The Harry Gill Fan Club!

[grumpy_old_man]

[ Deleted.

[harry_gill]

grumpy old man:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:
hiya,
Dave, I think it would take more than half an hour to become competent at
handling one of these old girls, but practice makes perfect and they’ve got
to start somewhere, a drop of power steering would help a bit but this lass
isn’t blessed with that luxury.
thanks harry, long retired.

I could have handled it without the power steering years ago Harry,but mastering the drag would take a lot of practice.I have reversed a four wheeled dray behind a farm tractor which was much harder than a two wheeled trailer.
Reversing the drag with that eight legger must have been a work of art.
Cheers Dave.

When I was just a lad, just starting, I used to watch the shunters at Harrisons Dewsbury, shoving the drag in to tight spots with the nose bar. 8 leg AEC MM, and drag, both piled high with bales of rags, and the old lads could shove em in to within an inch of where they were required. Sheer skill. They let me have a go…once…utter complete failure. “Ger out o’ bloody thing, we’re going to be here all day”

hiya,
It is a lot easier nosing a drawbar onto the dock, it was the uncoupling/recoupling
I didn’t like but in some places it was the only way but very time consuming, it did
only take me half an hour to “convert” from wag and drag driver to articulation and
I drove same to Enfield the same day and I backed the “bender” in first go, it was a
Bedford “S” type with the Scammell coupling Oh’ “and no heater”.
thanks harry, long retired.

[norman_ingram]

You could honestly say that you kept very cool

[harry_gill]

Norman Ingram:
You could honestly say that you kept very cool

hiya,
Norm I was the original cool dude, always seemed to cop for motors where
the heater was an optional extra, the BRS always had heated motors though.
thanks harry, long retired.

[dave_the_renegade]

harry_gill:

Norman Ingram:
You could honestly say that you kept very cool

hiya,
Norm I was the original cool dude, always seemed to cop for motors where
the heater was an optional extra, the BRS always had heated motors though.
thanks harry, long retired.

It would be unheard of nowadays not to have a heater in the cab.Like you Harry I drove lorries that had no heater,only occasionally in my case.S W Brisbane had two new Austin five tonners for hire to Radnorshire county council in 1964,neither had a heater and those drivers were gritting in the winter.I drove the one for a weekend when the regular driver was off ill.The only way you could get any heat was blank off the grill.
Cheers Dave.

[harry_gill]

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Norman Ingram:
You could honestly say that you kept very cool

hiya,
Norm I was the original cool dude, always seemed to cop for motors where
the heater was an optional extra, the BRS always had heated motors though.
thanks harry, long retired.

It would be unheard of nowadays not to have a heater in the cab.Like you Harry I drove lorries that had no heater,only occasionally in my case.S W Brisbane had two new Austin five tonners for hire to Radnorshire county council in 1964,neither had a heater and those drivers were gritting in the winter.I drove the one for a weekend when the regular driver was off ill.The only way you could get any heat was blank off the grill.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
I regularly used to nick the road menders paraffin lamps in an attempt to get the “old shed”
warmed up a bit, I nearly choked myself with the fumes on more than one occasion, and
you still got drivers who “cabbed it” in all weathers, a darned sight harder than me was
those lads, they can’t possibly have got a proper nights sleep, the odd half an hour on a
warm Summers afternoon in a layby was my limit.
thanks harry, long retired.

[rigsby]

i used to keep a couple of old firebricks handy . get them hot by the stove and put them on the floor on a bit of steel plate , they stayed hot for ages and kept the tootsies warm . cheers , dave

[bewick]

harry_gill:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Norman Ingram:
You could honestly say that you kept very cool

hiya,
Norm I was the original cool dude, always seemed to cop for motors where
the heater was an optional extra, the BRS always had heated motors though.
thanks harry, long retired.

It would be unheard of nowadays not to have a heater in the cab.Like you Harry I drove lorries that had no heater,only occasionally in my case.S W Brisbane had two new Austin five tonners for hire to Radnorshire county council in 1964,neither had a heater and those drivers were gritting in the winter.I drove the one for a weekend when the regular driver was off ill.The only way you could get any heat was blank off the grill.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
I regularly used to nick the road menders paraffin lamps in an attempt to get the “old shed”
warmed up a bit, I nearly choked myself with the fumes on more than one occasion, and
you still got drivers who “cabbed it” in all weathers, a darned sight harder than me was
those lads, they can’t possibly have got a proper nights sleep, the odd half an hour on a
warm Summers afternoon in a layby was my limit.
thanks harry, long retired.

Idle backed “dosser” Anon1

[harry_gill]

Bewick:

harry_gill:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Norman Ingram:
You could honestly say that you kept very cool

hiya,
Norm I was the original cool dude, always seemed to cop for motors where
the heater was an optional extra, the BRS always had heated motors though.
thanks harry, long retired.

It would be unheard of nowadays not to have a heater in the cab.Like you Harry I drove lorries that had no heater,only occasionally in my case.S W Brisbane had two new Austin five tonners for hire to Radnorshire county council in 1964,neither had a heater and those drivers were gritting in the winter.I drove the one for a weekend when the regular driver was off ill.The only way you could get any heat was blank off the grill.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
I regularly used to nick the road menders paraffin lamps in an attempt to get the “old shed”
warmed up a bit, I nearly choked myself with the fumes on more than one occasion, and
you still got drivers who “cabbed it” in all weathers, a darned sight harder than me was
those lads, they can’t possibly have got a proper nights sleep, the odd half an hour on a
warm Summers afternoon in a layby was my limit.
thanks harry, long retired.

Idle backed “dosser” Anon1

hiya,
Anon’, that half hours kip would be after having done two days work in just one
day, pass the rubber I need to alter the log sheet to make sure I can get back to
the yard for another job, you can’t do enough for a good gaffer.
thanks harry, long retired.

[bewick]

Only “joshing” “H”,I well recall being able to pull onto a layby and crash over the steering wheel for preciesly half an hour,wake up, and carry on !! but I remember one occaision when I pulled in behind another motor,crashed out,woke up and F------------- in hell,and stood on the anchors,phew that was close for a split second !!! Cheers Dennis.

[kevmac47]

Bewick:
Only “joshing” “H”,I well recall being able to pull onto a layby and crash over the steering wheel for preciesly half an hour,wake up, and carry on !! but I remember one occaision when I pulled in behind another motor,crashed out,woke up and F------------- in hell,and stood on the anchors,phew that was close for a split second !!! Cheers Dennis.

I did something similar Dennis, I was “stretching the elastic in the log book” one night and pulled into the layby at the Redhouse roundabout for a ten minute “refresher” I left the engine running on the old Gardner to keep the cab warm, I put my head on the wheel and the next thing I knew was a scream of brakes as some other donkey left it a bit late with braking for the roundabout!!! Of course I jumped up and braked and swung the wheel on the stationary Guy (no power steering then) so that added to the panic then I realised what was going on The shock kept me going all the way to the Compass where I stopped again, but I turned the engine off this time Regards Kev.

[rigsby]

why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

[grumpy_old_man]

Those 15 minute naps were miracle workers, I think we’ve all done it. No more though, home beds now and as for heaters, there’s no substitute for a nice warm woman on a cold winter night.
But if pushed, a couple of ex army greatcoats did a decent job.

[retired_old_fart]

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

[harry_gill]

Retired Old ■■■■:

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

hiya,
Lucky for you elderly gents, my “Old Lady” makes certain I don’t have time
for kip during “working hours”.
thanks harry, long retired.

[dave_the_renegade]

harry_gill:

Retired Old ■■■■:

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

hiya,
Lucky for you elderly gents, my “Old Lady” makes certain I don’t have time
for kip during “working hours”.
thanks harry, long retired.

Good job you didn’t trade her in for that car Harry.
Cheers Dave.

[harry_gill]

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Retired Old ■■■■:

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

hiya,
Lucky for you elderly gents, my “Old Lady” makes certain I don’t have time
for kip during “working hours”.
thanks harry, long retired.

Good job you didn’t trade her in for that car Harry.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
Dave, the trade in wasn’t for the entire car I was only looking for enough for the deposit.
thanks harry, long retired.

[dave_the_renegade]

harry_gill:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Retired Old ■■■■:

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

hiya,
Lucky for you elderly gents, my “Old Lady” makes certain I don’t have time
for kip during “working hours”.
thanks harry, long retired.

Good job you didn’t trade her in for that car Harry.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
Dave, the trade in wasn’t for the entire car I was only looking for enough for the deposit.
thanks harry, long retired.

Forgot about that Harry.Fair play you wasn’t asking for much.
Cheers Dave.

[harry_gill]

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Retired Old ■■■■:

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

hiya,
Lucky for you elderly gents, my “Old Lady” makes certain I don’t have time
for kip during “working hours”.
thanks harry, long retired.

Good job you didn’t trade her in for that car Harry.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
Dave, the trade in wasn’t for the entire car I was only looking for enough for the deposit.
thanks harry, long retired.

Forgot about that Harry.Fair play you wasn’t asking for much.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
The salesman would have returned her to our house before I’d completed the road test.
thanks harry, long retired.

[dave_the_renegade]

harry_gill:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Dave the Renegade:

harry_gill:

Retired Old ■■■■:

rigsby:
why have i lost the knack of the 15/30 minute kip . i always woke up on time and went on my merry way refreshed . these days i think i’ll just have 15 minutes nap and it takes the dulcet tones of she who must be obeyed to drag me out of the coma , must be the advancing years methinks , or the fact that there’s nothing urgent to worry about , cheers , dave

That’s what it is in my case, Dave. After all those years of tearing around the country (usually for someone else’s benefit) it’s so good to sit back sometimes, knowing that “there’s always tomorrow” to do that really important job.

hiya,
Lucky for you elderly gents, my “Old Lady” makes certain I don’t have time
for kip during “working hours”.
thanks harry, long retired.

Good job you didn’t trade her in for that car Harry.
Cheers Dave.

hiya,
Dave, the trade in wasn’t for the entire car I was only looking for enough for the deposit.
thanks harry, long retired.

Forgot about that Harry.Fair play you wasn’t asking for much.
Cheers Dave.

He might have sold her on before you got back Harry
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
The salesman would have returned her to our house before I’d completed the road test.
thanks harry, long retired.