So there i was in the truck park in turkey…when along came Mickey Hawkins…he worked for the same company as me…and lived in catford…se london…so he asked me if we should go down town later that evening…the normal craic was to go to the galleria and play bowls…see if we could beat the germans…anyway we met up later that early evening…and mick turns up with another english lad..apparently a bit of a ponce..didnt like putting his hand in his pocket..you know the types...just going to the toilet while someone else settles the bill....so we start off in thepudding shop..just for a beer and see what crumpet was about..always young english birds looking for a lift back to the uk...so we had a couple of beers...and yes..we paid for the ponce...we swifly moved to another bar ..and started to drink..moving from the beer to scotch...and was quite enjoying it ...but we had to get this ponceoff our backs, we had run up a considerable bar bill..after eating there as well..thats when we decided to do a runner...well when the ponce went to the toilet...we casually walked out telling the waiterour friendwould pay and hes in the toilet...we moved up the road to another bar that was really packed solid..and we mingled with the crowds whilst watching the door..and mick did spot our worried looking friend..accompanied by a policeman..peer through the door..but he pulled my arm as we ducked out of the way..and they left ....we moved out of there to another bar ...we had had a few drinlks by now but the next bar wasnt so busy.....we were both swearing a lot by now...but more so mick ...who couldnt care less anyway ...sitting behind us was a nice loking woman in her forties..and what appeared to be her daughter....however after listening to us swearing our heads off, approached our table, and in perfect posh english , told mick we were the most obnoxious people she had ever encountered, to which mick told her to go forth and multiply.....i laughed..he laughed..and the women indeed went forth ...Mick suggested we go to the harem..he knew a nice bar there ..so we did...it was reasonably quiet so we sat down anyway, didnt have much choice really as we were quite ■■■■■■■ we ordered a couple of beers, and were shortly joined by 2 young ladies, who ordered a bottle of champagne...i argued with mick that they were taking the michael, but he laughed it off..telling me to enjoy the night...i insisted we should ask for the bill..a normal practice for me as it gives you a guide as to how much the night is going to cost. He agreed and asked for the bill which we received shortly afterwards..i watched micks jaw drop as he looked at the bill..was about £150...a very expensive night...especially as we only had 2 beers and a bottle of champers..we couldnt run out of this place as it was upstairs...and 2 men should never argue with a waiter ■■■ bouncer..who was built like a brick out house..and there was more than one....we duly paid and headed back to the parking swearing we would never do that again..it was a lot of money ..but due to cheap diesel in romania..and i had about 700 litres left in the belly ...i could sell some and get my money back., which we often used to do to get our trip expenses paid for ...and a few extras as well.. the parking was a new one we started to use calledOctaywhich was just down the road from theLondrawhich we moved out of because of the new charges being intriduced to theeuropeans..but not for the commie drivers ...we thought this was unfair. we had a meeting with the boss previously arranged by another driver called Allan Woodsbut to no avail..Thye new boss atOctayagreed we could move to his depot and he would build a new toilet block especially for the europeans. There was also a restaurant, built inside an old garage, and there was also shops etc as well . We met up with a few old faces who had turned up that evening, joe 90..mick chinnock..chris hooper..a few others..and a couple ofnewbiesWe carried along drinking, chatting and telling our stories, as well as listening to the other stories of woe drivers had experienced on their way down, including one of the newbies who had lost all of his running money, by a girl in czech who looked too good to resist ■■■ wise, who in turn drugged him and stole his wallet...we sat there having a laugh, when a police car turned up..with theponce inhe had been looking for us as he never had enough money to pay the restaurant/bar bill, and he was going to prison if he couldnt pay. we explained to him that a turk prison wasnt the best of places to spend his time, and that he should always have enough money on him, if he ever invited himself along for the ride. We ended up paying the money owing, on the promise that when he got his running money to get home..he would re-imburse us. He joined in the cameraderie, with different drivers buying him a beer. There was a couple of english drivers sitting on a different table to us, and they were drunk as skunks, and being very loud and rude to the staff. Mick chinnock took an instant dislike them, saying they were upsetting his friends, the staff..so decided to go and have a word..but instead gave them a hiding they will never ever forget, it all happened so fast, and there was blood everywhere, and maybe a broken nose along the line..the guys were a nuisance, but never deserved what happened..just a polite will you leave nowwould have sufficed..we ran over to pull mick off of them, and told him in no uncertain terms what we thought..he was a bully anyway..who always threatened people he knew he could handle....funny how he never picked onrichie thorn`…anyway the drunks went to their cabs…as did most of us, as the atmosphere had been ruined…and agreed to meet next morning for breakfast.
Give him his due…mick did go to the cabs of the drivers he had beaten up …to apologise…and by the morning they were friends…albeit sore and still bloodied.
A good and accurate report, truckyboy! Been there, done that, brought the champagne 
Truckboy, Do you remember a firm from London called Cantralls. The reason I ask is a driver I used to get weekended with on a regular basis back in the mid 80s told me tales of his M/E travels. He worked for Daysons of Carlisle and said one of the rules was never park next to one of Cantralls Cowboys they would take your spare tyres, your spares and drain the belly tanks dont know if this was an urban myth but he had a mistrust of all 01ers as he liked to call londoners. 
HI R143…yes cantrells was a well known firm doing mid east …the stories were the same as you have mentioned…we heard that when you started with that company…they would issue you with a piece of hose pipe with which to drain other peoples fuel tanks…it was also well documented (not proved) that you could never trust a cantrells driver if parking overnight with him…as you dont know what bits will be left on your truck the next morning…ah …but those were the good old days…ha ha ha ha
Excellent read Bob! 
Got any more stories? 
Good stuff TB, more of the same please…and that goes for ALL of the ex M/E lads…come on chaps, you must have hours of tales to tell!!!
Some of us REALLY ARE interested, its never going to happen again is it? 
Cantrells had a reputation to live up to. An owner driver in Congerezzo had to fly back to UK to get a spare part for his truck. A couple of Cantrell drivers were week-ended next to his truck & nicked his injection pump.They sold it to the brothers who ran the outfit. They looked like something out of Smokey & the Bandit. Short & cowboy boots…( And no ■■■■■■ good )
wonderful story come on where is the next one please
Did Cantrells drivers end up working for Janerite Services? They all seemed to be issued with a length of pipe rather than a fuel card
About bleeding time 
Well done Bob, enjoyed that as usual, keep em’ coming
BOB WHERE ARE YOU■■?
Cantrellians?? Terrible people. Named so 'cos their yard was in Cantrell Road, East London.
I worked for Jansen Potter who was one of their mates. Good guy was our Jansen. Anyone remember him and his Havelock Haulage out of Newhaven?? We did the Prato run, exrtremely quickly