Royston Grange [holder brothers] company, a meat boat, fresh beef, butter all chilled also frozen beef all from MOSTLY ARGENTINA .SADLYin 1972 she had a collision with a oil tanker ,both caught fire, the whole of the Royston crew were killed everyone .see Wikipedia for a full account.
It was my first ship with full air-condition also single berth, very few ships had that.
LIFE AFTER TRANSPORT.
IF YOU HAVE READ MY PREVIOUS WRITING,[MY DRIVING HISTORY ]ON TRUCKNET[DECKBOYPEGGY],YOU WILL HAVE FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT ME ,HOWEVER ,YES, I AM STILL AROUND ALSO READING TRUCKNET MOST DAYS.
It got me thinking,blimey left the caps- lock o again,never mind,no different than going in to a cupboard and forget what you went for,you will all get there in the end , you do not have to learn it it just arrives another skill.
I will just recap quickly as how i became to lose my HGV driving licence,no not alcohol,although we/me used to have our fare share .and someone else s…
[recap]it is in my previous, [My Driving History,] peggydeckboy
I was involved in a major traffic accident around Stafford,a bulk tanker driver hit the rear end of my [hanger] [trailer], a road train …he turned over,caught fire ,another man/car driver and my self pulled him from the burning cab, drivers door window, not the windscreen ,he was ok, we got him out with a struggle,as the two front tyres burst ,well exploded,as we pulled him on the ground to safety, fire and police arrive, after some questions from the police ,i am told to drop the trailer on the carriageway [slow lane] as the rear cargo of domestic boilers were hanging out of the damaged side, the whole load needed attention .
The front end ,a six wheeler Volvo was fine no damage at all,i drove back to the depot on police instructions i could leave the trailer where it was and go after telling the police what happened they were satisfied,leaving the trailer on the motorway it would be collected by the recovery- crew and parked safe,in they had been in contact with recovery people…via the police also BOWKERS
Why the police would not let me pull the whole lot on to the hard shoulder i do not know as there was no other traffic in front of me.
Back to work 2,half days later l am fine, i have another trailer, [fast forward] ,after more ITALY trips i am driving on the M62 heading for Bamber Bridge, my home depot,after getting off the ZEBRUGGE -HULL ferry around 9am,a FRIDAY morning.
Driving passed the Manchester[Rochdale] area, in the slow lane, i had no need to look at road signs ,as the route was second nature there were no hazard lights flashing,however it seemed as if the signs i was passing were flashing for a quick second, and I am thinking ,my bloody glasses they need replacing ,as the road signs ,seemed to sort of blend in to one ,all the letters, all jumbled up as if one big word, i never thought no more about it…
Back to the yard, i do not fill up ,as we always fill up in Belgium i park up ,went in to the office,i was told to go home to get my weekend break ,rest hours to[catch up] i have to unload Monday morning ,i drive home .
What was so good at W.H. Bowkers if you were not needed until you had to tip you own truck, you went home,even if you did not have to make hours up, no silly messing about the yard ,to fill in your day in like other companies i have worked for, if you get a full break in you are all set to do another 3 weeks if you want to.
Once home just after noon,my wife was at work until; 1400, i decided i would go down to the local opticians,5 minutes away take a chance with out a appointment and a little bit of[ bull] and see how it goes, luckily i waited about 30 minutes i was called in, i explained what had happened to my sight and my glasses they had supplied to me.as i was a regular customer.
Within 30 minutes my driving life was all over for me,YES THAT QUICK,after a sight test, i had a test in the complete dark ,spotting dots,peace of ■■■■ i thought ,how wrong could i be, the optician [lady] said wait here 10 minutes and she went, i thought shes going to fix theses glasses, out she comes with my records ,she knew what i did for my living,she said to me,i have made you a appointment with your doctor, as soon as you get there, I ASKED WHY she replied you have had a T.I.A. meaning blood vessels behind your eyes have burst ,just like a stoke…a TRANISENT -ESCAMIC- ATTACK and it is notifiable to the D.V.L.A.the Doctor must have told her.
The rest is easy ,after 10 minutes with the doctor,he checked me out,and said as from now your HGV has been withdrawn .I will notify SWANSEA D.V.L.A.as soon as possible, also i will sign you on the sick for as long as it takes.and that was that all so he did say that you will never get your HGV back,because it is classed as a stroke.you will be able to the courts to try to get your licence back.I wondered how a Doctor would know the rules he then produced a large form from D.V.L.A and proceeded to fill it it.
I was not given any.no extra tablets nothing, i was already on blood pressure tablets and smoked and drank a lot of beer, when possible so i expect i did not help myself ,but i felt ok.
Once i got home my wife was home and the usual ,greeting ,when you going back and where is your washing,i said no rush i am not going back ,what!she said you have not jacked again have you ,i thought you liked Bowkers, then she said,when will you stop roaming around looking for the perfect job,[I thought you had found it] I had…
I let her go on then i said,STOP,and i then told her what had happened ,she was a stunned as i was ,i said i better tell BOWKERS now and i did, they did not believe me ,I would be able to driver a car but nothing larger, i can see the difference.
To get finished like that it was a bit to take in,i went in Saturday cleaned my gear out, I never thought to ask if they had any yard work or warehouse work ,I doubt if I would have done it done it maybe yes if I was proper retired and looking for a bit of extra cash but as job no,i said good bye and that was the finish my driving 2002.
I was living at Cleveleys in between BLACKPOOL and FLEETWOOD LANASHIRE,i liked the area and the people , the ones i met in TRANSPORT l would never become a Northerner as my accent give it away in the NORTH i was a Southerner ,ie from around the LONDON area, my previous home was 120 miles from LONDON who cared, i never did,there was more ribbing,between LANKASHIRE [RED ROSE]and the WHITE ROSE of YORKSHIRE Bowkers ,[HULL DEPOT[ all in jes.t
I heard one of the lads ,who was making a pot of tea out side his cab,saying this err Yorkshire watter,is miles better than that LANASHIRE MUCK,I WOULD NOT DRINK IT IF YOU PAID ME… when i made tea he would drink it and it was LANKASHIRE watter, but he would never ask me where my water was from, i did not qualify, to come in to it.
.Also i found north, and south, town and city s, staunch football affiliation,went in to a lot of the working mans banter, where your affiliation was ,I had none what so ever,never have.
A ship i was on ,the deck crew come from all over LONDON AREA the banter was good until it got to going ashore, after a belly full of foreign beer the loyalty came out ,and the war would start i used to just back away has i did not have any affiliation to any city ,club , or religion .
Now living on the south coast 2018,my neighbours call me a NORTHENER, ironic…
Back at home with all my gear, and bedding ,cooking equipment,food,tv video,all kinds of junk I carried just in case I was amazed at what I did have,heavy winter clothes ,boots ,gloves ,hats ,wellies,like a idiot i used to carry all the gear I used years ,metal bars ,hammers large nails,spanners,rope,[ no snow chains] yes, I always had a rope, if I ever had to pull the tilt cover from back to front,you always needed a rope [or a crane].double cooker burner ,single burner,5kg gas bottle plus small canisters ,I used to work on the theory [you never knew] I was all ways well prepared ,like all drivers I did know, at Bowkers that I would not need half the equipment ,all the straps were bowkers, but someone else just might nned it.
Once I left my house to go to work for 3 weeks sometimes more away[by my own choice ] I never really gave a thought to what was going on in the home,I would ring Saturdays once a week ,you cannot be away and have problems at home that you cannot deal with because where you are.you had to be on the ball ,in what you were doing.
I used to see, and hear men away from their familys,when parked up, getting all the ear bashing when ringing home,ringing home whenever they could,I understood that is what they wanted to do non of my business, but then they would come back all upset wanting to go home,I used to try to tell them how to go about it, a few days seemed like a life time to them, a lot of men used to jack the job in very soon, all the nice trucks alloy wheels,had its price to pay. but I expect I was a different generation.
Once I left the yard I never looked back, I did the same ever where I moved to re guarding work, however I did go back to some companies so it did not amount to much,the old saying .[don’t look back]
At that time back home, we were in the process of having dorma windows, plus the whole roof space conversion fitted both sides to 3 bed rooms shower and toilet it would then be a 5 bed dorma bungalow a access from the lounge ,my sons who are carpenters [chippys]who lived in the midlands used to travel any where ,as subcontractors to work so long as the money was there.[just a point we now have total 4 chippy s in the family] all the work /alteration was to sleep to be able to sleep the grand children, and mums and dads when they came up to stay and that was regular.
I had nothing to do with the planning ,my wife and son did all the planning,I was told when it was all passed by the council,I Knew it would not affect me as you all know, us European drivers had one thing on our minds [when and where is my next trip],well I did ,perhaps it made me a bit selfish HOWEVER nothing wrong in enjoying what you did for a living no matter what so long as your happy,in fact not many jobs around as good as what we had, in my opinion,all the ferry crossing,food and drinking ,no pressure whatsoever, delivery times never rushed,good men to work with,it was a pleasure to be weekend with most,100%different from my fridge days.that is where I went wrong but did not know it,moving up north eventually got me to the right job after years of searching, then I get to lose it.I had no plans at retiring at 65 so long as my health held up,but it did not…
I sort of drifted away from the house running side of things i learned a very long time ago if your away, let your wife have the complete run of things,just say yes…
My main thing now was what was I going to do for employment i had no qualifications I was 58,virtually unemployable in any other sector away from transport.
I did not want to go digging holes, or working on a building site[labouring], but that was about my only option,to be honest I had never thought of any other employment ,I was a lorry driver.
I did toy with the idea of going over to Denmark to drive, I new they would check your licence, but not get in touch with Swansea ,why would they, however my wife put the blocks on that and took the doctors view that it could happen again .
It is easy to say [go get a job], yes ,but where, doing what, where I lived, I did go and walk in the local dole office [work finding ] there were jobs for cleaners,required,hospitalporters,etc,cooks,waiters ,bar staff,all domestic work, or the lady suggested go back to collage, I never had been,
if I had known about computer courses I would have maybe had a go at that ,I had only seen a lap top I had no idea how to work it, I could have maybe got in to a transport office, but that never once occurred to me.
I never signed on to the dole with the sick note ,as I asummed that you would have to go and try all the jobs they sent you to however the lady said I doubt at my age you will find any work at all.
I did not sign on the dole to recive any money from the state like sick pay I could have done until retirement age but I did not my choice, to be honest I did not want them asking questions etc enough said…
After a week getting my head around [not working ]my sons came up with a plan ,idea,as they employed quite a few chippys and all working away from home, on price work ,money was hard earned, but very good,they would be putting roofs on supermarkets type jobs or,university s from start to finish, as subcontractors, so there was flexibility, some day work some priced, booking more men on a job than were actually there,everything was priced down to nails.that is as much as I can say…
MY role was to stay at home, and finish off helping the lads doing our dormar,s helping out in general,some days they would send a couple of lads down for the day,as the main work was at Lancaster. I would help doing dopey jobs but it helped and it got me motivated.
We had a 8 panal Bowkers sheet[by permission] it was used to put over the roof to cover the work up when they used to go back , to their proper job ,they could not believe how heavy they were,when I told them we used to have two of them, plus two 4 panal sheets on general haulage, [before my time at Bowkers] .
Bowkers had a container full of sheets some new,I would have said that 75 % of drivers would have no idea how to use them properly ,and that is maybe a good thing I doubt sheeting loads will ever come back in to fashion,however I do understand the odd loads still get sheeted.
I was keeping busy and never went anywhere near trucks I could have went 10 mins down the road to FLEETWOOD watch the ferry,I just thought the lest I see the better.
I started to do a lot of walking as I was only 5 minutes from the sea front if the tide was out I would walk down to the main town,it was easy than pounding on the concrete,but I soon tired of that, you can only look out to sea for a certain length of time I need something to do,
We had two gate hanging brick pillars at the end of the drive I thought I will knock them down and put two more up,just like that,the knocking down and running the rubble down to the tip just something to do, I ordered some different bricks,sand cement got it all cleaned up, ready to start,I now know why the apprentice ship for trades men was 5 years/
,I thought it was easy ,I got the mix right, the bottom layer was ok then as it was growing up I had to use a spirit level,my fatal error,I was putting the upright level to the bricks and doing it wrong I could not see it,I was building a mini leaning tower,[on the ■■■■] of pisa it was not untill I stepped back I could see the mistake. That was the end of that.sons to the rescue…
I was! getting used to home life, it got a bit fraught at times ,as a women has different routines I could all ready cook so that was no problem .I seemed to sort of be in the way.
All the building work got finished all went well ,it was getting close to a year lots of visitors for holidays,I did relies that I had missed out on a lot of my children and grand children s lives I suppose putting my job first,in a way it did come first,it was my living,you can never get back what you have missed, so I expect that it was for me the downside of having a job that you enjoyed and would never change ,there is all ways a price to pay in all walks of life, I expect being apart from your wife,got that it was normal…
The summmer had arrived and one of my sons asked me would I like to go to BUTLINS at SKEGGNESS for a weeks holiday,to help look after the grand kids ,what a result,a week away on my own -ish.
Once there it was just the thing for children,fast food,entertainment and some beer for me ,my son did not drink at all or never smoked,in fact two sons being brought up by two parents who all ways smoked, they have never smoked.
The last time I was at Bulletins was the Perenporth it was 1976/7 how I remember while we were there with our 3 lads ELVIS Presley died ,my wife’s favorite singer ,it did not spoil my day!
Back then we had a MORRIS OXFORD, it took about 10 hrs drive through the night from Banbury, the kids asleep on the back seat, once they were awake,on the downward hills I used to knock her out of bolt [gear]and get them to jump up and down ,as to save petrol, I used to tell them I would give them money for every mile they saved, and I did, generously ,we did not have a lot of cash only the wage and holiday pay ,none spare,the holiday was paid by the wifes shop work.
.I don’t know if it was being a lorry driver back then ,but I always seemed to find aggravation from other people you have never seen before OR it was constantly being on the ball and not let anyone take the ■■■■ even if they were not [get in first]
It was around 7 oclock Saturday morning we had just arrived at PERINPORTH it was time to feed the kids breakfast as we could not get in the camp until 2pm,BURGER KING was just the job, untill this very jobs worth person come over to me just as the car was emptying,and said you cannot park here…the verbal exchange was very colorful,but he left to get reinforcements no doubt,what he did not know my brother rolled up with his family,also a friend with family the car park was filing up
I often wondered if he had been told by others, or it was his party piece just to ■■■■ us [emmits] off on holiday.
Back to Skegness I got carried away then ,the holiday turned out good they had a flowing swimming pool that was good fun,better than punching up the road,well for then .
There was a walk tunnel under the road that led to another side of the camp, we did not see before because of the direction we drove in to the camp .
On the other side of the road unseen by us there was a football park, and a large sports hall, also a massive acerage caravan park.
As you drive to Butlins through the town, there are caravans parks on both sides of the road it is Caravan-ville like they are everywhere.
I had no interest at all in caravans I was watching the lads playing football ,eventually my son comes back ,and straight away said to me, would you like to look around one of the new caravans,my reply, why the zb would I look around a caravan,we stayed in enough on holidays ,he then said dad,there is a lot of money to made owning caravans, revenue, for the year.
That was the SEED SOWN but i did not know it at the time, I did look around and this chap was waffling, and like normal, I took no notice
Even when I was driving, and asking directions, I never really listen to what was being said ,why ,I have no idea.
To be honest, I had not the lightest idea what my lad was up to this chap gave him lots of paper work,books ,spread sheets, lots of yessing in their office,■■■■ as part of the drill [I have/had no idea what my son has in mind] there was allso this dolly bird there, and she was fit, [the bait
.My son was single…after about a hour,hands were shaken and away we went.
It turns out my sons were working on a military base near by refurbishing accommodation for service families and all the lads are staying on a caravan site, in SKEGGNESS nearest to the job ,so he knows what price he is paying for them all,and he then tells me about the money to be made by owning caravans on a site.
I COULD BORE YOU TO DEATH ,IF I AM NOT ALLREADY my head was in the end full of pound notes [easy cash]
All the spread sheets they had given us to look over,they made good reading and [ONPAPER ]they made sense even to me i could see the amount of income earned by one caravan in one season[rose tinted glasses].
Was very good,then we got into the [talking] what if we had 4 caravans never need worry about money again,
We were told that they had 4 free pitches[caravan sites] on the site within the Butlins main area.as they had decided to have more caravans on site ,why not before I do not know,as they would be very handy near the tunnel for people to walk under the road linking up both sites…
THE Holiday over ,I went home absolutely full of it the answer to never have to work again in some job I did not like, I hoped.
The lads had finished working in Lancaster,so basically I had nothing to do all though I was still getting paid a sum, but not as much, and that was really appreciated, I realized how lucky I had been.
The thought of owning and running 4 caravans, did not go down very well with my wife.
Basically it come down to ,do we struggle until I get my pension or do we try a new adventure with a income or me go and find a labouring job or if not give the caravans a go. That was the2 choices.
Things got very tense for some time at home,also telling my wifes parents, they were not pleased, and my wife got upset,as they rightly thought that we had moved up north near them so as they would have a daughter to look after them in later years whoops again
I was not the most popular person at that time however my wifes dad had a good head, and did see that our lives were ours and a income was still needed.
If my having that accident was the cause of my losing my licence [the doctor told me it was]I just wished i was back up the road…
I wrote Swansea, to see if I could have a medical to get my licence returned,eventually a date to go to the hospital for tests arrived,
At the hospital i was all wired up with suckers with wires attached and taken in a room and there was a treadmill type of apparatus , I was no muscle man, but I knew I was fit I knew it looked like a walking machine.
Once on the machine the operator told me from the start,keep walking and you will fell the incline increasing hold on the handles but do not lean on them and keep going untill you feel that is enough,gasping for breath.if any one suffered from a breathing complaint I do not think they would be able to do the test at all.
It was like walking up a sand dune, in flip flops with the sand flowing away from your feet ,it got very tough, in the end I had enough ,it was if I was leaning back wards ready to fall backwards by the angle of the machine…
I had no idea how it went and no indication from the operator I just had to wait as the print read out went back to Swansea.around two weeks the result was back failed, a slip saying your HGV IS REVOKED,on medical grounds, that if I wished I could go to the courts to challenge their decision etc,however I remember my doctor telling me the very first time it happened that I would never get the licence back ,a T.I.A
Is a mini stroke,however it was unpredictable, [like life ] I had now accepted it that was it…
It was now time for the change,I was sort of looking forward to the move,but as people say [research]in any kind of new venture did we…no.
It was worked out that we would have to be moved in one of the caravans by MARCH that gave us 10 months to live in one of the vans before you have to leave for 2 months of the year that applies to all static caravans ,what people do for them 2 months, who live permanent in their van is go on holiday or rent a flat ,not all people rent out their vans it is their home ,something I did not know.
First we had to pick the vans, another trip to skegness we opted for 4x 35/37 foot 6berth, with 2 beds made up in the lounge so sleep 8people,they were fitted with a gas ring cooker a oven lounge electric fire, and a fridge,a small table 2 chairs for dining. That was it.we Had to supply all the rest except mattresses .
Our first lesson of ZBme.never thought of that deposit’s had been paid ,and we had to pay the rest once the vans were on the camps pitches , no matter where we were ,yes! I know if it was some one else telling me this story ,yes I would have said tell them to stick them up their bums,
but things had gone on to far, the house was nearly sold in BLACKPOOL no going back .from that minute onwards we both started to relies we may have got this wrong…
Once home what we would need to kit each van out,as we had gone round to the lorry drivers van,the driver I met ,we had got friendly with them and they said they would help us as much as they could and they did and gave us pointers of exactly what we would need just for starters…
This bit will be boring, however what I am trying to show is that a complete novice gets caught up, if it was transport I would be fine however it was not so here goes
FOR ONE VAN= 2 double quilts,4singlequilts,12pillows,4blankets,4double sheets,8 single sheets, [double up on the sheets for a change over] modern tv.10x3 sets of different plates, 8xsets of cutlery electric kettle ,micro wave.all other cooking utensils cups, mugs,tea, towels, hand towels bath,towels . it turned out to be a massive operation ,to be honest that was not the end of it ,once we had eventually arrived at the site we needed some heating in the van we were staying we had panal electric heating put in the bedrooms ,also we had to pay for the electricity to be connected also the gas to be connected to each van all on a meter that went to the office, so we got billed for everything,my god, I had got duped by my own ,not greed, thinking this was a way out, and we had not researched as thing i blame myself. We were in and it was now to try to do the best we could.
IT was just like a driver buying a tractor unit and not having a trailer and no work and no where to park.
We did not get to the site untill nearly April as the house sale stumbled ,but it got through in the end and we had to put every stick of furniture in to storage, that cost another small mortgage.
We hired a van to take all the linen and kitchen equipment to the vans,I left the lot there in two vans and left my wife to it untill I got back in my car ,I might tell you our relation ship of years was sort getting fraught , I do not blame my wife at all it was all me, but it takes two to tango ,I expect we both could have said zb-it stay at BLACKPOOL AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.BUT WE DID NOT…
It took a while to get all the vans kitted ,out beds made up all the kitchens stocked with the bare essentialsof course I could never do anything correct as my wife is a perfectionist, and I found out of the following couple of years a perfectionist you do not need to be .
The people that eventually came to stay in our vans the majority came back more than once to stay in a season.the reason being the were immaculate clean and homely even if I say so myself.we could have lived in asny of the vans and that was the way my wife wanted it ,however it did not take my long to relies that was the wrong approach[my view only] .
TO MAKE MONEY with caravans I now know what you need to do, once you have the vans and put the BASIC requirements in a van, you hire the services of a person who only deals with letting,and advertising,cleaning, caravans.basically you let them have the run of the vans, for 15%of the holiday charge and you just keep well away,have nothing to do with them she has a team of people who wash the linen change the beds from them let that person deal with all the bookings etc and luckily the lorry drivers wife did that for us. That was once we sort of got established after our first full nightmare year and that took money and time ,another part of the [job].
I cannot describe on here how dirty,considerate some people are and it was not the scruffie type family it was normal the ones that had the nice car a two children ,they just never gave a zb.
And don’t get me started on girls,ladies long hair ,what a zb nightmare the showers would be choker block long hair every where when you see the flick their hair you do not relise they get every where the carpets used to be full of hair I used to despair when I used to go round to the vans when people arrived and gave them them passes if they were long hair I used to think why don’t you just zb off,with a smile,.
We never got told also,that as the caravans were privately owned we had to pay a fee for the people from our vans to enter Butlins as if they were day visitors 50pound a caravan a week it did not matter how many people in them.
I had to slab the sides of the grass around the caravans to make hard standing, as the car park was a long way -away from where we were also make them neat like little gardens .the more I went on the more I got to think zb the money I have had enough.
When we started the people from all holiday makers have to be off the Butlins site by 10am ,that was another nightmare then we would have untill 4pm to get the 4 vans cleaned for another load by the time it was over we were ready to commit murder, the main problem was cleaning as I have said before I would have just wiped round and out, but NO my wife did a full deep clean changed the beds made the beds,fresh quilt covers,if it was me I would have just left the line and let them do it them selfs ,we never got any extra,cash ,zb-um was my attitude so as you can tell it was not working.
In the second year we found a bungalow just at a village called CHAPEL-ST-LENORDS away from the site that was better however it wanted work to be done to it so away from the vans was better by this time we had subbed all the running of them out as I said before.
I got stuck in doing all kinds of work to the place jack of all trades, I put up new fences coveted the garage to a kitchen eating area,if you go on google earth and put in[ 2 chapel close,chapel st lenords ,linconshire ours was the end one next to the green,I put the side door in if you walk round the side with the yellow man you will see a window in a brick wall. next to the garage I put that in, we had a lad build the brick work,I dug the footings,as it was open I put the roof on also put the concrete floor in ,with wheel barrows from the concrete mixer and he only had a certain amount of time per delivery so I gave him 20 quid to just slow up I did it all on my own and leveled it I still cannot believe it but I did it.
My son who lived in the midlands wanted a project as if his work was not enough ,so unbeknown to us both he went and brought a 6 room bed and breakfast.
Go to google earth and put in cavendish road skegness linconshire,when it comes up bring it towards you ,with the yellow man ,when you see two ladies on the street, oppisite a shop called ruths is the place I spent a year doing up,painted white with 3 windows by the bins that is one flat,
Where the fencing is ,that was the ca,r parki I came in one morning and there were two cars with people asleep parked on our parking I gave it 10 minutes, and me and my work mate got two bits of 4x4 and at the same time whacked the roofs and started hollering and shouting they absolutely ■■■■ them selfs,
I gave them 5 minutes to go, and they did . the area we were in was not the best it was like drug alley ,before that a wreck of a car was left on the parking not for long.we soon dragged it and left it in the road the council are then obliged to move it but if it was left on out property they did not bother …
Plans in to making it into 3 flats ,he had got permission, and it would keep me busy ,day to day doing all imaginable jobs you would not believe,I would source electricians, chippys[yes he never sent any of his own men] plumbers ,arrange gas ,electricity,water building control,every thing you could imagine.
The main jobs were take walls out [lath and plaster]arrange many skips.and fill them.find men for odd days work cash in hand .take all the doors out,arrange for gas to fitted ,have the road up for the supply electrical arrange that with the highways [costs a fortune to have traffic lights put up]. Every time you see traffic lights used for building work just thing that is costing hundreds a day.
.
To be honest I surprised my self what I did ,opening accounts with builders merchants,plumbers,kitchens, Supliers.
we put ducting in the rooms to hide pipes,tiling,re-concrete a floor I used to be told by my son by phone what to buy but know one knew that they all thought it was me I even[ zb some chippys off] they were just zb-ing about, taking the ■■■■ they had no idea that my son was a chippy,they never seen him I used to tell him what work they had done in a day etc, so he was the boss,
Me and another chap I/we, had him on a weekly cash in hand,he was a good lad we took two chimney breasts out, i went and got the steels to shore them up,then bricked them.
I put steels up to take load bearing walls.after chopping holes out of walls by lump hammer and coal chisel, putting a pad stone in for it to sit on after taking out a indoor brick arch out.
I chopped holes in the wall to put steels through and use ac- rows each side to take the weight of one floor.
I got 3 blokes off the street to help lift it ,and give them a good drink.
To be honest it was never ending a proper full time job in fact it took nearly a year,I put a steel spiral stair case up dug the water main trench ,put windows in,also arranged to have all the rooms sound tested,that was 2,000 grand men put in all the rooms microphones and sound censors,then they worked they way around the house ,they nad like a small shoe box inside were like [tappets]but rollers ,like pistons,and they get vibrating all the floors.then took the recorded reading that took all day and no other work was done,we had to have special fire proof ceilings fitted dropped down a foot from the original ,all to pass this sound test and fire safety fire alarms all over,and a proper fire indicator board in the main entrance. It got it was never ending,what we should have done was tell no one,just make the rooms in to flats and zb-off, but we did it correct and it coast a fortune,we found out after others had one just that made the rooms into flats ,get on with it BUT our intention was to sell it had to be right…,others who had done the other way also lived within the property so no one knew…
I used to think when I was driving, like most of you that you were pretty clued up on the way things worked,you knew when the ■■■■ was being taked ,I certainly learned more in that year than all my driving years. Once the flats were sold.
We decided that the caravans could go and zb them-selfs and we would sell them…HOWEVER like a new car the first to sell always loses the most cash, but we new that it was just a good feeling to get shut of them,we were the wrong couple to have done what we thought was right,and lost a lot of cash their was no finance on the vans they were a cash buy.and we sold them private.all the goods inside…
Once we had sorted our self’s out we decided it was time to move from Lincolnshire, to Sussex ,the reason, my wife’s sister lives in Sussex ,eventually we moved my wife,s parents down here as well after nearly 40 years in Blackpool, it all worked out fine ,sadly they have both passed on, but they enjoyed being close to their daughters .I just ended up being the general, roustabout, and retirement is the best job I have ever had. you will settle down after a life up the road.istill have no hobbies ,I find I do not need one ,just living is enough, I just think back to the fridge days ,and think If I never do another days work in my life ,I have done enough for two men ,like all the other drivers who were along side me.
I have written this last chapter of my working life to let any driver who has to retire, or finish their lives up the road, that if I can turn my hand to different tasks anyone can and you will get over it.pdb.the end,
Another great read. Thanks pdb. Keep enjoying that retirement.
‘Steady So’’ PDB enjoy your permanent Smokeo
Leave the missus to the Soujeeing 
Thank you. sandway , whisperingsmith, [hows your head]…steady as she goes. how many on here have replied to that.?pdb
I remember on the pre-sea Training ship Glne Strathallan 
A very tall lad who kept banging his head wherever he went - on taking his first trick at the wheel responded to the Captain’s ‘Hows Your Head?’ with 'Not Too Bad Sir 
Good Reading Peggy …only was peggy one trip …no deck boys only 2 JOS 2 weeks in the mess and 2 weeks on deck its pretty obvious that long distance driving was the choice after going to sea met a lot of ex MN lads while on the road all the best mate for Xmas and the new year
Hi BACKSPLICE, blimey what boats were you on I was on
[I relies this is a truckers forum but we all had lives before trucks]
I was on BLUE FUNNEL,out of BIRKENHEAD ,they had their own school for both departments ,previously it was in a place called ABdovey started by MR HOLT,all ranks went there during wartime I think it started
ALLdeckboys did a 9month period I did 3x3month trips, far east.it was to get you in the rhythm, and start to learn your deck work then eventually get to a AB
However I never relised UNTILL A LONG TIME AFTER that we were chasing dead mans shoes jobs unless a A.B. RETIRED and no one left ,no one could move on in rank ie DECK BOYto ,J.OStoSOS.to E.DH.to AB once I left and went on the pool and joined other ships company ,I relised some of the lads had only done 1 trip and then went to jos etc in other companies however they had not got the sea time I had, nor the knowledge [but igot over it…
whispering smith.my that boat has some nice lines,was it used for navigation training ,as their is a crowd tossing it off on the stern, probly watching the wake, I bet you did that when you were on watch, sometimes in the pacific .flat calm, you would probly just let her drift of course a little bit to give you something to do until the mate would come running in, from his star watching screaming[ whats your head ],and you would apologize ,all hand steering for a year ,the old mans cabin was just below the bridge and he would know of any undue movement as his drink might move in his glass… good days sadly no more for anyone deep sea… pdb.
Peggy …I was with the Greyhounds of the Far East … the Ben Line !!! share a few cases with Blue Flu ladsin Kobe among other places !!! but was a pool man most of the time …liked Tankers mostly !!.. mind yer head !!
HI Backsplice I will send a PM.
