THREE subjects form the basis of this month’s editorial comment and they are, in order, endeavour, charity and a slight error. The endeavour bit comes about as a result of a feature we carried in the November issue on a 1970 Bedford TK eight-wheeler that’s still working in Sheffield, New Zealand. Owner Tom Morris has family origins in rural Gloucestershire and obviously likes to maintain his links with Britain, hence, he runs the Bedford. He has continued a patriotic theme with his latest truck, a 1988 Foden S108, which he will use to transport his grain, and the Bedford is now up for sale.
We reported that fact in our feature and thought little more of it. After all, New Zealand is a fair way away. Remarkably we were approached by a couple of potential buyers, both from England, and they were serious about getting hold of the Bedford. It wouldn’t be fair to reveal their identity, so we won’t, but suffice to say that it looks as if one of them is going to travel to NZ and drive the old girl back. OK, the Bedford is extremely rare and at the moment, there is only one in the UK, but travel to New Zealand and then drive it home? Come on, that really takes enthusiasm, eh?
Now for the charity bit. A calendar has been produced featuring photos from last year’s East to West Historic Commercial Vehicle Road Run, north of the border, and proceeds from its sale will be donated to the British Heart Foundation A full report appears in this issue and it is mentioned here, too, so that the effort gets maximum publicity. I personally believe that it’s totally disgusting that charity should even have to exist when so much public money is wasted on film stars, pop stars, footballers, political causes and a lot of other worthless tripe. But charity does exist, so we support it whenever we can.
A slight error? Well, there has been a mix-up in the numbering of the magazines. Basically, Volume 14 started in September, 2008 and that was issue number one. Volume 14 should have ended in August, 2009, at issue number 12. September, 2009 should have been Volume 15 issue number one and so on, but it has been numbered incorrectly. The numbering is back to what it should be this month – that is, Volume 15 issue number five. There is a highly-technical reason for all this – I mucked it up. Please be charitable towards me, I’m only human(ish).
Until the next time, keep it classic and all that business.

Ted Connolly