Old Pond publishing days

Bob Paul - the original long haul pioneer

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death yesterday of Bob Paul at the age of 81.

It was in spring 1964 that Bob Paul gave up his medical studies and plunged in with Michael Woodman on the inaugural 5,000-mile overland truck journey from Cheshire to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. This was the start of Asian Transport, later to become Astran.

Bob was guest of honour at the recent launch of Ashley Coghill's book The Long Haul Pioneers. Bob spoke movingly of his love for Astran and for all the people involved: drivers, office staff, subbies and agents. That feeling was warmly reciprocated by everyone who knew him as you can see on the Trucknet forum.  

Bob Paul was married to Caroline who pre-deceased him to his deep distress. He leaves three children and two grandchildren.

Astran celebration and get-together

To celebrate the launch of his book The Long Haul Pioneers Ashley Coghill organised a get-together of as many Astran drivers and staff as he could locate.

They had a great time reminiscing on Saturday.

Co-founder of Astran, Bob Paul, is in the front row of the photograph, left of centre, wearing a bright blue shirt. He is shaking hands with Ashley. 

Great commendations for Long Haul Pioneers book

Ashley Coghill has received a really great response from the first readers of his book about Astran, The Long Haul Pioneers. Here are some of them:

Hi Ash well done a fantastic book as I don't read but finding myself not been able to put astran book down best fathers day present I ever had !!! This book is brill. CG

Hey mate i got my copy of The Long Haul Pioneers today and it's exceeded all expectations it's fantastic a credit to you!!! Thank you. MJ

Hi Ash, Got your book on thursday & i hav'nt been able to put it down mate its just fantastic, i would say that its better than Cola Cowboys, in fact its the best truckin book i've read & the pictures tell stories as well, but thats just my opinion & im sure it is the opinion of a lot of others too. Cheers, G

Congratulations on the book, just had a quick look through and is looks excellent. Hope you have plans for a second book- general history of UK/European middle east haulage maybe. Thanks for a great book about a great company. JE

Hi  Ashley, i received your book thanks, i have to say a big well done to you!! what a fantastic book!! i have had nearly all the truck books over the years even the little observers books but yours is far far out in front. I have had a quick look thru, and now started to read it properly, already i can't put it down, the  wife has the hump because i'm not doing  my  chores!!
 
Ash: As you know I was always sceptical of how your book would turn out. Being an old hand myself, it is difficult for me to see the hard job from other peoples minds as I had some very testing times myself. I have to say mate, you have done a stirling job and you are to be congratulated in the biggest order! Very well done indeed. I cannot put the bloody book down which has made things a little tense with my wife as I promised her all manner of things which would get done, but alas they will just have to wait! I'm totally in awe of Gordon Pearce and Bob Paul. What courageous people and Gordons descriptive chapter and his photos have blown me away. All the best RC

Dear Mr Coghill. It is with the greatest of pleasure that I commend you very high on the best trucking book I ever have read. Stories form Asian drivers are exceptional and pictures clear and superb. With best wishes FD

Ferdy de Martin of Toprun, based in Switzerland, has put his own comments on  YouTube.
 

Haches de Guerre - Canadian foresters in Normandy 1916-19 book information

In 1918 the British (or should I say, Suffolk) artist Alfred Munnings toured the camps of the Canadian foresters working in Normandy in order to paint the scenes he found there. This new French book includes some fine Munnings pictures from the visit, including the canvas on the front cover.

Another great recorder was the French photographer Paul Lancre. This book contains many fine photographs by him or from his collection.

The theme of the book is the work of the Canadian foresters in northern France during the second half of the First World War. It is the catalogue of an exhibition at the Orne Department Archives 19 April to 2 July 2010, then at the museum of French Emigration to Canada, Tourouvre, 14 July to 31 December 2010.

The book deals firstly with the Canadian Forestry Corps: recruitment and organisation in Canada; deployment and development from Britain and in France; techniques of forestry work; Sir Alfred Munnings's 1918 paintings.
Secondly, the exploitation of the forests in the Orne region: the various forestry camps; foresters at work, photographs by Paul Lancre; portraits of people involved; the social side of the camps; Armistice and the return to Canada.

Old Pond is pleased to have supplied several of the photograph scans used in the book, copies of images originally from the Imperial War Museum and included in Farming and Forestry on the Western Front.

Haches de Guerre [war axes]: les bûcherons [loggers] canadiens dans les forêts normandes (1916-1919), Conseil général de l'Orne. Hardback 280 x 239 mm, 144 pages including 326 illustrations. ISBN 978-2-86061-03309. 28 Euros. Further information: Pôle jeunesse culture, 6-10 avenue de Basingstoke, BP 528 - 61017 Alençon Cedex, France.

JCB Mark 1 and Stefan Jung book signing at BAUMA 2010

So this was my first visit to Europe's premier construction and related machinery show, a hot Saturday at the new Munich exhibition halls. Of course, I didn't have time to get round it all.

I did get to meet Stefan Jung, co-author of Die Schwerlastspezialisten, the new hardback book about the three heavy transport specialist companies Scheuerle, Nicolas and Kamag.

Stefan (left) was signing copies of his book on the Kamag stand. Its 188 glossy pages are packed with photographs - there must be nearly 500 altogether - each accompanied by brief captions in German. The retail price is 29.90 Euros. More details are on the website of publishers Podszun. The book is available in the UK from Nynehead Books at £28.95. 

Amongst all the glittering yellow, a piece of the UK's heritage stood out like a low-level beacon.

The JCB Mark 1 backhoe loader was centre-piece on the large JCB stand, proudly announced as Europe's first backhoe loader.

When we filmed the story of the development of JCB's backhoe loader we were lucky enough to record the second Mark 1 ever built, the forerunner to this model. 

Julanne Arnold's blog

Anyone who had a book published by Farming Press from 1987 to 1996 will have come into contact with editor Julanne Arnold. They probably won't have forgotten the experience.

Julanne's health is not of the best and she was recently widowed. Of course she's as feisty as ever. If you'd like to see what Julanne has been up to, go to Julanne's blog.

At the time of Julanne's retirement one of the most apt comments about her came from Butler & Tanner printer Eric Doel. He cited Proverbs 31 v. 25: Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Or as Christine Maul put it: 'Obviously Julanne is an all round good egg.'

Julanne died 25 November 2012. There is a notice here.

James Robertson's 'Any Fool' books being reprinted

James Irvine Robertson, formerly something in advertising, had two farming misadventures in the 1970s. On the North Wales border he tried his hand at pig farming; in Devon he turned to dairying. As a result he wrote Any Fool Can be a Pig Farmer and Any Fool Can be a Dairy Farmer, published by Farming Press in 1975 and 1980 respectively. The dairy farming book was the first one I took on when I joined the company.

"There was one sow who aborted in the yard. We called in the vet who diagnosed arthritis which seemed a curious reason for aborting. She went off her food and was re-diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia and then died. The post mortem showed a blood clot in her uterus, the most likely explanation for which was that another sow had trodden on her."

That's the Robertson style: a naive wonderment at the idiocies of the people and animals involved with farming. And it's very funny.

The books were reprinted several times by Farming Press in different formats but have been out of print since about 2000. They are now to be brought back into print this spring by The Good Life Press.

The original books were amusingly illustrated by Charles Gore. James Robertson went on to write more countryside books under the 'Any Fool' heading with titles such as Any Fool Can be a Villager. Published by Pelham, these were illustrated by Larry.

Another Robertson venture was four books published in the early 1980s in the 'Nutshell Series'. He researched and wrote titles about south-western counties including his beloved Devon, collaborating with illustrator Pauline Clements. These were delightful books published by Robertson's own Clover Press.

In more recent years Robertson has been living in Scotland and writing journalism and books about aspects of Scottish history and genealogy, often related to his own ancestors. Apparently he is now moving to Toulouse, the story of which can be found on his James Irvine Robertson website.  

Two more books out of stock

Two more books have this week gone out of stock at Old Pond, both due to be reprinted early 2010:

The Veterinary Book for Sheep Farmers, David Henderson

The King of the Norfolk Poachers, Charlotte Paton.

Books out of stock at Old Pond

In the middle of the Christmas rush, stocks of three Old Pond books have been exhausted:

Early to Rise, Hugh Barrett. Reprint anticipated 2010

Tractor Ploughing Manual, edited by Brian Bell, reprint 2010

A Square Deal All Round: the history of Perkins engines, by David Boulton is no longer stocked by Old Pond. All enquiries should go to the original publishers: Landmark Publishing, Ashbourne, Derbys. 

Stuart Gibbard on the move

On 11 November we reported on Kelsey Publishing's decision to bring the editorship of Old Tractor magazine in house and offer out-going editor Stuart Gibbard a broad role as editorial consultant.

It has now become clear that Stuart has declined the offer, accepting instead one from Lincolnshire-based Church Lane Publishing, known for Best of British magazine.

Stuart writes: "looking to expand into farming and countryside nostalgia, Church Lane has just added another magazine to its portfolio, having bought Vintage Tractor from Tim Bolton.... The magazine will be re-launched from the April issue with me in the editor's chair.

"My brief is simple: to produce the best tractor magazine on the market."