Hi Geoff & Lynn
Glad to hear you are both well, do you remember parking south of irun in the big layby
with a BB Read driver driving a 141 scania i think it will have been 83 / 84 you were off to portugal
i was heading for barcelona. we parked there late saturday night and left midday on the sunday
And Lynn did us a nice fry up.
Do you also remember during the night the local bandito’s walking around the trucks ?
Regards
Geoff/Lynn - I remember you being on the UBC/MacAndrews circuit with many of our lads. Where have the years gone? I guess in your era it was Ken Ovenall and Phil Skelton running the show? Would be good to start a thread on those ‘vets’ who used to run to Spain. Do you have many pics? Would be good to see some
Mr MJM:
Would be good to start a thread on those ‘vets’ who used to run to Spain. Do you have many pics? Would be good to see some
I’m waiting to get my scanner / computer link sorted and when i do I’ll post some pics I’ve got from my years doing spain.
Ross.
HI all, Mushroomman the Forum Hotel was being built in Warsaw, I think by Laings. We loaded steel from some where east (Norwich area) IIRC I did 2 or 3 loads in that year. I shall have to try and find my old passports so that I can find exact dates, cause if I put a date in wrong someone will pick me up on it!Coincidence - after I sold up I did some odd jobs for Michael Janes in Weston-super-Mare, he had a Pole working for him who had been a painter and decorator at the Forum!
After I left Bromilows i did a couple of years work to Poland but not continuously carrying rubber solution to make shoe soles from Shepton Mallet to shoe factories all over Poland. I was working for The Polish Shipping Agency in City Rd London along with George (?) Brookes from Rainham, (right where the new A13 and the old A13 cross) and a firm from Slough with Orange motors. The factory was owned by Clarkes who then used to complain about cheap shoe imports!!!
Hello from Geoff & Lynn
Lynn says she remembers spending time with one of Barry Reads drivers but i am afraid we don`t remember your name we are so sorry, we realy did meet a lot of drivers. I was talking to Barry Read last March I ran into him at Brownhills at Newark he was having a service on his Motorhome and we were there having a job done on ours. We have also lost contact with Fred Haines who worked for Barry.
In answer to Mr MJM we did work for Ken Ovenall before he left and Derek Bates took over and not long after they moved the office to Tilbury Docks, i do indeed remember your drivers form the Midlands I know Trevor Evans worked for you but what about Bob Murray, Alan Dukes, Alan (chalkie) White and the Mitchell Bros.
Has anybody heard of Dave Croft or Les Chilvers from Fairweathers of Yarmouth.
Geoff
Bestbooties Re Billy Ham. Do you know for certain if he had a wooden leg? He did tell me that he had but-- when I was running my Crusader I was in the Londra one night, I had just had a shower and as you well remember you did not take your clean clothes in with you. So I was naked in my cab ( curtains drawn 
) when the door flew open and Billy clambered in I said what do you want I’m getting dressed(or words to the effect) when he shoved a pen and paper at me and asked me to write a telex for him. He started to tell me a story about how he wasn’t getting the respect he felt he deserved from the other Chapman & Ball drivers! I soon realised that he was talking total ******** and started writing complete gobeldegook, I put a line in the middle saying I hope this is undecipherable. He was asking for (in writing) to be confirmed as road foreman with disciplinary powers etc. etc. When I had finished he grabbed the paper and went off to telex it,but he never really spoke to me again, I never knew if he could read what I had written! Later I did some work for John ‘the con’ Eddom (before he got the mail bag sewing contract) and Billy was working for him when he was killed (RiP)
The bit that has always confused me is the Crusader was difficult enough to get into with good legs and the Mack probably more so but he got in and out of mine with no problems
Gavin
Hi Gavin,
I once loaded some of that shoe sole material from Shepton Mallet, if I can recall it was something like 40 black drums and 40 grey drums, to be mixed I suppose when they got there. I took them to a factory between Bydgosz and Torun, but on this side of the river, 1e: turn left just as you enter Bydgosz, before the bridge over the river Wiste. It was a small factory right in the middle of a pine forest in a place called Cobra, and there were little signs nailed to trees to guide you through. It was a terrific place, the people there were really great and wanted me to stay on for an evening meal. Unfortunately I couldnt do that because when I cleared my Carnet at the Pekeaus depot at Stubice, they only gave me I think it was 24 hours, it may have been less but I know it wasnt very long. But it seemed a good job, I bet you liked it.
Cheers Archie.
Hi Norsman, just like to say that the old ERF was a loverly looking motor mate, didnt see many with that high roof, I remember S Jones of Alderidge having a couple, them and yours are the only ones ive seen. Yours was a 14ltr 410 was’nt it??
Norseman, I remember seeing that Merc of yours in Dover a few times, i had a lowly 35 myself so was a bit jealous 
I remember the story in whichever magazine it was too, I’m sure Dreva has a copy somewhere & will post it soon enough 
Laurence Keilly was indeed the Peterlea driver killed in Turkey, I remember the obituary in Trucking International, I enjoyed his stories very much, RIP mate.
Phil Llewellyn is a god, i loved every Long Distance Diary he did, I asked the guys at TRUCK about him when I worked there but they’d lost touch by then, shame as I would’ve liked to have met him, the tales of him doing the coast to coast runs are part of the reason that I’m doing what I do now. His book ‘The Road to Muckle Flugga’ is a very good read, he has the art of making you feel like you’re in the passenger seat with him, again RIP mate.
Hi Al, it’s good to hear from you again 
.
The Norseman Freight that I was thinking of was the company from Birkenhead with the orange livery and I think they might of had a Mercedes.
That NORSMAN livery, I.M.H.O. is one of the best fleet colours that I have seen for a long time and I bet there are a few guy’s like me who would of loved to have driven that E.R.F. 
.
I like the large box on the unit of the F12 for tools and tins but stack exhaust pipe and a white tilt might of taken some cleaning on a Saturday morning 
.
The street where the F12 was parked brings back quite a few memories for me though, having spent many nights in a street like that, waiting on the doorstep for the next morning for the customer to open, with a parcel of fish and chips for supper, pre ■■■■■ days of course .
Archie, you mentioned Bydgosz in Poland , did you or anybody else deliver empty hessian sack’s to the salt mine there ?. Big Tony Gibbons R.I.P. ( a.k.a. Big T ) met his wife there when she worked in the stores where we used to offload.
Best regards Steve.
Hi guys
Sorry im getting a bit confused but isnt this thread about ME driving we seem to have drifted off to spain and europe all fine but open a new topic about these adventures
Roger(Rita) Haywood
sinbin31:
Hi guysSorry im getting a bit confused but isnt this thread about ME driving we seem to have drifted off to spain and europe all fine but open a new topic about these adventures
Roger(Rita) Haywood
Don’t worry Roger I am permanatly confused, mine is down to too many birthdays, what’s your excuse ?
It is probably my fault (it usually is) I thought Geoff & Lynn Walker had done M.E it turns out they did’nt but a lot
of there old friends remembered them and posted here. mia culpa sorry regards Big Al
Hi Big Al
Yes mate I have the same problem it hits us all sooner or later its still good to know that when someone post a topic on here the brain is still active enough to make a comment time will come when u say to yourself what was that or who was that GL and keep grunting
Roger Haywood
newmercman thanks for letting me know it was laurence keilly that was the driver killed as another driver had said, what a shame his storys were 1st class. How many drivers have driven to kuwait back loaded in saudi for tunisia but had to go via belgium for the paperwork! now that was a L.D.D. RIP.
Gavin McArdle:
Bestbooties Re Billy Ham. Do you know for certain if he had a wooden leg? He did tell me that he had but-- when I was running my Crusader I was in the Londra one night, I had just had a shower and as you well remember you did not take your clean clothes in with you. So I was naked in my cab ( curtains drawn
The bit that has always confused me is the Crusader was difficult enough to get into with good legs and the Mack probably more so but he got in and out of mine with no problems
Gavin
Gavin,
Billy Hamm did have a wooden leg.He was an uncouth ■■■■ that nobody could get on with.
He was a real Walter Mitty character,some of the tales he told,well,you’ve said it in your signature.
He told many people he was foreman driver,except he didn’t tell the C & B drivers,they would have laughed him out of town.He also told people the Mack was his and if he was not at work it was sheeted up so no one else could drive it.
The truth was,although the Mack went like a ■■■■■■■■■■ was the most uncomfortable ride going,and nobody else wanted to drive it.
C & B had a fantastic contract with BAe carrying maintenance equipment from their headquarters to the Saudi Air Force base at Darhran
Billy had shipped out at the beginning of December to get a trip in before Christmas.I was in the traffic office when a telex came in from the Hotel National that Billy had had an accident and was in hospital in Belgrade.
I flew out the next day and went directly to the National where the Mack was parked up.
I spent the evening in the restaurant talking with the lads there,including Alan “Pop” Warner.Several had been running through Austria with Billy,and by the time they got to Spielfeld,Billy was saying he’d had enough and was going to dump the motor!
Apparently the snow had been bad in Yugo,and I think it was Pop Warner who told me he had come up behind the Mack a few clicks north of the National.Billy was lying in the snow under the trailer,they got an ambulance to get him off to hospital,(the one opposite the National),and between the drivers they got the Mack down onto the National car park.
Billy had told whoever was there that he had stopped to chain up because the snow was so bad.As he was getting his snow chains off the back of the Mack chassis,he caught his back on the trailer sufficiently hard enough to floor him.
Before I flew out,I asked some of the C & B drivers if there was likely to be enough grub on board to complete the trip,and was told that Billy could eat for two and he always had plenty with him.
The next day I went over to the hospital and found Billy in bed with a pained expression.I hadn’t got much time for the bloke myself,but I said I was sorry to see him in that state,now could I have the paperwork and keys and I’ll be on my way.
He gave me the paperwork,then dangled the keys in front of me and said,“Now,can you drive a Mack?”
I had to reply,“Billy,if I haven’t got it off the car park in two days,they’ll have to send someone else out,thanks”
I did ask the doctor before I lefthow bad he was,and the doctor only said,some bruising.
I informed C & B the state of play end left it to them to repatriate Billy.
When I went to the truck and checked it over,there was barely enough food on board to last two days!
I bombed down to Darhran and the ex pats down there all said,“What are you doing driving Billy’s Mack?”
The tall stories he had told them on previous visits were unbelievable.
I had lost some time on the trip and only managed to get back as far as Greece for Christmas Eve,but i was lucky and got loaded and spent Christmas Eve at Gevgelia.
I got home at New Year,and the office was full of tales of Billy.
He claimed he was now housebound because of his injuries and was planning to sue C & B,despite the evidence of the guys who had been running with him that it looked like a put up job.
John Jones,one of C & B’s transport managers,and I went up to see Billy at home in Bolton.He was sat in an armchair with a pair of walking sticks by his side and told us how bad he was.
As it was obvious that Billy would not be back soon,■■■■ Chapman asked me if I would like to have the Mack as my regular motor.I declined,it was a bad enough ride on poor roads,but after crossing H4,that finished me!
A few weeks after that,C & B folded due to other problems,and I never saw or heard of Billy again until I read on here some months ago that he has since passed away.
Unfortunately,because people were used to his tall stories,and backed up by witness statements,and for a man who was known to eat well to have next to no grub on his motor,he was not taken seriously about the whole episode.
So ends the tale of Billy Hamm RIP
There’s a pic of C & B’s Mack on page 1 of the thread,“English Macks”.
Hi bestbooties That pretty well confirms my impressions. How the hell he managed to clamber in and out of a Mack regularly must have made his ‘eyes water’ with a wooden leg though
Gavin
Hi all, how about some pics of some real trucks 
All of these 14 pics were taken by Kelvin Parfitt but we have not been able to contact him for his permission to post, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
My Scammell -somewhere in Eastern Bloc. I have only binned that green jumper about 6 or 7 years ago-good jumper that!
Alan Balls Merc.
Johnny Robbins (Robbo)F86 as well as always wearing a brown vest and hob-nail boots, Robbo always had a bucket attached to his front bumper. Its uses were many as long as it was washed out between jobs!!!
Some more of Kelvins pics -He was the driver of the Foden
The 2 guys standing beside the Foden are Robbo on the left and I think the other one was a guy calling himself Budgie who I think lived just off the A12/ A406. The Foden (plastic pig) had been modified by having the passenger dash removed and a kitchen fitted, the passenger seat had also been removed and a cupboard fitted at the same height as the engine cover, a rolled up mattress lay on the engine cover. To make up the bed one had to open the drivers door put a suitcase on the drivers seat un roll the mattress, then crawl back in and get undressed and dressed lying down And the roof hatch leaked!
When we were parked at the londra a dutch man kept walking past scratching his head,after a few trips he stopped , slapped his forehead and said I’ve just realised whats wrong with that truck, they have put the cab on back to front - look the bed is where the dashboard should be’. That made Kelvins day
After Kelvin stopped driving it my brother did about 6 months in it, Jeffery Bromilow drove it himself a couple of times and I used it to bring my Scammell home when a piston went( but I slept upstairs in the Scammell) Jeffery had driven down to Riyadh but had flown home for business reasons
Some more pics later. Gavin
Smashing pictures Gavin, those lads look like proper lorryists. Boilersuits and Bobble hats
Archie Paice:
Hi Gavin,
I once loaded some of that shoe sole material from Shepton Mallet, if I can recall it was something like 40 black drums and 40 grey drums, to be mixed I suppose when they got there. I took them to a factory between Bydgosz and Torun, but on this side of the river, 1e: turn left just as you enter Bydgosz, before the bridge over the river Wiste. It was a small factory right in the middle of a pine forest in a place called Cobra, and there were little signs nailed to trees to guide you through. It was a terrific place, the people there were really great and wanted me to stay on for an evening meal. Unfortunately I couldnt do that because when I cleared my Carnet at the Pekeaus depot at Stubice, they only gave me I think it was 24 hours, it may have been less but I know it wasnt very long. But it seemed a good job, I bet you liked it.
Cheers Archie.
Hi Archie it was a good job unfortunately I did not have enough German permits to do the job full time and the Poles did not have enough money to buy regularly. It was just when the Solidarity movement was stirring things up and there was a bit of unrest. I used to take German newspapers to a waiter at one of the restaurants at I think Posnan who said he was a union man he gave me a Solidarity (in Polish) badge before anyone in UK had heard about it.Some of the stories from there were quite interesting, perhaps i should put them on another thread like Ash’s trucking in the 80’s one.
Gavin