Discussion
BMR said:
I was driving on the M6 through Cumbria when the news broke of the shootings. I was miles away but still it sent a chill Down my spine.
I lived in beckermet at the time.The odd thing was the arrival of the media. Drank Just about every pub and hotel I the area dry overnight.
I knew Bird, he was a complete nonentity. Horrible.
I was playing golf in Spain when a landslide started on the scrubland bordering the fairway we were on.
Seen the start of Sexy Beast?
A bloody great boulder came out of nowhere and it was only the fact it clipped the top of a wall bordering the course, which sent it over our heads, that saved us.
Seen the start of Sexy Beast?
A bloody great boulder came out of nowhere and it was only the fact it clipped the top of a wall bordering the course, which sent it over our heads, that saved us.
Did you wear your helmet? Benmac said:
Mikebentley said:
As a kid was on the Herald of Free Enterprise within 24hrs of the disaster.
We may have crossed paths. My family and I were on the corresponding sailing to the one that sank the day before the disaster.Few years ago we visited Athens for a Parthenon/City sightseeing trip from a resort. We left Athens mid day and returned to the resort on Zante. Went into the hotel straight off the bus for a drink. Saw on TV an incident and recognised the place where we had been. Earthquake 2 hours after we left and a few deaths from a neighbouring building collapse.
A couple I remember, sometime in the late 80s, following a colleague up the motorway one very foggy morning. Very limited visibility and I was trying to keep up as he had the directions of where we were going. I suddenly realised he was braking very hard, I managed to stop just in time to avoid hitting him and the three or four cars that were already sideways across the whole carriageway. Looking in my mirror all I could see was cars and lorries crashing into each other and all I could hear was cars skidding and the sound of vehicles hitting each other. One of the cars at the front moved so we left, but we later heard over 120 vehicles were involved. A minute or so later and we would have been in the middle.
The other I was a passenger in a van when the driver lost control, got two wheels on the verge, over corrected and managed to barrel roll the van about 100 yards down the road. We both walked away uninjured but the van was destroyed, I think if someone had been coming the other way we would have been dead, if we hadn't had a large metal drain rod frame wedged behind the seats the roof have been flattened completely and if the back doors hadn't burst open the piles of tools would probably have hit us instead of going out the door. I always remember crossing a ditch upside down and a sapling hitting the windscreen in front of me.
There were probably others but those stick in my mind.
The other I was a passenger in a van when the driver lost control, got two wheels on the verge, over corrected and managed to barrel roll the van about 100 yards down the road. We both walked away uninjured but the van was destroyed, I think if someone had been coming the other way we would have been dead, if we hadn't had a large metal drain rod frame wedged behind the seats the roof have been flattened completely and if the back doors hadn't burst open the piles of tools would probably have hit us instead of going out the door. I always remember crossing a ditch upside down and a sapling hitting the windscreen in front of me.
There were probably others but those stick in my mind.
To set the scene, while living in Hong Kong, I used to visit Kamala Beach, Phuket every Christmas for 8 years. Arriving a week before the festivities, I would pick up my bike and tour for 5 day’s before returning Christmas eve and staying until the day after boxing day, then another 5 day’s touring and back for New years eve.
Usual routine was, a leisurely breakfast at restaurant across the road on the beach at 09:00, then off for a hike, afternoon on the beach, followed by dinner and a few beers.
In mid December 2004 I completed on the purchase of an apartment, which needed furnishing all bespoke and decorating, not bespoke because I’m loaded (because it was so small, 560 sq ft) how long could it take to do this. One week I thought, but I was wrong, it took far more time than I anticipated. Therefore, a week before Christmas I faced a dilemma, finish the apartment or fly out to Phuket, I decided to press on and finish the apartment..
Boxing day I awoke, switched on my computer!
Usual routine was, a leisurely breakfast at restaurant across the road on the beach at 09:00, then off for a hike, afternoon on the beach, followed by dinner and a few beers.
In mid December 2004 I completed on the purchase of an apartment, which needed furnishing all bespoke and decorating, not bespoke because I’m loaded (because it was so small, 560 sq ft) how long could it take to do this. One week I thought, but I was wrong, it took far more time than I anticipated. Therefore, a week before Christmas I faced a dilemma, finish the apartment or fly out to Phuket, I decided to press on and finish the apartment..
Boxing day I awoke, switched on my computer!
tribalsurfer said:
Pretty lame compared to some of the stories on here. I was on a placement year from Uni working up in London. Almost every night I caught the same train back to Watford Junction. 2 minutes before leaving the office a mate phoned to see if I wanted a post work jar. Sweetest tasting beer ever as it meant I missed this
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_rail_crash
That reminds me, Oct 1999 had to go for an all day meeting in Slough and had planned to take the train. Ended up going to my mum’s in Windsor the night before & a few beers with old friends.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_rail_crash
Otherwise plan was to have caught this train:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladbroke_Grove_rai...
hungry_hog said:
Whistle said:
Used to go to a nightclub 20 miles away every Saturday night without fail , my mate drove as he didn’t drink.
One week I had an offer of the local bike as her parents where away. As a 19 year old lad I took up the offer.
Next morning early on I find out they crashed on the way home and all got killed.
Apologies for making light of a grim topic, but at 19 the only bike I was riding was my Raleigh burner One week I had an offer of the local bike as her parents where away. As a 19 year old lad I took up the offer.
Next morning early on I find out they crashed on the way home and all got killed.
Some really scary ones on here.
Recent one for me. Riding home on my Triumph Scrambler last week up to Putney Heath towards the A3. Traffic is now terrible on the high street due to pavement social distancing narrowing the road so as I got past the station I accelerated past some slow-moving traffic. I noticed a police helicopter ahead and to the left of me.
Went to overtake the last two cars and up to about 45 mph... a bit of a naughty speed in a 30 but the road was clear. About 1,5 seconds after I passed the lead car I heard a massive smash behind me...looked in the mirror and the lead car (think it was a 1-series) had just been t-boned by someone shooting out of a side turning. See a figure sprint off from the wreckage, police converging from all over the place.
If I hadn't overtaken the two cars at the head of the queue it could have been me taken out by the fleeing thief/dealer whatever...
Recent one for me. Riding home on my Triumph Scrambler last week up to Putney Heath towards the A3. Traffic is now terrible on the high street due to pavement social distancing narrowing the road so as I got past the station I accelerated past some slow-moving traffic. I noticed a police helicopter ahead and to the left of me.
Went to overtake the last two cars and up to about 45 mph... a bit of a naughty speed in a 30 but the road was clear. About 1,5 seconds after I passed the lead car I heard a massive smash behind me...looked in the mirror and the lead car (think it was a 1-series) had just been t-boned by someone shooting out of a side turning. See a figure sprint off from the wreckage, police converging from all over the place.
If I hadn't overtaken the two cars at the head of the queue it could have been me taken out by the fleeing thief/dealer whatever...
hotchy said:
My partner and her entire family was on holiday in london during the london bombings. They had a ticket for the very tube that got bombed.
Wow, they must have been very special tickets. I didn't realise that you could buy a ticket for a specific tube.Edited by hotchy on Monday 29th June 08:50
daqinggregg said:
Therefore, a week before Christmas I faced a dilemma, finish the apartment or fly out to Phuket, I decided to press on and finish the apartment..
Boxing day I awoke, switched on my computer!
Our first long-haul holiday was to Thailand and Cambodia...across New Year 04/05. Our outward flight was 29th December...remember staying overnight at Christmas at the (to-become) in-laws, and Boxing Day morning Becky shouting down the stairs at me to turn the radio on. We still went, we just had to re-book from Krabi province to Koh Samui...the Thais were all really pleased we didn't cancel.Boxing day I awoke, switched on my computer!
Funnily enough (or not) our next holiday was to Egypt...which we booked in July 2005. What did we see on the news a couple of weeks later?!?
...and we completed the hat-trick by booking a safari in northern Tanzania...shortly before all of the fuss around the Somali incursions into Kenyan beach resorts.
None compare to the bowel-curdling terror of many of the stories above, but we did start to get people asking us where we were going on holiday next so they could avoid it...
I can think of one that didn't happen to me, but a guy I was working with on a marine research ship somewhere off the west coast of Scotland. Early seventies.
We were laying down geophysical sounding lines in the North Minch, early hours of the morning, winter, and weather not very good. I was geologist on duty in the lab and there was an engineer keeping an eye on the hardware. It was a 'sparker' run, so we were towing an array that emitted powerful sparks of electricity every few seconds, creating a cavitation in the water that caused a bang loud enough to penetrate rocks deep below the sea floor. I was watching the return echo, and keeping an eye on the reels of paper and recording tape going through the machines on the bench.
The generator for this contraption was on the deck at the rear of the ship, and it needed to be kept topped up with fuel oil. This was obtained from a tap in the engine room, so every hour or so the engineer went down there with a big jug, drew off some oil, came back through the lab and out onto the deck to fuel the generator.
A fair bit of oil had splashed on the deck after a couple of weeks at sea, and in front of the generator it was pretty slippery underfoot. It was just by the lifeboat, and whereas there was a solid waist high wall running round the outside of the deck (ideal for leaning over while puking) by the lifeboat this wall stopped and was replaced by two cables, each with a knock off catch so they could be released easily and the lifeboat swung out without the need to lift it at all.
The engineer lost his footing on the greasy deck during a big roll, and slid on his back under the lifeboat and towards the edge of the ship. He went under the lower cable, and was heading rapidly over the side when he saw the wire going past his nose. He grabbed it, and found himself hanging off the side of the ship, back to the side of the vessel, and if he had gone in the water there was no way we would have found him again in the dark and the storm.
Somehow he managed to turn himself round and climb back on board. When he came through the door into the lab, I swear I have never seen anybody so white in the face. When he could speak again, he told us the story. In the morning when the skipper got to hear of it, procedures were reviewed!
We were laying down geophysical sounding lines in the North Minch, early hours of the morning, winter, and weather not very good. I was geologist on duty in the lab and there was an engineer keeping an eye on the hardware. It was a 'sparker' run, so we were towing an array that emitted powerful sparks of electricity every few seconds, creating a cavitation in the water that caused a bang loud enough to penetrate rocks deep below the sea floor. I was watching the return echo, and keeping an eye on the reels of paper and recording tape going through the machines on the bench.
The generator for this contraption was on the deck at the rear of the ship, and it needed to be kept topped up with fuel oil. This was obtained from a tap in the engine room, so every hour or so the engineer went down there with a big jug, drew off some oil, came back through the lab and out onto the deck to fuel the generator.
A fair bit of oil had splashed on the deck after a couple of weeks at sea, and in front of the generator it was pretty slippery underfoot. It was just by the lifeboat, and whereas there was a solid waist high wall running round the outside of the deck (ideal for leaning over while puking) by the lifeboat this wall stopped and was replaced by two cables, each with a knock off catch so they could be released easily and the lifeboat swung out without the need to lift it at all.
The engineer lost his footing on the greasy deck during a big roll, and slid on his back under the lifeboat and towards the edge of the ship. He went under the lower cable, and was heading rapidly over the side when he saw the wire going past his nose. He grabbed it, and found himself hanging off the side of the ship, back to the side of the vessel, and if he had gone in the water there was no way we would have found him again in the dark and the storm.
Somehow he managed to turn himself round and climb back on board. When he came through the door into the lab, I swear I have never seen anybody so white in the face. When he could speak again, he told us the story. In the morning when the skipper got to hear of it, procedures were reviewed!
Edited by Roofless Toothless on Monday 29th June 17:13
Two that stick in the memory from long ago...
First one, picked up a trailer from the Larne ferry in Stranraer. Driving over the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow heading north about 6am. Had to brake slightly. Immediately one of the trailer wheels bounced past the car, over the guard fence and to the road 80 feet below. Stopped, looked into the darkness off the side of the bridge, but could see nothing. Put the spare trailer wheel on with nuts in the tool box and drove on. Never heard any more about it, thankfully.
Second one. Transporting show jumpers in a horse lorry which broke down on the M9. Tucked into the hard shoulder, jumped down and walked round the front of the lorry to the “safe” near side. As I passed the near side headlamp a BMW slid straight up the grass verge on the inside of the hard shoulder, about 2 feet from me, fishtailing wildly. Frightened the hell out of me. Still no idea how he got there. Just as well my passenger had not jumped out.
First one, picked up a trailer from the Larne ferry in Stranraer. Driving over the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow heading north about 6am. Had to brake slightly. Immediately one of the trailer wheels bounced past the car, over the guard fence and to the road 80 feet below. Stopped, looked into the darkness off the side of the bridge, but could see nothing. Put the spare trailer wheel on with nuts in the tool box and drove on. Never heard any more about it, thankfully.
Second one. Transporting show jumpers in a horse lorry which broke down on the M9. Tucked into the hard shoulder, jumped down and walked round the front of the lorry to the “safe” near side. As I passed the near side headlamp a BMW slid straight up the grass verge on the inside of the hard shoulder, about 2 feet from me, fishtailing wildly. Frightened the hell out of me. Still no idea how he got there. Just as well my passenger had not jumped out.
About 10 years ago I made a huge error of judgement when I was working self employed as a same day courier. Went to do a drop off in Birmingham for a timed 2am delivery and had been burning the candle at both ends as was fairly new at it
At around 3.30am I was on the M6 and must have dozed. I was pootling along at 70 in the inside lane and was brought back to my immediate surroundings to a bang and an airbag in the face, followed by looking up at a large number of lights extending around 10 feet over my head. I braked to a normal stop on the hard shoulder
I had driven under the trailer of a HGV - presumably me doing 70 to his 56mph meant that the closing speeds were low enough that the windscreen pillars were enough to stop me going further under his floor. The bonnet was pushed up over the windscreen, pillars and roof bent and windscreen smashed - but the engine was fully intact as were all the driving parts of the van. I didn't have a scratch on me
Standing at the side of the M'way at 4am awaiting recovery in December at around -5 was not overly nice but when the recovery dropped me at the services and left me to fend for myself, I ended up sitting in McD's nursing black coffee awaiting a lift and the shock definitely set in - don't think it was just the cold that left me shaking
When I got home I got in my car and drove into the office (my wife was a controller there). Her first words when I walked in were "You need some life insurance, I could have been left with nothing" - we'd been married 14 months. 2 weeks later she ran off with one of the other drivers
So 2 lucky escapes in very short order...…………...
At around 3.30am I was on the M6 and must have dozed. I was pootling along at 70 in the inside lane and was brought back to my immediate surroundings to a bang and an airbag in the face, followed by looking up at a large number of lights extending around 10 feet over my head. I braked to a normal stop on the hard shoulder
I had driven under the trailer of a HGV - presumably me doing 70 to his 56mph meant that the closing speeds were low enough that the windscreen pillars were enough to stop me going further under his floor. The bonnet was pushed up over the windscreen, pillars and roof bent and windscreen smashed - but the engine was fully intact as were all the driving parts of the van. I didn't have a scratch on me
Standing at the side of the M'way at 4am awaiting recovery in December at around -5 was not overly nice but when the recovery dropped me at the services and left me to fend for myself, I ended up sitting in McD's nursing black coffee awaiting a lift and the shock definitely set in - don't think it was just the cold that left me shaking
When I got home I got in my car and drove into the office (my wife was a controller there). Her first words when I walked in were "You need some life insurance, I could have been left with nothing" - we'd been married 14 months. 2 weeks later she ran off with one of the other drivers
So 2 lucky escapes in very short order...…………...
Slop said:
Benmac said:
Mikebentley said:
As a kid was on the Herald of Free Enterprise within 24hrs of the disaster.
We may have crossed paths. My family and I were on the corresponding sailing to the one that sank the day before the disaster.Well yeah, Dad, doh.
Many years later, after I'd done a course on risk analysis at college and read some of the HoF stuff in our HAZOP / safety studies. When I pointed out to my Dad if the boat hadn't sunk the day it did, had they carried on the way they did three days later the sea had a much better surge pattern and she would have certainly gone down then (though I could never find out if the sailing schedule meant that the actual boat would have been the HoF or a sister ship). After that his pub claim to fame used to be "I've never been on the HoF".
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