Well, the bits I thought I’d struggle with, I didn’t and the ones I thought I’d be fine on, turned out to be the wobbly bits!
Started off with reversing training, and despite one slight ■■■■-up, got into the box each time, usually in a better position than I ever managed doing the C course. The one ■■■■-up was caused by a bad starting position, meaning I was already going over the yellow line before I ever got the trailer going the right way. Apart from that though, all was well. I first reversed a trailer when I was 6 - my dad made me a trailer for my go-cart and taught me how to reverse then!
Then onto the coupling / uncoupling. Dropping the trailer was no great problem, apart from having a spot of bovva getting the pin to release. Pulled away, reversed alongside, and did the number plate / under-run bar bit. Then onto the re-coupling…
How many times have I read on here people who forget to put the handbrake on when they re-couple, only to see the whole thing run away, and thought ‘How can you forget a handbrake’? Believe me, very easily 
Apart from that little wobble though, the rest of it went fine, and we trundled off for a bit of on-the-road stuff. John (my co-trainee) drove us back to Chelmsford, and after a spot of lunch, we headed off for a mock-test. All was going fine, no great worries, until we got to the one bit which I knew I had to get right before I got there - the approach to the roundabout at the top of Waterhouse Lane - there are two lanes going up to it, but if you want to turn left you need to pinch a bit of the right hand lane - the kerb kicks out just as you go left, and if you haven’t got it right, you’re going up the kerb. I hadn’t, I did
John then had his mock-test, and did pretty well also. We dropped him off at his hotel, and headed back to the yard. On the way, we went around part of another test route, where I had to turn right onto the main part of the road. I confess I had a mental block, and forgot I had this bloody great long thing behind me - up we went onto the traffic island (again). As soon as I looked in the mirror as I started the turn, I knew what was going to happen, as I had positioned it wrong, so got my apology into John (LGVTrainer) before I hit it.
A bit of a mixed bag, but I’m pretty sure I can kick my backside a bit tonight, to make sure I don’t make those ■■■■-ups again on the test.
More to follow tomorrow…
Gary
