Hi Steve an Jamie,have you got any more trucking m/e stories,keith
There are many stories to tell, it’s just a matter of waking up the ‘grey matter’ and then typing down the details as best as we can remember them.
Jamie will have far more tales to tell then me, as he was a driver for sooo many years for a variety of firms plus as an O/D too.
I was a fitter all my life, but when working for M &C there was often times when all the trucks were somewhere between the UK and the ME so i would use the Uk shunter to load a trl, maybe tip one or as in my previous story take a trl to some distant land to turn around a truck returning from the ME. I used to enjoy the odd trips i done, but was always glad when it was over and i could return to get dirty on the spanners, i found driving boring, esp when transiting Germany or France on the boring motorways at 80KPH. I loved the Commie Bloc countries, which is why i went that route when i went to Istanbul on my motorbike. That’s another story in itself…
I shall endevour to put together some tales of old, just give me some time to get the facts together.
Steve…
M&C steve:
There are many stories to tell, it’s just a matter of waking up the ‘grey matter’ and then typing down the details as best as we can remember them.Jamie will have far more tales to tell then me, as he was a driver for sooo many years for a variety of firms plus as an O/D too.
I was a fitter all my life, but when working for M &C there was often times when all the trucks were somewhere between the UK and the ME so i would use the Uk shunter to load a trl, maybe tip one or as in my previous story take a trl to some distant land to turn around a truck returning from the ME. I used to enjoy the odd trips i done, but was always glad when it was over and i could return to get dirty on the spanners, i found driving boring, esp when transiting Germany or France on the boring motorways at 80KPH. I loved the Commie Bloc countries, which is why i went that route when i went to Istanbul on my motorbike. That’s another story in itself…
I shall endevour to put together some tales of old, just give me some time to get the facts together.
Steve…
That will be a good reading 
keith
M&C - which company was that?
harry:
M&C - which company was that?
The transport company of an old workmate of yours Harry, Mervyn King.
M & C = Mervyn and Christine, his wife at the time.
As you know, Mervyn could be a bit of a character, sadly now very disabled, confined to a wheelchair and living in Spain.
Life was never dull at M & C, many ‘interesting’ chaps worked for Mervyn over the years, Tony Baker, John McClung, Davey Jamieson, Bob Gower, Alan Hayes, John Little, John Latham, Mick Chinnock, Ricky Foster, John Dunphy, Mac Frood, Ray Usher, Alan Johnson, Stevie Clark, Noddy Bob, Bob Cowie, plus many more over the years such as Lawrence Kiely who tended to do the odd trips rather than be a full time employee.
First few years based at Hill Farm Tiptree, then relocated to Cordons Farm, Cressing, Braintree. Which is where i had my business, Greyhound Commercials, after i left Mervyn’s employment.
Steve…
M&C steve:
harry:
M&C - which company was that?The transport company of an old workmate of yours Harry, Mervyn King.
M & C = Mervyn and Christine, his wife at the time.
As you know, Mervyn could be a bit of a character, sadly now very disabled, confined to a wheelchair and living in Spain.
Life was never dull at M & C, many ‘interesting’ chaps worked for Mervyn over the years, Tony Baker, John McClung, Bob Gower, Alan Hayes, John Little, John Latham, Mick Chinnock, Ricky Foster, John Dunphy, Mac Frood, Ray Usher, Alan Johnson, Stevie Clark, Noddy Bob, Bob Cowie, plus many more over the years such as Lawrence Kiely who tended to do the odd trips rather than be a full time employee.
First few years based at Hill Farm Tiptree, then relocated to Cordons Farm, Cressing, Braintree. Which is where i had my business, Greyhound Commercials, after i left Mervyn’s employment.
Steve…
Steve, I reckon there’s pages and pages worth of stories about Mervyn and indeed your good self. And I’m sure Jamie has a few as well.
So come on then, start with a few fotos of the fleet and some of the people that used to sub for m&c. I know of one at least that held him in the highest regard.
" Steve, I reckon there’s pages and pages worth of stories about Mervyn and indeed your good self. And I’m sure Jamie has a few as well.
So come on then, start with a few fotos of the fleet and some of the people that used to sub for m&c. I know of one at least that held him in the highest regard."
’ Tubbysboy ’
Danny, I have very few pic’s from those days, and all of which have been posted on TN on other threads already.
I only wish that i did go to the trouble of taking some back in those days, but then who would of thought all those years ago that the internet would come along and be what it is today !!!
There were a number of Subbies that worked for Mervyn over the years, including your Old Chap Tubby, Mervyn’s cousin Peter King, Ken Ward, Ian Snodgrass, Nigel Harness and Derek Garrard to name but a few…
Steve.
A young M&C Steve, having a break in the office . The photo above his head is of the first MAN 321 in the UK and was allocated to Ray Usher AKA Norman the conqueror. If you look closely you will note the cases of refreshment that were often to be found in the office , but mostly contained empty bottles, unless you were fortunate enough to get there in time. regards Jamie.
M&C Jamie:
A young M&C Steve, having a break in the office . The photo above his head is of the first MAN 321 in the UK and was allocated to Ray Usher AKA Norman the conqueror. If you look closely you will note the cases of refreshment that were often to be found in the office , but mostly contained empty bottles, unless you were fortunate enough to get there in time. regards Jamie.
Good photo Jamie,
Seems Mr gray is in is usual state of idleness once there’s a case of beer to been seen…
Have been wracking my brain trying to remember the name of the firm you drove for from Colchester way, green and silver Hino. Something to do with Geoff Hartland? Can remember you took a super cube collease special to Barcelona for Dad with it… What was they called ?
The one and only John Dunphy, he had several stints with M&C as a driver. Here he is trying out Mervyns chair for size. Regards Jamie.
Hi Danny, the firm you are thinking of with the Hino’s was Tri Lines. They bought out the two brothers who owned the Dedham mill, thinking that they could make a killing on developing the land around it,but had their fingers burnt and closed the firm down. regards jamie.
M&C Jamie:
Hi Danny, the firm you are thinking of with the Hino’s was Tri Lines. They bought out the two brothers who owned the Dedham mill, thinking that they could make a killing on developing the land around it,but had their fingers burnt and closed the firm down. regards jamie.
Thanks Jamie! Have been trying to think of their name for ages. Hope your getting on alright? All the best, Danny
As requested by Keith 2, here is a tale from my days working for M & C TPT.
Baby’s heads and white washed interiors.
As near as i can remember, it was September / August 1981, just a few short months after my trucking debut taking the trl to Belgrade as told in my story in the thread “Your first load after passing your class 1”.
Mervyn had a 19-321 MAN 4x2 unit, specially ordered from Barking Vehicle Engineering in LHD. It was the only one in the UK at the time, only about 6 months old, VAR 854W. The designated driver for this truck was Ray Usher “Norman” as he was known by many. Now Ray was VERY protective of his truck and hated anybody else driving it, even when it had to go for MOT he would come in on his time off to drive it there and back himself, it was his ‘baby’. ( Mervyn had 2 more on order, which when they arrived had Behr a/c’s on the roof which peeved Norman off somewhat, not that Tony Baker ever wound him up about that !! )
( Jamie has recently posted a pic of VAR on this thread )
I can’t recall the details, but in a factory somewhere Norman was unfortunate enough to have his foot run over by a forktruck, the result was a few broken bones and a plaster cast up to his knee.
We all took great delight in showing Norman no sympathy at all.
Mervyn was very busy at the time and the truck was already booked to take one of many loads of flourecent light fittngs and tubes to Baghdad. Iraq was at war with Iran at the time, but there was still lots of trade being done and loads going there. As most all the trucks were away and no MOT’s up for a while Mervyn asked if i would like to take it, also as John McClung also had one of the same loads i could follow him down. My passport was always kept fully visa’d up in the event of a breakdown somewhere, so that was not a concern.
It was agreed, so off i went home to pack a bag and get some supplies to keep me fed on-route. After having seen the contents of many trl boxes and under-bunk larders i had a good idea of what was good stuff to take. I arrived back at the yard that same evening and after being given a stack of paperwork and money John and i made our way to Dover. John had his favourite truck, an F89, STW 383R. He was, at the time, in talks with Mervyn about buying it, although in the end it did not happen.
No problems or delays at Dover, it was onto the ferry and away on another, for me, adventure.
Belgium and Western Germany were covered in what seemed like no time at all, then into East Germany (DDR) via Helmstadt, this place seemed even more dire than when i went into Czech before, it’s culture shock time again…
We drove for hours, and most all i could see was forest, trees, dirty cars, dirty roads and the very few people i happened to see where equally dirty, and not a smile in sight. We eventually reached the Czech border north of Prague, and our first problem. Norman had not mentioned that he had had a minor scape with his trl and that a small number of the TIR cord staples were missing / broken loose. I believe that you are allowed a small number, but not together, we were in the ‘smelly stuff’.
John, being the veteran that he was, spoke to a few chaps and we were free to continue into Czech, but not until after they had cancelled the Carnet for my load/trl. He assured me that is was not great problem and as Mervyn normally always gave him drivers a spare one to carry John had one with him which we could get filled in and usable a “bit further down the road”. By that he meant the customs in Bratislava, which is actually quite a bit further…
The next day, after a night parked up somewhere and far too many beers, we arrived in Bratislava, John said all we have to do now is find the Customs, now much to John’s surprise i had a pretty good idea as to where they were as i had made use of their services just a few months earlier, so it was my turn to say ‘follow me John’. Luck was on my side and we duly arrived at the right place. That luck soon finished when we were told they could not start a new Carnet there !!
A quick call/telex to Mervyn, and it was decided that we would go to LKW Walter in Austria, as it was known for certain that they could do the required paperwork. Off we went to the border, spoke to the powers-to-be there, John’s trk/trl were left at the immigration there and we doubled up to go to Vienna. It was soon sorted by LKW, and even a small repair to the trl to make it TIR worthy again. I was amazed by the size of the depot there, i had never seen a warehouse / offices and workshops of such a huge size, and everywhere was spotlessly clean. We were taking advantage of the staff canteen there, which in itself was the size of a motorway services, and just about to leave when a chap from the office came running out with a new telex from Mervyn. It seemed that Mick Chinnock, who was on his way home from the M/E, was broken down in Tenaloe ( spelling ■■ ) truckstop in Germany and he wanted us to go up and to endevour to get him sorted. So my trl was parked up out of the way and off we went bouncing along to Mick.
We arrived there during the evening, to find a Mr. Chinnock in a somewhat drunken state and about to declare war on Germany all over again !!! Luckily he was pleased to see us, i always got on well with Mick, he forgot about the conflict and we went to look at his truck. “Shag, summut wrong with the trl Shag, the wheel was smoking and it keeps locking up Shag, f*****d if i know Shag, i only want to get home Shag” . It did not take alot of working out as the wheel/hub that Mick pointed to was sitting at a strange angle in relation to the others. I suggested we go to bed and tackle it in the morning. My first night sharing a cab with McClung and his feet, not to be recommended…
At first light we were woken by Mick bashing on the cab door, it was a relief to see he was using his fist and not some poor Kraut’s head !! He had a kettle on the go and tea was enjoyed by all. Out come what tools we had and i started to work in what was after all my real trade. As soon as i jacked the wheel clear of the ground it fell at an angle with a dull ‘clonk’, i could push on the top of the outer wheel and the whole wheels/hub assembly would move about 3". Hub bearings collapsed Mick, lets hope one has not spun on the axle and we can get them off the axle tube ok. All Mich replied was " Dunno shag, dunno, let’s have a drink Shag, might still be hot Shag ". The fact it had be sitting there for almost 2 days did not seem to be long enough to cool down for Mick ■■
I took the axle cap off and was greeted with a few bent and misshapen rollers, it’s not looking good. To my surprise the adjuster nuts undone, after loosening them with a few ‘taps’ with a hammer and chisel. Then with the brake wound off the whole hub and wheel assembly pulled off and we could see the state of things. To my amazement it was not too bad, the outer bearing was completely collapsed, but it had not siezed or jammed up so the inner cone was still a sliding fit on the axle beam, what a result !! Now time to cross my fingers again, when i serviced the trl’s and had to change bearings at all, i would put a pair of the best used ones in a grease filled bag and put them into the trl box. Was this a good day or what?? there was some there, deep joy…
Mick donated one of his tee shirts for me to use to clean things up as best i could, i fitted the new/old bearings to the hub, cleaned up a bit of minor damage to the threads on the axle tube, fitted everything together again and adjusted all the trl brakes. Time to find the loo block and get cleaned up. Mich and John cleaned up the ground where we were working, the Germans get funny about that sort of thing.
" Shag, Shag, well done Shag, that was a bit of luck Shag, Good that you were passing by Shag, see you back in Tiptree Shag " Mick was happy to be mobile again.
John and i made our way back to Vienna, collected my trl, then to the border where John’s '89 was waiting. Off we went to the Hungarian border. Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria all passed by with no problems or hold-ups. Whilst in Bulgaria we stopped at a big duty free shop, John said " Buy 200 Malborough and a bottle of Johny Walker, conceal the Scotch under the bunk. " John also told me that when we get to the border at Kapic it is likely to be busy, so i must try to stick as close as i can to the rear of his trl so no other truck can bully his way in, then we can do the customs there together and enter Turkey. Sure enough, it was as busy as any border i had seen in my very limited driving experience. Trucks of all nationalities jossling to get to the narrow gate asap. But, as instructed, i stayed glued to John’s trl and no amount or horns or revving of trucks would shake me off. We entered the Customs building, and there too it was bedlam. But as M & C used Little Turk as an agent, we only had to have over the papers to him and follow him about, he was only a little chap, but had no fear of elbowing his way through the many sweating drivers who were also trying to get the required stamps on their papers. Eventually we were done, then pull the trucks forward, and a brief inspection of papers and trl’s, all ok and we were free to procede.
Now i feel like i am really far away from home, even though still in Europe, the Mosques, the people and their dress, the architecture, even the smells i could pick up driving along, so alien to me.
Oh, and it’s getting hot…
We had a leisurely drive toward Istanbul and pulled into the Londra Camp, still on the European side of the city. We had made good time getting here from the UK, even though things had not quite gone to plan, so John said we will have a bit of a break here and not leave until the next morning. We went into the restuarant and had a good meal and my first taste of EFES in it’s native country. I can’t recall who it was now, i will have to ask John, but we met with another driver who was a good mate of John’s, and they decided it would be good to take me into Istanbul and show me a few things. We showered, changed into ‘not-so-dirty’ clothes and jumped into a taxi. We done a bit of a tour about the city, usual things were pointed out such as the Blue Mosque, Pudding Shop a Fortress or two, John took me for a walk down in the Grand Bazaar then we stopped in some not so touristy area. ‘Come on Steve, this is Pig-Alley, let’s have a look down here mate’. So we were slowly walking down this grubby backstreet somewhere in Istanbul, women sitting in the front windows like a sleazy version of Amsterdam ( dirtier too ). John told me that the further you get down the street, the worse / more ugly ( but cheaper ) the women get, as we had but gone a short way, and the street went as far as i could see above the heads of the people walking, i really could not imagine how bad they must be further dawn !!! The ones that i was seeing here would of taken many an EFES before they even looked remotely attractive…We soon came across a small bar / cafe, at which a few English drivers were sitting at, John and his mate knew some of the chaps so we sat down, more beers then the Raki came out. We did not venture any further down the street, but i was happy for that. Whilst getting happy on EFES and Raki, i did notice many men of kind of Arab appearence walking past quite fast seemingly to get further down the street before being beaten by someone else, each to their own…
Not too sure what time we returned to the trucks, but it was mid morning before we arose to have ham and eggs and some super strong coffee. Time now to leave Europe and enter Asia.
After looking over the truck and trl tyres and wheel nuts, checking the oil and water levels we were on our way again. Next destination the Telex Motel in Ankara to see if Mervyn had sent any instructions and to send him a quick telex to confirm all was ok
Up and over Bolu, a few scary moments avoiding Turk buses and other drivers with what seemed like a death wish, and eventually we arrived at the Telex. No news from Mervyn, so a quick one sent to him confirming all was well.
From what i remember, we passed by Aksaray then started climbing again, maybe Tarsus ? We stopped by the side of the road and John fired the kettle up, i said i was going to walk down to a river which was alongside the road and wash my ( then long ) hair, he said ‘i bet you don’t’, i had no clue what he was on about, well not until i had gotten down to the river. I took my boots off and had a hard time walking out on the boulders to get to some water as they were burning my feet. When i got to the flowing water i had a BIG shock, it was ICE cold, i tried to wet my hair with it but it was instant headache, big pain, John was totally right, i suspect he had tried this before !! So admitting defeat it was drink the tea and down to Adana, we stayed there for the night. Adana was a most interesting place, full of shops selling handicrafts, everything from antique guns to jewelry, and the most memorable thing was,frogs, 1,000’s of them, everywhere, more than anyone could possibly count, in the streets, the shops and homes, everywhere. The passing traffic produced constant ‘splat’ type noises as they were running over them. Frogs frogs frogs…
The next morning was hot, like really hot, and oddly enough not a (live) frog in sight !!! We are on the way again. This is where the ciggies come into play ( as i do not smoke ) At various places from here to Iraq John told me there will likely be kids by the side of the road, brick in hand, which the little burgers would throw at your screen unless you threw them a ciggy out the cab, i saw a number of these Brats, but escaped any damage to the truck, i saw many who were not so lucky !! Soon Gazientep, Urfa, lots and lots of dust and grass fires by the side of the road, sometimes even the asphalt road was itself on fire. On and on we went, many things along the way which i really wanted to stop and explore, but i had to keep John within sight, not always easy with the dust he was kicking up !! After what seemed like an age we arrived in Kiziltepe. A ramshackle hut, but they had showers, well, it was an old trl belly tank up on two brick piers, no walls or screens, no worries i’m not shy. Strip off, stand under the tank and turn the tap on, heaven…Not much available in the way of food, but what they did have seemed good. Sleep here said John, early start in the morning and hopefully not too much of a queue at the border. Not much beer tonight, need a clear head for the early start. Bloody hell it’s hot, i’m beginning to understand why Norman was less than pleased when he learnt the new trucks were coming complete with a/c’s.
Very first light in the morning and we are off again, dust, potholes galore, but used to all that now, i don’t know how the truck tyres and suspension take all the punishment ■■
Something is wrong…my truck is LHD, the large bottle of Kaolin + Morphine that i was advised to take with me was in the glovebox above the windscreen on the RHS, it’s boxed and was well wrapped up, or so i thought. First a few drips which then became a slow dribble, then more and more. it was leaking from a couple of small holes which are for a sunscreen not fitted to this model, also from around the small door. With the roughness of the roads it is being shaken everywhere, withing minutes i cannot see the mirror on the passenger side, the windscreen is slowly turning white, it is like someone is sitting that side and spraying whitewash all over the inside of the cab. Even the dark brown carpet, not rubber mats but real carpet, is turning white. but i cannot stop, i have to keep John in sight, also need to keep my eyes open for the stone throwing lads. The couple i did spot, when i wound the electric passenger side window down, the turbulance blew the white stuff ALL over the cab. Norman would NOT be amused !!!
When we reached the border John tagged onto the end of the queue, he walked back to tell me we were about 4 klms from the customs and to keep moving up behind him as and when, then he noticed the inside on my cab " What the f****** ■■ " then burst out laughing… When the queue was stationary i looked to see what happened, of course the bottle had broken, but the sharp pieces of glass had cut through the box and wrappings and as such the glovebox was awash with the liquid. It is one of those mess’s that no matter how much you wipe or try to wash it off, all you seem to do is spread it further !!! I decided to just let it fully dry and tackle it later. The truck was in a right mess, sorry Norman.
The queue kept moving along, 3 or 4 truck lengths at a time, until we were at the front and soon we were ourselves in the compound and doing battle with many Turks and Arabs to get our papers processed. Wherever John went i was glued to his back, pushing and shoving but never leaving a gap between us, some of the drivers smelt like the dead donkeys we had passed along the road !!! Soon John declared that all was done and we could return to the trucks and proceed. We were now in a country at war and soon we were seeing evidence of such, there were many military vehicles and personal on the move. We were heading south through Mosul, the heat was becoming unbearable, it was more comfortable to keep all the windows closed as when open the wind was like having a hairdrier blowing on you on the hottest setting. I had a small Baby Bio spray bottle with me, the design meant that it would hook into the handbrake slot in the dash but still allowed the handbrake to work as normal. I kept it full of water from the container i had in the passenger footwell, HOT water, but when i felt the need i would spray it onto my face or chest and the atomised water felt like an iced towel being put on my skin, but only for a second or two after which i would be dry again !!! I was drinking lots of water, but never felt wet from sweat, but never felt the need to pee either. We were not far from Baghdad when John pulled over and stopped, time for a brew again. I jumped out the truck and even with it feeling like an oven inside it was alot hotter outside. John was boiling some water and i grabbed a can of Fray Bentos finest from beneath my bunk, 2 new shocks for me, first the chrome door handle of the MAN was so hot that when i grabbed it i reeled away, not hot enough to burn but enough to make an inexperienced novice like me to let go, then when i opened the FB the spoon i had was not needed as it was like soup / gruel and i just drank it out of the tin !! The tea was duly served and John explained that we will make our way to the Custome at Falluja which was some way south of Baghdad.
Can’t recall how long it took, but when we arrived at Falluja we parked up with many other trucks in an expance of open land, not sand as expected but just hard dirt punctuated by small mounds no doubt produced between peoples trl axles, i shall say no more. The Customs was just a collection of portocabins and another one was a canteen of sorts, they served the most lovely orange juice, maybe a 1ltr jug with lots of ice for 1 Dinar ( 2 Pounds at the time ), i drunk many of those…
We were there for i think 2 days, then suddenly John announced that we were to go ‘into town’ to tip, again i am following on behind. One thing that sticks in my mind was the sound the tyres made whenever we started moving, if we were on an asphalt road they would soon ‘stick’ onto the surface and when you first moved it was a bit of an effort to break that ‘suction’ and the sound was hard to explain, a rubbery sort of squelch, the road would be a mass of squares of tyre tread patterns. Also the heat had made the MAN dashboard like a soft plastic and not the hard surface it was in Europe. I noticed like a clock tower somewhere and on the top was displayed the time and temperature, it was 52’c.
We arrived at a factory in a Baghdad back street, John was to be unloaded first and i waited a bit further down the road, right next to an army tank which was reversed into an old house with just the muzzle of the gun pointing out, dunno what he was expecting to shoot at from there ■■ It did not take long for the workers to handball all the lights and tubes off of both trucks, and to my surprise there seemed to be very few signs of breakage. Papers were stamped and we moved on, i had a feeling of accomplishment.
Once we left the city John stopped again and explained we would head south toward Basra to a place he knew where we could buy fuel. Some time later we arrived at another queue but John drove slowly past until we were at the front, he shouted " get the bottle of Scotch Steve" and we walked over the speak to the man sitting at a table by the pump. It was 2 Dinar per tank, regardless of the size of the tank it was still 2 Dinar, plus a bottle of Scotch and we were soon being filled, truck tanks and trl belly tanks. Then we are heading back and towards a distant home.
Again John pulled up somewhere and it was time to try another of my cans, but this time it was a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pudding " Babies head" as TonyBaker used to call them. No need to cook it as it had been hot for many days now, just open the tin and eat it with a spoon, i kept expecting to find a small ear but never did !!!
The next day we were back into Turkey, and although still super hot, i could at least not need the rag i had each time to open the door or trl box lid.
During the time in Iraq i had many attempts at trying to clean the white powder from mainly the passenger side of the cab, i had bought a few rolls of like kitchen roll which when damp would wipe it off of the hard surfaces, but it was not easy, like trying to mop up spilt paint. the carpets, seat and bunks were proving to be much harder and a small stiff brush i had found under the drivers seat was proving to be the best way, it covered everything in white dust but that was easy to blow away. I kept thinking of how Norman would react.
The journey back was quite uneventfull other than seeing a few bad crashes and again having to dodge various kamacaze bus drivers. We stopped in the usual places expecting to find a telex from Mervyn with reload instructions, that eventually arrived when we were at the National in Belgrade. Once again i was to return via Austria and reload near Munich, i cannot recall where John had to go ? So after a night being served many beers and the obligatory mixed grill by a waiter called George we finally parted company and i was now driving alone.
A few days later John and i were in the local near Tiptree and apart from my new found sun tan things were pretty much back to normal. I really enjoyed the trip, especially Turkey as i love castles and that type of history and Turkey is overflowing with all that. I promised myself to return there one day on my motorbike, i did so a couple of years later, but that’s another story…
To the real drivers who may read this, i admire you all and i’m sorry if any of the names / places / whatever are not exactly accurate, but it’s the best i can remember them.
Steve
Tubbysboy:
Good photo Jamie,Seems Mr gray is in is usual state of idleness once there’s a case of beer to been seen…
Thankyou for those few kind words Daniel… 
Hi Steve,
A good read mate, thanks for taking the time to write it.
I hope your keeping well and fit over there. How’s the (New) Bike going ? Have you been on one of your walkabouts on it yet. I had a message from Chris a few weeks ago, saying that he was hoping to come to the UK for a holiday with ■■■■. Sounds good to me, so maybe I will see him when I am back home. I might go out there again next Winter too, complete the journey We never finished last time. So hope to see you.
Cheers, Archie.
Archie Paice:
Hi Steve,
A good read mate, thanks for taking the time to write it.I hope your keeping well and fit over there. How’s the (New) Bike going ? Have you been on one of your walkabouts on it yet. I had a message from Chris a few weeks ago, saying that he was hoping to come to the UK for a holiday with ■■■■. Sounds good to me, so maybe I will see him when I am back home. I might go out there again next Winter too, complete the journey We never finished last time. So hope to see you.
Cheers, Archie.
Hello Archie,
yes mate, all is ok here, Chris has been here the last few days and returned home today. John McClung also lives here now too. It would be good to see you in Thailand again, as you say maybe next winter.
The bike is going fine, check on my Flickr site to see where i have been recently.
Regards to you and yours mate.
Steve…
Brilliant read Steve, thanks for sharing that with us. It’s surprising how many drivers paid a visit to Pig Alley but it’s just like when they were in the S.A.S. 
not many of them on here like to talk about it. I think that it was a place that you had to go and see just to find out if the place was really as bad as the other drivers had told you about it with what looked like a stream of urine running down the middle of the street and the police guards at the gate. I can’t remember anybody saying that they had ever bought anything there and was it true that any female who was in a Turkish prison in Istanbul could spend some time there and have her sentence reduced or was that another Mocamp Myth. It was certainly an eye opening experience for any young fellow.
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
Brilliant read Steve, thanks for sharing that with us.Regards Steve.
Steve,
Thanks for your compliment mate. Now you mention about the police / security at the entrance that does kind of ‘ring a bell’ in the depths of my puddled brain. I also seem to recall that i was told it was a dead-end street ■■ We only ventured part way down before we were distracted and went on the syrup. As you say, it’s a must see place of ill repute and one that a certain Mr. Tony Baker used to often talk about, bless him…
Steve ( another one )
Those office photographs are fantastic, that is proper old school transport, a couple of cases of beer, (we were posh and had an old fridge) but the old Portacabin and stuff laid around was real, the office desk with everything you need to hand, a full ashtray, salt and vinegar for Friday & Saturday chippie dinners. (the boss paid) Every old school transport office needs a used bog roll and a light bulb with an Edison screw, there was always something to read, it didn’t matter that Motor Transport was from last year. If the bog roll was missing, the Motor Transport could be used anyway. That map and P&O timetables on the wall are probably both out of date and you don’t even work for that customer any longer. The most important thing on the desk was the old vehicle radio, every single place I have ever worked has had one waiting for repair.
If the phone rang, the nearest driver to it answered it, and either lied about the boss being out in the yard, or abroad, or they dealt with the customer themselves. 