Hello Harry
Peterboroughs a BRS do is it , Ill tell you what Harry if my Bus pass took me that far Id deafinately be there but Id be dissapointed they wouldve painted out the rust by now , wouldnt they ?
Regards Frenchy
hiya,
don’t know anything about peterborough frenchy, just heard about it via trucknet i knew it was an annual thing but when i was driving i saw enough motors and wasn’t interested being round them on days off and if there’s any BRS stuff about i’ll bet there isn’t a smidging of rust, a dented wing or a pop rivet anywhere to be seen,but if there’s any of the old girls about it’ll be nice to see them, though i don’t want to drive them anymore,frenchy and norm can you ever remember cleaning a brs motor i never did but that stands for nothing in my case i never cleaned motors anywhere i worked the bloody things were for driving not polishing they didn’t go any better cleaned so why bother, that was my philosophy never got told off for not cleaning the things either guess i got away with murder over the years, enough for now guys.
thanks harry long retired.
Harry & Frenchy, Peterborough is only 40 miles from me , and the show is a big thing, and many of my driver mates have been, and say it is well worth the money, I have been pasted it so many times, even delivered Carlsberg to the site, it goes on for three days, they rave about the paint job on some of the units. Me all I care about, if if get me safely to and from point A to B, not what size engine, or whether it was a ■■■■■■■■■ Perkins, or a Rolls Royce, Gardiner, Leyland, I did it for the love of driving, and the money it brought in to my family. The army & civy street I have drove everthing that moved on the road, apart from a mechanical wheelchair, and I never desired one of those?, I always kept my lorry clean, but only polished the inside the cab, but I wanted my wagon to be up to the standard of my home, If I had to move or use another drivers lorry, and it was dirty or stunk, I would play merry hell, my mate Bagdad Bill, I used his unit once, and on the dashboard, it was nearly 1/2 inch of dust &dirt, so I sprinkled tomatoes seeds on it and watered them, a week later he came into the mess room, and said who was the bar steward who planted the seeds, me Bill I replyed, it was like a pig sty, so I thought you wanted some food to feed them, that ok you have made your point, but what can I do with the 50 plants that have came up, oh that is simple, prick them out and put in pots or growbags. Never did he ever leave his unit in a mess after that, another big fat slob unit was in a terrible state, it stunk to high heaven, it made me feel sick just to enter it, I was on double time, taking units & trailers to the wash on a Saturday, I drove with the windows down, when I was there, I got the steam hose, and cleaned every inch of the inside of the cab, water was flowing out of the doors, I put a plastic seat cover on, and drove it back to the yard and parked it up. Next monday he came storming in, who done this to me, once again I said it was me, and if he left his wagon in that condition again, I would take him with it, and steam clean him too, and probly it would be the first time his shirt & trouses had been washed for over a year. Never would I fight over a women, relegion, or politic’s, but to drive and live in a filthy cab, I would take on who ever it was, I would not accept it. Sandman Norman
hiya,
norm the cab was never smelly and the chip papers and ■■■ ends never cluttered up the area of the business end (round the pedals) and you could eat your dinner off the gear knob,i have driven some stinkers though usually belonging to cab hotelers never once cabbed it, and even when i’ve had sleepers never wanted to i said in a previous post i was a driver not a nightwatchman as well, after a long day you need to get away from the things i know the job has changed since my day in my opinion for the worse if i had my time to do over again i wouldn’t consider being a lorry driver but it’s something you get stuck with i guess and it payed the mortgage and fed the family, the jobs ok for me now i don’t have to do it, made a lot of good mates though all like me retired and all of the same mind the jobs not what it was no comeraderie and a lot of em driving nice motors for peanuts, bring back the old BRS a proper job with proper drivers and the rate for the job, well norm thats got rid a bit of steam i feel better now get me an old BRS octopus and a drawbar and i’ll set off for london.
thanks harry long retired.
Harry, I would still be a lorry driver, but only in our era, I loved the freedom, to do the job the way I wanted, because I was experient, and done the job to the best of my ability. When I had nights out, I love it when you could book up in a first class hotel, get washed and dressed up, and have a dance and meet the locals & holidaymakers,I had some wonderful nights out. But when I first started, and went in digs, twelve in a room, and things that happened, when some came in from clubs or pubs, really tanked up, I would rather sleep in my cab. Also as the job change its conditions, and you was made to push yourself to the limit, we only just made it to the breweries, and parked up on the tanker bay ready to tip, then, wash & brush up, and to the canteen, then out on the town, if nearby, then it was handy to have a clean cab, with sleeping quarters, I was one of the first drivers to have a TV in my cab, I ran wires from my battery in the passager footwell, because it was 12volts, this was in 1972, black & white TV, it was a job to watch snooker, but I managed, but this was before we had proper sleeper cabs, I used to have a fold up metal bed in my trailer, just in case I couldn’t get to digs, also a stock of food, even fitted a electric socket in my trailer, which I could connect the other end to one of my batteries, this was good, when I got stuck just outside Hull, and watched Leeds play a foreign team. Camping Gaz contract for BRS, I walked in to Burton centre from the depot, and saw this portable TV for sale in a secondhand shop, and paid £20 for it, and sill had it until 2006, and it worked, and I gave it to a 87 old Irishman, who his wife was a friend of my wife, he was moaning about, having to watch soaps, so I told him to branch off from the aerial, and put this TV in the kitchen, and his wife could watch soaps until the cows came home, and he could watch his sport in peace, so it must have kept going well over 35 years, and I do not know how old it was before I got it. Driving was my passion, and it fed my family, and I would have loved to kept on doing it, but it changed, and it became a chore, and not enjoyment, but then I may have had to pack up due to health problems. But I can say with hand on my heart, if I went back in time, I would do it all over again, because I had a wonderful time, and I have so many memories. Sandman Norman
Amen to that Norm , I alway kept a clean cab , with some of the old drivers you couldnt get in thier Passenger side for ropes , dogs and chains , boxes of light lenses , bulbs and tools , mind you theyre probably there to build up the bed if bonnet was too high , I know weve all done it . I remember these old boys turning up at digs late at night , find a bed and climb in still in their overalls and boots on . BRS Liverpool sent me to the Sally Armys Arden House in Bootle ,
" No need to book " he said and I could see why when I shared my table with free meals on wheels down and out fellas , 2/6d for the dinner ,10/- for me bed and 2 bob to the nipper outside to look after your Lorry , which he did , The Driver next to me refused and had half his Lorry load of fruit swas gone by the morning . Decent home from home digs tho were like gold dust to a tired driver but the sleeper cabs put an end to all that , mine was in 79 and I bought my first B/W TV too Norm . Keepng a clean cab was all part of the job but one bone of contention was night Trunk drivers flicking ash all over the place and with bits of his sarnies on the floor or the Fitters greasing up the Steering wheel and gearlever after a service .
Happy memories , regards Frenchy
hiya,
sorry lads my shed was exactly as you said frenchy passenger side light bulbs ,lenses , spare number plate ropes and chains, untidy yes but not dirty and not a sign of anything that could construct a bed like some i’ve seen bits off the the old three piece which stunk to high heaven old blankets which had never seen a washing machine if i ever had to take a motor that was filled up like that it got dumped somewhere till i’d done the job i once had an old f88 with a sleeper cab i gave the mattress to the trailer fitter to lay on when working under the trailers what was was left soon got filled up with more goodies, it was law on the old BRS there was no cabbing i stuck to to the rules and just couldn’t imagine spending the night in my place of work and never did i’m quite proud of that and i’ll bet not many on here can hand on heart say that they’ve done the same, two reasons i wouldn’t do the job in this day and age you would have to sleep in the cab and the pay is rubbish or so everybody on here says,and drivers i still come into contact with are always moaning about the job,more steam release i feel better now.
thanks harry long retired.
I had to smile about Frenchy saying building the passenger side up with tackle so you could lay a bed on it. That’s exactly what I did in the LAD cabbed Albions and Leylands.I stopped for a driver one day and when he opened the door all the gear fell on top of him,ropes,flysheet,toolbox etc. In spite of all this stuff my cab was always clean and never smelled. I didn’t like cabbing it but sometimes it was unavoidable when tramping,so you made the best of it. I certainly wouldn’t have the job today either,the money still seems to be crap what with cabphones,trackers,digi tachos.I know we keep going on about the good old days which wasn’t entirely true but I still reckon the job was better then if only for the independence you had.And elastic log sheets helped .
Feel better now like Harry.
hiya,
thanks for that chris nice to find someone on a similar wavelength to myself, had a little black book from when adam was a lad it contained addresses and phone numbers of digs (good digs) the length and breadth of the uk one in the mumbles swansea i used for over 30 years i hadn’t a clue how long it had been until she announced she was closing down due to her mam’s ill-health she was 70 her mam was in her 90s and there was another ex-BRSer had been staying there longer than me, that old book was invaluable wish i still had it my old lady must have thrown it away,don’t get me wrong iv’e run bent to get to my digs and my own bed that was the beauty of your flexible friend the elastic logbook, thanks for that terminology chris never heard that one before,yes the early years were good and i must admit i thought i had diesel for blood, wouldn’t want to do it now, a pal of mine like myself retired was telling me his son got his class one against his dads advice, they never listen, stuck it only six months seemingly couldn’t stand the cab phone wanting to know where he was several times a shift he’s back now working with computers and loving it, in his words a proper job,if i had to buy my licence now i’d buy a holiday instead and train as a plumber.more steam gone.
thanks harry long retired.
Harry youre priceless and you cant have much steam left now .
Cabbing was personal I reckon , I only slept in the red and Rusty Manbreaker once when I couldnt afford both Digs and lorry park and ended up wrapped in someones dirty small flysheet because it was freezing , obviously couldnt get comfy accross a bonnet that went from windscreen to roof so sat up with the engine running in Heston Services . Ive still got my digs and return load lttle black book with some excellent places to stay but there were always the dumps that today would never have been granted licences through health and safety , you know the type , cardboard box rooms , freezing cold , snoring and ■■■■■■■ nighttime choruses no escaping outa them places if there was a fire , how the heck did we ever sleep so when the first sleepers came home it was youre own bedroom and office and you did`nt stubb you toes on the chains as they was in a neat box on the catwalk now , so with some good Truckstops springing up with live entertainment man I enjoyed them days , if I had my time again ? , Sure I would but I turned my Son off em .
Regards Frenchy
hiya,
out of steam now frenchy,feel loads better till the next wind-up session, still some coal left in the old tender ready for the next onslaught, can’t get upset when i talk about the old red and rust though even though and like your’e goodself i sat about waiting for the guy with the wrecker and length of rope to arrive on numerous occasions, “oh happy days”.
thanks harry long retired
.
Harry, Frenchy and lads, I only mentioned I could not stomach dirty cabs, and left you for a while, blimmy hell, I come back to this site, and you have gone soap box mad, ha ha ha hope you enjoyed your selves, maybe its because I’m a Virgo, but I hate mess, I carried, ropes, lenses, bulbs etc.But I stored them away, I even made a metal box, which I bolted under the catwalk, which I put useful items, I even made two fold up boxes, to put on my seats, and a hinged board to span them. My choice was to go to digs, but they had to be as good as my home, or better, if not, it was my cab, you know the saying, it was so clean, you could eat off the floors, in my cab, it was true, as a young lad, I was told, you cannot always be rich Norman, but you can always be " CLEAN " , and my time in the R.E.M.E., I was, and I got out of guard duty, by winning the smart soldier, and it earnt me money, for others wanted to borrow my kit, belts & overcoat I would for a fee, the other things, I would do, or show how to do them, with my little secret ways, and the girls used to say you are no prince charming, but gosh you smell great, and once you get you foot in, whey hoh, you have cracked it, ha ha ha. If you lads want a good laugh, go to " Nottingham firm & M/E, I wrote a piece in there the other day, that came to this old brainbox, when I was stuck at kapicular in Turkey, just over the Bulgarian border, it a cracker no yoke, pardon the pun. Sandman Norman
Hello People
You can really dig up a can of woms when taking the language of old Drivers but remember in the 60s and early 70s most of us were just out of our teens and any Lorry was big deal so latching onto an older Driver for hints and tips was nessasary to keep that load on trailer , the driving and the breakdowns were secondary compared to how to secure the load , breaking down at Cafes wasnt that hard to do as there were so many in them days Stravaiger ,
I mean if you had a blowout or lost a windscreen or had to replace an injector pipe as you had to regularly on AECs , make for the Cafe sos you could get a clean up and meal afterwards or the other way round , there were also over 80 BRS depots so you were never far from one if you needed help and a lot of them as did Southampton depot had their own canteen so while your Lorrys getting fixed you was tucking into a three course meal , miss that !, oh yes , but trying to keep the Red and Rust dust proof and smelling nice Mr clean Norm with steam coming from the injectors and diesel fumes and dirt oozing through orifes in the floor and gearlever was pretty well impossible , miss that! , oh no ,
no wonder my lungs are shot today .
Best regards Frenchy
There were some scruffy sods on the road though.
I once had to a take an AEC MK3 “tin front” out for a week on a BP Hull contract.The regular driver,“Shekky Les” was on holiday.I’d only got as far as Doncaster from Sheffield when I started to smell p*** 
. When I got to Hull another driver asked me how I was getting on with the motor and just laughed when I mentioned the p*** stink.Apparantly “Shekky Les” never had time to stop so he used to stand up and p*** down the handbrake gaiter on the floor. 
When I parked it up at the end of the week I left a dead rat on the engine,sod him. 
hiya,
chris bet my nearside front wheel smelled a bit like that or am i the only driver who exersized that drivers perk, i’ve met a few like your mate though, nowt worse than a stinky motor have slung a bottle of dettol around a few cabs in my time and disposed of some filthy bonnet covers as well, i just can’t think why anyone would try to make a cab comfortable enough to spend the night in especially using the filthy gear i’ve seen them with even when boiler suits was the drivers uniform i always had a couple of pairs one for loading one or driving, alas more steam vented.
thanks harry long retired.
Fenchy, Harry, Chris, And uncle tom cobbly, you could give a new house or lorry to some people, and in less than a month, it would be like a pig sty, and that would be insulting the pigs?. When I drove for Fatstock meat corperation, in 1965 ish, I drove a bull nose ford, all the engine cover & floors were painted white, so the drives could keep it spotless clean, due too, we was collecting chickens from broiler houses, and bringing them back to Brackley Northamptonshire, to FMC factory, where a great portion of them went to M&S stores. Everytime I finished, I washed my vechicle out to prevent any contamination. When I returned from holiday, my cab was filthy, two or three dirty overalls covered in chicken droppings, left in the passenger side, ■■■ ash all over the dashboard & elsewhere, steam was comming out of my ears, so I cleaned it out, done my collection, deiseled up & clean it again. Then I found out who had my lorry while I was away, it was a old chap from a village 2miles away, I went to the canteen and asked for a empty catering tin, and went around the thirty plus tables, emptying all the ashtrays into it, back to it and threw it all over his cab, and put the dirty overall as well. Next day he was telling people in the canteen, what he would do, if he found out who it was, that did it, Albert, it was me, and if you or anyone do not leave my lorry as they found it, I will do it again, and I will check with your wife, to see if your like that at home, he was so red in the face, he bowed his head and went out. A week later, he said he was sorry. Sandman Norman
hiya,
my favourite red and rust depot was bristol always managed to wangle a load to truro ( had two sisters lived there ) always a good bed there and a load of china clay back to lancs being from the blackburn depot it was spot on earning all the way and a chinwag with the family who i didn’t see very often, oh happy days.
thanks harry long retired.
Hello folks, North, South, East or West, which ever way you took a load, the BRS depots, would find you a return load, even if it was miles away from home, the team valley depot, glasgow, preston & blackburn, bristol, yeovil, truro, norwich, felixstowe, rugby, birmingham, I could go on, and on, the depots were like leaves on a tree, I myself must have used over a hundred, I know I even left some out near to northampton, like bricks from Stewartby, aylesbury, motor parts oxford & coventry, marmite at burton, jcb parts uttoxceter, steel at corby, I wonder if anyone knows the most amount of depots at the peak. Sandman Norman
Just had a look on google, says at their peak they had over 500 depots.