On Your Bike
With out looking at the the version I posted on it’s own by accident I’ll try and do it again.
Filmed by Free Time TV it follows Alan Barlow from Stoke in his 420 Turbo Star pulling for Brit Europeen. The job should be fairly straight forward, from the Raleigh bike factory in Nottingham to central Germany, but a P&O Dover ferry strike means that everyone has to go by Hull. 600 trucks trying to get one ferry won’t work, that and half arsed agents means that he lost a day and a half before he gets out of the country.
Interviews with P&O sailing staff, P&O management, Channel Tunnel management and Commercial Motor.
Good footage and the kind of thing that you would expect from a doco of that era.
Just because I liked the sound of my 480 Turbo Star blasting up through the tunnels up to the Blonk at 4 o’clock on a Saturday morning I’ll give it
8 out of 10 It runs about 40 minutes
bodger 69:
On Your Bike
With out looking at the the version I posted on it’s own by Accident I’ll try and do it again.
Filmed by Free Time TV it follows Alan Barlow from Stoke pulling for Brit Europeen
Hiya… alot of ypou lads will know alan. he’s been across the water a few times. anyhow all i was going to
say is. he’s sold up and packed up and put his feet up. he ok just having a rest.
John
hi 3300 John I was watching it today and thinking that if it was filmed when the truck was new, C reg and given that he was probably in his 40’s then, he must about be retired now. It would be interesting to hear what he had to say about it.
Any way I’ve had my 6 days of and Ive to get back on the road again. See you in 10 days. talk amongst your self.
Bodger 69
I take your point Bodger but to what extent is an author allowed to ‘modify’ the facts to make them more marketable ?
I suffered personally from this back at the beginning in 1973, I think it was, when I was driving a very eye-catching yellow and blue Scammel Crusader for John Ellingham. I arrived in the Mocamp on the way out and there, holding court, was a journalist called, if I remember correctly, ‘Plain John Smith’ who worked for, again I think, the People. He had flown to Istanbul, set up in the Mocamp and spent a fortune buying drinks for drivers and recording what they said. He was still there on the way back, a lot worse for wear, and was seemingly sending articles home for publication to his paper. I didn’t have anything much to do with him out or back and arrived in Dover innocently and the Customs fell on me like a pack of ravening dogs. When, hours later, they found there was nothing to find they got a bit more human and told me that I had been stopped because my name had been published in a Sunday paper in connection with the smuggling of cocain from Iran to the UK. Anyone with half a brain would have seen the weakness in this tale because cocain does not originate in the Middle East but rather South America but we are talking about the Customs. When I got hold of the paper - lots of people had kept it for me - not only was I named but there was a picture of the Scammel in a line of parked trucks at the Mocamp.
It was probably 2 years before the Customs figured that I was clean and stopped giving me a hard time. I exchanged letters with the editor of the paper demanding a published retraction but was fed the same old bull about the need to make the paper saleable, even at the cost of ‘modifications’ to boring truth. I never got the retraction so I found out from another driver who had worked on the print where these idiots drank after work, popped round there one evening when I was home, found matey there and gave him a big smart smack in the mouth. I am sure that he had no idea who I was or why I attacked him but it certainly made me feel better.
David
I totally agree with you Dave, a Blabbermisters ( Icelandic for Journalist ) job is to report the facts. I can sympathies with you as I have also been stitched up by the Sun, they managed to get a half page photo of me and my truck onto page 5 with 250 words saying that it was normal for me to covered 6000 k’s on a weekly run to Tunisia and back. ( And they changed K’s for Miles as well ). Even though it was obviously a complete load of bull @#$% the ministry and customs made my life hell after that. You make some good and valid points for which I’m very great full.
From what you’ve written I can assume that you still don’t forgive Mr Wood for what he has done, and would probably rate his book about Half out of 10 solely for the photos.
bodger 69:
In Limits of the law there a a section where they try to follow a Scottish Scania, and eventually pick him up in the midlands, but they keep losing him. At the end of the section they mention that they had 3 film crews on the job and the driver made it back to the depot after doing a 22 hour shift, however they don’t mention if he had a rest, as that part wouldn’t of fitted well with their angle of attack.
If I remember right Motherwell south on a night shift in a fully loaded F12 I could get to Keele easy in 4.5 hours, so to do a drop and couple of collections and back to Motherwell in 22 hours would easily leave enough time for a good bit of head down. No speed limiters back then.
.
Is this the documentary I heard of many moons ago when the Ministry and a camera crew tried to follow a Scania from Scotland to Southampton and he lost them on the way and they only picked him up on the way back?.
Limits of the Law was the World in Action docu from the 70’s, it was mainly about a BRS motor (Seddon 32:4) running from Scotland to Midlands and seeing if it could do the trip legally, when McKelvie’s drivers were regularly doing the same journey. Needless to say the BRS driver couldn’t do it running by the law. The other part of the programme followed an Anderson motor down to the Midlands to tip and lost him after a couple of pick ups for him to appear later back at the depot, they also ‘counted back’ a few of their other motors and the times they said the trip had been done in. Good period stuff now but nothing unusual going on for thosedays when it was foot to the floor and get the job done. I doubt todays drivers could stand the pace some of those old vets of the 60’s and 70’s used to daily carry out and with ropes and sheets too!
Franky.
Where can I get copies of Limits of the Law and A Run for your Money? They sound like good viewing.
[zb]
anorak:
Where can I get copies of Limits of the Law and A Run for your Money? They sound like good viewing.
I’m starting to sound like an advert for oiltruckie here check him out on e bay he sells Limits of the Law,A run for your Money,On your Bike(with Spaghetti No Junction on the same DVD),Truckers (documentary),Truckers(tv series Picard Haulage),All Roads Lead to Rome and Truck Drivin man. I’ve bought most of these of E bay from him hassle free.
dazcapri:
[zb]
anorak:
Where can I get copies of Limits of the Law and A Run for your Money? They sound like good viewing.I’m starting to sound like an advert for oiltruckie here check him out on e bay he sells Limits of the Law,A run for your Money,On your Bike(with Spaghetti No Junction on the same DVD),Truckers (documentary),Truckers(tv series Picard Haulage),All Roads Lead to Rome and Truck Drivin man. I’ve bought most of these of E bay from him hassle free.
Thanks daz, I’ve just ordered Limits of the Law, A Run for your Money and All Roads Lead to Rome.
It says somewhere on his page that he will “combine postage”, or something. I put all three items in the same ebay basket, but it charged me £1.30 postage for each item. Sorry to sound like a moaner, but this is the Review thread. 
What model of Merc was in the Rome one? Was it a 1932? If so, was there lots of V10 noise to enjoy? Wow. I’m excited now. Just like Christmas, this.
can’t remember the type of Merc long time since I watched it. Sorry to say it mate but you’ve cocked it up,your supposed to wait till he sends you a total to get your combined postage he always knocks a bit off.It’ll be worth asking him what else he’s got and he might sort something out on your next order he’s not got excellent feedback for nothing.
dazcapri:
can’t remember the type of Merc long time since I watched it. Sorry to say it mate but you’ve cocked it up,your supposed to wait till he sends you a total to get your combined postage he always knocks a bit off.It’ll be worth asking him what else he’s got and he might sort something out on your next order he’s not got excellent feedback for nothing.
How do you do that? The items are “Buy it now”, I think. I thought you had to buy them err… then. No problem. Eighteen quid or so for three hours of old lorries is better value for money than beer!
[zb]
anorak:dazcapri:
can’t remember the type of Merc long time since I watched it. Sorry to say it mate but you’ve cocked it up,your supposed to wait till he sends you a total to get your combined postage he always knocks a bit off.It’ll be worth asking him what else he’s got and he might sort something out on your next order he’s not got excellent feedback for nothing.How do you do that? The items are “Buy it now”, I think. I thought you had to buy them err… then. No problem. Eighteen quid or so for three hours of old lorries is better value for money than beer!
you click on where it says request total it sends a message to the seller and he then invoices you,if you press buy it now you are committed to buy but by requesting a total price from the seller you don’t have to pay straight away.Never mind mate I’m sure you’ll enjoy them then you can give us a review on here
Well that was a rubbish trip I sat for 5 hours waiting for 2 pallets that were urgent so I couldn’t go with out them, only to be told that they were there all along and the new forklift driver had put them in the wrong part of the warehouse. Now you have to go like an idiot as I’m on timed delivery at the other end of the continent. Same old c^&p different place.
I managed to take Spaghetti No Junction with me and had a look at it on the dvd player when I was parked up.
What a classic… an ex bought it from me on VHS when it first came out and I though that Italy job must be the bees knees, all that time of to go fishing, 9 to 5, exotic locations, trucks with night heaters, good food, truck stops with wash facilities, drivers with white jackets.
If you haven’t seen it and are up for a laugh when a film crew follow ARGS who have been provided with a lot of sponsorship, on a trip to Milano, loaded with… ( well I’m sure most of us know what they were hauling )
I don’t know what they were using for an office, when I knew them they had an old Porto-Cabin at the side of puddle. They stop everywhere, loads of product placement and name dropping. Good for a laugh even if some of it is edited a bit out of order. And who didn’t do synchronized reversing at Lafayet ■■?
Pro filming, good shots.
Just cause I like an old 3600 Space Cab Daf I’ll give it 6 out of 10, ahh well 7 then…
All roads lead to Rome sounds like a good one, any idea whet I can get it ■■? did any one do anything on Spain, most of the 80’s doco’s seem to be Italy.
bodger 69:
All roads lead to Rome sounds like a good one, any idea whet I can get it ■■? did any one do anything on Spain, most of the 80’s doco’s seem to be Italy.
E bay mate Oiltruckie pretty much has them all
I’ve watched all of the films I mentioned in my post above, so here’s my review, starting with All Roads Lead to Rome, as purchased from Oiltruckie on ebay. The discs arrived quickly, so his service is as good as Daz says.
All Roads Lead to Rome is a dispassionate account of our driver’s trip from his home in Ireland, recorded in the early seventies, by the look of it- there is an ‘L’ reg car in one scene. Our hero’s lorry is a Mercedes LPS1924, and there are plenty of shots of other wagons of the period, as the crew wind their way down the motorways of France and Italy. There are some interviews with other drivers en route, revealing some of the tricks of the trade, as it was then. The camera work is very good, capturing the ride quality of the vehicle well, as is the sound recording- the Merc’s engine note is easy to discern, behind the conversation of our driver and the interviewer. The film wipes any rose tint off the viewer’s spectacles- it’s predominant theme is that the job is hard work, with no time to explore the delights of foreign culture. Other films about international haulage capture the excitement and trepidation of foreign travel better. I think this film could have given more of a flavour of the pleasure of being abroad, even if the main part of the driver’s day is work. Destination Doha is the benchmark in this regard, and All Roads Lead to Rome is not a patch on that.
The disc contained two other Irish haulage films. One was a recent undercover investigation by RTE One into bent Irish operators. The other was a documentary, again from modern times, about happy Irish truckers. All of the films on the disc had good sound and picture quality. You could not ask for more, for the purchase price of six quid or so, including postage.
Sound like a good one none the less I always had a soft spot for Merc advent calendars. The job was what you made it, some managed to get a few days of here and there, and for some it head down in and out as quick as you can, then do it all again next week.
Truckers ( Davies Turner )
This was right at the time I was doing similar work so I knew what the job was from the inside, I even heard of it at the time it was being filmed.
Ex squadie doing Istanbul for DT in one of their trucks, not a subbie. Super cube tri 13.7, Daf Space Cab, Bristol to Istanbul and most of the way back as well. Out through Italy back via the old Yugoslavia, there’s a war going on but so what.
Some guys were good at doing this sort of work, others weren’t so hot. I’m not saying anything… but talking English with an Italian accent isn’t a thing that goes down well in Italy especially when your trying to sort out problems. At some point the film crew had a chase car so there’s a bit of panning shots. If you did it back then,there’s a lot of stuff you would recognize, even if some of it out of sequence. Gives a bit of feel for what it was at the time, but more from the point of view of the film editor who had to make something that Jo public wouldn’t turn of after 5 minutes.
Shot for Channel 4 good quality, about what you would expect form a pro doco maker.
8 out of 10 from me.
On The Silk Road with Ger van Rens
Another one form Ferdy Top Run
Shot on super 8 it follows Mr Van Rens in his Merc on for Altrex going from Holland to Pakistan, leaving just after the New Year 1977, it’s after Easter before he’s back. The usual route through the eastern bloc Turkey, Iran, then much to his disliking there’s a bit of detour to get paperwork.
He stops to help Andrew Wilson Young who’s his cab knocked of, and gets stuck on the Bolan pass when trying to cross the river. Not much early footage, but plenty after Istanbul
The sound is some euro pop from the time period, it doesn’t really distract form the footage though. Luckily for us Ferdy has put a load of titles on the bottom every couple of minutes or so, to let you know where he is, and they’re in English as well.
Mr Rens was good enough to shoot most of it using a tripod so the film quality is pretty good.
I’d go 7.5 out of 10
Next up is Southall Twilight.
Released by British Heritage it’s archive footage from British Leyland. 3 short films.
Commercial Motor test of an AEC Mandator in the late 60’s early 70’s. Up he M6 across the Scottish Borders and back to the bottom end of the A1M near Scotch Corner. It’s shot well with the kind of footage you could expect from a good organization, which is followed by another short film of the same AEC a few weeks later.
Leyland Marathon or should I say 2 Marathons, one is driven by some one that was in Destination Doha, this trip he takes a half wit to Italy with a load of Scotch. It’s all a bit light hearted, with some good footage, and the other truck goes to Norway, to show how good the Marathon is at starting in cold weather.
The last part is an in factory film showing the assembly line and some rugged testing.
The whole thing goes about 90 minutes. Good footage and well put together.
8 out of 10.