Reddesertfox:
Germangeezer, do you remember when Black John got arrested in the 70’s in Riyadh for breaking into a supermarket and then got amnesty when the Queen visited Saudi.
I believe Fred Topham also had connections with Simons in the 70’s in addition to his work for Lloyds of London tracking down Carnet de Passage fraud for Lloyds of London and tracing finance default trucks.
Yes I remember that incident… Black John did four days of a twenty year sentence
bestbooties:
When we were just "Tidying "things up here in Stoke after Jeff had gone on holiday,we had two loads of corrugated culvert sections to go to Baghdad.
We put both loads on a tandem spread axle trailer,it had an adjustable king pin,and I moved it right back so the trailer would sit well over the tractor we used,the old old FB Volvo 240.
We had Jimmy McPhail,(Also known as Whiskey Jim or Sweet Pee),to drive it.
To keep the road milage down,after an overnight trip to Dover,he went on the train in Germany,where did it go to in Yugo ?was it Maribor?
From there he made for the ferry at Koper.
He did tell me he was pulled by the old bill in Yugo who asked why he was going so slow and Jim told them he had a diesel problem.
When asked why the springs were so low,he said it was an old truck!
Anyway,he did make it.Rinty was a psycopath with attitude… had the backside out of a pair of jeans on me… all Jeff could say was “stop whinging he never even got a taste”
If he had it would probably of killed him… just returned from a trip and the jeans were the cleanest of the dirty clothesThis was the old girl we used.Who remembers Rinty the guard dog??
germangeezer:
Ian i think that f12 in the photo was xmf 839T he also had xmf 840t and wml 410T and two very early s regs umd 30S and umd 31S,ps i think me and you know what fritz the welder was up to!!!
just read your quote and seeing WML 418T, i can’t believe as I bought this truck in 1983 and ran with it working for Edwin Shirley Trucking. it caught fire in 85, any pictures of it?
On a couple of occasions some of us thought some new motors had come onto the fleet,only to find they were original motors that had been re registered with a later number!
But I must say this motor was one trip old when I recovered it from Milan after Billy Big Wheels broke his ankle.
It was then my motor for about 12 months.
What happened to Black John. I met him a coupla times but then I heard he got arrested by German Zoll on the Austrian border where they knocked F out of him because of something to do with the Israeli Olympic team that had got murdered? That was the jungle telegraph,anyhow.Never saw him again.
Budgie is real !..met him at the Londra along with john ellingham, and kemal, i believe that Budgie had blonde hair then if my memory serves me right.
Here’s a good Simon Picture - my mate Pat Seal in front his Simon Marathon along with another driver that I know I know but can’t put a name to. Jesus maybe?
On the subject of Budgie - or maybe one should say one of the various Budgies - don’t I remember one of them getting nicked at the Iran / Afghan border on account of his part load of naughty stuff. Perhaps they will have let him out by now.
David
Hi David.Nice pic of Pat with Alvin.Don’t think the Turkish barbers got rich with those two.Ron was best mates with Alvin,no doubt he will comment on the pic.I remember when Pát got the marathon he was not so impressed with it and referred to it as a ‘‘shed’’ after which he became known as ‘‘Pat the shed’’. Mike
Great to see the pic of Pat Seal and Alvin Yule. Just as well that I wasn’t in the photo too…there’s already more than enough hair! As Mike says, Pat was not overly impressed with the Marathon. There were three of 'em on the fleet. Two left hookers in Simons colours and a purple right hand drive one. I remember Pat and I both smoked ‘Old Holburn’ in those days in the 2oz tins. The ‘tailor mades’ we carried were for giving away, the Old Holburn was strictly for our personal use.
Yeah, Alvin was a big buddy of mine on Simons and I would love to make contact with him again. Not seen or spoken to him since a phone conversation in 1981 although I believe around that time he moved to Portugal and operated a bar on the Algarve. If anyone has any up to date information on him, please let me know.
Cheers Ron
Alvin Yule came up to the Stoke depot in a very old Volvo car which he parked in a corner of the garage.
I don’t know if it ever moved again!
bestbooties:
Alvin Yule came up to the Stoke depot in a very old Volvo car which he parked in a corner of the garage.
I don’t know if it ever moved again!
Would that have been early '81 when the two yards got raided simultaneously, Ian? Jeffrey told me that Alvin had just started back on the firm. I happened to walk straight into the yard in Mare Street when it was being raided and got detained by ‘old bill’ until I could prove that I had been living in Sweden for the previous four and a half years. They wouldn’t say what the raid was about and I only found out by speaking to Alvin on the phone afterwards. That was the last time I ever spoke to Alvin.
Ron
That’s right Ron,simultanious raids by Customs and the old bill.That was after Terry Cagein and my mate Ray Bailey were pulled in Dover by,“The Black Gang” and all hell broke loose!
Hi all.I remember Alvin in the mid 70s was always talking about having a hill farm in Wales,now Ron says that he went to Portugal to run a bar.I wonder what many of the ‘‘old drivers’’ done after driving.What was the dream that kept you going,and did you realise it 
I know some of them just retired in a cheaper land and live from their savings,but others started a business.
I know some still drive a bit and relax the rest of the time or have other interests.
Me,i drive a truck in a mine and keep reindeer.What do you do now Mike
hutpik:
Hi all.I remember Alvin in the mid 70s was always talking about having a hill farm in Wales,now Ron says that he went to Portugal to run a bar.I wonder what many of the ‘‘old drivers’’ done after driving.What was the dream that kept you going,and did you realise it
I know some of them just retired in a cheaper land and live from their savings,but others started a business.
I know some still drive a bit and relax the rest of the time or have other interests.
Me,i drive a truck in a mine and keep reindeer.What do you do now
Hi Mike
Me, I still drive but it’s a tanker nowdays on international routes. I think one of the biggest changes in this industry is the quality of the drivers… gone are the days when you didn’t drive past anyone in trouble… nowdays you’ve got to keep your backside in before you get run down… John
Hi John.I hope the job and life is treating you ok.It seems to me that the job has become more complex and difficult now[or maybe i’m just old].Driving to the M.E or Europe in the 70s,80s was full of stress and hard work but it still seemed easier,maybe because we were younger or it’s just ‘‘rose coloured specs’’,When i first moved up here i done the odd trip for Nor Cargo in the winter to Spain but as time goes on i feel less and less inclined to drive anywhere '‘long dist’'anymore.I drive ‘‘offroad’’ in the mine so no WTD or tachos.It’s strange how relaxing that feels.I drove out into the forest yesterday with my quad through a meter of snow to bring fodder to some reindeer.That was fun.Take care.Mike
Fascinating thread, anyone got any more stories to tell?
I remember being in the londra with derek gull on one trip, ashamed to say he paid for a few beers etc, then i gave him an envelope with real notes at the top and bottom, and newspaper in the middle…ha ha well couldnt resist it…remember simons when i worked for astran, 2 of the drivers after having breakfast, drove off with me cooker and pots and pans…went to the yard and geoff paid me there and then, and offered me a job with his firm in hopetown st/brick lane…i declined cos i was on the best firm there was. helped a couple of simons who got stuck on tahir, ended up pulling the trailers up the hill and going back for the units, one of the drivers had been stuck for a few days, and wouldnt backshish the grader driver, which is why he was there for so long, anyhow, turned out this young driver didnt even have a licence. but knew geoff who offered him a job…those were the days…i used to load nuts also from ordu, for mars at slough, if i couldnt get backloaded from teheran, used to got to Ahwaz quite a lot to deliver, used to stay in the Sanjar hotel, old chemiran road, so its nice to refresh the memories once again, as was said, the drivers dont even want to get out of their cabs today, too busy watching tv, oh what luxuries. I also worked with fred topham when he was with roy bradford, and was there when the bulgarians bought the company, and fred took over, roy stitched em right up. and soon was up and running again with the ford work from dagenham to haydrapasha, just over the bridge, i remember when we used to get the ferry, all the little kids walking alongside the trucks selling bread bagels etc…staying at topkapi…remember when red leader 1 ( alan woods ) negotiated with the new parking in istanbul, cos the londra was letting all the eastern bloc drivers stay for free, we were the first to stay at the new camp, where they had installed new showers, toilets, european and turkish ones, a restaurant where we could rip off the waiters, cos every beer, was marked on a beer mat, all we did was either lose the beer mat, or get another, and scribe the same way, only instaed of the original 10, it was only 3…ha ha what a laugh…gotta go now…be right back soon…i`m bob white…chalky…
rondavies:
Great to see the pic of Pat Seal and Alvin Yule. Just as well that I wasn’t in the photo too…there’s already more than enough hair! As Mike says, Pat was not overly impressed with the Marathon. There were three of 'em on the fleet. Two left hookers in Simons colours and a purple right hand drive one. I remember Pat and I both smoked ‘Old Holburn’ in those days in the 2oz tins. The ‘tailor mades’ we carried were for giving away, the Old Holburn was strictly for our personal use.
Yeah, Alvin was a big buddy of mine on Simons and I would love to make contact with him again. Not seen or spoken to him since a phone conversation in 1981 although I believe around that time he moved to Portugal and operated a bar on the Algarve. If anyone has any up to date information on him, please let me know.
Cheers Ron
My mate Vince had a left ■■■■■■ Marathon, that’s him on the right. Top man.
Hi,was at a party 2 sundays ago,in Essex,was talking to Peter Cox a school friend of Jeffs and also worked with him at his dads breakers yard in Christian street Stepney,his dad was Simon,he said a couple of years ago he had Dockland Tippers,Peter Hendersan has a stretched limo,does funerals,but has cancer.Terry
Hello Hutpik am I right in thinking it was you who was stuck in the Mocamp in Ankara in 1976 with a F89 waiting for repairs.
If so I’m the skinny bloke you gave a ride to up and down the dual carriageway when you got it fixed. I’m a 62 year old fat git now but thanks for the memory. I stayed away from Transport and went back to welding. Warmer!! Jim McCluskey jnr
