Hi All
Tone there is a Bulldog thread on here you can put them on
Cheers Rich
Hi all you people out there. Obviously everybody has been so busy this last week-end that we have slipped once again on to page 2. I’m sure Pat would be disappointed that we let it happen again.
Perhaps we could start a new thread called ‘Stories and Anecdotes through the Years’ as I am so sure that there must be a wealth of them out there for everybody to come up with at least one each. Most of them I am sure would involve some very well known characters from the past such as Bingo, Monger, Smithy, Keeble and many others that graced our lives. So come on and lets give it a go and have a laugh with them once more!!!
(Even stories of yourself that could raise a smile would be interesting). Thanks, Nobby.
Hi Nobby, good idea mate, and I can’t think of a better candidate than your
good self to get the ball rolling.
A man of your experience has surely got a story or two to tell…or so I,ve been told. Lol
mappo:
Hi Nobby, good idea mate, and I can’t think of a better candidate than your
good self to get the ball rolling.
A man of your experience has surely got a story or two to tell…or so I,ve been told. Lol
Hiya Tony and I’m glad you think it a good idea. Yes I think maybe I could come up with some past happenings but right now I am in the middle of decorating and fitting a new oven (However did I find time to go to work)? As soon as I get 5mins I’ll have a go but in the meantime the stage is yours. Regards, Nobby.
What a coincidence that is Nobby…I,ve just had a new oven and hob fitted myself mate,
( mainly done by a good mate ) and am in the process of decorating my bathroom.
As you said how did we ever find the time to work… Lol
I,ve been off for 6 months now and thought I,d be bored stiff but it’s been just the opposite.
As well as doing odd jobs I,ve been catching up with old pals and I love it.
I met up with two old pals today. Very pleasant couple of hours doing a few miles and talking about exotic far away places. Jimski failed to show. Some feeble excuse about work. What’s that? Question of the day. Where is Half Pint? Answers on the back of a ten pound note. Regards Charlie 
charlie one:
I met up with two old pals today. Very pleasant couple of hours doing a few miles and talking about exotic far away places. Jimski failed to show. Some feeble excuse about work. What’s that? Question of the day. Where is Half Pint? Answers on the back of a ten pound note. Regards Charlie
Hi Charlie, no I wasnt at work ! But I completely forgot (as Tony didn’t remind me and I blame him !) wasnt till about 4pm that I rememberd !! My mind seems to forget things these days. Sorry Charlie 
last week I was looking forward to it too !
Yep Blame Tony
R Jimmer
Jimski:
charlie one:
I met up with two old pals today. Very pleasant couple of hours doing a few miles and talking about exotic far away places. Jimski failed to show. Some feeble excuse about work. What’s that? Question of the day. Where is Half Pint? Answers on the back of a ten pound note. Regards Charlie :lol: :lol:Hi Charlie, no I wasnt at work ! But I completely forgot (as Tony didn’t remind me and I blame him !) wasnt till about 4pm that I rememberd !! My mind seems to forget things these days. Sorry Charlie :oops: last week I was looking forward to it too !
Yep Blame Tony :lol:
R Jimmer
It was definately Mappos fault. Personally I think that he’s lost the plot. Lovely man etc but a complete nutter. He had me in fits. Tim was on top form as well. He told me a few stories about some of the guys I didn’t know about. Good couple of hours. Would like to do it again. Sorry you missed it Jimmer. Next time eh? Regards Charlie :lol: :lol:
Hi All
Hi Charlie
I will be rushing past Alton in about an hour so get the flags out
Cheers
Rich
ps yeah Mappos fault he didn’t tell me either
Morning Rich. I’m limping down to the bypass as we speak. I shall be on the bridge mooning as you " flash" by. Have your camera ready.Regards Charlie
Toilet paper. Why do they have to advertise it? Who is not buying it?. Just a thought. Nothing to do with the thread except I have carried a few loads of it. Regards Charlie
the BOTTOM of the page and a thread about toilet paper??
I was reading through, catching up , and came upon an article about Bedford TK’s. It jogged my memory. Not strictly an LDSH post but I was living near Southampton at the time and it will get us up the page…
I went back up to London for a while , looking for work . I stayed with my brother and got a start with an air freight company in Colnbrook. there were lots of them about then , and most of them a tad on the shady side. It was easy to get a job and also easy to lose it. I once got the bullet for taking a half hour lunch and not calling in…but was working for someone else the next day. The bloke who sacked me, later got 15 years for armed robbery in Wembley , gives you some idea of the character…
I was driving mainly transits and Bedford CF’s , fitted with cab radios a la taxis. It wouldn’t be unusual to spend all day running from Heathrow to the smoke with the trusty A to Z in full use , and then get a shout at say half six on the way back to the yard telling you ( not," would you mind awfully old boy ? ) to load at Firestones and be in Ellsmere Port for a timed delivery 3.30 a.m. I don’t think I’d be up for that now. But then , young and foolish and dreaming of the Scanias 110 I would surely be driving soon. I used to do it.
One day at Heathrow I met a bloke who was looking for drivers. His name was Freddie Davis. I thought he was winding me up because at the time there was a very popular comic called Freddie " Parrot Face " Davis… If you look him up on u tube you will see that we must have been very easily pleased back then. anyway he had 5 or 6 Bedford TK’s in a rough old yard in Feltham. He was actually a nice bloke ( and paid cash ) and had 2 main contracts. One for Firestone tyres and one for Johnstons paints. A typical job would be load at both sites , rope and sheet , then head off on a milk run of a dozen drops all over the country to small garages and hardware stores. Being very creative with the log sheets as I recall…
One Friday Fred told me I had to go and load a printing machine in Hounslow and that I would be taking it to Ghent on Monday… I had no idea where Ghent was and to be honest I wasn’t sure if maybe he’d said Kent. however when I’d loaded and got T forms ( What?? ) I had the full address and realised that I was doing my first Continental trip . To Belgium.
I remember being very excited… Probably the first and last person ever to be excited at the thought of going to Belgium.
Monday came and I headed off to Dover, far earlier than needed , to get a ferry to Ostend. On arrival I had no idea what the crack was but followed the crowd and ended up " on the steps " to get the papers done. Back to the trusty old TK and I was chatting to a bloke in an 88 who was heading for somewhere I again hadn’t heard of. I got a few tips from him and we parted company to get on the boat. A while later , on board and having found my way to the restaurant , I got myself a plate of egg and chips or something , not realising that I had a voucher for a free drivers meal. I headed over to where my Volvo mate was sitting with his oppos and sat down with them…
I had been given a plastic plate for some reason , and my new best friend pipes up in strident Cockernee. " never mind mate. When you get a proper lorry, you might get a proper plate! " Cue much laughter at my expense …
Jimmer, Charlie and Tribsa, I ain’t talking to you lot… 
Balders…hi mate, and I emphasise the word ’ mate’, what a brilliant story…you
just had me in stitches… Lmfao as they say.
You,ve certainly got a talent for writing Stu, I struggle to put a sentence together.
Love to hear some more tales before you put all your experiences into print.
Now there’s an idea for you.
ha… Glad it made you smile and ta for the compliment. I’m no Trucker Ash though and am sure there’s many other stories ( and better ones ) to come out of this site. Yourself included!
I was 19 at the time of that story
I carried on working for Freddie for about 3 months. He paid very well and I was able to save enough to buy a ticket to Vancouver and thereafter hitchhike down to Florida. But that’s another story Tone!
Not long til you hang up your sandals now mate!
Am exchanging a few emails with your bro after a bit of a gap! Take care, Balders.
Sometimes on a sad day there is always room for a smile, especially when you get this character as a pall bearer at your mother’s funeral!
Please, no need for condolences, she died peacefully with no possibility of rectification. Better for her and I will admit us.
Being or part Irish extract…boy did we have a wake!
Hi Gazzer. The sight of Steve’s cheerful smile would liven up any funeral. At my Mum’s wake we all laughed at her funny sayings and mixed up words.Mind you. Never miss em till they are gone. Regards Charlie
Saw Steve filling up a hearse with fuel and he reckon its the best job he’s had never any trouble getting tipped, Buzzer.
I,m sure a lot of you Soton men will remember this fine fella.
Hope he doesn,t mind me posting this.
mappo:
I,m sure a lot of you Soton men will remember this fine fella.
Hope he doesn,t mind me posting this.
Symsy’s trailer had a lift axle front and back if my memory serves me well Buzzer
(One hit up and down he was)
Many years ago I was a mate to a well known heavey haulage firm nr Southampton.
I was a mate to a particular driver that treated every thing as a laugh, one day at a café ,he said to the young girl serving us, you have a chassis like a 8 wheeler,built for compfort not speed.!!
me being young and being jack the lad thought this great.
Next café I tried the same chat up line, hellow sweet heart, you have a chassis like a 8 wheeler,built for compfort not speed.!!
The ans I got…come back when your big enough,now go and sit down and eat your beans on toast,
Exit one put down “jack the lad”