I’m afraid it’s back to home transport for this blog, but it’s important as it relates to future blogs coming up shortly. You may be aware from my days as a Fireman/Secondman that I purchased a Honda C90 a small motorcycle but reliable.
Well during my spell with Motive Power I did take my motorcycle driving test and whoopee I passed first time. Shift work was no longer a big issue for me now and I decided to go back to my “Rocker” days and traded in for a Norton 500cc Dominator. Smooth and speedy but like all British bikes it leaked oil. Never mind I had some great rides.
Back into my position as Assistant Technician working on the branch line I felt as if I needed a little more comfort and decided to trade my Norton for something very different. I’m sure you all know Dell boy. Well I followed in his steps and, yes, purchased a Reliant Robin van. At that time you could drive a Robin Reliant on a Motor Cycle Driving Licence. The trade-in was with a local garage in Redhill. What a journey that was, back to my home Town of Edenbridge fourteen miles away. I had never attempted to drive a car in my life but there it was-four gears, a clutch, footbrake and a steering wheel. How I drove it home I don’t know. It took me several weeks before I was OK driving it. Lucky enough I didn’t have any accidents- I saw hundreds though. I equipped the Robin with radio/tape and large loudspeakers in the back. I probably had my Robin for about three years. I have had several cars since Robin but I can honestly say I had more fun driving it than any of the others.
I remember a friend of mine travelling passenger with me. It was a a bit of a downhill drive but, with the steering wheel shaking I shouted, “Yes. Eighty miles an hour”. I managed to glimpse over to my friend who was not looking out of the window. His head was between his knees looking down on the floor. He told me he had stopped looking at sixty miles per hour. You know I think he was praying.
I certainly learned how to drive in Robin. You needed to drive 100%. Steering constantly throughout the drive, you couldn’t accelerate to negotiate bends, it had to be steered all the time. There was one thing that did sadden me though. I felt sorry for the poor hedgehogs who had learned when crossing the road at night to make sure they rolled up on the road between the headlights of approaching vehicles. That meant instant death if it was Robin.
This has just reminded me. If you remember my last blog involving my day fishing, well that’s how I hid my fishing rod from every ones view. Instead of catching the train into work that day I drove in with Robin. And yes, it was the one and only time my Technician was a passenger in Robin when we drove to the pond at Gomshall. It’s all coming back to me now. It was after this day that he kept prompting me to apply for promotion to the post of Technician. He was first to scan the vacancy list when it was posted.
I can see his face brighten up when he saw a vacancy for a Technician on the maintenance roster at Redhill. I applied for it and got it. And there was me thinking it was for my benefit. No I don’t think he could face another meet up with Robin.
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