gordon john:
Hi Fred,
Can’t recall a Kevin, Hicks Transport was a big comp any,and my memory is not as good as it was. The drivers I can remember are the Hobbs Brothers, Alan and Robert, also a Phil Jenkins. Were you a owner driver or worked for a Company?
Gordon
Forest of Dean
Glos.
Hi Gordon. I started as an O/D in 76 having bought an M.A.N . that was topped back from M/E to UK by Freddie Noble and by coincidence this veh: GOY 207N has just been mentioned on a recent post and was owned by ■■■■■■ Ashton, I kept it for a couple of years but it was next to useless on M/E work and about as strong as a peppermint, so I parted company with it and went on for Pan Ex: and when they went up the wall I was fortunate enough to get onto Grangewood’s and then they went up the wall (Who’s a Jonah ?) and I then went onto Concorde - So here I am retired undefeated’. Nice to see some very interesting posts on here this week that relate to my era. Cheers all.
Here is my MAN 232, I had it in Welham International livery as I started my M/E adventures for them (That’s is another story) It done 0-35 in about 40 mins:
gordon john:
Hi Fred,
Can’t recall a Kevin, Hicks Transport was a big company,and my memory is not as good as it was. The drivers I can remember are the Hobbs Brothers, Alan and Robert, also a Phil Jenkins. Were you a owner driver or worked for a Company?
Gordon
Forest of Dean
Glos.
The third Hobbs brother was Dai who passed away in the Mocamp.
But I’ll tell you what - if you blow the bottom photo of the handsome youth in the woolly hat (thought I knew you from somewhere) you can see that someone would be well advised to change that outer drive axle tire on the vehicle behind him before old Bill arrives. Babies bottoms ain’t in it!
Cantrells / St Margarets Trust business? Must have missed that one.
When Pat Seale first drove one of those for Cantrells I remember that 'orrible little object the Poison Dwarf spending hours in the bar at the Mocamp and using pencil, paper and devilish calculations to try to convince Pat that by the time he got to the top of even some of the more modest mountains that he had to face between there and the Iranian border the reduction in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere would not leave the MAN with enough power to turn the headlights on never mind climb the hill.
Pat listened for a while with surprising patience before he burst and informed Robin that he was indeed a ‘Snipe nosed, Parrot faced Wazzock’ and sent him off to bed via the puddle outside the Bar door. Happy days!
Is anyone going to meet up this weekend which is being put on bt Ferdy from Top Run?. Its in Cortaillod, Suisse, have a look on the Top Run web page for more info.
A group of us are going over for a jolly boys trip!
actually David the guy with the wooly hat is not me, its good old boy Ray Scott. I don’t remember how Ray Toher got involved in the st margarets trust case but I do remember the ■■■■■■ back boys arriving to recover units & trailers(as I recall eurofleet rentals?) that were abandoned all over turkey & iran after that foul winter. when we came back to uk with the 2 Rays we brought back a rescued scania. Ray Toher did a nifty bit of diplomacy with them ■■■■■■ back men cos they were nasty pieces of work. i’ll try & attach phot of me with ashtons Leyland Buffalo. hang on… ah got it. the guy in the bottom shot walking towards the car is,i think, a bloke called “Dave the arab” ring any bells?
I certainly remember that there was a problem over some missing motors but did not know the details.
Of course that was quite a popular game at that time. I was in the yard at Warton Hall when the repo men came for certain vehicles of the Bosphorus Express. They were both surprised and pleased when John Ellingham handed over the keys without delay but less pleased when, having looked round the yard and not found any of them, they were informed that some were in Turkey and the rest were in Iran. The stunts that were pulled in those far off days were just amazing and could certainly not be repeated these days. But there was no malice to any of it.
I also remember the name of Dave the Arab but I’m not sure that I ever met the gentleman.
We have all changed a bit have we not? My problem is that I don’t feel the years in my mind - every where else but not in my memory. I have a great photo that was taken at Gaydon of a load of us together who were all M/E drivers from the early years and a sad load of old ■■■■■ we look! I will get the permission of the taker of the photo to post it here.
wotever:
actually David the guy with the wooly hat is not me, its good old boy Ray Scott. I don’t remember how Ray Toher got involved in the st margarets trust case but I do remember the ■■■■■■ back boys arriving to recover units & trailers(as I recall eurofleet rentals?) that were abandoned all over turkey & iran after that foul winter. when we came back to uk with the 2 Rays we brought back a rescued scania. Ray Toher did a nifty bit of diplomacy with them ■■■■■■ back men cos they were nasty pieces of work. i’ll try & attach phot of me with ashtons Leyland Buffalo. hang on… ah got it. the guy in the bottom shot walking towards the car is,i think, a bloke called “Dave the arab” ring any bells?
Love the Buffalo , a month or so away sleeping on a book-shelf with curtains round it , fantastic, hard or what , great picture, Brits abroad, no wonder they all think we’re mad .
From my collection of memorable quotes picked up over the years:
It’s been said on here before,that a German driver in his Mercedes,when seeing an English driver in an Atki somewhere in the middle east was alledged to have said,“No wonder the English won the war,they must be hard to drive something like that out here!”
A mate who many of you know,Berndt Braun,better know as Bernard the German driver on the middle east.
I met him one time in the ferry booking office in Tartous trying without much success to get through to the Arab guys that he would like to make a ferry booking.
He was at the end of his tether as I walked in,and he looked at me and remarked,“You know Ian,Hitler was not mad,he just had no ■■■■■■■ sense of direction,he should have come down here!”
On another occasion I met him in,was it the Albion pub in Dover?,and he was telling me of his past,when he used to be a salesman for Magirus trucks.He said,“Selling Magirus trucks is why I’ve got no ■■■■■■■ hair!”
Hi Fred, Great photo of Hicks Transport leaving Baghdad, this brings back memories of my short driving time to the Middle East. I am trying to add photos to this forum, without success, this modern technology is beyond me, I must be getting old, time for taking the tablets.
gordon john:
Hi Fred,
Can’t recall a Kevin, Hicks Transport was a big comp any,and my memory is not as good as it was. The drivers I can remember are the Hobbs Brothers, Alan and Robert, also a Phil Jenkins. Were you a owner driver or worked for a Company?
Gordon
Forest of Dean
Glos.
I spoke with Fred Noble esquire last week He has just retired at 67, a fine old rogue of the road & an absolute pleasure to have worked with over the years.
regards
fly sheet
Hi Gordon. I started as an O/D in 76 having bought an M.A.N . that was topped back from M/E to UK by Freddie Noble and by coincidence this veh: GOY 207N has just been mentioned on a recent post and was owned by ■■■■■■ Ashton, I kept it for a couple of years but it was next to useless on M/E work and about as strong as a peppermint, so I parted company with it and went on for Pan Ex: and when they went up the wall I was fortunate enough to get onto Grangewood’s and then they went up the wall (Who’s a Jonah ?) and I then went onto Concorde - So here I am retired undefeated’. Nice to see some very interesting posts on here this week that relate to my era. Cheers all.
Hi Flysheet. Was interested to learn that Sir Phrederick Noble is still alive and kicking, is he still in the Southall area and during your conversation was my M.A.N mentioned that I referred to in my earlier post ? I often wonder where it was actually recovered from down the M/E and any history related to it. The man who previously owned it (■■■■■■ Ashton) did work with me pre: M/E days at Total Terminal Langley Slough when we were tanker drivers and there were a few other workmates who left Total and ventured out onto M/E work namely Pete Burgess and John Gordon - Pete was working for an O/D namely Frank Willis (RIP) out of the old Twickenham film studio’s - Having mentioned a few names I wonder if it may nudge few memories and knowing that Frank’s son Michael (Mickey Willis) took over his dad’s business - Who knows -
here’s hoping for a bit of feedback. Regards Fred
Was that the Mickey Willis who worked at Orxy Freightlines or is my ancient mind confusing me again?
David
Hi David. I did not know the outcome of Mickey, His family moved down to and settled in Plymouth but I sometimes heard Mickey’s name mentioned here and there and I know that he was an O/D running an eye catching F12 with more bling than Beecham’s had pills. he was a very enthusiastic young man and was trucks mad and I would not be surprised if he was hiding behind a password on this thread and if so he would be welcomed to come out of hiding and tell us of his experiences, So I do not know of his M/E history but if he was on with Oryx’s then I would imagine that I would have known although he was a lot younger in those days and with very limited driving experience if any.
Regards Fred
Fred never mentioned Your MAN im sorry to tell You
Fred lives in Northolt still with Mary His long suffering wife.
Mick Willis is Franks son. I last saw Him after unloading film gear for The Saint in Moscow.That was January 1996 He was I recall rather cab happy. He had all His Dads old M/E photos in a big album. He totalled that flashy F12 of His Dads. I think He is still an OD doing film work or was last I heard.
fly sheet:
Fred never mentioned Your MAN im sorry to tell You
Fred lives in Northolt still with Mary His long suffering wife.
Mick Willis is Franks son. I last saw Him after unloading film gear for The Saint in Moscow.That was January 1996 He was I recall rather cab happy. He had all His Dads old M/E photos in a big album. He totalled that flashy F12 of His Dads. I think He is still an OD doing film work or was last I heard.
Cooper
Thanks for that bit of info. it would be interesting to hear from him if he is out there, I’ve never been to Russia although I did fancy a one off just for the experience. Do you reside in the Heathrow manor as you seem to be a close pal of Freddie Noble ?
Regards F
Hi David. I did not know the outcome of Mickey, His family moved down to and settled in Plymouth but I sometimes heard Mickey’s name mentioned here and there and I know that he was an O/D running an eye catching F12 with more bling than Beecham’s had pills. he was a very enthusiastic young man and was trucks mad and I would not be surprised if he was hiding behind a password on this thread and if so he would be welcomed to come out of hiding and tell us of his experiences, So I do not know of his M/E history but if he was on with Oryx’s then I would imagine that I would have known although he was a lot younger in those days and with very limited driving experience if any.
Regards Fred
I don’t really remember either Fred but I am sure that the name is so familiar that I am sure we worked together. I think it must have been Oryx because it certainly was not Grangewood.
I shall try to resolve the mystery with a call to that font of all knowledge, Kenny.
It was Grangewood - probably before you joined - and he was an owner driver who ran a Daf 2800 that he purchased at the same time as Jimmy Buckle purchased his and Jimmy’s was a W reg so that makes it 1979.
, a month or so away sleeping on a book-shelf with curtains round it 
, fantastic, hard or what 
, great picture, Brits abroad, no wonder they all think we’re mad 