater) Wall and Dennis McCarthy with myself sat at the back. That photo was taken in a fish restaurant on the old wooden Galata Bridge, I heard that the bridge caught fire and burnt down many years later.
Which has just reminded me Brian, can you remember when you used to have a meal in some places and they would pour some sweet smelling oil over your hands, I suppose that it was some kind of modern day hand sanitizer.Here is another photo that was taken going over Bolu. Sorry if you have seen it before but some of my photos seem to have disappeared because I put them on here using Photobucket.
2
Hello Steve. I hadn’t seen that photo taken on Bolu before. Hope you have more that haven’t been lost. I have attached a couple of photos of a group of us waiting in the queue at Habur. Is the guy in the middle John Bruce? Looks a bit like him. The guy behind him with no shirt is Promotor driver Tommy Birch. I have posted one of these photos before. Does anyone out there recognise any of the drivers.
Sandway, I saw Truckerash over the weekend and asked him who had the Astran subbie flat-top F12 with the spread-axle tilt as shown in your pic. George Hall is the answer! So he may be among the faces you are trying to name 
. Cheers, Robert
peggydeckboy:
HI ALL, I GOOGLED THE TRANSLATION FOR THE TURKISH SIGN = BRITISH HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND SERVICES.
Thank you peggydeckboy. At last a lorry driver with a modicum of sense. Its just a pity you aren’t in line for the first prize as any ex fridge box driver who could possibly have kept me awake by running his fridge when I was parked up for the night anywhere is excluded from participating…
Thanks for sussing it though.
ERF-NGC-European:
sandway:
mushroomman:
Hi Brian, the guy sat next to my wife was John Bruce who was driving for Astran at the time. The two guys on the other side were both Hick’s drivers, Peter (the Plater) Wall and Dennis McCarthy with myself sat at the back. That photo was taken in a fish restaurant on the old wooden Galata Bridge, I heard that the bridge caught fire and burnt down many years later.
Which has just reminded me Brian, can you remember when you used to have a meal in some places and they would pour some sweet smelling oil over your hands, I suppose that it was some kind of modern day hand sanitizer.Here is another photo that was taken going over Bolu. Sorry if you have seen it before but some of my photos seem to have disappeared because I put them on here using Photobucket.
2
Hello Steve. I hadn’t seen that photo taken on Bolu before. Hope you have more that haven’t been lost. I have attached a couple of photos of a group of us waiting in the queue at Habur. Is the guy in the middle John Bruce? Looks a bit like him. The guy behind him with no shirt is Promotor driver Tommy Birch. I have posted one of these photos before. Does anyone out there recognise any of the drivers.
Sandway, I saw Truckerash over the weekend and asked him who had the Astran subbie flat-top F12 with the spread-axle tilt as shown in your pic. George Hall is the answer! So he may be among the faces you are trying to name
Thanks Robert. I wonder if George Hall actually appears in that photo. Its good to know though there are still people around who remember others who were there at that time.
HA ,Sandaway,I do not know about sense, doing fridge work for years ,i was like all the other drivers on fridges ,immune to the fridge,if that makes sense.
Dover was one of the worst places to park, for aggro,but i/we would get your own back not in DOVER but hundreds of miles away,maybe in Aosta or Cluses ,many a seal broken,whoops,…some blokes parked next to you ,when no need too.then moan , i all ways got the truck number…even now if someone tights parking to my car i take the number ,sad or what …pdb.
Here are the last of my Istanbul photos taken in the Bazar. Great place to wander round and I’m sure scores of drivers did the same. However, I was mixing business with pleasure as before I left home my wife had given me instructions to buy something for her mother as her birthday was imminent. I suggested a magic carpet but my wife knew what I was getting at and vetoed that idea. I then thought a bit of gold jewellery would be nice but after looking in the shops in the bazar I realised I had no idea if I was being ripped off so I asked our agent for help. Well, of course he could and he knew exactly where to go. It was direct to one of the workshops where it was made. I followed him to the top floor of a very nondescript building just outside the bazar. There, in a small room, we found three young boys and an older man all busily working away on the production of earrings, bracelets, brooches, rings, you name it. They had a small smelting area where the gold, once melted down, was poured into moulds. I watched the various stages of the operation from the raw gold to the finished article. I had by this time decided a bracelet was what I wanted. I was shown a selection and chose a two tone, fairly modern looking chunky one. After agreeing a price it was wrapped for me to take home. I’m not saying I got it any cheaper than the shops were selling them for but it was worth every penny just to spend a couple of hours in that workshop.
sandway:
Turkish filling station north of the border crossing with Syria at Bab al Hawa sometime late 70’s.
The place was called Reyhanli, IIRC! Robert
Dodgy looking blokes at the filling station. Wouldn’t surprise me if there pictures appear on the ‘wanted poster’ on the window above them. Always did seem like bandit country round there.
Just north of where the filling station photos were taken in my last two posts is the port and town of Iskenderun. Well, quite a bit north actually and a few hours drive but I remember a trip Chic Steadman and I did there to pick up a couple of Coles Cranes which we ferried down to Baghdad. I have told the story before so won’t repeat it but I’ve just remembered something else from that trip.
We had arrived in the port area of Iskenderun late afternoon having been ferried there by one of our other drivers who was on his way home from Baghdad. Chic and I had been working at the Baghdad Trade Fair. We found a small hotel, not to far from our agent and the port where we intended to stay for a couple of nights. Early that evening we visited the agent and then found a restaurant and had a meal. Chic, being Chic, had managed to borrow a bike from the agent so one of us had wheels. After the meal we had a look around the back streets, me walking and Chic on his bike. I had a feeling Chic knew kinda where he was going and yes, it was straight to the local ■■■■■ house. It seems, unbeknown to me, he had asked for directions from our agent who had willingly supplied them and the bike. We had a look at the local girls and to say I wasn’t impressed was an understatement. I suggested we found a bar and had an Efes or two which Chic agreed to. Later we went back to our hotel but just before we arrived Chic said he was off for a ride around the town. I got my head down in our shared room and have no idea what time he got in but the same thing happened the next night also.
I’m not sure who or what was most knackered by the time we left. Chic or the bike!
Following my last post I should say I wasn’t casting aspersions on Chic’s character by suggesting he spent half the night cycling around the red light area of Iskenderun, even though he did! Well, back in our office our three ‘travel tarts’ had voted him the sexiest man on the firm so perhaps he was trying to live up to the heavy mantle that had been bestowed upon his broad shoulders.
I realised I wasn’t in Chic’s league but the driver who seemed to be most popular when I was with him was Graham Bertrum. There have been plenty of stories of his escapades here on this blog so I won’t harp on about them again. As I said I realised when it came to the girls I never stood a chance and to prove that I have attached a photo of myself in our agents office in Mostar. You will see I am flanked by two lovely Yugoslavian girls who I thought I was getting on quite well with. I was and things were proceeding quite nicely until I was informed the lady on the left was there aunt and very strict. What made matters even worse was that one of our other drivers, Ramsey Patterson then arrived. We had both loaded furniture from a factory well south of Mostar and I had left him there as he was still worse for wear after polishing off a large part of a bottle of Whisky the night before. I thought to myself I might as well give up and try my luck next time I was down there. But yes, you’ve guessed it! I never went back again.
I have attached a few photos taken south of Mostar and of the town late 70’s.
I loved driving in Turkey in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Sure there was some agro but I found it a lot easier and more enjoyable than say Romania or Bulgy. Not a lot of traffic, roads by then weren’t bad and the TIR secure parking gave you peace of mind. I was thinking of the TIR Kontrol posts where we had to report to whilst on route outbound. I can only remember one of them and that was the one before Adana. Where you came down off the road from Ankara to a T junction. You turned left towards Adana and it was then on your right. I heard a few stories of drivers missing a Kontrol and being sent back to the previous one as he didn’t have the stamp on his paperwork.
I’ve also been racking my poor excuse for a brain trying to remember the TIR Kontrol posts between Ankara and Bazargan going into Iran. Oh, this is getting worrying. Think I’ll go back to bed.
