• Some time ago retired haulier Norman Robinson wrote to
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CM to see if the Hawk could fix it for him to get back behind the wheel of a Leyland Daf. Back in 1938 he had two 3.5-tonne Leyland Lynxes which could manage 30mph on their trips between Liverpool, Edinburgh and Lancashire.
The veteran trucker has since driven a Leyland Daf 95 Series on a test track, and de scribes the difference as "unbelievable".
But what happened to the Robinson's beloved Lynxes?
Sad to say they were commandeered by the army to help the war effort — and no doubt did their bit. • Unemployed driver Trevor Uttley from Bradford had a spot of luck when he pulled over to the side of the road to spend a penny. He caught site of an old silver trophy lying in a ditch. The trophy had no inscriptions so he took it to the local police who tried unsuccessfully to trace the rightful owners. After 28 days the cup was returned to Uttley, whose children used it to store their toys. It was only after a story appeared in the local paper that they discovered it was the Rugby League World Cup, stolen from a Bradford hotel room in 1970.
The Rugby League has successfully negotiated for the return of the trophy. Uttley has agreed to return the cup in exchange for an invitation to attend future World Cup Rugby League matches as a guest.
It all goes to show that if you want to make a penny you have to spend a penny. • The poor old Department of Transport has been unfairly bullied by the environmental lobby in recent months for its road spending plans.
It has tried to respond by showing that it is as Green as the next Government department, with sudden announcements to switch funds to the railways and to landscape roadside verges with millions of trees.
Unfortunately the tree planting plan has badly misfired, since the Department has been planting the trees with peat.
Peat is highly valued by environmentalists because it is being removed from the world's bogs at a tremendous rate and it cannot be replaced.
Last year the DTp used a whopping 7,500 tonnes of the stuff in its attempt to look Green.
Transport Minister Robert Atkins is now looking for alternatives.