As a twenty-one year old I got sent to Liverpool docks with an 8-ton load of apples for Ireland. After the usual lengthy wait on the dock road while the union sorted one of their grievances I got tipped, then sent into Great Howard Street for an empty “Irish Flat” for the next load of apples. After I’d roped the rotten, twisted platform body on, I discovered that it had been a 24-footer in it’s previous life and my lorry had about 18 feet of body length. It was getting dusk by this time, so the only recourse was to find a cycle shop (not many of those left) and buy two rear bicycle lamps which I nailed to the back end of the flat. The batteries lasted until I got home and I was rewarded for my ingenuity with a Bedford S-type with a longer body.