David Hall
often thinks that some things are meant to be, and this was the case after he
received a phone call from the family of a model collector in St. Austell.
David provided the price and a description of what he could do, as part of the
Vintage Lorry Funerals services including the aftercare package, however, he
heard nothing for 4 days.
But during
this time David saw:-
v
A Cornwall Transport lorry on the M4 heading
west.
v
A St Austell Brewery lorry that was delivering
into Trowbridge.
v
The vehicle that delivers coal into homes in Bradford-on-Avon is owned by a Cornish company
v
Peter Davies,
who is known to David, wrote an article in Classic & Vintage Commercials
about the Rowe Hillmaster lorries, that were built in Dobwells, Liskeard, from
1954 to 1962.
Consequently it was no surprise
when David received a phone call from a Funeral Director in St.
Austell to book the Leyland Beaver. Both sides of David’s Father’s Family had
originated in Cornwall from Tin mining villages
less than 10 miles apart and both families then migrated up to the Durham
Coalfield when the tin ran out in Cornwall.
So David has always had an affinity with the area, and although he had never
been there before, he had sent Lorry Drivers with refrigerated cargos to the
county many years ago from Lowestoft in East Anglia. One driver by the name
of Barry Galer was more often than not on his way to Cornwall on a Sunday pulling trailer 391 loaded with frozen chickens and
vegetables on a run that lasted two days and then a reload of Ice Cream from
Okehampton. When David was planning out the route to St Austell he knew the
bulk of the journey would be on the A30, however, he was shocked to find that
the road down to St Austell is in fact, the A391.
The journey down to St. Austell is featured in the previous blog.
David Hall arrived at Kwikfit and found that
repair work to their car park had restricted access into the garage. The
builders working on a house opposite the Kwikfit yard stopped work and watched
the Leyland Beaver slowly turn into the yard whilst David reversed, taking
great care not to touch the parked cars or the metal posts that held up the plastic
ribbon left by the workmen who had laid the tarmac. An hour and a half was then
spent washing the lorry before putting it into the MOT bay.
David then walked to the
Cornerways Guest House which is run by Peter Marsh who was most interested in
the activities of the Leyland Beaver. Peter owns a Lancia 1923 car which was
the first chassis-less car ever built and he pulled back the dust cover,
delighted to show David his wonderfully kept car. Peter gave David a very quiet
room and made him a superb breakfast in the morning.
The night
before the funeral David was picked up by Stacey, the Funeral Director, and he
was given a tour of all the locations to be visited the following day. It was
pointed out that children were buried in unmarked graves next to the roadway in
Campdown Cemetery and that he should use great
care to avoid them.
The Leyland
Beaver was parked on the steep hill outside the Funeral Directors and a number
of cars stopped to see the Lorry, whose metal wings on the cab front were
reflecting the morning sun and the St. Piran’s flag, which was on the
headboard, drew lots of attention. The staff of the Funeral Director were
amazed how easily it was to load the coffin and that no one was needed to climb
onto the deck to help David.
The road to
the house was narrow by normal standards, however, it was wide by Cornish
standards, and the diminutive turning circle near the house created its own set
of challenges. Outside the house a number of people took pictures and commented
how appropriate the wooden ‘Model Box’, positioned at the head of the coffin
was, as the Deceased had a model collection thought to contain up to 7500
items.
As the
Leyland Beaver started to reverse into the driveway of the Mount Charles
Methodist Church
the traffic was building up along the main road. It was a particularly
challenging reverse to get between two stone pillars at an angle and then twist
around into the drive, which would mean that the Leyland Beaver would have to
come very close to one of the pillars. Two of the Funeral Director’s staff
offered to watch David reverse safely into the driveway but when he made his
first approach as soon as the Leyland Beaver got close to the nearside pillar
both men told him to stop. When someone is guiding a Lorry Driver and tells him
to stop, then he must stop as there may be some situation that he can’t see,
like a young child that has broken free of their Mother’s grasp. David made a
second and a third attempt and the same thing happened but David was confused
because he knew that the lorry would go between the pillars although it would
be only an inch from one of the pillars. An inch is too close for the
uninitiated, however, Lorry Drivers know that an inch clearance is no problem
provided it doesn’t get any smaller.
David was
frustrated, the traffic was gridlocked and in desperation he touched the
picture of his late Grandson which is held above the windscreen and asked for
his help. Suddenly a young man in his working clothes got out of a car,
approached the Leyland Beaver and said, ‘These Funeral
(expletives) are leading you a merry (expletive) dance. I know what you are
trying to do and I’ll watch you. These Funeral (expletives) are (expletive)
scared that you will hit a pillar, but you won’t because that old girl has got
a tremendous lock.’
David then
followed the instructions of the young man, whose colourful language had
shocked some of the mourners waiting to get into the church, and in no time the
Leyland Beaver was safely in the driveway. The young man shook David’s hand
before jumping back into his car which was by now the cause of the gridlock.
Traffic on the
approach road to Campdown
Cemetery came to a
standstill for no apparent reason and with no traffic coming in the other
direction, David got out of the cab and spoke with two young ladies who were
walking towards him. They explained that a car had been abandoned near the
entrance to the cemetery which had no road fund tax so it was being lifted off
the street. David relayed the information to the Family in the limousine behind
who thought it was hilarious, however, Stacey, the Funeral Director, used her influence
so that that car was loaded but then secured later down the road ensuring that
the cortege could now enter the cemetery.
Getting into
the cemetery involved spinning the Leyland Beaver on a sixpence, turning
through 90 degrees in less than 20 feet. Care was taken to avoid the graves of
children next to the roadway and the Deceased was laid to rest in an idyllic
spot.
On the way home David stopped at
Woody’s Diner for a cup of tea and used the toilets before heading home,
refuelling at Sainsbury’s Frome. On the journey back David reflected on the
help he had received during the funeral and he thought about his late Grandson
and Barry Galer who had also passed away. Since the 1970’s David had exchanged
Christmas Cards with Barry Galer and had met him twice after he had to finish
driving due to ill health.
