Hi David, I was given some similar advice by a few very experienced older drivers when I started out. Sometimes, parking up for a few hours made a big difference to the road conditions and a bit of a ‘lie in’ was always welcome.
I was on my way back from Greece once, I.I.R.C. it was in January 1981 and just before Nis, the Yugoslav Malicija were sending all the trucks that were heading towards Belgrade into a field to park up. Apparently, there had been a massive accident that had blocked the main Belgrade to Sophia road and we all ended up parked there for three days.
There must have been over one hundred T.I.R. trucks parked up in that field and it snowed on and off for three days. I had no night heater so I had to keep the engine running for most of the time, just to keep warm.
On the third day when we were allowed to leave, the field was like a mud bath and I only got out of it with the help of two Hungario Camion drivers who had a D.A.F. type double drive Raba.
Here is a little story that I would like to share with you about the snow chains that I had for several years, strange but true.
I bought them in December, at a garage in Austria 1980 and between May and November every year I would put them in a sack and store them in my brother’s garden shed. When I stopped doing international driving in the summer of 1987, I had forgotten all about the snow chains and never thought any more about them.
By 2010 we were living in Oz and we had decided to do a trip back to the U.K. One Saturday afternoon we were on our way to my brother’s house when I noticed an Astran Scania parked up in Steve Greenwoods yard so I stopped to take a photo.
A guy was working on the Scania and I asked him if he would mind if I took a couple of photos. He was very helpful, he seemed like a nice bloke and we had a bit of a chat before I had to shoot off. He mentioned that his name was Carl and that he was doing a couple of jobs on the unit before he went to a truck show somewhere.
When I arrived at my brother’s house, I told him that I had just seen an Astran truck and he said “that reminds me while you are here, what do you want me to do with those snow chains that are still in the shed”.
After twenty-three years I had forgotten all about those chains so I told him to do whatever he wanted with them.
As my brother used to drive past Steve’s yard regularly, he saw Carl one day and asked him if he wanted those snow chains which Carl gratefully accepted, I have no idea what Carl did with them.
B.T.W. David, is your grandfather’s clock still ticking.
I can’t remember where I took this photo but I must of just used the snow chains because I had thrown them on to the side rails of the trailer and not stored them back on the unit.
Dave and Jimmy Walker.
The National Hotel Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Carl.
Not My Photo.
Not My Photo.
cheers Ray p.s the Berrisdale braes another eye opener 
