Any new members remember this firm
i thought id post this diary of a trip i went on as a kid in the hope it will jog some memories. 
italy and back
id not heard from my mate spud(julian) for a while and one saturday morning he turned up in a volvo F6 and asked if id like to go to verona in the school holidays so i said yeah so he said i,ll see ya in a few weeks.so off i goes to get my 6 month passport as you could back then from the post office a little bit of folded card with a pic of me on it.spud picked me up on a wednesday morning and we headed for dover now i must ad that he told me we would be going in a scania 143 his new truck but it never came so italy here we come in the volvo dragging a stepframe box full of furniture for a company called furnishings italia owned by a guy called nat fazzari who now owns the muckley corner bar and resturant on the A5.at dover we had to wait in the wheelhouse cafe for our number to come up to get our papers t forms for swiss etc .them sorted we wait to board the townsend thoresen ferry.boarded and up stairs for dinner in the truckers only resturant i was in my element listening to where all these guys were going and i knew i had to be a continental lorry driver.we get into calais and off to customs and spud slips the man a few french francs for his coffee and were away with no fuss
france was brill i experienced my first routiers only a small place but the food and the people were great and an added bonus they showed woman with there breasts out on tv adverts top stuff
now spud didnt like stopping so when we did it was in a layby and it wernt a 9 hour break either.we trundled through france down to basel in switzerland and that part of france nearing the franco swiss border is amazing mountains valleys lush green fields id never seen anything like it and that poor old F6 dragged us up them mountains and never missed a beat.at the border our trailer was inspected and they found the hinge pins on the trailer doors were not good enough to transit swiss ::)so they sent us round to a haulage company and spud had to pay to get em welded. back to the border and everything is checked given the ok and were away, now swiss is a lovley clean country and fantastic scenery but boy was it expensive.we didnt stop in swiss spud had a unusual attitude to tachos he seemed to like using them as frisbies 
anyway we made chiasso in the evening and it were raining in fact a bloody massive thunderstorm with lightning that went across the sky .anyway border formalties out the way and milan here we come we climbed out of the border and the road is on stilts and once at the top you look down on the parking area
we carried on through the storm and called it a day at some services now spud let me have the bunk and he slept across the seats but unbeknown to him he had kicked on the catwark light and it nailed the batteries so in the morning he gave a swedish driver some packets of ■■■■ for a jump start .next stop verona we go to verona and we met the guy that owned the company at his house as thats were we refuelled he had a fuel pump in an old red telephonebox on his yard/drive we dropped our trailer there and followed him bobtail to the customs yard where our trailer for england was waiting to be cleared.because of the delays we,d had spud had to get back to england pronto.spud dropped me off at the end of my street at 10.30pm on the saturday so we,d done verona and back in 4 days that was the last time i saw spud and that were 17 years ago.since passing my class one ive been to france germany belgium luxembourg and holland i never did do italy but if i get chance to i,ll do that route
the company packed in in 89 but aswell as the F6 they ranF12,s aswell nat fazzari ran the company and was based at heath hayes btween rugeley and cannock.nat still does the odd run to italy to fetch antique furnture.nat and his wife run the muckley corner bar and resturant on the A5 just south of brownhills.spud (julian)is living in spalding at the mo.the trucks were white with the name in black writing if by some slim chance you have any pics let me know and im willing to pay for em.
cheers 
good story Carl,
As a kid you never forget the small details do you? The Furnishings italia name rings a bell but whether it was because you have mentioned it on here before I am not sure.
Seems like things do not change in Swiss as the trailer doors are ok to cross Europe but they will still want money from you to allow you into the land of clocks.
Your mate Nat wasnt the Italian who was importing all those Italian scooters was he? you know, the bloke on the A38 near Rugeley junction who has shut up shop now.
Your mate Nat wasnt the Italian who was importing all those Italian scooters was he? you know, the bloke on the A38 near Rugeley junction who has shut up shop now.
im not sure malc next time i see him i,ll ask him.to be honest i met nat for the first time yesterday but what a great guy he told me all about the company and the derv pump in the telephone box was well known.the guy in italy was a bussiness partner im sure his name was julio nat has an ex pickfords volvo F6 furniture van behind the pub
Verona & back in 4 days is shifting a bit . 
Verona & back in 4 days is shifting a bit .
your not wrong mate but i know he wernt the only one in them days that push on a bit
hi we ran 2 volvos on this work for him mainly port to port, the girls at the factory were kind enough to reline my interior of my f10 , took it out over there ran back refitted mint . bright red velvet was meant for seat covers. 
wish still had the old girl will scan a photo for you later got a morrisons at 11.30 yawn
hey messers cheers mate i thought i might be the only one to remember em
Carl:
hey messers cheers mate i thought i might be the only one to remember em
hi what are you doing now.
hi what are you doing now
im driving mate doing fridge work to france belgium and holland
Hi not been on here for a while do any new members remember this firm