freshir:
Further to my previous post and your enquiery re: White Trux and having had a think about it I will ‘TRY’ to contact one of my old M/E mates who was on for WT and see if I can come up with some info (Just a chance) I also referred to Jimmy Buckle as being 6ft 6 - I meant 5ft 6- Regards FRED .H
jeeeeesh thats a relief … 
you would’nt want to be 6ft 6 in a f89 would ya …■■ 
bowser:
freshir:
Further to my previous post and your enquiery re: White Trux and having had a think about it I will ‘TRY’ to contact one of my old M/E mates who was on for WT and see if I can come up with some info (Just a chance) I also referred to Jimmy Buckle as being 6ft 6 - I meant 5ft 6- Regards FRED .Hjeeeeesh thats a relief …
In future I will make sure that I do not send any post until I have had my pill !!
tony buckle was my dad 
BuckleJ:
tony buckle was my dad
Yes mate, Scrapper mentions that above - so why the ? 
Took The Mushroomlady to Istanbul once, we had a great trip and she loved it.
Shipped out on the Friday night Prinz Line Ferrries from Harwich to Hamburg, I think that we were on the Prinz Oberon and after transiting through West Germany, East Germany, Czecho, Hungary, Yugo and Greece we arrived at Kavala on Wednesday afternoon. We left there on Thursday morning and arrived at The Londra Camp on Thursday night where we booked a room in the hotel until the Sunday morning. Early on Friday morning I left her at the hotel while I ran to The Stadium and by Friday night I had cleared and then tipped at a nearby factory before I got my Bosh paper and returned back to The Londra. On the Saturday we spent an amazing day with Peter The Plater and Dennis Mccarthy from Hick’s Transport South Wales and John Bruce from Astran going around Istanbul doing the tourist bit, The Blue Mosque, The Grand Bazaar, The Harem, The Pudding Shop and we had a great meal in a fish restaurant on The Galata Bridge which even with a couple of bottles of wine cost us peanuts.
We left The Londra early on Sunday morning and Peter and I had to load at The Honey Factory in Bucherest when we arrived there at about Monday lunch time. We got a few hours driving in that night and I think that we tipped in Birmingham on the Friday afternoon.
While we were at The Harem we did intend to go and have a look at The Harem Hospital where Florence Nightingale worked during The Crimean War, unfortunately we ended up at the Harem Hotel and decided to cancel .
Did anybody ever get to see The Harem Hospital and if so was it interesting ?.
Regards Steve.
Hi Steve - Nice pic of the ‘Management’ and a very detailed account of your travels - I must not let ‘H.I.Doors’ know of the time that you gave to your wife in showing her around or I will certainly get an ear bashing, I was parked up at the Stadium on one occasion and Targe Cosman (spelling ?) offered to take mein frau on a tour of the city while l was tipping etc: ‘yeah rite’ he had more chance of getting s**t from a rocking horse, Keep them coming it’s quietening down a bit the last few days Still working on getting my pic’s on here (Spent ages) but I will win in the end - Regards Fred H
i HOPE THAT i HAVE HAD A RESULT IN GETTING MY PIC’S ON HERE - IF I SUCEED THEN I WILL GIVE A BIT OF DETAIL ETC; LATER
At last, got a pic up - This is a pic that I was discussing with Ron Davies earlier when my wife felt quite ashamed when a point was raised in latter years by World Animal Rights Organisation as to how these bears suffer, such a shame but ignorance is bliss I suppose, too sorry too late - Hope that it doesn’t offend anyone but it was a point worth mentioning Regards FRED
freshir:
Hi Steve - Nice pic of the ‘Management’ and a very detailed account of your travels - I must not let ‘H.I.Doors’ know of the time that you gave to your wife in showing her around or I will certainly get an ear bashing, I was parked up at the Stadium on one occasion and Targe Cosman (spelling ?) offered to take mein frau on a tour of the city while l was tipping etc: ‘yeah rite’ he had more chance of getting s**t from a rocking horse, Keep them coming it’s quietening down a bit the last few days Still working on getting my pic’s on here (Spent ages) but I will win in the end - Regards Fred H
Taci Koçman
Well done Fred, I knew that if you could get over a mountain called Bolu in the winter then you could get over a molehill called scanning photos 
.
How many offices did Taci Kocman have by the way ? as the only one that I ever went to was next to the docks where those Russian cruise liners used to berth where their was a duty free shop.
In 1980 Taci’s office was on the top floor of the building which I.I.R.C. was three stories high and on a clear day you got a spectacular view of the harbour, unfortunately the weather was not too good when I took this in the winter from his office.
Come on Bestbooties let us see Your Bear at The Harem 
.
I seem to remember seeing at least four of them, two dancing bears in Istanbul, one in Ankara and one with his owner walking along the side of road in the middle of nowhere.
Regards Steve.
I remember a bloke walking up & down the queue at Russe with a big old bear begging & flogging tat, crying shame really it looked worn out the poor old thing their a gang of cruel ■■■■■■■ where wildlifes concerned are’nt they.
Fly sheet
I only knew of the office by the cruise liners but I didn’t know of the duty free, you obviously got about more than me Steve - Was you a tour guide or a M/E driver? re: the photo’s well what a pantomime I had with that episode- Initially I got the destructions off of the Forum and followed the info religously and could not get a result, I was trying for hours and hours for days and it was blowing my brain
(Beat the wife up twice) I was begining to wonder if I could read and understand ‘Englishk’ or not but I finally got some sort of a result as you know, I must now work on getting the size correct and knowing this the wife has gone away for a couple of weeks. Regards all - Fred H
Fred…Getting back to the “Sheet Heads” here is one I posted on another site that maybe you missed.
A Saudi Guy was interviewed at the US Embassy for a visa.
Consul: What is your name?
Saudi: Abdul Aziz
Consul: ■■■?
Saudi: Six to ten times a week
Consul: I mean, male or female?
Saudi: Both male and female and sometimes even camels
Consul: Holy cow!
Saudi: Yes, cows and dogs too!!!
Consul: Man,… isn’t it hostile?
Saudi: Horse style, ■■■■■■■■■, any style
Consul: Oh… dear!
Saudi: Deer? No deer, they run too fast!
Hello Red, I prefered that one of yours about that university professor working in that Arabian country and the question about the paranormal.
Can’t you dig it out and post it on here please 
.
Hey Steve, I trust all is well. I thought this one was on here somewhere, but just for you and those who missed it, here we go again…Enjoy…
I just received this little story and felt I should share it with you guys, as it reminded me of Saudi in the old days.
A professor at a Texas University was giving a lecture on the supernatural.
To get a feel for his audience, he asks, “How many people here believe in Ghosts ■■”
About 90 students raise their hands.
“Well, that’s a good start. Out of those who believe, do any of you think you have seen a ghost ■■”
About 40 students raise their hands.
“That’s really good. I’m really glad you take this seriously. Has anyone here ever talked to or touched a ghost ?” About 3 students raise their hands.
“That’s fantastic. Now let me ask you one question further…Have any of you ever made love to a ghost ?”
Way in the back, Abdul raises his hand.
The professor takes off his glasses, and says, “Son, in all the years I’ve been giving this lecture, no-one has ever claimed to have made love to a ghost. You’ve got to come up here and tell us about your experience.”
The big student replied with a nod and a grin, and began to make his way up to the podium. When he reached the front of the room, the professor asks, “So Abdul, tell us what it’s like to have ■■■ with a ghost !!”
Abdul replied, “Ah sorry. From way back there, I thought you said ‘Goats’ !!”
mushroomman:
Well done Fred, I knew that if you could get over a mountain called Bolu in the winter then you could get over a molehill called scanning photos
How many offices did Taci Kocman have by the way ? as the only one that I ever went to was next to the docks where those Russian cruise liners used to berth where their was a duty free shop.
In 1980 Taci’s office was on the top floor of the building which I.I.R.C. was three stories high and on a clear day you got a spectacular view of the harbour, unfortunately the weather was not too good when I took this in the winter from his office.
Come on Bestbooties let us see Your Bear at The Harem
I seem to remember seeing at least four of them, two dancing bears in Istanbul, one in Ankara and one with his owner walking along the side of road in the middle of nowhere.Regards Steve.
Steve,
I used to have Taci’s card but can’t find it anymore,but IIRC his office address was Han Kat 9,number 9,being office number 9 on the 9th floor,and he had that big picture window that you could look out over the Bosphorous.Used to go up to his office in that creaking old lift.
On your picture you’re looking out over the Golden Horn,if you looked slightly left from that view you looked out across the Bosphorous in the direction of the Harem.
Is this the bear you were asking for?Taken at the Harem.
I only just noticed on that second picture,can you see the forward facing mirror on the passenger side inside the windscreen?,usefull for overtaking,but no substitute for a left ■■■■■■!
The wife and I have just been out for the afternoon and we drove past where Brit’s yard used to be,and I got to reminiscing.
Can you see the Londra air horns on the roof of the Transcon?
When I was homeward bound,while coming in through Scholar Green I would give a blast on the air horns,and when I pulled into the yard,most of the garage staff would be waiting outside saying they knew I was coming because they had heard a sound like the Queen Mary coming into port!
The comment re: the mirror brings back memories sure enough, amazing how these little matters get forgotten until someone raises them eh ? These mirrors were a must when we were giving it some going thru YUGO, that was quite a dreaded experience however Many times you had been thru therewith a RHD - and the accidents and wrecked vehs: were unbelievable - made the botlle twitch just to see them - good memory raised there Ian - Regards Fredf H
Fred there is no need to feel guilty about showing your photo of that bear, I am sure that everybody on this forum agrees with how badly the poor animals were treated but if you remember at the time most of the people in Eastern Europe and Asia didn’t have much of a great lifestyle either. I think that everybody on here will be pleased that you did take the photo and shared it with us as it’s things like this that back up some of the stories that people mention on here. The first time that I saw a Dancing Bear in Istanbul I must admit that I was a bit scared (but thats another story for later), it had a muzzle on it but it’s claws looked as though they could do a lot of damage. To me it was still a wild animal and I know that it only needed to take a split second to turn a happy crowd of onlookers into a scene of carnage. After I had arrived back in the U.K. I was tipping at a place near Hull and I remember one of the off loaders asking me what Turkey was like, when I mentioned about seeing a dancing bear I could tell that he didn’t believe me. To me dancing bears were something that I thought had died out in the Middle Ages, don’t forget there was not as many television documentaries back then apart from Whicker’s World and The World About Us. It’s not really surprising how many old blokes on here have said I never took any photos but I wish I had done now, well as we know it was expensive to develop a roll of film and there was always the chance that if your cab was broken into then your camera would be stolen.
One photo or even a comment can spark off a chain reaction of memories for somebody else so lets hope that some more of the people who read this thread will start posting soon.
I am surprised and sorry that not as many Astran drivers or their subbies have contributed some of their experiences on here as I did think that they were saving them all until Ashley’s absolutely brilliant book The Long Haul Pioneers had been published. Sadly this has not been the case and it would of been great if we could of had more stories like the ones from Gavin Smith, The Red Desert Fox and Truckyboy that we have had over the last three years.
The mention of the Suicide Mirror , well thats something that I have never thought of for over twenty odd years but now the memories have come flooding back, I did have one although I never liked to use it. It was on a motor that I took over from Billy McDonald and it was always handy to carry a spare wing mirror whenever you went through Kapicule as there was always a good chance that it would get “clipped” from somebody.
Like yourself bestbooties I can’t remember which photos I have posted on other threads so I apologise if I happen to post the same photo twice on the same thread 
.
And Ian, you did mention some time ago about another Chapman and Ball driver called Johnny Roberts, well here is another photo that somebody gave me and when I asked who this guy was I was told that it was John Roberts so lets hope that somebody will be able tell us if it is John or not.
Regards Steve.
The only vehicle I ever fitted an overtaking mirror too,was my 141, problem was that I was spending far to much time trying to overtake what was in front that I did not pay attention to what was trying to overtake me, result, many an underpant changing moment must have taken place by the locals.
Dave.
