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Afghan bound
Page 101
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I wonder if you remember the reports from the British Everest Expedition when Chris Bonington and his men took two Godfrey Davis vehicles through the Khyber Pass and some of the "sporting" tribesmen used them for target practice? Well, if you do, it seems that some of the students at Manchester University don't. Or perhaps they do but couldn't care less, because they are preparing to set off on the Hindu Kush expedition which will take them out to Afghanistan and back.
But they are lucky, it seems, by nature, so let's hope their luck will hold. Last week they found themselves in a strange situation of having to do the 11,000-mile run without a vehicle. Then in stepped Securicor and gave them the choice of one of their Transits from their parcel fleet.
Having loaned a vehicle to a similar expedition from Cambridge last year Securicor have found little difficulty in carrying out the necessary modifications. Their normal dark blue livery will be converted to white to reflect the heat of the sun; a larger radiator, additional heating, lighting and ventilation will be installed to meet the extreme conditions over the 11,000 miles.
The vehicle leaves next Friday, June 24, and among its sponsors are the Duke of Devonshire, BBC TV Northwest, Greater Manchester Council and the Mount Everest Foundation.
The exhibition will take two weeks to reach the Afghan capital of Kabul and no doubt along the route will pass many homeward-bound British lorries.
There was a ,;me when this would ha\ e been something of a great pioneering expedition, but I get the feeling they'll meet so many fellow Lancastrians with Marathons, "Transcontis," F88s, 110s and 2800s that they'll wonder if they've managed to leave the UK at all.