HELLO HELLO HELLO!!! I’m back!! We have computer life back in the house. Apologies to all my lovely readers. Hopefully I’ll get some posts on this week to keep you all keen as custard!

Right as Truckfest weekend has just finished (probably the best weathered one we’ve had in years), i thought I’d roll the years back a bit, not quite sure how many though, any ideas??? Do you all remember the big red Western Star that was Lady Louise? This beautiful truck was owned  by my dad’s good friend Geoff Byford, there’s the link. On her first trip to Truckfest back in 198*?? i went along on the Friday for the ride, press and polishing. Usually as a boy i used to go to Truckfest as my annual birthday treat, but on the Friday morning before the show on this particular year i was woken early by my dad, to be told i wasn’t going to school. We headed up to Barrow, Suffolk to where CDC and Geoff’s house where Lady Louise was waiting. I was allowed to travel up to Peterborough in the passenger seat of the big Western Star. On arrival at the showground we had to wait at the gate for a hi-viz type to come and take us off to meet Anglia TV and and the waiting press.

The one picture and thing many of you retro American truck experts may not have seen is Lady Louise when she was fresh in from Alaska in her original colours. As it goes i quite like the original, as it looks like she has just finished a long hard trip on the Ice Road or some thing!

This pic was taken when my parents went to the Byfords for dinner and this was parked outside the window so mother had to get a picture before she left. I think the new red livery and yellow sign writing was based on the original sign writing, it seems very similar. Also as another note, in either livery i thought the truck always looked better with open rear axles, as later i full set of polished mud-wings were added, no doubt to keep the authorities happy. I ended up actually doing a lot with Lady Louise over the next few years while Geoff owned her. One summer was spent rolling endless posters to be sold at the truck shows to help raise funds for charity, so if you bought a poster of Lady Louise it was more than likely rolled by my fair hands. One of my rolled posters even appeared on Blue Peter! Do you have any pics of Lady Louise you want to send me? if so email me, ben@truckblog.co.uk