Quirky things at the side of the road past and present

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS OLD TIME LORRIES, COMPANIES AND DRIVERS (INTERACT
1

As I was driving about the place near and far I used to see things at the side of the road that used to amuse me a bit. It might have been a strange tree or something that some one had built. Of course there were official looking things like war memorials and civic buildings the massive water control structures in central Russia. There are many Big Things that are dotted about Australia, like the Big Banana, the Big Prawn, Big Potato ( or big turd ) as it’s known locally. Big Sheep etc.

The things that stood out for me were/are the pink pig van that someone had made out of a fiat 500, it was at the side of the motorway near Parma. I liked it so much that at one time I tried to buy it.
There was a tree on the north bound side of the M6 just before junction 36 it was the only tree in the field and it had 2 90 degree bends near the bottom of the trunk.
Another tree that used to catch my was on the south side of Rannoch moor that was growing out of the middle of a big bolder.

Around Verona there was a church that had a big ( massive ) blue neon arrow pointing skywards on the side of spire which was illuminated most Friday evenings, and in the same area I used to like all the quirky things they used to have the digital time date displays in usually some kind of 20 meter high Italian design minimalistic box.

Somewhere in Spain I think it was towards Madrid there was a large steel charging bull.

If you went through the border at Basel in Swiss on the way through the town towards the motorway there was a motorbike sculpture made from rusty scrap out side a bike shop.

Jeff…

2

There used to be a chicken who lived on the a1 in Rutland (between the garage and layby) just before the Lincolnshire border. I called him the Rutland chicken, he just disappeared one day. I was sad because spotting him used to break the journey up :frowning:

3

If you went south past Tebay on the M6, between there and Killington Lake you could sometimes see the wild ponies on the side of the hill on the left hand side.

Jeff…

4

I recall the story of an event that happened about 50 years ago. It still makes me laugh . :laughing:

Coward Bros. from Sedbergh ( from whom Bewick later bought his first A licence ) , employed a driver called
Tony Hudson. Tony was a small chap , but he was one of the most kindest and careful chaps ever to meet.
He drove a 4 cylinder Gardner-engined Guy Otter at a slow and steady pace.

One day he was driving through a small village , when he saw a large cardboard box on the edge of the road.
Rather than drive over it ( and risk any damage to his Guy ), he stopped his wagon and climbed out from the cab.
No other traffic was in sight , and no pedestrians were around , so Tony , being an honest type , thought he`d put the box onto the grass verge, in the hope that the rightful owner would soon retrieve it.

He bent down to lift the box onto the verge…when suddenly it moved about 6 feet. :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

Apparently…there was a hidden length of string attached to the (empty) box, - the other end of the string had been fed through a low hedge where two young lads , about 10 or 11 years old were hiding . They had suddenly tugged the string just as Tony bent down , causing the box to move . :laughing: :laughing:
The two lads stood up and laughed at the now petrified Tony, then they ran away down the road to avoid getting a telling-off.

Poor Tony was now too shocked to return to his cab, - in case his wagon suddenly moved. :open_mouth:

He recalled this story many times , - he had regained his good sense of humour,…but he vowed NEVER to be
caught-out a second time by adventurous schoolkids ,…or boxes at the roadside. :blush:

Has anyone else encountered this type of amusing schoolkids trick ? Nowadays theyd be too busy playing on computers or texting . :unamused:

Cheers, cattle wagon man.

5

We’ve got the Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, always worth a look, because there’s always someone painting them a different colour- we’ve had them Pink, Painted like Skeletons & someone even nicked one once. They look like cows at the moment. but it’s only a matter of time !

6

cattle wagon man:
I recall the story of an event that happened about 50 years ago. It still makes me laugh . :laughing:

Coward Bros. from Sedbergh ( from whom Bewick later bought his first A licence ) , employed a driver called
Tony Hudson. Tony was a small chap , but he was one of the most kindest and careful chaps ever to meet.
He drove a 4 cylinder Gardner-engined Guy Otter at a slow and steady pace.

One day he was driving through a small village , when he saw a large cardboard box on the edge of the road.
Rather than drive over it ( and risk any damage to his Guy ), he stopped his wagon and climbed out from the cab.
No other traffic was in sight , and no pedestrians were around , so Tony , being an honest type , thought he`d put the box onto the grass verge, in the hope that the rightful owner would soon retrieve it.

He bent down to lift the box onto the verge…when suddenly it moved about 6 feet. :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

Apparently…there was a hidden length of string attached to the (empty) box, - the other end of the string had been fed through a low hedge where two young lads , about 10 or 11 years old were hiding . They had suddenly tugged the string just as Tony bent down , causing the box to move . :laughing: :laughing:
The two lads stood up and laughed at the now petrified Tony, then they ran away down the road to avoid getting a telling-off.

Poor Tony was now too shocked to return to his cab, - in case his wagon suddenly moved. :open_mouth:

He recalled this story many times , - he had regained his good sense of humour,…but he vowed NEVER to be
caught-out a second time by adventurous schoolkids ,…or boxes at the roadside. :blush:

Has anyone else encountered this type of amusing schoolkids trick ? Nowadays theyd be too busy playing on computers or texting . :unamused:

Cheers, cattle wagon man.

We did a similar thing, playing Knock up Ginger, in Spinney Crescent, Dunstable. The houses had a road then a green in front of them & then some trees in front of a lane. Instead of the usual knock & run away, we tied a piece of string (about 100 yards long) to the knocker & hid in the trees, pulled it gently a couple of times & waited (sniggering) until the poor old house owner came to the door. He opened the door & we pulled the string, slamming it shut, we then proceeded to have a Tug of War with the poor bloke until the knocker came away & we legged it to the sounds of a metal knocker bouncing across the road because someone still had hold of the string !

7

I used to chuckle every time I went past the pig ■■■■■■■ the van near Parma / Modena.
Haven’t been down Luxembourg way for years, but I used to park up Sunday morning waiting for the 10pm go for France at the services with the DC-3 parked in front of it.
Also used to like the cows on the roof of what was Jobs Dairy at the top of the M3

8

Then there was the camel on the Northbound side of the M5 in Somerset.

9

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10

Jelliot:
If you went south past Tebay on the M6, between there and Killington Lake you could sometimes see the wild ponies on the side of the hill on the left hand side.

Jeff…

Still sometimes come down but are usually further over the hill.

11

Retired Old ■■■■:
Then there was the camel on the Northbound side of the M5 in Somerset.

I remember the camel on the M5, used to be wearing a hat and scalf in the winter. :laughing: :laughing:

12

There’s a tree at the side of the 515 as your dropping into Buxton which must have 30pairs of shoes hanging in it.:geek: It must be the spring water.

13

Unfortunately all I can remember of strange sights on the road are, Winnie the Wetherby G*****R, her mate Chilton Peg, who only had one leg and travelled the A1 with her little dog, and the Ripley Pig who used to sit on a bench at the bus stop on the bank near Butterley Engineering on the A38. She was Huge!! her party piece was to wait until the traffic on the bank had to stop for the lights then open her legs :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: no draws!! :imp: :imp: not a pretty sight!!! ps only seen NEVER sampled, As Larry would say, quote; the good old days. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :unamused: :unamused: Regards Kev.

14

How about the Military Vehicles on the A25 in France? Aeroplanes on the roof, camouflaged gun carriers amongst the shallots!

15

There used to be an old Hunter Jet on top of one of the buildings just off the A40 as you ran into London.
There used to be a Lightning jet in a field just off the A1.

16

When I was doing North Africa I used to see goats in trees, not little goats in small trees but full size goats about 6 meters up in the trees, they were a lot higher up than the top of my tilt. I did google images and found there are thousands of photos of them, so it obviously wasn’t to uncommon. Still had to look though.

Jeff…

17

Our Late departed Parkey Denhome had eyes like a sewer rat in the dark, There was Jesmond Lil, Sandyford Susie, Jucie Lucey from Heaton, They used to stand on the pull in on the Tyne Bridge in the late 50s , Looking for a lift to anywhere, & Of course there was plenty of transport available heading South, Then there was the Standedge Goat on the old A 62 going over the Pennines near the Floating Light Pub, I never had anything to do with her but she was a regular at The Standedge Services Café when it first opened. Im sure some of the old time drivers will recall seeing her pushing an empty pram, Hoping to get something to put in it perhaps from some home sick long haul driver, Regards Larry… PS I forgot to say it was called cab traffic in those good old days,.

18

About 6am one morning late 80’s/ early 90’s on the motorway into Blackpool from the M6 about a half dozen Donkeys walking down the hard shoulder tied nose to tail and being led by an old woman at the front, their truck had broken down about 2 miles from the Blackpool end, and she decided it was a walkable distance obviously !!
They were not fazed by the traffic, but lucky there wasn’t to much about.
Wish i had got a picture.

19

Never saw it Myself but I was told that there used to be a two headed lamb in a glass case on the Buxton side of Long Hill, can anybody on here confirm that?

Pete.

20

Do you recall the ‘Gentlemen of the Road’ that used to frequent the Highways, I used to see one pushing an old pram between Balsall Common and Stonebridge on the A452 most times that I went that route? Most Peak District driver’s will remember the tramp at Baslow, apparently an educated man who just ‘dropped out’ of society.

Pete.