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[STEMO]

Oh god - that brings back horrible memories. Wrote that one off when the roof seams rotted away over the cab.
Finally got a Viva van which lasted me until as a Technical Officer on Exchange mtce we were allowed to use our cars with a paid allowance instead of a van. This carried on for me until promotion to the dizzy heights of management.

I didn't like exchange maintenance, UG or OH, subs maintenance all the way for me. United Biscuits had a fickin huge PABX and you could go missing for days in there. They had a subsidised canteen in there and you could get a very decent two course lunch for less than a bob. I should have made TO by the time I was 30, but I decided the Royal Signals was the job for me.

[YZ250]

We had Bedford CF automatics in the LAS went extremely well and slammed into reverse gear whilst moving forward had a marvellous wheelspin.

We had a runway to play on, so you can imagine the silliness that went on behind the wheel 
and the lunchtime wheelie record attempts on our motorbikes. 

[Rangie]

Saturday nights in Croydon were the best a race from casualty to see who could return to base the quickest, daft really mind I was just a youngster then.

[STEMO]

An abomination, attempting a gear change was normally more successful from the rear, it was like mixing a bucket of plaster🤣

My Austin 1100 was exactly like that.

That's down to broken mounts for the remote gearlever. Which doesn't do the engine mounts any good either. 1100s with all the fittings in good order have the best gearchange of any gearbox-in-sump FWD A-series.

Yes, the engine used to try and rotate 45° when you dropped the clutch.

[YZ250]

Oh god - that brings back horrible memories. Wrote that one off when the roof seams rotted away over the cab.
Finally got a Viva van which lasted me until as a Technical Officer on Exchange mtce we were allowed to use our cars with a paid allowance instead of a van. This carried on for me until promotion to the dizzy heights of management.

I didn't like exchange maintenance, UG or OH, subs maintenance all the way for me. United Biscuits had a fickin huge PABX and you could go missing for days in there. They had a subsidised canteen in there and you could get a very decent two course lunch for less than a bob. I should have made TO by the time I was 30, but I decided the Royal Signals was the job for me.

Crikey, that takes me back. I remember when my mrs used to buy a big box of cheap broken biscuits when she worked for them.    That was some years back.

[STEMO]

Oh god - that brings back horrible memories. Wrote that one off when the roof seams rotted away over the cab.
Finally got a Viva van which lasted me until as a Technical Officer on Exchange mtce we were allowed to use our cars with a paid allowance instead of a van. This carried on for me until promotion to the dizzy heights of management.

I didn't like exchange maintenance, UG or OH, subs maintenance all the way for me. United Biscuits had a fickin huge PABX and you could go missing for days in there. They had a subsidised canteen in there and you could get a very decent two course lunch for less than a bob. I should have made TO by the time I was 30, but I decided the Royal Signals was the job for me.

Crikey, that takes me back. I remember when my mrs used to buy a big box of cheap broken biscuits when she worked for them.    That was some years back.

If only I knew what a great time I was having at the time. But we don't, it's only when we look back. Life was so simple. Have fun at work, get paid, have fun at the weekend. Repeat. Sigh.....

[Rangie]

Oh god - that brings back horrible memories. Wrote that one off when the roof seams rotted away over the cab.
Finally got a Viva van which lasted me until as a Technical Officer on Exchange mtce we were allowed to use our cars with a paid allowance instead of a van. This carried on for me until promotion to the dizzy heights of management.

I didn't like exchange maintenance, UG or OH, subs maintenance all the way for me. United Biscuits had a fickin huge PABX and you could go missing for days in there. They had a subsidised canteen in there and you could get a very decent two course lunch for less than a bob. I should have made TO by the time I was 30, but I decided the Royal Signals was the job for me.

Crikey, that takes me back. I remember when my mrs used to buy a big box of cheap broken biscuits when she worked for them.    That was some years back.

If only I knew what a great time I was having at the time. But we don't, it's only when we look back. Life was so simple. Have fun at work, get paid, have fun at the weekend. Repeat. Sigh.....

. 


Like you Steve I often think I've had a charmed life , certainly couldn't get away now with a lot of the things that were said & done , fun times indeed.

[Doctor Gollum]

We had Bedford CF automatics in the LAS went extremely well and slammed into reverse gear whilst moving forward had a marvellous wheelspin.

Manual diesel LWB Mk3 Transits were very good for that, especially on wet greasy concrete. All fitted with nudge bars too Used to race Servisair baggage tugs around Pier 2 at night.

Can't do that with the modern electric ones... Progress 

[Varche]

My favourite Post Office Telephones stories relate to vehicle radios.

Fleet vehicles didnt have a fitted radio so my friend used to take his transistor radio with him on the passenger seat.ne day he was fiddling with the tuning and ran off the road. Official accident report read swerved to avoid animal.

I remember well going out “ on business” to Hungarton exchange for the first time in my mini fitted with an 1100 engine. We all had all initialled a decree saying you wouldn’t listen to a radio whilst out on official business as “ it interfered with thought process”. Needless to say I had the windows open with something belting out of a tadged up radio and speaker from a scrapyard.

My first boss started life as a PO delivery at Burton on Trent. One day going over the bridge his packages jolted off his motorbike. A following lorry ran over them, including a fresh chicken. In those days poultry just had an address label attached to a leg. He delivered it by feeding it through the customers letter box and then scarpering….

[wingman]

My happiest days were as a linesman in a country area and then as a TO on exchange mtce in the same area looking after a couple of UAX13s, a SAX, a small non director and a couple of TXE2s.
In this current weather I well remember as a linesman dropping a pair of 8 inch pliers from the top of a pole into a snow drift at the bottom of it. Despite a clear mark being made where they fell it was impossible to locate them until the next spring!!! I also remember knocking Ice off 70lb copper wires with tree rods to prevent them drooping at a height of 6 foot over the road due to the weight of the ice accumulated on them.
The mechanics at our depot were in general a good bunch with a good sense of humour that I got on well with and as a result got good service and favours from them but it did pay not to get on the wrong side of them as one of my colleagues found out. He had been complaining of having a flat battery on his Moggie van. That may well have been true, but due to his past run ins with the mechanics he returned to his own car one afternoon to find it would not start or even turn over. On lifting the bonnet he found that instead of a battery there was a 8" by 12 " piece of black painted wood about an inch thick with battery terminals and filler caps glued to it to resemble a battery and with the words "FLAT BATTERY" written on it. Only after much winging did he get his own battery back!
He did not annoy the mechanics in future!
Oh happy days 

[cam.in.head]

hi. the sight of that ital van certainly brings happy memories for me too.my dad used to drive one for telecom and he said it was a capable vehicle although not as good as the sucession of viva ha van he used yo use previously. thats a vehicle which i can only dream of owning now as the prices for good ones have gone through the roof like many a classic vehicle.
thanks for posting it up .

[TheBoy]

We had Bedford CF automatics in the LAS went extremely well and slammed into reverse gear whilst moving forward had a marvellous wheelspin.

I ripped reverse out of a (manual) transit doing that at one of our TXE2's, as it was easier than a 3 point turn.  Used to do it every day, right up until the point reverse stopped working.  Surprisingly all other gears remained working.

Fortunately, it was due to be replaced about 4 weeks after, so just made do without reverse

[TheBoy]

Oh god - that brings back horrible memories. Wrote that one off when the roof seams rotted away over the cab.
Finally got a Viva van which lasted me until as a Technical Officer on Exchange mtce we were allowed to use our cars with a paid allowance instead of a van. This carried on for me until promotion to the dizzy heights of management.

I didn't like exchange maintenance, UG or OH, subs maintenance all the way for me. United Biscuits had a fickin huge PABX and you could go missing for days in there. They had a subsidised canteen in there and you could get a very decent two course lunch for less than a bob. I should have made TO by the time I was 30, but I decided the Royal Signals was the job for me.

Crikey, that takes me back. I remember when my mrs used to buy a big box of cheap broken biscuits when she worked for them.    That was some years back.

Mum used to work there, on and off, and also brought home broken biccies and individual pizzas that weren't up to snuff for M&S...

[Rangie]

We had Bedford CF automatics in the LAS went extremely well and slammed into reverse gear whilst moving forward had a marvellous wheelspin.

I ripped reverse out of a (manual) transit doing that at one of our TXE2's, as it was easier than a 3 point turn.  Used to do it every day, right up until the point reverse stopped working.  Surprisingly all other gears remained working.

Fortunately, it was due to be replaced about 4 weeks after, so just made do without reverse

. 


Never ever broke anything on the CFs then they changed to Leyland  V8s went like stink but when it came to stopping your heart was in your mouth !

[Lizzie Zoom]

That lovely green Morris really does take me back to some happy days.

To think of them reminded me when there were only two cars parked in our long road, along with an A30 butchers van.

It also reminds me that my parents didn’t have home phones, and the GPO kept people waiting for up to a year if they wanted one. No competition, and eventually when my parents were able to get a home phone in 1965, they waited 9 months.  Just long enough for my father to retire from the Royal Navy and for there to be little need for the line! But seeing the GPO van outside when they installed it made my parents feel they had arrived!

Great days