FRIENDS AND FAMILY REMEMBER BOB PAUL
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Ashley Coghill builds a picture of the great man
I knew Paul for only two years but it soon became apparent what a wonderfully warm and likeable person he really was. We became good friends in the short time that I knew him as I researched my book, The Long Haul Pioneers. I also met and interviewed most of his old drivers and all of them had exactly the same things to say about him. “One in a million”, “an extraordinary man”, “more like a father than a boss” – the list goes on. During his time as transport director, Paul never had the need to advertise for employees, it was all done through word of mouth. He was an excellent judge of character and as he had done the job, he was well aware of what type of person he wanted. “I could always work out very quickly whether I was being bull""""ted or not and believe me, I’ve dealt with a few bull""""ters in my time,” Paul told me with a wink. Not surprisingly, he quickly weeded out the unsuitable candidates. Paul referred to his drivers as ‘my boys’ and told me what a good bunch of loyal employees they were. “Without their dedication and loyalty, we wouldn’t have got anywhere.”
I asked one of them, Terry Tott, what it was about Bob Paul that made him such a good boss: “There was something special about Bob. He was a pleasant man to deal with and a proper friend to us all. He’d think nothing of taking us to the pub after a long trip either to celebrate a job well done, or to console us if we’d had a particularly rough trip. There were no airs and graces with him, he was just like one of the lads, but we always knew exactly where we stood with him. There was total respect and that worked both ways. We all loved him.” It was a sad and emotional day in 2010 when I was given the news that Paul had passed away. My own memories of the great man will last forever and I feel very honoured that I was able to meet and befriend him. I am very proud of my achievements in document ing the history of Astran and getting Paul’s blessing on a job well done.
Speaking to Paul’s daughter Anna, I asked her about her father: “When we were growing up, life was filled with stories about Astran, particularly the adventur ous early days, which were dad’s favourite. Reading the book [see main article] has brought so many of the memorable tales back to us. We recognised almost all of them and all the fantastic characters that were such a big part of dad’s life.
“After we lost him, it was especially satisfying to see the many tributes from all his colleagues and friends in the truck driving and haulage industry. It is clear just what a respected person dad was and it has brought home to us just how iconic Astran has become and just what a big part of that was due to our dad. Seeing him through his employees’ eyes and their stories in the book has been a real privilege.
“As a family, we’re all extremely proud of dad and of everything he achieved in his lengthy career. It’s been wonderful to find out that so many others are as well.”