Gavin McArdle:
Hi Gavin GS Thanks for your ppm. Your Scania is not the one I had in mind, it was a sort of candy apple red.I dont remember yours or Jimmy Ellis’s I remember the cafe you mentioned but we didn’t use it that often we normally went back to Matosinos.It’s funny because our paths must have crossed many times without us meeting. I used to sometimes load back from Graham ■■■■ in either Raymouth street or Silwood st. the other end of the road from Europeanfreightbus, was that the same road that you worked in? Graham became part of the Keedwell empire. I later became friendly with Jimmy Ellis when I worked for DT’s, ask him about the time his MAN froze up at the runways in Czech and he had to be rescued by a KW and a Foden, but I never knew he did Portugal
From the left John Bibby (Biggles)from Macclesfield - Me - R& G ,probably Steve Holland - Pat (Lucking ?) - Mervin Pierce (merve the swerve) Pat used to do R&R for Mike Keedweel (Euromat was going to look out some pics) Merve is still doing a bit of distibution for DT’s out of Avonmouth He’s about 70 now!
Me wih one of Aquilla’s better trailers.
shady:
Gavin McArdle:
Hi Gavin GS Thanks for your ppm. Your Scania is not the one I had in mind, it was a sort of candy apple red.I dont remember yours or Jimmy Ellis’s I remember the cafe you mentioned but we didn’t use it that often we normally went back to Matosinos.It’s funny because our paths must have crossed many times without us meeting. I used to sometimes load back from Graham ■■■■ in either Raymouth street or Silwood st. the other end of the road from Europeanfreightbus, was that the same road that you worked in? Graham became part of the Keedwell empire. I later became friendly with Jimmy Ellis when I worked for DT’s, ask him about the time his MAN froze up at the runways in Czech and he had to be rescued by a KW and a Foden, but I never knew he did Portugal
From the left John Bibby (Biggles)from Macclesfield - Me - R& G ,probably Steve Holland - Pat (Lucking ?) - Mervin Pierce (merve the swerve) Pat used to do R&R for Mike Keedweel (Euromat was going to look out some pics) Merve is still doing a bit of distibution for DT’s out of Avonmouth He’s about 70 now!
Me wih one of Aquilla’s better trailers.
Sorry Gavin dint know happened to my words,but here goes again…A line of trucks in the days to remember aye…Elite weren’t we…Driving eating and drinking ,not necessary in that order,Bring 'em back…As for the Portuguese building the roof first it kept the sun off their backs… 
I was just have a trawl through this thread and it brought back many memories, I drove for DFC and Mc Kellers in the early nineties.
I was wondering if you may have a photo of a Mc Keller 112 Scania Reg C997 EKM I drove many many kms in that one.
Fantastic thead and pics, please keep them coming.
Cheers. Davey Easson
OMG 
I just read the first 4 pages of this thread and I’ve had such a trip back in time. One of my big regrets as an amateur photographer is that I never took enough. I took a handful of each of my own wagons and a few at Dover but never enough.
1986
I also got hooked by that truckphotos4sale site. I spent an evening checking every last pic. I didn’t see me, but I did see 3 wagons that I drove at various times, and a couple of blokes I knew.
LOL I’ll read another few pages tomorrow
Lonewolf yorks… put somemore photos up then if you have any, I too wished i’d taken more, great thread this and all the M/E ones
Yeah weren’t those the days. Weekended in Frontignan. Noone gave a toss that I was there parked up on the marina, they just moved over and passed the wine bottle. Try that in Bournemouth! 
Carl wrote:
…was trucking in the 80,s especially europe as good as the pictures and stories you guys tell make it look and sound…Hi Carl, well in a word, YES!!
Oh Yes Yes Yes!!
If I am ever feeling a little over the hill I just remember a few things from my heyday.
Trucking in the 80’s - I was there!
Barc Bolan and T Rex in Concert - I was there!
Mick Jagger in the park wearing his white dress - I was there!
Summer of love - flowers painted on your skin and in your hair - I was there.
The birth of Rock n Roll…
The late 50’s to the 80’s …It is all Cult now.
By God I feel sorry for the youngsters of today - they can never have any of that.
Mothertrucker:
Carl wrote:
…was trucking in the 80,s especially europe as good as the pictures and stories you guys tell make it look and sound…Hi Carl, well in a word, YES!!
Oh Yes Yes Yes!!
If I am ever feeling a little over the hill I just remember a few things from my heyday.
Trucking in the 80’s - I was there!
Barc Bolan and T Rex in Concert - I was there!
Mick Jagger in the park wearing his white dress - I was there!
Summer of love - flowers painted on your skin and in your hair - I was there.
The birth of Rock n Roll…
The late 50’s to the 80’s …It is all Cult now.
By God I feel sorry for the youngsters of today - they can never have any of that.
Barc Bolan ? I you can remember it you were not there …LOL
harry:
Mothertrucker:
Carl wrote:
…was trucking in the 80,s especially europe as good as the pictures and stories you guys tell make it look and sound…Barc Bolan ? I you can remember it you were not there …LOL
Years ago I worked with a guy who had all the stickers on his estate car that were fashionable at the time [We’ve seen the Lions at Longleat - - We’ve seen etc] – Amongst them was one that always made me laugh [sick bas***d] – “We’ve seen the tree that Marc Bolan hit” !!
Big Leggy:
harry:
Mothertrucker:
Carl wrote:
…was trucking in the 80,s especially europe as good as the pictures and stories you guys tell make it look and sound…Barc Bolan ? I you can remember it you were not there …LOL
Years ago I worked with a guy who had all the stickers on his estate car that were fashionable at the time [We’ve seen the Lions at Longleat - - We’ve seen etc] – Amongst them was one that always made me laugh [sick bas***d] – “We’ve seen the tree that Marc Bolan hit” !!
So is that why they call him Bark Bolan now. 
mushroomman:
Big Leggy:
harry:
Mothertrucker:
Carl wrote:
…was trucking in the 80,s especially europe as good as the pictures and stories you guys tell make it look and sound…Barc Bolan ? I you can remember it you were not there …LOL
Years ago I worked with a guy who had all the stickers on his estate car that were fashionable at the time [We’ve seen the Lions at Longleat - - We’ve seen etc] – Amongst them was one that always made me laugh [sick bas***d] – “We’ve seen the tree that Marc Bolan hit” !!
So is that why they call him Bark Bolan now.
L.O.L. You’re wasted on here 
Barc Bolan ? I you can remember it you were not there …LOL
Actually they say if you can remember the 60’s you were not there! 
When I went to the Marc Bolan gig it was 1972 so thats OK to remember it.
I was stood right at the back and being only 5ft all I could see was the top of his hair when he jumped up and down.
But it helps my street cred to say I have seen him in the flesh (but it was actually only his hair!LOL) 
Heres a few more…
Diesel in Calais
Spain
Portugal
Billys
We all liked this sight at the end of the week
Lonewolf Yorks:
Heres a few more…Diesel in Calais
what the hell is that 
jessicas dad:
Lonewolf Yorks:
Heres a few more…Diesel in Calais
what the hell is that
A modified Ford Transcon — once upon a time there was many a modified Transcon on European work !!
I seem to remember seeing a Transcon like that(maybe it was that one) in Oktay TIR park in the late eighties/ early nineties, and I thought what the foop is that !! It had " Shu Shu Baby" written on it and it looked like it had been dumped, anyone remember it ■■ Mind you I would have dumped it if I had to drive it!!!
GS
Mind you I would have dumped it if I had to drive it!!!
My beautiful transcon! 
I loved that wagon and spent a long time more recently trying to find out what happened to it. I’m forced to concede that it was destroyed in a fire in the early 90s as I’ve now had that from 2 different sources.
It pulled like a train and I could have had a party in it. I used to win ‘my cab is bigger than yours’ bets all the time LOL. It was the biggest cab on the continental run until RH took delivery of Renault Magnums grrr
The scruffy blacking out at the top of the cab covers the legend…“Shoo shoo baby”. With some tidying up it could have been a real stunner this truck. I was only 22 and skint and now its too late
GS OVERLAND:
Mind you I would have dumped it if I had to drive it!!! GS
sounds like the bloke saddled with it went one better gav - and torched the piece of ■■■■■
Hi All, thank you for your comments here is an article on my mate George, I think I might have to be careful what I say, might end up like him!!!
Although he always owed you money, and gave you a headache in his dealings with him, he always had to win, he did have this Charisma about him, that all his workers and friends would follow, he was a well known villian in South London, and he took a shine to me, I later was his Transport Manager and mate, he involved me in a lot of his business ventures, I used to drive his Roller for him, which went towards the judge, I mean costs, at his Winchester trial, over that shooting of a Customs Man, he then had the Merc after that, the 450 SEL with 6.9 engine, you never knew what was coming with him, happiness was on the ■■■■ big time, up his house in the heated pool, or in the depths of depression giving everyone the hump, complex man.
George never used to have a book by the Derv Pump, as the diesel he got hold of was never Kosher, so he did’nt want it recorded, we never ran on red, but one day, as I was dieseling up I noticed that the smell wasn’ right, and when I looked, it was this thick milky looking stuff, when I set off for Greenwich High St, for my trip to Italy, the bloody Motor went like a rocket ship, but was pouring out thick blue smoke, it turns out George had got hold of some Electrical Oil, and stuck it in the derv tank, still it did have it merits, I have never seen a Motor move so fast and pull so much weight, the blue smoke dies down a little after awhile, and you notice to much, could’nt understand why everyone was flashing me.
By not recording the fuel you used of course, older drivers will know what I mean about “fiddles” as I could get to Hamburg (I did wind up locked up once for falisifying the German Tankshein) and back on a tankful, without buying it abroad, but it was touch and go, many a time in the middle of Deptford High St, it peter out and you had to tilt the cab, and give it a good pump hoping it would get you the last few miles home, we were some of the richest drivers around working for George and his tricks, whatever he got up to, so did we even more.
Although this post was made way back I can’t let it pass. Its a blight on what has so far been a great read. I spent time in the late 70s and 80s in the south east and I remember these so called part time villains. They were common down on the coast where they were always “avoiding Mr Big from London (like London is the centre of the universe 
)” and generally making out like royalty. These people were scum and wanted clearing up. Thank god they are dinosaurs now.
Hullo Lonewolf,
Your getting old ‘Son’. We have just as big villains even today living in Ryedale. It’s all part of lifes rich patern. Live and let live I say.
Cheers, Archie.