Bird's eye view
Page 49
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Pricey pheasants
at a life" might be a more appropriate han "Look at Life" for the latest film in popular Rank series, entitled A Load Of tsants. It tells the TIR story in glowing s that can only benefit the haulage stry in the eyes of the general public to n it will be shown.
te film follows an ERF /Baden refrigd outfit operated by Frigoscandia, of 's Lynn, carrying a load of pheasants Norfolk to Milan. It shows the driver his mate carrying out their normal s—almost equivalent to a year's planfor the average family motorist doing iame trip—and some excellent scenic -age of the route.
le sound track carries a commentary by an Carse (of Dick Barton special agent ) and some very realistic motor noises 2 all occur at the right time—which is than you can say for some films.
though Michael Keogh of Frigoscandia ed CM's Ron Cater that financially :rip was disastrous—film people not uring time with quite the same urgency ansport men—the end results should onderfully beneficial for the industry's
)wner-driver
to introducing the new Mercedesisgate 16 coach to the Press and public Williams, sales director of the Lancacompany that bears his name, decided ould give the vehicle a gruelling run in country. So he took it up to the Lake ict, and down came the snow in one of worst weekends of the past winter. rtheless he made a round trip of over niles, including several of the principal s. The new coach showed up well and, her, this strenuous going was included
3 average fuel consumption of 21 mpg has been quoted. Later consumption have returned 26 mpg on steady 40 running.
eware beasts!
the director of the ECE's inland )ort division gave his report to the iational Road Federation recently, on traffic conference in Vienna it was a 1.1 address with the usual sprinkling of like unification, harmonization and standardization. But it wasn't quite so straight-faced as one might think. Talking about the use of international symbols for road signs he remarked that in a few cases there could not be standardization, adding: "For example, the symbol for 'wild animals crossing' which prevails in Europe—a stag or deer—would be as inappropriate in countries where this kind of animal does not exist as, let us say, a sign depicting a kangaroo or a giraffe in Europe. Likewise, it might be contra-indicated to use the silhouette of a cow as a symbol meaning 'domestic animals crossing' in countries where this ruminant, because of its sacred character, is allowed to wander about at its own sweet will."
The Aussies have a phrase for it.
* Operator's cinema
Cinematography is an unusual line for a p.s.v. operator. But along with operating 24 service buses on stage carriage between Leyland, Preston and Chorley, having 11 coaches for excursions, tours and private hire, the Leyland family business of J. Fishwick and Sons run a travel agency and a public, licensed cinema. Films shown include travelogues, the cinema being above the travel agency in the building which was built to their specification four years ago.
Their interest in cinema extends to filmmaking. Recently they shot an excellent sound-accompanied cine-film showing the construction by an associated bodybuilding company, W. and H. Fowler, of a 12-seat luxury coach on a Ford Transit chassis. Not being just a converted van, the body is built piece by piece on to the skeleton chassis/cab and the film shows the skill of the local craftsmen. Fishwick's general manager, Mr. T. Wadeson told me that Leyland folk, so many of whom are involved with vehicle manufacture, are most appreciative of this and understand the technical niceties more than most.
* Court switch
A well-known face that will be seen no more in the traffic courts of the North Western area is that of Mr. J. Edward Jones. He has been appointed to the County Court Bench of the Northern Circuit. His quiet efficiency will be missed by the many operators he has represented over the years.
* Rodeo conductor
Bus conductor John Hughes of Swansea stopped his vehicle and, to the surprise of the passengers, mounted a horse and rode off.
No, it wasn't a Wild West show. Twentysix-year-old Mr. Hughes, employed by the South Wales Transport Company, had reacted quickly to save a dangerous situation on a busy main road. The horse he mounted was one of three which had been stampeded in the middle of the traffic by children throwing stones. It resulted in chaos among the Sunday afternoon traffic on the Mumbles Road.
For 10 minutes, the conductor became a rodeo rider. He chased the other two horses, caught them and tethered them. Then it was back to taking his fares, to cheers from his passengers—except one, that is. The complaint? The bus was delayed and would be late.
* Busy days ahead
The new Eastern area LA, H. E. Robson told colleague lain Sherriff that life's less hectic in Cambridge than it was in Leeds. However, he may be in for a busy time, because Keith Stainton, MP for Sudbury and Woodbridge, told Mr. Sherriff that in a few years Felixstowe will become Europe's biggest port. Perhaps he should drop Richard Marsh the hint—then we might see A13 become M13.
* Be reasonable
It was a "reasonably decent" night at Felixstowe last Friday—at least the Mayor, Ald. 0. S. Nunn, made it so when he addressed the RHA Eastern area annual dinner. "Give us decent vehicles, we will pay a decent price", he promised. He asked for regulations to be made reasonable and pleaded for a reasonable period of freedom from political interference.
The Mayor, himself an RHA member, was loudly applauded by the 350 who attended. One of the diners, Peter Miller from Ipswich, was out to prove that in East Anglia pleas were not a sign of weakness. After a 12-hour stint at his haulage business on Friday he danced until 2 a.m., returned to his office for six hours on Saturday and then went off to play rugby for the town. His team won 47-5.