Thanks for getting back to me Whirlinmerlin. I was kind of related to Mark as his Dad married my Nana after they both became widowed to their previous spouses. Wonder what Mark and Martin are doing nowadays?
Hi Whirlimerlin.
I’m detecting a tad of bitterness. I am totally naive as to the politics of Ancliff and I only have fond ‘boyhood’ memories of the place. I knew where the key was for the coffee machine if you fancied a coffee but didn’t have any change, it was in the draw.
Martin and Malc were always ‘uncles’ to me, as was Ken and Jock. Pauline was Aunty Pauline. I guess I’ve missed something along the way. Still remember that detergent smell though !
Evening Zodian,
You’ve lost me with the “bitterness” . Wirlinmerlin and Martin are one and the same thing!! Re the laughing assassin remark…I was making a joke, albeit a real memory, at my own expense! We all had nicknames.
I remember your father well. How is he? And your mum?
Anthony had an amazing deep voice.I remember coming back into the office after a trip to the Nags Head in Jimmy’s company car, a chocolate coloured Morris 1000, and regaled all in the traffic office about a lovely blonde girl who I had spotted, working in the chemists shop. Your dad said her name was Tina Pinnell and that he knew her family. He suggested I rang her at the shop and ask for a date but I was too scared so he picked up the phone, rang the Chemist, put on his deepest voice and asked her out, pretending to be me. She accepted and a few days later I rolled up to her house to collect her. She was a tad shocked by my squeaky voice but after a little explanation she settled down and we dated until she slide off to America to marry some Yank!
Zodian,
Me again. You did post a wonder about what me and Mark were about now.
I never saw or heard from Mark from the day I left in 1980 to work in Saudi but I’ve started a post on here about the company “Trans Arabia” where I spent some two years.
Post Title: Trans Arabia /S. Jones of Aldridge:A few pics
Link: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=118747
Following that stint, I worked out there for another company and again I have started a post on here regarding that time.
PostTitle: Taseco TMS Saudi Arabia from 1983
Link: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=119582
I have been semi retired for the last 10 years and live not far from Knutsford. I’ve been known to re visit Urmston once in a while. It’s nice to reminisce don’t you think.
Zodiac,
As one who has known Merlin in 2 later lives, I recommend you read the Trans Arabia Thread and the Taseco from 1983 - or whatever it is!
The boy grew up!
Regards,
John.
Martin, I am SO sorry. Hadn’t realized you were Whirlinmirlin. Just had a Homer Simpson moment. Really good to hear from you. I must have only been a toddler when last we met but I definitely remember you. Bloody hell ! You’re right, my Dad did have a lovely baritone voice back in the day and, coincidentally, my Mum was also a blonde that worked in the chemist. She succumbed to leukemia some 15 year ago and it really took its toll on my Dad. He is getting by though and lives at the house his parents had on Sevenoaks Avenue. Was showing him this forum and he remembered the names and anecdotes as if it was yesterday. I will be posting some more of his Ancliff memoirs fairly soon. He would be bowled over backwards to hear from you. I can give you his number if you want, but understand if you’d rather not. I’m in my 50’s now so it must be a good 40 odd years since I last saw you. Wait till I tell him I’ve been in touch, he will be over the moon. Hope life has been kind to you Martin. Ant (Jnr).
John West:
Zodiac,As one who has known Merlin in 2 later lives, I recommend you read the Trans Arabia Thread and the Taseco from 1983 - or whatever it is!
The boy grew up!
Regards,
John.
Hi John. Had a look at the threads you mentioned. Wow, looks like transport over in Saudi is interesting to say the least. So many accidents though. Thanks for the info.
Evening zodian,
Just a quicky. By all means pass on to me your dad’s number. I will give him a bell.
Regards,
M.
PS. I’m hoping he has some stories to tell to revive this post.
Have PM’d you his number. Ant.
Anybody remember the Telex machine at Bulwark Rd? I guess it could be likened to an early fax or modem. A monstrosity of a thing, but quite fascinating to my young eyes. It kinda coded in a reverse Braille type of way. Braille was raised dots, this was holes, or the omission of dots, but the same principle. I remember some clever bugger doing a portrait of the ‘Mona Lisa’ in telex. There was a handbook in the operators draw that gave an alphabet of telex letters, and for a short time, I could read the transmissions from the ticker tape that was transmitted/received to and from the telex rather than the analogue printed and typed facsimile. It was a bit like glorified Morse Code or FSK. Still remember it clattering into life periodically. Another useless skill that I acquired along the way
Hi Zodian,
I’ll get your name right this time, bloody predictive text, Jesus Crust!
Overland was quite hairy in the seventies, in Yugoslavia, relatives put flowers and crosses where fatal accidents had happened. There were lots of them!
However, it was nothing compared to Saudi. ‘God’s Will’ was taken literally. I discussed this with a Muslim Indian. He said that it was against the religion to test ‘His’ will by say - overtaking on a blind bend. However it appeared that many Saudis thought that ‘If I die today, that is Gods will!’
When I first got there I was talking to an English driver who had been doing ‘internals’ for some months. He told me that on average he saw a fatal accident every day. ‘The trick is, not to be in one yourself!’ His average was about correct, I saw horrific accidents often. I mean saw them happen, not just the aftermath.
The trick was to drive very defensively! If a Tonka started to overtake when you could see something coming the other way, stand on the brakes and let him in.
The artic Tonkas - Mercedes long nosed with,only about 180 BHP, used to load 60 tons of steel. They took forever to get going and forever to stop, Merc brakes were hopeless. One would travel behind the other and because the second was being dragged in the slipstream of the first, he thought he could overtake.
The straight roads of Saudi, maybe 50 or more miles without a bend, meant that they would try to overtake. Once they were alongside, all advantage was gone. Yet they used to travel side by side, mile after mile!
Somewhere on here, Merlin has described a similar situation, being in a vehicle with Ron, another contributor, where Ron played ‘chicken’ with a couple of these. It puts your heart in your mouth!
If you were coming the other way, unlike Ron, if you were sensible , you pulled off into the desert long before it became a problem. I saw more than one accident where it was left to the last second and the overtaker and the oncoming vehicle pulled into the desert at the same time and crashed head on maybe 20 feet from the highway.
Once I had a heavy load from Dammam to Riyadh. A car transporter- they had 60’ trailers’ - was alongside me on an uphill stretch, when a Toyota Land Cruiser came the other way. I eased off the throttle and hit the brakes. Unfortunately, so did the overtaker. I gave it full juice. So did he. By now the landcruiser was upon us. They both pulled off left at the same time and hit head on. Did I stop? Did I f***! The foreigner always got blamed for any accident.
I actually only had one accident in about six or seven years driving trucks over there. (After that I went into the office, which was where I first met Martin, about 1981.)A Toyota pick up pulled out from a side road and I hit him full on sideways. I thought he was dead, but when I got to him he started to twitch and eventually came round. The police took me to the police station in Riyadh and the chief of police gave me tea. He phoned my Saudi partner, Sheikh Ali Al Ghoson in Dammam, and they sorted it out between them. I was out in a couple of hours. I was lucky. Lots of English lads rotted in jail for months while they waited for decisions on similar accidents.
John.
Jeez, sounds like a right backwards place, despite all the oil revenue and wealth of a few elite families. I’m not sure if there was any licensing laws over there such as HGV classes etc but from your description, doesn’t seem so. Looks like you were very lucky to avoid getting tangled up in any of this. Looking at some of the pictures Merlin has posted, and the number of them, truck driving was a very risky job to be doing. Looks like a destruction derby. Doesn’t appear to be much in the way of street lighting so I’m guessing night driving would have been even worse.
Thanks for the post, always fascinating to hear people’s accounts and memories. There is a guy I correspond with on another site who posted some pictures of his DAF. On the side of the tractor is a sticker which says Caravan Trucking. Does this name ring any bells with you?
Zodian.
Zodian:
Jeez, sounds like a right backwards place, despite all the oil revenue and wealth of a few elite families. I’m not sure if there was any licensing laws over there such as HGV classes etc but from your description, doesn’t seem so. Looks like you were very lucky to avoid getting tangled up in any of this. Looking at some of the pictures Merlin has posted, and the number of them, truck driving was a very risky job to be doing. Looks like a destruction derby. Doesn’t appear to be much in the way of street lighting so I’m guessing night driving would have been even worse.Thanks for the post, always fascinating to hear people’s accounts and memories. There is a guy I correspond with on another site who posted some pictures of his DAF. On the side of the tractor is a sticker which says Caravan Trucking. Does this name ring any bells with you?
Zodian.
There was a Saudi driving licence, I’m not sure what the test was like, I didn’t have to take it. Production of your British HGV meant you were given a Saudi Licence. Driving at night was made more hazardous by the camels that used to like sleeping on the tarmac!
Caravan trucking was the company I worked for in Saudi, at first as an owner driver, then as transport manager and finally, thanks to dead men’s shoes, as general manager. if you click the middleeasttruckingstories link at the bottom you’ll go to my website and there are plenty of photos of Caravan’s yard on there in the gallery pages - and quite a few of Martin too!
I think the guy you have corresponded with may have worked Simon International and posted on here as Skipvitesse. I certainly met him in Caravan’s yard, but don’t really remember him as he very much kept himself to himself, particularly as he despised the Simons/Caravan transport manager Joe. Joe went mad one evening and started wrecking all the Simon trucks in the yard with the forklift and Simons pulled out soon after that. This link takes you to a page on the Simons thread, which is an excellent read if you’re interested in M/E trucking.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=26763&hilit=simon&start=270
John
HI John. Had a look at Simons thread and yes, it’s the same DAF that is pictured on the Dumfries Transport site, so you were right. I had a feeling there was a M/E connection looking at some of the photos posted although they don’t give much away. Thanks for the insight, will have a good old read through Simons threads.
Bit off topic but here’s one for the anoraks. What is the difference between a Scammell Crusader and a Scammel Amazon? To my naive mind, I always thought the Amazon had a pair of rear axles where the Crusader had a single rear axle. Recently I have seen a couple of twin rear axles Scammells badged up as Crusaders. Let the fun begin.
Crusaders were available as either 4x2 or 6x4. In Australia the 6x4 was available as either 38 ton rating or 65 ton. As far as I know, and this only from other forums, the Amazon was 100t rated.
paulc20:
Crusaders were available as either 4x2 or 6x4. In Australia the 6x4 was available as either 38 ton rating or 65 ton. As far as I know, and this only from other forums, the Amazon was 100t rated.
Hi Paul. Thanks for that. The only times I saw Amazons was with Pickfords or Wynnes. These were 6x4 units and the only time I had seen Crusaders in operation, they were 4x2 units. Today, I photographed a Crusader 6x4 and wondered if the restorer had made a mistake. From your description, the Amazon must have been an upgraded, more powerful version of the 6x4 Crusader.
Zodian.
Just a quickie. Was really good to see Wirlinmerlin today. Recognized him straight away although he didn’t recognize me. Having said that, I must have only been 5 or 6 the last time I saw him and I’m now in my 50’s. My Dad was really pleased and grateful for the visit. I’m sure the two of you had an interesting afternoon and wish I could have stayed longer. ‘Where does the time go?’ as Sandy Denny once sang.
My Dad (Harry Biscoe) worked in Felixstowe from 1960 -1971 starting off with a long nose scammel and finished with one of the 2 Scannia 110’s H reg day cabs, ‘Speedy’ had the other, he had many stories of his days there, all the usual suspect, Ken Cleaver, Seymour brothers, etc etc
He spent 6 weeks in hospital after getting lungs full of TDI ( I persaonally believe this led to Lung Cancer that eventually took his life) it was in South Wales when the gas wasn’t vented when he opened the lid, fell from the tank, bad times.
I used to travel with him loads although there was no passenger seat and only batteries to sit on, hiding at every factory and when vehicles passed, although that was just fun for him I think!
Harry Biscoe was a quiet gentleman, hard working and well liked by everyone, especially Malcolm Harrison the Transport Manager at Bulwark Road. The last I heard Malcolm had popped his clogs. I’m amazed he lived to an old age considering the terrible strain he appeared to be under with that infamous Continental trailer board and his rather convoluted personal life.
I think that detergent smell that hung around night and day was some kind of strange aphrodisiac. There were so many people seemingly at it like rabbits!!
Quote from the ■■■■■■■ the switchboard…" Why do you call me spanner face?"
Answer from the welsh garage foreman…" 'Cos every time I look at you, you tighten my nuts up!"