Hopefully someone will have seen it on the way if it’s near the main road,[unless you were somewhere off the beaten track admiring the ‘‘wild life’’]or having a liquid breakdown.Mike
Here’s one of Mike Sargent’s missus trying to be taller than Rick Ellis.
Speaking of which, this is Mike busy at his ‘other’ job…safe-cracking!! 
Eric Braid who was on for Simons at the same time as me. That would be the mid 70’s. Lost all contact with him so don’t know if he’s still in the land of the living or not.
Delving into my archives I came across an interesting photo of myself and a character well known to many namely Bernie Bartels aka" Zwei metre funf" (RIP) and on this occasion we were travelling north in the UK and had stopped to change out of our travelling gear into our posh gear to make ourselves more presentable, I had my back to the camera as I am a very shy person and also I do not have much to offer wink: the pic was taken by Terry Bishop about 83/84 during our time on Grangewood’s - Fred
You see the difference Fred.There is Bernie,the typical picture of ‘‘big blond aryian perfection’’ as Adolf would say.Then there’s you,the English ‘‘shopkeeper’’.Never mind,we all love you as you are.Mike
The picture of me busy at my ‘‘other’’ job was taken when i went for the job interview at Simon Int.Jeff wanted to be sure that i was ‘‘flexible’’ 
enough and suitable for the company.This was part of my ‘‘driver assessment’’. 
Mike
Meanwhile in a car park in Belgium
Toilet Desert Style…Does anyone recognise the face?00
hutpik:
The picture of me busy at my ‘‘other’’ job was taken when i went for the job interview at Simon Int.Jeff wanted to be sure that i was ‘‘flexible’’
I could well believe that lol. I got a mate a job driving a 7.5 ton skip lorry for Jeff lovley bloke but totally unemployable he drove Jeff round the twist.
rondavies:
Here’s one of Mike Sargent’s missus trying to be taller than Rick Ellis.
This looks like the back truck park at the Log Cabin in CZ ?
It was.Just goes to show that pivo doesn’t affect yer memory.Mike
Nice picture Fred - Bernie was everlastingly dropping his strides if he got an excuse.
Although I remember that the reason that you were traveling to the North, as I was but from the West, was an unhappy one.
All the best, mate.
David
hutpik:
The picture of me busy at my ‘‘other’’ job was taken when i went for the job interview at Simon Int.Jeff wanted to be sure that i was ‘‘flexible’’
Good answer. I’m convinced!!
kr79:
hutpik:
The picture of me busy at my ‘‘other’’ job was taken when i went for the job interview at Simon Int.Jeff wanted to be sure that i was ‘‘flexible’’I could well believe that lol. I got a mate a job driving a 7.5 ton skip lorry for Jeff lovley bloke but totally unemployable he drove Jeff round the twist.
Can’t believe that Jeff would stand for much nonsense…unless he’s got soft in his old age!
Great photo of Bernie. Boy, was he tall, he’d overshadow most Dutchmen!
He used to drive one of the Leyland Marathons when he was on for Simons. With the seat pushed fully back, he would just about have enough legroom.
Good bloke to run with too. I ran down on my first trip to Izmir with him. Don’t think he was too keen that I had my bird with me on that trip.
I remember he had a prang on Bolu and got locked up and his vehicle impounded. Taci Kocman had him released quicker than you could say “cok guzelle” (spelling?) AND flown out of the country with his vehicle still impounded…that got sorted out later.
I recall Bernie liked American cars and with that hairstyle, I felt he was somewhat of a leftover from the teddy-boy era. Did he ever go to Turkey Fred when he worked for Grangewoods? If not, the above might explain why.
Talking of Taci, I had a wheel bearing go on my trailer halfway between Ankara and Adana in the middle of nowhere. I managed to chain up the wheel and limped to a " vehicle workshop". I didn’t have enough lira to pay for the job but a quick phonecall to Taci and he said "Don’t worry Ron, I’ll transfer the money through to the garage. Sorted!!!
Loading hazelnuts from the Black Sea coast was always a Taci arranged load and if you were ever short of funds, you just needed to stop off at his office and you would walk out all ‘wonga’d up’. I reckon Taci and the Colonel were worth their weight in gold to many of us on the middle east runs in those far off days.
Oh dear, I seem to have rambled on a bit. Sorry guys
rondavies:
Great photo of Bernie. Boy, was he tall, he’d overshadow most Dutchmen!He used to drive one of the Leyland Marathons when he was on for Simons. With the seat pushed fully back, he would just about have enough legroom.
Good bloke to run with too. I ran down on my first trip to Izmir with him. Don’t think he was too keen that I had my bird with me on that trip.
I remember he had a prang on Bolu and got locked up and his vehicle impounded. Taci Kocman had him released quicker than you could say “cok guzelle” (spelling?) AND flown out of the country with his vehicle still impounded…that got sorted out later.
I recall Bernie liked American cars and with that hairstyle, I felt he was somewhat of a leftover from the teddy-boy era. Did he ever go to Turkey Fred when he worked for Grangewoods? If not, the above might explain why.Talking of Taci, I had a wheel bearing go on my trailer halfway between Ankara and Adana in the middle of nowhere. I managed to chain up the wheel and limped to a " vehicle workshop". I didn’t have enough lira to pay for the job but a quick phonecall to Taci and he said "Don’t worry Ron, I’ll transfer the money through to the garage. Sorted!!!
Loading hazelnuts from the Black Sea coast was always a Taci arranged load and if you were ever short of funds, you just needed to stop off at his office and you would walk out all ‘wonga’d up’. I reckon Taci and the Colonel were worth their weight in gold to many of us on the middle east runs in those far off days.Oh dear, I seem to have rambled on a bit. Sorry guys[/quote
Hi Ron - I cannot confirm as to whether Bernie ventured back into Turkey or not hopefully David Miller will pick up on this (You there David ?)
you are spot on with his desire for yankee cars, he had one when he was at Grangewood’s and we had a job parking, I wonder if his wife is still about or even looking in on the thread I only met her once a petite Irish girl - memories eh? Your reference to loading hazelnuts I recall it being Samson – Correct ? what a memory eh ? Don’t borrow money off of me as the old memory still registersRegards Fred
Morning Fred.
Re Bernie and Turkey I’m struggling. He certainly did Middle East on Grangewood because nobody was exempt but by then we were going on the ferry from Volos to Tartous so there was no need to visit the Alkadesh in their home country. I do remember something about an accident when he was on Simons but nothing more than that.
We never did the nut job on Grangewood but when I was on Orxy it was a certain one every trip which used to depress the ‘want to get home’ brigade. It was a good old pull up there from Ankara and could be a tough one in the winter. I remember that you went through Corum which was a coal mining town which was as poluted as mining villages in England must have been in the early part of this century. Samson was one but we normally loaded in Giresun, quite a way further east. I do remember that I was always surprised by how fast those old boys could load a trailer running up those planks with huge bags of nuts.
David
One memory I do have of Zwie Meter Funf was one trip running together from Romania or somewhere east. He had an 89 and I had a F12 so I let him lead. All the way through the Fatherland and through Holland to Flushing we ran at exactly - not more or less but exactly - the speed limits. It seemed to take for ever. Somehow I was in front leaving Sheerness and I did stick, more or less, to the limits. He followed me till where the A2 runs downhill from the Bluewater Center to where it crosses the Dartford Tunnel approach, now the M25, where he overtook me as though I was parked-up. (If you remember the F89’s were flying machines)
When I got to the yard I asked him why, having exactly obeyed the limits for 2 days, he had descided to fly past me. Ah he said, you don’t get fined here. No, but you do get your licence endorsed, you pillock!
David
Hi all.I don’t know about Bernie having any accidents but i do know about a breakdown.I dropped a piston on theF89 roadtrain on Simons near Sivas.I rang to ask about repairs and was told ‘‘wait for a week,Bernie is leaving tomorrow and he will bring all the bits to fix it’’.After waiting 10days i phoned again to ask where my parts were and was told sheepishly '‘sorry Bernies broke down in Yugo with gearbox problems’'I got the parts after 3 weeks. 
The whole trip took 17 weeks [on trip money] 
Didn’t get rich that trip.
We used to load regularly from Ordu,Giresun,Smson and Trabson.They were good loads[if sometimes a little on the heavy side]. As Ron has said before we were paid a ‘‘bonus’’ for every extra ton so the roadtrain was always good for bonuses.
As David said the loading guys were great[hard workers]Except when there was an inter-town football match on as most of them were in the teams so loading was cancelled until after the match then they would load in the evening.Mike
