bird's eye view by the Hawk • Detection before crime
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Co-operation between Vehicle Observer Corps and Air Call, the national radio telephone organization (announced earlier this year in CM) is beginning to pay off.
It is nothing unusual for Jack Brown, managing director of Atlas Express, to spot stolen vehicles. He has now chalked up 16 to his credit but the 16th must surely have been the strangest one of all.
When he left home one morning recently JB switched on his Air Call unit with the usual inquiry: "Have you any VOC calls?" There was a report of a stolen vehicle and in the accustomed manner the operator relayed vehicle registration number, make and description. Within 10 minutes JB was reporting the vehicle's location.
The reason for this super-detection was that following his usual office to home route the previous evening, he had noticed a "stranger" parked at the side of the road. Jack explains that drivers are creatures of habit and normally park their vehicles in the same place each night so that they become part of the scene. A strange vehicle stands out from the rest.
His subconscious noted the details of the stranger which turned out to be the stolen vehicle reported to him next morning.
• Foreign parts
1 hat was quite a gathering in Penrith last week for the opening of Scotts' new service depot; not only was Seddon's chairman, Harry Redmond, there to make a rousing opening speech, but Hugh Gardner, chairman of Gardner Engines, was among the distinguished guests. He was in great form, and told me that the eight-cylinder engine was really going extremely well.
One of the topics of conversation among some of the guests after the opening was the cost of spares for imported trucks— it was felt that operators were now running into the period when the Scandinavians, for example, had been long enough in service to start needing replacements. Are their spares really as expensive as some people would have me believe? It would be interesting to get some documented figures, with prices of equivalent British spares for comparison.
There is also someone with a sense of humour and a steady hand among the Scotts staff at Penrith. The depot is in a converted BR warehouse, in which one of the relics includes a sign that reads: "No member of the staff may walk through the warehouse at any time unless the capstan control lever is in the off position." When you look closer, you see that the heading on this cast-iron plate now reads London Midland and Scotts Railway and that the same deft hand has altered the "by order" signature to P. I. Clarke—who is the company's m.d.
• Silver bearings
You, too, can be an expert on old silver— at least to the extent of identifying pieces through their hallmarks, thanks to the Skefko Ballbearing Co. And all because of a nice tribute from a customer.
It seems that a short while ago a user remarked that he had always looked upon the Skefico trademark as something like the hall marks applied to silver. No sooner had the thought been expressed than the company had the bright idea of producing a book on the hallmarking and history of British silver —and beautifully produced it is too. So if, like me, you can't afford the real stuff, but nevertheless are interested in knowing how it is identified, you may care to drop a line to Skefko's public relations department at Luton.
• Wreckers
There was a time when a wrecker was one of those crafty coastal purveyors of the come-on, and they do say that in some remote parts the old game of luring vessels onto the rocks with an eye to the booty is still practised. But in our terminology, a wrecker is a recoVery vehicle or, by association, the people involved in the business.
Recently, some of them have formed Wreckers International Club to provide a forum for the trade. William Connolly writes from the Hanger Motor Co in Birmingham with great enthusiasm, urging folk to join. Anyone interested might care to drop a line to the hon. sec., Mrs Maureen Moles, DialHolmes (England) Ltd, Ware Road, Hertford.