Buzzer:
Richard Poley Joe came for an interview at our old house, he brought his Mrs and all his kids in an immaculate Ford Zephyr (don’t know if it was 4 or 6) He did not last long with us as he shipped out with three of his kids but never told us, he had a power steering pump go on an F88 and was being fixed by Garage “Robin” a Volvo garage near Macon and booked into a hotel the other side of the road over night and then presented the bill for all on his return, needless to say that was his final trip for us as he copped the needle when I refused to pay for the kids. Some one also told me he made a hole in the floor of a Hattons F88 so he did not have to stop for a pee, don’t know if that was true but he definitely liked a drink for sure, M H moment there Richard, Cheers Buzzer.
Good for you Buzzer but I dread to think what he called you behind your back.I suppose you will be back out with the horses again in this nice weather.?Cheers Geoff
Well done for that find Geoff don’t think that many on here can remember James and Hodder, even better the picture of loading washing machines in Bergamo. The place is no longer and demolished and replaced by a supermarket, I know this as John “Animal” Smith (RIP) told me he went back there with Richard Sharp when they went on a little holiday. Back in the day I did some traction work for Skilbeech and where ever you went in Italy for them you mostly loaded back out of there. They had a job doing fleurescent light tubes delivering just up above Bergamo which I did on a regular basis, factory clearance too so you could tip and load the same day which was rare back then the only bug bear was it was over height and that’s when I first met Mappo as he had a merc on for Transport Services AKA Squibb’s which was lower on the 5th wheel so we swopped trailers to go through the pipe, after that I always got to the tunnel late in the day and walked over with a bottle of Scotch and they used to turn the height buzzer off, cheaper than an ■■■■■■. Used to get off the over night boat to Le Havre and did not stop till I got to the destination about 2 30 am god we did long hours back then. Going back to loading in Philco a lot of the loads were on to flat trailers and needed sheeting but all the drivers used to muck in and help each other, remember doing that with an R.K.Crisp step frame they did a lot of machinery removal out so the sheets always had tears in them but we patched them up with bits of card board to keep out the weather and made it look half decent to boot. And finally remember the paper cord you had to thread through the dollys ready for sealing up by customs what a farce that was and definitely a Mary Hopkins moment, what memories Buzzer.
Nice people at James & Hodder like Buzzer said before always ended up there on a Friday afternoon waiting for bits & pieces to come in to make up the groupage load.
Well done for that find Geoff don’t think that many on here can remember James and Hodder, even better the picture of loading washing machines in Bergamo. The place is no longer and demolished and replaced by a supermarket, I know this as John “Animal” Smith (RIP) told me he went back there with Richard Sharp when they went on a little holiday. Back in the day I did some traction work for Skilbeech and where ever you went in Italy for them you mostly loaded back out of there. They had a job doing fleurescent light tubes delivering just up above Bergamo which I did on a regular basis, factory clearance too so you could tip and load the same day which was rare back then the only bug bear was it was over height and that’s when I first met Mappo as he had a merc on for Transport Services AKA Squibb’s which was lower on the 5th wheel so we swopped trailers to go through the pipe, after that I always got to the tunnel late in the day and walked over with a bottle of Scotch and they used to turn the height buzzer off, cheaper than an ■■■■■■. Used to get off the over night boat to Le Havre and did not stop till I got to the destination about 2 30 am god we did long hours back then. Going back to loading in Philco a lot of the loads were on to flat trailers and needed sheeting but all the drivers used to muck in and help each other, remember doing that with an R.K.Crisp step frame they did a lot of machinery removal out so the sheets always had tears in them but we patched them up with bits of card board to keep out the weather and made it look half decent to boot. And finally remember the paper cord you had to thread through the dollys ready for sealing up by customs what a farce that was and definitely a Mary Hopkins moment, what memories Buzzer.
Well done Buzzer for your input,we shore did used to put some hours in,I would not like to try and get away with now.We always seemed to end up in Philco on Phillips aswell,as you say roping and sheeting was not so bad when your mob handed.I have known Mr Gover to load Cognac on flatbeds sheeted back to UK from Cognac.Happy days.Cheers Geoff
Nice people at James & Hodder like Buzzer said before always ended up there on a Friday afternoon waiting for bits & pieces to come in to make up the groupage load.
Regards
Richard
I expect we must have met at James and Hodder,as you say Richard that was the usual place to load on a Friday.The problem with Phillips was that if you had not delivered to place before they were a bit lax with the address ie Balmorins Stuttgart as found out the first time I had to go there needless to say I found them in the end.Regards Geoff
Well done for that find Geoff don’t think that many on here can remember James and Hodder, even better the picture of loading washing machines in Bergamo. The place is no longer and demolished and replaced by a supermarket, I know this as John “Animal” Smith (RIP) told me he went back there with Richard Sharp when they went on a little holiday. Back in the day I did some traction work for Skilbeech and where ever you went in Italy for them you mostly loaded back out of there. They had a job doing fleurescent light tubes delivering just up above Bergamo which I did on a regular basis, factory clearance too so you could tip and load the same day which was rare back then the only bug bear was it was over height and that’s when I first met Mappo as he had a merc on for Transport Services AKA Squibb’s which was lower on the 5th wheel so we swopped trailers to go through the pipe, after that I always got to the tunnel late in the day and walked over with a bottle of Scotch and they used to turn the height buzzer off, cheaper than an ■■■■■■. Used to get off the over night boat to Le Havre and did not stop till I got to the destination about 2 30 am god we did long hours back then. Going back to loading in Philco a lot of the loads were on to flat trailers and needed sheeting but all the drivers used to muck in and help each other, remember doing that with an R.K.Crisp step frame they did a lot of machinery removal out so the sheets always had tears in them but we patched them up with bits of card board to keep out the weather and made it look half decent to boot. And finally remember the paper cord you had to thread through the dollys ready for sealing up by customs what a farce that was and definitely a Mary Hopkins moment, what memories Buzzer.
Great little post that JD…
Brings it all back… The miles, the hours and the little sweeteners to get through.
I can’t imagine the bottle of scotch trick would work now…or would it??
It was an RK Crisp motor parked in Wickham Square when I was about 16 and fresh up from the smoke that got me interested in driving what were then called " Juggernauts "
A term that seems a bit silly now as we all know they ain’t that big and you can back them into a tight spot ( on a good day )
I can’t remember the drivers name. Possibly Mick but he lived in Wickham on the Circle.
He must be in his mid 70’s now if still with us.
Also I doubt if you’d get away with parking a rig overnight in Wickham Square these days!
Buzzer:
2nd left could be Morrie Macness am I right ? Buzzer.
Hi Buzzer it may well be Morrie but I cant remember who the two on the right are.I know ■■■■ Turpin and Ray Caswell are the first two.Haven’t you come across anymore memorabilia from those days.Regards Geoff
