top read nipper cheers mate 
I see Malcolm Hillage’s name came up in that story, there’s one of his Marathons in the 80’s thread.
Nipper you have made my day ■■■
Harry wuffy in the photo at the top left i would love to know where that character is now what a man, you don,t get drivers like that nowadays ,the dry rotherham crack and the tales that he could tell, he even looked like an arab because he was badly burned in a truck gas stove fire plus the beard,
Where is he at now i would love to know,
And also the picture of George at the national hotel in Belgrade, when george falls of the trolley he used to push around the bar was closed, and his knowledge of which girls to befreind and the ones to keep away from,
Some lads slag them days,
But we were truck drivers and stuck together through the weather, old trucks,borders and every crossing different,bandits(east Turkey),war zones (Iraq and Iran),crazy drivers (anywhere east of Austria)
Not nancys like the younger driver of today .
Well said Klunk.
GS
Big Al:
David’s son Ian runs a transport company at Red Scar Ind Estate ,Preston.He calls by my office from time to time and tells me tales of his Dad’s exploits on the Saudi Run. My favourite was of a driver of an Atki Borderer fitted with the chicken coup sleeper. He was parked up in Turkey on a bitterly cold night when
all the bolts and rivets snapped and the whole of the sleeper unit fell onto the chassis
Yeah I heard that one too!
klunk/■■■■■■■■
Nipper you have made my day ■■■
Harry wuffy in the photo at the top left i would love to know where that character is now what a man, you don,t get drivers like that nowadays ,the dry rotherham crack and the tales that he could tell, he even looked like an arab because he was badly burned in a truck gas stove fire plus the beard,
Where is he at now i would love to know,
And also the picture of George at the national hotel in Belgrade, when george falls of the trolley he used to push around the bar was closed, and his knowledge of which girls to befreind and the ones to keep away from,
Some lads slag them days,
But we were truck drivers and stuck together through the weather, old trucks,borders and every crossing different,bandits(east Turkey),war zones (Iraq and Iran),crazy drivers (anywhere east of Austria)
Not nancys like the younger driver of today .
When I had a drink with Alan Jones a few weeks ago,I asked him when he had last seen Wuffy,as the two of them were great mates,with Alan coming from up the road in Barnsley.He said the last time he’d seen him was about 15 years ago driving a skip loader in Rotherham.Don’t know if anyone has got more up to date info than that.
Thanks a wonderful story ,shame that they could not put them all
into a book and print it for sale so we could read and remember
how it was before every tom ■■■■ and harry started to cross the
water when the border controls finished
dieseldog6:
I see Malcolm Hillage’s name came up in that story, there’s one of his Marathons in the 80’s thread.
dieseldog anything to do with Hillages from coventry.
derek
Trucking… He’s one and the same, I got to know Malc when he ran the Oak Pub in Baginton still had his haulage outfit then had a tie up with Curtis’s, depot in Siskin Dr
dieseldog, did malcolm Hillage run tippers as well,I remember the name but not the trucks ,The only pub I remeber being in ,in Baginton was the Flying club, but I think it was that long ago they were still using Tiger Moths.
You mentioned Curtis of Siskin Drive,did you know Pete Thacker from Curtis and his brother Robbie,real character he was ,he got ■■■■■■■ with a removal firm in Bedworth where I used to live.
They had a yardW/house next to the “Engine Pub” (I think) in Marston Lane just up the road from where Bedwoth Haulage started off.
regards derek
Thanks Nipper for putting the Whittle article from Truck magazine on here. It must be 27 years or more since I read that but some of it I remember as clear as a bell, especially Mr Sadiq ih his Bedford TK going from Manchester to Pakistan! I used to drive one of them for Pickfords and they were certainly not built for distance and comfort!
Thanks also for those of you who posted replies about Duxburys - I was always keen to know about them having seen their truck on the news.
I didn’t pass my HGV 1 until 1979 (I was 21 then) so missed out on the real long distance driving but I always loved reading about it and the characters who adjusted to the life style of doing such trips month afer month. I probably wouldn’t have had the patience to do it. I once had to wait 6 days in Athens to clear a load of household furniture and whilst enjoying my time there (even getting into the local darts team for a match that week) it wasn’t profitable and the knock on effect of being late back to the UK to do other work made it even less so.
I suppose most drivers were paid trip money because if you were paid by the hour, the employer or contractor would soon go bust! And I’ll bet that if the drivers calculated every hour they were either driving or waiting around, their hourly wage would have been less than the poorest paid workers back home! Still, if money wasn’t your God, then what a fantastic way to earn a wage.
I did have two copies of the Cola Cowboys in the early 80’s but i lent them out and never got them back - how I now wish I hadn’t done that! However, reading some of the accounts from drivers on here does make up for it. Keep them coming. Thank you.
Trucking 482…Not sure about the tippers, the flying club was behind the Oak pub but that closed in the 60’s, Malc then moved his operation to Long Itchington where Jack Saunders used to be theres a name from the past, Malc’s daughter is on here somewhere.
Can’t say I knew any of the Curtis lads, but I did do 2 weeks for McNammara from Bedworth also knew Dave Barraclough, who went on for Simon Sergent.
GS OVERLAND:
Apart from Astran and DT,
Whittle used to be a major freight forwarder to Turkey and the Middle-East during the 80’s and I remember often bumping into and running and cancelling with plenty of the Owner Driver subbies.
The biggest job I remember Whittle doing was the Ankara pipe job.Everyone was pulling Whittle trailers !
Let’s see some Whittle pics.
I used to think that those tilts looked great.
There should be some good stories too.
GS
Here you are GS ,but a long way from Saudi.regards derek
