Also noticed that old style Scania is wearing an external sun visor the likes of which I can’t remember on any other of our old style Scanias.
Nottsnortherner:
Also noticed that old style Scania is wearing an external sun visor the likes of which I can’t remember on any other of our old style Scanias.
Thought I would bump up these two photos onto this page Tony. Unfortunately things are soon forgotten which is a shame as there were some informative posts on the last page.
I have to thank Paul Willis and Nick Garlick for some of the recent photos. However, I have to thank Graham Bertram, our old driving colleague, for the fine picture of a Lowe of Paddock Wood lorry which he drove. Graham and Paul both lived in Biddenden and Graham knowing of Pauls interest in lorry photos gave it to him.
I remember Graham telling me he drove one of Lowe’s ERF six wheeled, four in hand, units, which he had from new. I know Lowe had a few of these lorries but this one whose registration is I think NKM 709F was a 1967 reg. It puts things into perspective when I think I hadn’t even thought of going on the road at that time. It just shows us what an experienced and knowledgeable driver Graham was. I do remember loading at Mack & Edwards premises, just down the road from Lowe’s yard in 70/71, and seeing these outfits of Lowe’s in and around Paddock Wood, no doubt just going or coming back fro abroad. There’s a very good chance I saw Graham at that time and I’m sure I would have been thinking to myself, ‘thats what I’m going to be doing one day’.
I’ve attached a few more pics of Grahams lorry when he drove for Promotor parked up near his home. Paul was certainly an avid photographer which I for one am grateful. The last photo was taken by myself on Grahams last ever Middle East trip when four of us went to Israel in 93 I think.
Geoff Gardner was a Promotor driver late 70’s early 80’s then decided to buy his own lorry, a Volvo F89 which did look smart. It was painted in the Promotor livery of the time but I have a feeling the venture wasn’t a great success. I know the lorry started to show signs of rust and it was sold, finally ending up with a scrap metal merchant who drove it into the ground. Geoff himself, at some stage went off to the US and as far as I know is still there.
The first photo was recently given to me by Paul Willis whilst the second one was taken by me with the camera set up on a tripod in about 81. Geoff on the left, George Fardell in the centre and myself on the right. Geoff’s looking slightly embarrassed as his smalls are hanging on the wipers of his lorry with a pair in George’s hand. We were parked up at Lake Habaniya near Ramadi on the way home from Baghdad.
A couple of shots of FOO 160T, Ronnie Hart’s lorry. Photos taken in Biddenden by Paul Willis again so assume Graham Bertram was the driver on this occasion. Bit of an atmospheric shot of the trailer, in the second photo, as the setting sun is reflected off the sheet. Looks like the trailer is in line to be refurbished though.
Can anyone remember if a Steve Cherret aka Rocky worked for the company as a driver. His name was mentioned as having been there in 78/9 but I don’t remember him myself.
Also a Dave Clark was seen on F/B from Plymouth. Anyone know if he may be our old driver. This Dave worked for Asian Transport/Astran in the early days. Also the name Roy Cloke. Was he ever a Promotor driver. Maybe ‘brakeboy’ or Nottsnortherner may know.
sandway:
A couple of shots of FOO 160T, Ronnie Hart’s lorry. Photos taken in Biddenden by Paul Willis again so assume Graham Bertram was the driver on this occasion. Bit of an atmospheric shot of the trailer, in the second photo, as the setting sun is reflected off the sheet. Looks like the trailer is in line to be refurbished though.Can anyone remember if a Steve Cherret aka Rocky worked for the company as a driver. His name was mentioned as having been there in 78/9 but I don’t remember him myself.
Also a Dave Clark was seen on F/B from Plymouth. Anyone know if he may be our old driver. This Dave worked for Asian Transport/Astran in the early days. Also the name Roy Cloke. Was he ever a Promotor driver. Maybe ‘brakeboy’ or Nottsnortherner may know.
There was a Dave Clarke driving for Pro-motor when I was there but I always thought he came from up Norwich way altho nothing to stop him moving!. Roy Cloke was a subbie with his own unit when I was at Pro, think it was an F88. He lived I believe Swanley area. In a previous existence i think he had connections with the pop music world and the name Crispin St Peter has stuck in what passes for my Brain.
The trailer in the piccie looks like one of three new Taskers tri-axle step frames delivered just before i left. One, a was in Pro Motor colours as seen, one was in colours of an exhibition contractor whose name escapes me at the moment, but the third sticks in my mind. Painted Black it had a bright orange tilt cover emblazoned with " Wayne Kerr [think about it] International Exhibition Contractors" in at least three foot high black letters. It seemed to cause a lot of hilarity amongst on coming drivers, the name being on the front of the sheet as well and caused a lot of headlight flashing and clenched fist signs out of cab windows.
Just to add a little more detail to what brakeboy has already added, Roy Cloke did have a F88 and was a regular subbie for Promotor along with John McFall. In a previous life he was the drummer in the band that supported Crispian St. Peter and was on the hit record they had called " I’m the Pied Piper" About 18 months ago he did do a little contribution to this forum and I do believe he used to live in St. Mary Cray. Dave Clark left around 77/78 and was definately a Norfolk “carrot cruncher”! The name exhibition forwarder you’re thinking of brakeboy, is Bannon Exports. The guy who ran it was Bob Glover, an old sparring partner of Peters, and I,m sorry brakeboy but I believe the name of the company on the orange and black tilt was Brewster,Druce and Turner. Sadly I have no piccies to confirm any of this!
I have a couple of photos of the trailers mentioned recently by ‘brakeboy’ but the missing one is ‘w-nker’. I’m sure it existed though as Peter has a great memory.
My old left-hand drive unit LGU666P.
I did my first Yugo in May 1980 for Pros = and the first in LGU - and arriving at Spielfeld on the way home the Shell garage pump attendant was ecstatic that in London the SAS had shot dead the Iranian terrorists in London (May 5 1980). It was the same trip that Tito died (4 May 1980) and the country closed down for a week which meant hanging around near Ljubljana for a week… Marshal music on the loudspeakers in all the streets.
Nottsnortherner:
Just to add a little more detail to what brakeboy has already added, Roy Cloke did have a F88 and was a regular subbie for Promotor along with John McFall. In a previous life he was the drummer in the band that supported Crispian St. Peter and was on the hit record they had called " I’m the Pied Piper" About 18 months ago he did do a little contribution to this forum and I do believe he used to live in St. Mary Cray. Dave Clark left around 77/78 and was definately a Norfolk “carrot cruncher”! The name exhibition forwarder you’re thinking of brakeboy, is Bannon Exports. The guy who ran it was Bob Glover, an old sparring partner of Peters, and I,m sorry brakeboy but I believe the name of the company on the orange and black tilt was Brewster,Druce and Turner. Sadly I have no piccies to confirm any of this!
Not many companies can boast of a celebrity from the 60’s pop scene amongst their drivers or owner drivers. Nottsnortherner has given us a brief synopsis of Roy ‘Cannonhaul’ Cloke’s earlier wayward youth but say what you like, he’s been there, done it, and no doubt come away with the t-shirt (as well as the royalties). I have been in touch with Roy today and he has agreed I can post a couple of his photos. Hopefully he has some lorry photos hidden away in his shoe box to post on here soon. The last photos he posted a couple of years back were real crackers.
For some reason Promotor seemed to attract outgoing, outlandish or plain cranky characters, some of whom wouldn’t have been out of place in a boys own journal. Thinking of John Preece, outgoing. George Fardell, outlandish and Welly Ward, hmmm. Maybe it was the type of work handled by the company! Maybe it was because of Peter and Liz themselves! Whatever it was there was never a dull moment.
Of course most of the characters were drivers but I also include Zadenka, in charge of our Yugo business and Dave Stagg, transport manager in the mid to late 70’s. Others came and went sometimes with their reputation dented.
However, there was one character who arrived in about 75, who, reading between the lines, wasn’t ‘outgoing, outlandish or cranky’. He arrived at Promotor’s with a CV most drivers would sell their wives for. He was one of the early Asian Transport drivers working there for five years from 69 to 74. He drove UHM 25F, one of their Scania Varbis roadtrains. I have attached a photo obtained from F/B of his rig. Unfortunately he lost all his photos in a house fire years ago. He arrived at Promotor in about 75 and spent around three years there. He drove KGY 378P, a Scania 111.
He is a member of F/B and TrucknetUK but we very rarely hear from him. He posted once on here some four years ago but I know he pops in now and again to keep an eye on us. He last looked in four days ago. Recently he posted on F/B requesting some photos from either the Harem or Londra taken when he was a regular in Istanbul. Instead of photos I replied with the Promotor drivers list from 75 and asked if he was our old workmate. He said he was and confirmed he drove KGY 378P. Unfortunately thats all the info I got from him but I know he moved from Norfolk down to Plymouth a while back.
Although it would be nice to hear from you again ‘Dave Clark’ with perhaps some little anecdotes of your days with Pro’s or even Asian Transport its enough to know you are still there reading this Promotor blog.
Didnt see much of Dave Clarke but when I did he always seemed very pleasant. if he had a problem his approach was “when you get time do you think you could have a look at…”. The Kerr thing could only have done a couple of short trips and one evening a bit of a row erupted in the yard between Mr C and a couple of other guys about the trailer. News eventually filtered back that they thought they had signed up for a step frame VAN as a lot of their business involved electrical and electronic items. Must have been crossed wires somewhere. After a couple more days i was told to take the trailer over to Thurrock and leave it with a company who presumable removed the Wayne Kerr part of the sign writing. In those days the sign writing on tilt sheets used a form of printing ink which was reasonably easy to remove with the correct chemicals and know how. Somebody else must have gone and collected the trailer and loaded it somewhere and shipped out because it was some time later when it reappeared at Dunton Green bearing new names. Those three step frame tilts were very heavy trailers because they all had double floors in view of the amount of large fork lifts and stacker trucks and small cranes that were being carried at the time. At least one of the trio had braking problems because the spring seats had been welded onto the axle in the wrong position and the brake camshafts were binding on the U-bolts resulting in the brakes not releasing fully. The manufacturers recommendation was to grind clearances on either the camshafts or the U-bolts but that wasnt about to happen on my watch, so the trailer was returned brand new to have the seats cut off and rewelded in the correct locations. i am fairly sure these trailers did not have them but a lot of the previous generation of step frame tilts were fitted with container twist locks to carry one twenty foot box on the lower deck. This was apparently because, at the time, Turkey would not accept containers on their own under TIR regs so all containers going Turkey or beyond all had to be carried inside a fully GV60 sealed tilt. Sorry strayed away from Pro a bit but just a bit more of past trivia!!
Another very informative post ‘brakeboy’, don’t matter one bit if you strayed, just keep em coming. I’ve added another couple of Show-haul photos. First one shows one of the Transcon’s about to enter Dover docks, possibly before Promotor took them over and the second one is taken outside our Longfield Road premises in Tunbridge Wells. If you look behind the Volvo unit there is something showing that was to do with ‘Sally Line’. Think Show-haul did a bit of advertising for them.
sandway:
A couple of shots of FOO 160T, Ronnie Hart’s lorry. Photos taken in Biddenden by Paul Willis again so assume Graham Bertram was the driver on this occasion. Bit of an atmospheric shot of the trailer, in the second photo, as the setting sun is reflected off the sheet. Looks like the trailer is in line to be refurbished though.Can anyone remember if a Steve Cherret aka Rocky worked for the company as a driver. His name was mentioned as having been there in 78/9 but I don’t remember him myself.
Also a Dave Clark was seen on F/B from Plymouth. Anyone know if he may be our old driver. This Dave worked for Asian Transport/Astran in the early days. Also the name Roy Cloke. Was he ever a Promotor driver. Maybe ‘brakeboy’ or Nottsnortherner may know.
The Biddenden layby, in this set and the previous one, is no more but there is some evidence of it left.
I mentioned in a previous post the gv60 certificate. This was granted to allow a trailer to run under TIR rules and was quite strict. It had to be renewed every few years. The application form had to be accompanied by two clear threequarter view, one from front, other from back, photos of the whole trailer showing clearly a firmly affixed or painted fleet number. The trailer could be presented by appointment at an MOT station or if you had a good enough relationship with the examiner he would call on your premises. To give some idea of what was expected I remember presenting one at Mitcham. The examiner took from his wallet a brand new bank-note, folded it sharply in half and if he could insert that banknote into the body of the trailer anywhere it was a fail. This included up through the floor, through the edges of dropsides, through rear door seals etc etc. If the half-lap timber floor had opened up the thing to do was to lay a ply overlay. this had to be secured by screws from the inside, or if small coach bolts were used the nuts had to be welded to the bolts underneath. Pro had a couple of old step frames with wooden metal framed dropsides. The ply panels were held in the metal frames by dome headed screws which went into a ‘T’ nut banged into the ply panel inside. Each of the screws had to be welded to the metal frame. A wooden batten had to be screwed along the inside of the ply panel resting on the side rave to prevent the bank note being inserted from the bottom. Aluminium dropsides [and Ali vans] were only allowed a certain number in a run of pop rivets before a solid rivet had to be used. Ali panelled dropsides held together with a vertical threaded bar through each panel from hinge to the top had to have a cap nut on the top with a keeper rivetted to the top panel. Where the vertical bar passed thru the staple panel and was exposed it had to have a piece of flat bar welded to it to prevent it being turned with mole grips or stilsons. Most ali dropsides had a rubber seal in a groove that shut against the side rave. Obviously all staples for the tilt cord had to be present, correctly spaced, to prevent hands being inserted between the cover and the top of the drop side and the tilt cord in good condition with the ends affixed with approved rivets including one with slot thru it to take the customs seal. The tilt cover itself had to have any patches edge sealed with thin grey plastic tape. The tape was an absolute pig to apply with a heat gun. All metal eyelets had to be in good condition and the vertical corner staples in good condition with a leather or nylon strap to thread through them slotted at bottom end to go over the corner staples on the body. Of course a lot of the above depended on the squareness of the tilt superstructure as a whole and many a time it was necessary to remove the tilt and strip all uprights to straighten them first. No voids into which anything could be inserted were allowed in the chassis which meant the access at the back of the fifth wheel plate for air pipes and electrics had to be sealed off. Removeable floor traps inside the body to allow access to air lines etc over the fifth wheel plate were not allowed so any air leak or electrical problem behind the front bulkhead involved major work cutting and lifting and replacing the floor in that area. Underrun bars had to be sealed with welded metal caps, and plastic or rubber bungs were not allowed. A TIR sign had to be carried front and rear securely bolted to the trailer with nuts and bolts spotted with weld. A red cancellation bar also had to be affixed to each TIR plate and capable of being sealed with a lead and wire ‘plum’ in the appropriate position. Finally a secure display case for the GV60 certificate and the two photos had to be firmly affixed to the front of the trailer, again capable of being ‘plummed’. Hell its made me feel tired just thinking about all this again and you can imagine the work involved if the trailer had been knocked about in use. Happy Days? Some were!
Hey ‘brakeboy’. Did you have to hand the banknote back if the examiner manage to insert it into the trailer. Good post.
I’ve posted a copy of our 1989 Baghdad Fair brochure. Hopefully ‘Jazzandy’ won’t feel offended by this one like he was with the 1990 one or maybe he won’t notice! 89 Fair was certainly another biggie for Promotor.
Click on to enlarge.
The end of show Promotor darts tournament and booze up allowed everyone to let their hair down and relax after fifteen gruelling days of The Baghdad International Trade Fair. The darts tournament started on about day five with exhibitors visiting our lounge to play their ties whenever they could fit them in. I was surprised how few walkovers there were. Most found the time to play. However, we did only play one game of 301 in the early rounds.
The photos aren’t all from the same year. I would think maybe 85/86/87. Because the shows were so large I would keep one of our drivers out there to help. Clive Newman, Dave Lloyd and John Preece all appear in the photos.
sandway:
Another very informative post ‘brakeboy’, don’t matter one bit if you strayed, just keep em coming. I’ve added another couple of Show-haul photos. First one shows one of the Transcon’s about to enter Dover docks, possibly before Promotor took them over and the second one is taken outside our Longfield Road premises in Tunbridge Wells. If you look behind the Volvo unit there is something showing that was to do with ‘Sally Line’. Think Show-haul did a bit of advertising for them.
One of the last if not the the last Transcon off the production line originally in Stormont Vehicle Hire colours do you know what happened to it? would be a collectors item if stil in one piece, is the driver “Shady dealer?”
A WARD:
sandway:
Another very informative post ‘brakeboy’, don’t matter one bit if you strayed, just keep em coming. I’ve added another couple of Show-haul photos. First one shows one of the Transcon’s about to enter Dover docks, possibly before Promotor took them over and the second one is taken outside our Longfield Road premises in Tunbridge Wells. If you look behind the Volvo unit there is something showing that was to do with ‘Sally Line’. Think Show-haul did a bit of advertising for them.One of the last if not the the last Transcon off the production line originally in Stormont Vehicle Hire colours do you know what happened to it? would be a collectors item if stil in one piece, is the driver “Shady dealer?”
‘If only’. Yes hindsight would be a great thing to have but at the time, when we had taken over Show-haul, we didn’t know it was the last Transcon. I have no idea where it went once it was disposed of, and who was ‘Shady dealer’? However we didn’t let an opportunity to make a few bob go astray often. We once had a car on the company, B737 LGW. Think about it! Gatwick call sign and Boeing 737 aircraft. We sold it to a pilot flying a Boeing 737 and he was based at Gatwick.
sandway:
A WARD:
sandway:
Another very informative post ‘brakeboy’, don’t matter one bit if you strayed, just keep em coming. I’ve added another couple of Show-haul photos. First one shows one of the Transcon’s about to enter Dover docks, possibly before Promotor took them over and the second one is taken outside our Longfield Road premises in Tunbridge Wells. If you look behind the Volvo unit there is something showing that was to do with ‘Sally Line’. Think Show-haul did a bit of advertising for them.One of the last if not the the last Transcon off the production line originally in Stormont Vehicle Hire colours do you know what happened to it? would be a collectors item if stil in one piece, is the driver “Shady dealer?”
‘If only’. Yes hindsight would be a great thing to have but at the time, when we had taken over Show-haul, we didn’t know it was the last Transcon. I have no idea where it went once it was disposed of, and who was ‘Shady dealer’? However we didn’t let an opportunity to make a few bob go astray often. We once had a car on the company, LGW 737B. Think about it! Gatwick and Boeing 737 aircraft. We sold it to a pilot flying a Boeing 737 and he was based at Gatwick.
I’ve just noticed it didn’t have the chromed stacks in the first photo. I think the lorry was new to Show-haul then.
*Wrong. Looks like they have been modified in the second photo.