Lorry Day: Lorrytopia ( A late morning on Watling street )

This post was intended to chronicle my journey from our base in Broughton and up the A5, famously known as Watling Street.

And it is, but what lay in wait at the end of a short but interesting journey is much more interesting.

This is were the boys from Top Gear play all their silly games.

A Wonderful classic car, Its much more fun off the motorway network.

The Sat nav kept telling me to take the blue signs ,but I kept it green.

Just Say No!

It wasn't fast, just blurry.

The Toll Road in Green on the sat nav £10 in a truck and the A5 runs right next to it.

Not open for lunch it should say.

This is what I was missing, the M6

I think I have found Lorrytopia !

It started out pretty badly because as is usually the case, I was emotionally prepared for the worst and had on my gruff face and attitude, when the foreman told me I wasn't booked in until 3 . 15 and to park at the side of the bays.

It was 12 o clock.

I wasn't best pleased and was preparing to accelerate out as fast as the limiter on my 12 tonne euro cargo would let me, when he mentioned the canteen.

I had already visited another RDC at Manton wood earlier on that morning with less than desirable facilities and this one had posted signs all around the goods in windows saying drivers no longer allowed to use the canteen because of insurance.

It is typical that just when the tar is out and the brush is well and truly soaked, you have to clean a tiny piece off and change your opinions slightly.

I was grateful to the foreman, thanked him and wandered round to the canteen.

Did I say canteen? I meant to say Restaurant.

It was really rather grand. I was sent to reception and issued with a pass and informed where the toilets and showers were, then I was invited to use the restaurant.

It was clean and bright and friendly and the food looked and smelt genuinely very good. It was busy and had a bustle about the place that helped form an opinion that this was a good and popular place to eat.

There was also a good mix of employees and that seemed to add to the genial atmoshphere.

I chose sweet and sour chicken and a jam tart with custard.

It came up to the grand total of£3.10.

It tasted great but it did more than fill my appetite, it restored my faith, in one company at least.

It made me think about another company in the news today. Carlsberg in Denmark.
The workers are going on strike because management have stopped them helping themselves to drinks while they work and have limited them to just one can a day at lunch instead.
Can you Imagine that? Just one can. The poor exploited workers.

I don't remember my brother being given free packets of crisps at the Walkers crisps factory when he worked his night shift but maybe he was too busy working to take advantage of the "perks" of the job.

Even the drivers are striking. Their trucks are fitted with alcometers that prevents the truck starting if you have excess alcohol in your breath but they are still demanding to be able to drink whenever they want at work!

Earlier I wrote a tweet called "probably the best strike in the world"

And then I imagined a truck stop at Carlsberg would probably carry the famous line from the advert
"If Carlsberg did truckstops ... They'd probably be the best truckstops in the world " But they do, and there not.

Some pictures of the rest of the week.