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.
The driver from Destination Doha is ■■■■ Rivers the Leyland test driver,the half wit is played by the actor George Layton who starred in,among other things,the Doctor in the House 60’s/70’s TV show he also played mechanic Des in Minder and appeared in a couple of episodes of the Sweeney as an Aussie with Patrick Mower as his partner in crime.About the only time you see him now is one of those over 50 insurance ad’s.
For my birthday my wife got me Danger Heavy Goods by Robert Hutchinson, which was a pretty good read. It tells the tale as Mr Hutchinson hitches a lift from Blackpool to Saudi with a Graham Davies a Whittle International subbie. Like Cola Cowboys it’s from an outsiders view point, and Mr Hutchinson is happy to regurgitate secondhand stories and intertwine them with what’s going on in the cab and the history of the country he’s passing through. It covers the trip Blackpool to Saudi, and back to Blackpool, which is a welcome change as most of those types of book seem to only go one way.
Not as good as some of the stories I’ve read on here ( Jelliot, Jazzandy, Jeffthecrow, Chris Arbon, ) but a good 7.5 out of 10 none the less.
For Christmas my wife must have noticed that I enjoyed Danger Heavy Good and bought me another book by Robert Hutchinson ( good to see she’s paying attention ) This time I got Juggernaut, I started reading and had a feeling I’d read something very similar, so I got Heavy Goods out and compared them… Same book different publishing house, different title.
Summery… Danger Heavy Goods by Robert Hutchinson is a reprint of Juggernaut by Robert Hutchinson…
Book :- The Antediluvian Lorryman…Autobiography by Driver Bill Downs. ISBN. 0 900227 65 6.
When I started work work in the bad winter of '62 - '63 as an apprentice in the workshops of a large haulier near Southampton, I use to think that the drivers were hero’s, driving old, underpowered, wooden framed cabbed lorries, no heaters or power steering, and with very little comfort. Move on to '68 when I started driving with a Guy Invincible, with a heater, and later a Guy Big J with 2 heaters, I thought that compared to the drivers a few years previously, I was lucky, and indeed that those older drivers were in fact, heros.
I suppose to-days drivers, with fantastic trucks, huge horsepower, and every comfort available, would probably look upon me and my fellow drivers of that era, taking a Big J non-sleeper all over europe, as also being a bit of a hero…or completely mad.
That all pales into insignificance in the above book. Without giving too much away, Driver Bill Downs buys a Maudsley with his payoff from the army after WW1 in 1918. Solid tyres, chain driven, no windscreen, canvas hood, candles for lights, top speed of 12 mph, few tarmac roads, few cafe’s, and he went all over England, delivering anything, anywhere. It’s a detailed description of life on the road in the very early days of road transport…and I thought I had it tough…
Excellent read…9/10
I always liked that bug belt buckle they had on the back of their powder tankers.
I got a couple of T shirts from Ferdy Top Run for Christmas, and I’m very impressed with the quality, the sizing is a bit on the big side though, but I’m quite happy to eat a few more pizzas.
Long Haul Pioneers by Ashley Coghill. Truckerash.
Its probably been done before, but a very good book. Well researched. well written, loads of fantastic photos.
It’s by Old Pond so the production and printing are very good quality.
Tells the story of Astran right from the start with Bob Paul and Michael Woodman in their Guy Warrior just in case you didn’t already know. Not to much anorak stuff going on but enough to satisfy the fans. Covers a load of company stuff like the drivers and subbies, and a very interesting bit about the making of Destination Doha
I would have liked a bit more antidotes form the drivers, other than that really good, I’ve gone through my copy many times.
Not long after it was published I say a photo on the internet of the book sitting on the Tap line…
For any Seddon Atkinson fans out there a DVD featuring the late Pat Kennet is now available. It contains some interesting production line shots taken at the factory in Oldham in 1983 and plenty of on the road footage of Sed/Atkis. ebay.co.uk/itm/Seddon-Atkins … 417db776fc Here’s a few stills from the film.
Can anyone remember a film shot in Australia involving a pommie trucker.The truck breaks down and the Pommie saves the day by repairing it against all odds.Im sure an Aussie square cabbed Atkinson was used?
Sorry to be so vague but watched it years ago when I was off sick from school.
Thanks
