Scotland and Back

This weeks podcast is a short rendidtion of my trip to Scotland with no less than 8 drops and the return trip with 12 drops.

To Scotland and Back

This weeks Route

Local work or not.

My podcast for last week

As You can see I have adopted a new format for my Weekly blogging.Incidentally the photos are from the the previous week. The first shot was taken close to the village of Broad Oak in Carmarthenshire, the second shot shows the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge over the river Avon at Brsitol, and the third shot shows a scene taken at another small village called Broad Oak, this time on the banks of the River Severn in Gloucestershire. I will try and include a selection of my weekly shots along with the Podcast narration, and comment on the shots as I go along with the podcast.This is a new way of doing things and I hope that you all like it. Feel free to leave a comment on how you feel it works or perhaps that it does'ent work.
I have done this on my Macbook on the road, which has a great piece of software called Garageband which allows you to compose your own music, make our own Podcasts,make your own music loops and lots of other things to do with music.
By carrying the Macbook on the road I can compose the podcast and then upload to the blog.
This weeks blog is a little sparse in content due to the shortage of photo's this week, so I had little to comment on along with my routing this week, but next week I hope to have a few more photo's
to show off, and talk about.

This weeks route

Contrasts

Port Talbot Deepwater Berth

Contrasts has been the theme this week with a visit to the centre of London on Monday and then up to the Derbyshire countryside, and then back to industry in the South Wales Valley's.
Sunday, and I made a late start at ALC. Late as I was only going east to London City. On a very chilly and overcast Sunday evening I made my way down the Afon Valley and then east on the M4 towards London to do a call at Westminster City Council's depot at Battersay, famed for no less than the Battersay Dogs home and of coarse the power station, now a listed building still awaiting its fate after many years of being decommissioned.
I opted for an overnight at a industrial estate in Kingston Upon Thames and make my way into the capitol in the morning. Monday morning and I was doing battle with the rest of the London craze's. driving an artic in London is a bit like the lottery, you know that if you go along with it then there is a chance that you will win and get through, but if you hesitate the you may may lose. work that one out. I managed to get to the yard in one piece, and get in ok, but I took about an hour to get myself out, due to the poor parking of the work force's cars in the yard, a lot of intricate maneuvering was called for by me, but with little guidance from an Irish gent and a lot of cawing of the when, plus shunting back and forth, I was out and don my way to my next call out at Sittingbourne in Kent. Still the weather insisted on producing a rather dull and overcast mood to the day, which only amplified my mood of despondency, brought on by my frustrating time at the Westminster Concil's yard plus a few poor driving moves, but onward and upwards. A trip under the River Thames next via the Dartford Tunnel, on my way to my last call of the day at Enfield at the bottom of the A10, on column to get off here and then North out of the grim and frustration's that London brings with it to the open spaces of Derbyshire.

Port Talbot Steel Works

A good nights peace and quite at Fabritec set me up for the next few calls from Paul. Tuesday and the traditional cup of the Paul Caffeine kicked me off with the local delivery and then down to Berkswell Nr Solihull in Birmingham and then over to Hollywood, not the real one I might add, I wish, bu a small village Nr the Staffordshire town of Stone,. By now the rain had started to fall, turning the day into a thoroughly miserable day. Plus I got stuck at the farm in Hollywood, which meant getting the tractor to pull me out of the muck at the side of the cowshed, and getting the lorry lined up for the entrance down the driveway, but all part of the big experience.
Some how I managed to get back to Paul's by three thirty and get loaded for the next two calls and by just after Five I was on my way to Hereford with a call on for a customer that I had visited about three weeks ago in the tiny hamlet of Whitestone Nr Hereford off the A4103. Hoever I still had to find a home for the night. I opted for the Welsh boarder town of Ledbury, which had two reasonable Industrial estate's, and I found a good layover point on the Lower Industrial estate, just off Leadon way.
By eight in the morning and I was tipping the six panels fro LRB Eng at Whitestone, and then making my way South via the M5 and A417 to the Buckinghamshire village of Kintburgh close to Hungerford. A stunning Little village, but not very suitable for a 44 foot artic with concrete panels on. I passed over two interesting crossings on the way into the village, one being the South west main rail link, linking London with Cardiff and the south west of Britain and the other interesting crossing was that of the Avon & Kennet Canal which runs from Bristol in the West to the River Thames, hence connecting two very important ports of years gone by, namely London and Bristol. On my return from the village I managed to tuck the lorry into a small piece of road close to the crossing's and get a photo's of the canal and the pretty little pub on the banks.

Kintbury

Wednesday afternoon and I was back in Fabritec loading for my final foray of the week to the Wales.
I experienced a very wet and noisy night close to the small Welsh hamlet of Cwmdu not far from Abergavenny on the English Welsh boarder. I was surrounded by nothing but miles of very wet welsh forest and not much else on the Thursday morning, whist polishing off my Sugar puffs and cup of tea. Off I went and did my first call at Buckets farmers supply company at Three Cocks close to Brecon. Then off further West to Llandysul close to Cardigan. I could see where the farm was but due to a new by pass being built around the town I could not get to it, I had t sit on the new roundabout and await the arrival of the farmer to guild mi up to the farm, easy when you know how.

Are We spoiling our planet

having finished paul's delivery's early I decided to take a tour of the Port Talbot steel works on my way up to ALC. I managed to get around the seaward side of the plant and get a few good shots of the beach and the cranes on the deepwater terminal that was empty.
And on I went up the valley to ALC expecting to be loading my next Scottish load on Friday, but no, only a small load for the South was ready, but I was penciled in for a load of plant matts from the plant hire company called Marwood in Bridgend. the matts were destined for a job running under the river Ex at Exminster close to Exeter. The job was for a pipeline to be driver 30 metre's under the river and the Matt's that were to make an acess road to the site.

Cranes Port Talbot

So Friday and rather that being at ALC and loading, I was making my way down the M5 to Exeter as I could, in the hope that I could get back the ALC by four to get my lift home. All was going well till the return trip, and I was held up in an eleven mile que that was the through back from a later accident at the Micheal Wood services six miles North of Bristol, and then to add insult to injury I was caught up in the Friday afternoon mass exodus to West Wales as I returned back through the road works around Cardiff and Newport. However I still managed to get back to ALC for just after Four and get my lift home in time for T to get to her work in time.
Its a complicated life, being an HGV driver with DS Jones & Sons

Out There Port Talbot Beach



This weeks Routing

Carmarthenshire farming

Carmarthenshire farming, originally uploaded by class 50.

I just love this image, even though I took it. It seems to be a slightly different angle on other stuff with the same subject.

Missed a week again

Torquay marina & Pier

last week I did'ent submit a post, but I felt that as there was little in the way of photographs to show for my travels I would not put keyboard to laptop. But as the week went on I did manage to produce some interesting shots.

Torquay

last week consisted of a some local work plus a visit to Torquay and Exeter, plus a very interesting stop at Popham Airfield in Hampshire, close to the M3 A303 junction. I noticed on passing the aircraft on the grass field and immediately quickly pulled the lorry into a small service area at the rear of the field, and made my way over to the field. I half expected to to be turfed out, but apparently they operate a policy of allowing enthusiasts to wander around, on the understanding that the don't interfere with the operation of the field. Popham is the home to the Spitfire flying club, well worth a visit for all you aviation enthusiasts out there.

Popham Planes

early on in the week I had a drop in the Dorset port of Poole, unfortunatly there was not much in the way of traffic in the port, and the weather was very flat and overcast, so not much in the way of photographic potential. However I did capture a shot of one of the few coasters operating in UK waters under the Red Duster.

the MV Lauren C at Poole

the visit to to Popham was prior to a run into Del Boy country. Peckham is not the place to be driving a 44 ton arctic in the rush hour, but onward I went like a brave little trucker.

In complete enviromental contrast to London I then made my way North to our friends in Derbyshire to collect some concreat panels destined for Warwickshire, and then home to Cymer in the Afon Valley.

A very Autumnal feel to this scene in rural Derbyshire

Last week was much more in the normal style. two drops in Scotland, namely Cumbernauld and Forfar. As there was only the two calls north of the boarder, I was able to get a quick turnround and head South again with no less than eleven calls of Steel from SPS in Bellshill. Here's a list.

Leyland Nr Preston, Wigan, Stockport, Cheadle, Wendesfield, Minworth, 2 in Yate, then 2 in Bristol and finally Avonmouth. having managed to collect on the Monday afternoon time was on my side. However father time turned against me on the Tuesday morning, when a lorry load of tar spilled all over the South bound carriageway on the M6 between Junction's 19 and 18, forcing me to make my south from my last Cheshire call at Stockport and my Birmingham calls via the A34 and several small villages slowing down the over congested roads. The roads of Britian seem to be getting worse for congestion now, than ever in the past. It seems that if there is a major motorway closure for any length of time, such as the M6 on the 13 October, it takes just about days for the traffic to get back to a normal flow. I tell you wha,t Henry Ford has a lot to answer for.

All in all I still managed to get my last call off in Avonmouth by the close of play on the Wednesday, and get over the Bridge to have a night at home.

Thursday and Friday were spent loading two trailers at ALC. One for me to take up to change with Carwyn at junction 17 on the M4, for him to deliver to the City Of Westminster Council, and the other then to go to Scotland with four calls. Unfortunately this trailer had to go out to the yard, however, out of missfortune, came fortune, and Friday being such a great day for photography, I managed a few interesting shots around the stunning Carmarthenshire countryside, which made up for my loss of a Friday afternoon at home with the family.

That only leaves me to tell you that next week See's me entering that dreaded lair of congestion called the centre of London with yet another load of poles for the City Of Westminster Council at Battersy, wish me luck, and as Scott, that intrepid explorer said, " I may be some time".

A very rare and pricless aircraft at Popham, a Yak 52

Week 1 Routing



Week 2 Routing


Photo of the trip


Waiting