Ant,
This is a great thread! I am from Stafford, my old man ran on Comarts as his first continental job & never looked back. Bob Slater (Blue Mule on the CB - any body remember him?) I have a photo somewhere of one of their F88’s, similar to those used in this thread. He went on to do Swains out of their Telford depot soon after.
Once again, great thread, this has brought back so many memories traveling across eaurope with him as a youngster.
Regards
Chris.
Hi all,
I found a couple more photos of my Dads accident at the weekend, front end of the trailer, or whats left of it, obviuosly the police had a big BBQ with all the lamb !!!
This one believe it or not, is what was left of the cab (F10) after they cut my Dad out !!!- I’ve labelled it so you can recognise it !!
Regards
Ant
great thread, as a kid i lived up the road from comarts yard. i remember seeing them all the time. i also remember the lorries gettng nicked, the plod knocked on everyonew door asking if they heard anything, bearing in mind we lived nearby and the lorries were always going past 
Great photos can remember comarts when i was a kid remember one of them going through bengrys bakers shop on the corner of bengry road
My father in law worked for them when it was Smiths lower down on uttoxeter road Ithink the owner of smiths started comarts can’t remember his name with
Dennis moore who went onto start moorlock transport dad still sees him sometimes will have to ask him
evo:
Great photos can remember comarts when i was a kid remember one of them going through bengrys bakers shop on the corner of bengry road
My father in law worked for them when it was Smiths lower down on uttoxeter road Ithink the owner of smiths started comarts can’t remember his name with
Dennis moore who went onto start moorlock transport dad still sees him sometimes will have to ask him
Clive Smith.
Hi All,
Called to see a freind of my Dads who drove with him on Comarts, Steve Baddeley,had a good chat and he has kindly lent me a photo album of his time on the road.
The following photos are with kind permission from Steve, who is in the 1st photo.
The following few photos were taken in Sweden, Steve took photos - My Dad (Wheeler - Alf Williams) - Jeff Stevens and Petal (Alan Nicklin)
Macey & Arthur Johnson
Mont Blanc - queing for tunnel
The following article is from Despatches magazine Dec 1981, regarding a certain driver named ‘Wink’ (don’t know who he his !!!) recording a trip to Romania.
Another article from the Sentinel about meat exports to Romania, obviously a hot topic, I know Comarts did a lot of meat to Romania at the time, my Dads last trip was to there, only, he only made it to Munich !!
There are more photos of Steve’s but have not had chance to scan them, will try to get done tonight and post later in the week.
Would love to see more photos of trucks and drivers from Comarts and any stories, if anybody has any, feel free to post.
Regards
Ant
wow, i cant beleive yo have a pic of Alan Nicklin, his brother was married to my mums sister, when i was a kid there qwas a gang of drivers that used to come to our house with my dad whenever they were home from the continent, aAlan was one of them, i think they used to call him “big cheif sitting bull” for some mad reason, his brother was known as " the milestone inspector" i havent seen these guys for about 35 years, my dad died 18 years ago so i cant ask him about it, but thanks for a great memory of my childhood.
duplicate post deleted
Hi all, nice to see & read the nostalgia 
. I was still only a budding fridge man in your Comart days but heard many tales from my old friend John McCann from Uttoxeter, a true gent, anyone remember him? I drove for his son Simon for about 9 years, mainly Spain & Portugal. been out of it now since 2001 but miss the craic 
! Keep the phots’s coming lads I love 'em
I remember going through Rumania with a friend of mine Alan Morrey. We met two Comart drivers coming the other way near Deva. We stopped at the side of the road and went over to talk to them. Alan had worked with them both, I think when he was on for Thor in Stoke. They mentioned the story about the meat for Afghanistan and Alan talked with these guys for about twenty minutes before we went on our way. Alan tipped in Constantia on the Black Sea and I tipped in Bucurest and reloaded tractors in Brasov for Hull. While I was parked on the top of the hill near Sibiu an Irish fridge saw me and came across. He told me that he had just delivered a load of meat to a cold store in Bucurest where he transhipped it onto a Romtrans lorry which was going to Afgahnistan. There were also two Sovtrans lorries waiting to load for the same place and deliver to the Russian soldiers in Afghanistan.
He also told me that he had seen the invoices and that the price was (I.I.R.C.) 40 Irish pence a kilogramme and it had come from the E.E.C. meat mountain. We in the U.K. were paying about ten times this price for meat at the time. This was the time of the Thatcher government and the time of the E.E.C. meat mountain, cheese mountain, milk lake and wine lake. I could never understand why they would not let the pensioners have the meat at the same price. 
P.S. I forgot to add if Comarts wouldn’t of done this job there were lot’s of other companies who would of jumped at the chance. And if we would of known then what we know now about Afghanistan, then we should of sent them a tilt load of H.P. sauce. 
FLIP:
Hi all, nice to see & read the nostalgia
Flip,
Yes I remember John when going with my Dad, I’ve also spoken to Simon on a number of occasions, nice family. simon’s still running to Italy & spain as far as I know, must call on him again soon, will update you.
Regards
Ant
mushroomman:
I remember going through Rumania with a friend of mine Alan Morrey. We met two Comart drivers coming the other way near Deva. We stopped at the side of the road and went over to talk to them. Alan had worked with them both, I think when he was on for Thor in Stoke. They mentioned the story about the meat for Afghanistan and Alan talked with these guys for about twenty minutes before we went on our way. Alan tipped in Constantia on the Black Sea and I tipped in Bucurest and reloaded tractors in Brasov for Hull. While I was parked on the top of the hill near Sibiu an Irish fridge saw me and came across. He told me that he had just delivered a load of meat to a cold store in Bucurest where he transhipped it onto a Romtrans lorry which was going to Afgahnistan. There were also two Sovtrans lorries waiting to load for the same place and deliver to the Russian soldiers in Afghanistan.
He also told me that he had seen the invoices and that the price was (I.I.R.C.) 40 Irish pence a kilogramme and it had come from the E.E.C. meat mountain. We in the U.K. were paying about ten times this price for meat at the time. This was the time of the Thatcher government and the time of the E.E.C. meat mountain, cheese mountain, milk lake and wine lake. I could never understand why they would not let the pensioners have the meat at the same price.
I remember there being quite a stink about it at the time.
I know you couldn’t get meat in Romania for love nor money.
I stopped in a Romanian hotel up in Sighetu one night in a bad winter,only the one night,it was colder than my cab that did not have the luxury of a night heater in those days.On the menu was kebabs,which I thought I’d give a try with the universal chips.The chips were not too bad,but I think the meat was roadkill,couldn’t fancy it at all!
Roadkill Ian, 
You were lucky and if you remember they always served the chips cold. I will never forget the shops when peas were in season, the whole of the shop window from top to bottom was filled with jars of peas and there were always people queueing. 
Hi all,
scanned these last night - enjoy
Budgie & Tom(■■)
next few are Steve and Tom(?) in Yugoslavia
Billy McCall
Eddie Deville & Wheeler
Dad (Wheeler) in the Sun again
Many thanks once again to Steve for these brilliant photos.
Regards
Ant
top stuff willie some great pics there mate 
Nice one Ant, thanks mate. Glad someone remembers old John. Haven’t spoken to Simon for about 9 months now (busy busy busy) but am tipping in Bramshall tomorrow by chance so may drop in on him if I have time. Happy days driving for the McCanns.
Regards.Flip (aka Dave)
Superb pics there, thanx for posting…keep 'em comin
Brilliant thread Ant, excellent colection of pics What year did Comart finish
and does anyone have a complete fleet list of the Volvo’s?
Also, I have one of the F10’s in build in 1.50 scale 
380streamline:
Brilliant thread Ant, excellent colection of pics
and does anyone have a complete fleet list of the Volvo’s?
Also, I have one of the F10’s in build in 1.50 scale
I think they finished in about 82 - 83, they were shut down due to Salvesens wanting permits at the Easton Cold store (parent group was SPD - Unilever), apparently permits were in short supply at the time, some of the drivers were offered positions at Salvesens Easton (Grantham), don’t know if any took the jobs, lost touch really after my Dad had his accident in 81 and I was starting to work away myself.
Don’t know if there is a fleet list anywhere, I’ll see if I an find out from anybody.
Would be nice to see your model when finished
Regards
Ant
I worked with Alan Nicklin until last month when they made him retire(at 67 i think),but hes still working on agency.He looks a dead ringer of santa now 