BEING as i thought a experienced fridge man,all types of hanging meat ,pork legs on christmas tree hooks ,slopping about wet fish in big platic boxes,i thought i knew most however .
Once i was unloaded in GLASGOW fruit market, my loading instructions where make your way to OBAN ,at a address given and wait they will come to you and you must do as he says,not normal for me, but i did they arrive two men ,beat up rusty fish dock van ,= follow us ,and i went with them backed down a jetty with some old containers there i openended up the fridge doors ,asked to put the fridge on + 3 they asked if i had tea and food ,yes , then they said on no account do you get out of the cab until we tell you,and the size of them men,made it clear, i said no prob.
After about 3 hours lots of cab rocking about,a pallet truck up and down inside,fridge roaring away as the doors were open. they knocked the cab and said .your loaded ,the customs are coming to seal you up here then ship out Dover .Jesus when i went round the back the stink was absolutely overpowering like a hundred baby nappies smelling of ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ this is true any guesses what the load was??
that is not the end
Fermented fish. According to Wiki, fermented shark smells of ammonia, so that would account for the nappies.
Well we once loaded an internal load of pig tails in brine from Scotland to Brighton for onward shipment to China, and have also loaded a full load of pigs ears bound for Portugal, but as they say the only thing wasted on a pig is the squeak, cheers Buzzer.
When I was on the Cunard/ACL contract out of Seaforth I took a 40ft box to be tipped somewhere out in the wild’s of Chesire, near Crewe, Tri-Nitro-Toluene, it was all in 45gallon drums and apparently the explosive inside was white pellets which needed some kind of percussion and moisture to explode! There must have been around 400/500 drums stored behind this kind of horseshoe shaped grass covered earth banking.
Regards
Dave Penn;
Buzzer:
Well we once loaded an internal load of pig tails in brine from Scotland to Brighton for onward shipment to China, and have also loaded a full load of pigs ears bound for Portugal, but as they say the only thing wasted on a pig is the squeak, cheers Buzzer.
It used to be (perhaps still is) commonplace to find dishes of pigs’ ears in olive oil on the tapas counters of hostals / truck stops in Spain. Here’s the lorry I was piloting the evening I found that out (somewhere near Pedrola). They were actually very tasty morsels! Robert 
robert1952:
Buzzer:
Well we once loaded an internal load of pig tails in brine from Scotland to Brighton for onward shipment to China, and have also loaded a full load of pigs ears bound for Portugal, but as they say the only thing wasted on a pig is the squeak, cheers Buzzer.
It used to be (perhaps still is) commonplace to find dishes of pigs’ ears in olive oil on the tapas counters of hostals / truck stops in Spain. Here’s the lorry I was piloting the evening I found that out (somewhere near Pedrola). They were actually very tasty morsels! Robert
0
Never met a dog which didn’t adore a pig’s ear from the pet shop. The world stops while they devour them!
John
On the animal theme, I regularly loaded sheeps heads from Spalding for delivery to Italy.
Could have been Skate. Very high value and best as fresh as possible. Stinks within hours of urine . Jim.
robert1952:
Buzzer:
Well we once loaded an internal load of pig tails in brine from Scotland to Brighton for onward shipment to China, and have also loaded a full load of pigs ears bound for Portugal, but as they say the only thing wasted on a pig is the squeak, cheers Buzzer.
It used to be (perhaps still is) commonplace to find dishes of pigs’ ears in olive oil on the tapas counters of hostals / truck stops in Spain. Here’s the lorry I was piloting the evening I found that out (somewhere near Pedrola). They were actually very tasty morsels! Robert
0
Robert, looking at the establishment in the background think you’ll find pigs ears where the least of your worries…
Looks a tad like a neon light place !!!
Tubbysboy:
robert1952:
Buzzer:
Well we once loaded an internal load of pig tails in brine from Scotland to Brighton for onward shipment to China, and have also loaded a full load of pigs ears bound for Portugal, but as they say the only thing wasted on a pig is the squeak, cheers Buzzer.
It used to be (perhaps still is) commonplace to find dishes of pigs’ ears in olive oil on the tapas counters of hostals / truck stops in Spain. Here’s the lorry I was piloting the evening I found that out (somewhere near Pedrola). They were actually very tasty morsels! Robert
0
Robert, looking at the establishment in the background think you’ll find pigs ears where the least of your worries…
Looks a tad like a neon light place !!!
Sigh! I never could tell the difference between a bag-house and a rest-house in Spain other than by the lorries parked outside, the drivers of whose reputations went before them! 
Robert
On another note in the early 90’s when we were subbing for JSL from Stoke on the MOD contract to Bosnia one of our loads was two scorpion mini tanks/scout vehicles, only an inch spare each side in the fridge with old tyre’s as buffers and lashed at the back loaded expertly by an 18yo squaddie, no room for mistakes and pleased they arrived safely with no damage to the inside of the trailer not the best load for a fridge, Buzzer.
robert1952:
Tubbysboy:
robert1952:
Buzzer:
Well we once loaded an internal load of pig tails in brine from Scotland to Brighton for onward shipment to China, and have also loaded a full load of pigs ears bound for Portugal, but as they say the only thing wasted on a pig is the squeak, cheers Buzzer.
It used to be (perhaps still is) commonplace to find dishes of pigs’ ears in olive oil on the tapas counters of hostals / truck stops in Spain. Here’s the lorry I was piloting the evening I found that out (somewhere near Pedrola). They were actually very tasty morsels! Robert
0
Robert, looking at the establishment in the background think you’ll find pigs ears where the least of your worries…
Looks a tad like a neon light place !!!
Sigh! I never could tell the difference between a bag-house and a rest-house in Spain other than by the lorries parked outside, the drivers of whose reputations went before them! Robert
Reckon if you’d order pigs ears in there might have been construed differently !! 
Yes BUZZER good old fridge work .i also loaded loads of pork from spalding, well we all did the same work really,there was a club house oppisite the car park.
going back to the load i had no idea what is genuinely was doors shut for me ,paper work all for AND G dover,t forms by them all the maff ,paper work all the writing was in latin, cmr to be collected ,so i was at a loss, told to run at+1OR 2 OFF TO DOVER allgood usual inspection maff /customs extra seal ,cmr load to clear in TOURS,NOT RUNGIS. NOW I AM PUZZLED,however i crack on round paris and away to tours ,. found the customs, no big park .into the office a named small agents THEY SORT IT ALL OUT WITH 3 HOURS TOLD TO FOLLOW A VAN ,SO I DIDand we are going all over the place down back roads im thinking this is not right [no mobile phones ,so i stuck with it and eventually we ended up in a massive STONE QUARRY THERE WERE MEN WITH SPACE SUITES ONi though jesus and breathing apparatus. more tomorrow .tellie
Hmm… I think I’ll take my money off fermented sharks. I’ll have a small wager on irradiated fish- an accumulation of trawler catches from near a radiation leak, preserved with ammonia so the flies (or whatever they have instead of flies in the sea, ffs. You know what I mean) cannot carry the contamination away.
Good thread, this, dbp. I like a mystery.
When I had my own lorry, I once carried a yacht’s mast in a tilt from Suffolk to Brittany. It just fitted diagonally from corner to corner! Another odd load was a full garment trailer full of antique iron bedsteads from Morocco to Wales. It was during one of the French strikes and I decided to cut across the Pyrenees on one of the back routes, forgetting that my trailer was heavier than if it had hanging garments in. The Spanish side was a bit tight, but as I descended the corkscrew bends on the French side, the rollers underneath the rear of the trailer (for steep angles of departure on ferry ramps) were scraping on the surface. Still got through though! Robert
Not really unusual load as such, but perhaps one of the funniest. Did several loads from PMS in basildon to portaventura theme park near Tarragona. Full loads on a supercubes of teddy bears to go into the grab machines at the theme park…
Got pulled in France on the way down and asked to open the back up… Whole trailer of big smiley faced teddy bears / cuddly toys in big plastic bags smiling out at the gendarmes…
They started to smile (gendarmes) no fine and back on ze pedals sharpish !
Also I managed to ■■■■ up on the first delivery there and ended up queuing with all the days visitors…instead of going to goods inwards… Young girl at the entrance asked if wanted a fast pass ■■ No thanks my dear, where do I have to go with this lot of happiness !!
robert1952:
When I had my own lorry, I once carried a yacht’s mast in a tilt from Suffolk to Brittany. It just fitted diagonally from corner to corner! Another odd load was a full garment trailer full of antique iron bedsteads from Morocco to Wales. It was during one of the French strikes and I decided to cut across the Pyrenees on one of the back routes, forgetting that my trailer was heavier than if it had hanging garments in. The Spanish side was a bit tight, but as I descended the corkscrew bends on the French side, the rollers underneath the rear of the trailer (for steep angles of departure on ferry ramps) were scraping on the surface. Still got through though! Robert
Hi Robert you mentioned mast carrying which was semi regular for A S Rawlings from Alton but they shipped with a full load of cow hides and the masts were a bonus on top of the tilt usually for the south coast of France, driver had to watch it round corners as the over hang was big bit like a car transporter, you had to have your wits about you, Buzzer.
Buzzer:
On another note in the early 90’s when we were subbing for JSL from Stoke on the MOD contract to Bosnia one of our loads was two scorpion mini tanks/scout vehicles, only an inch spare each side in the fridge with old tyre’s as buffers and lashed at the back loaded expertly by an 18yo squaddie, no room for mistakes and pleased they arrived safely with no damage to the inside of the trailer not the best load for a fridge, Buzzer.
Had to take a Harrier engine to Inverness once.
Worth about £7 million.
Buzzer:
robert1952:
When I had my own lorry, I once carried a yacht’s mast in a tilt from Suffolk to Brittany. It just fitted diagonally from corner to corner! Another odd load was a full garment trailer full of antique iron bedsteads from Morocco to Wales. It was during one of the French strikes and I decided to cut across the Pyrenees on one of the back routes, forgetting that my trailer was heavier than if it had hanging garments in. The Spanish side was a bit tight, but as I descended the corkscrew bends on the French side, the rollers underneath the rear of the trailer (for steep angles of departure on ferry ramps) were scraping on the surface. Still got through though! Robert
Hi Robert you mentioned mast carrying which was semi regular for A S Rawlings from Alton but they shipped with a full load of cow hides and the masts were a bonus on top of the tilt usually for the south coast of France, driver had to watch it round corners as the over hang was big bit like a car transporter, you had to have your wits about you, Buzzer.
Ha-ha! That sounds more like it! I remember carrying big heavy slabs of flat paper in a Tautliner trailer with pallets of produce bound for the London markets on top of it, back in the '80s. You’d never get away with it now!
Another odd load I had was two brand new Toyota Corollas from Adipazzari in Turkey which I brought back in a tilt to be ‘front-ended’ and ‘side-impacted’ on the MIRA test track at Nuneaton. That was a story in itself because the Douane pulled me in France and were highly suspicious of the lack of finish on the cars, particularly in the boot (which frankly looked as if contraband was stashed in there). I confidently explained that MIRA was a UK Government institution but of course they’d never heard of them 
. I was on my way back from Saudi but by the time I arrived home for tea, those cars had been totalled in the name of safety. Robert
