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Five go galloping to Greece

It was over the Christmas period in 2003 that we first presented our 1890 Savage-built No 1 set of Steam Gallopers in Syntagama Square in the centre of Athens. This venture proved so popular that in 2004 we were asked if we could supply an additional carousel to operate in Kotzia Square, in front of the mayor’s office. This ride was again placed in conjunction with a Christmas market and proved to be another popular venue.

Negotiations would normally begin in July and would be finalised in November. Again the authorities required the same two sets at the same two venues; however, then came the phone call that they needed an extra one!

This news could not have come at a better time as we had just received a cancellation.
The extra set was for the smaller municipality of Peristeri, which is approximately four and a half miles from the centre of Athens with a population of 500,000 compared to Athens’ four million!

We left home in Nottingham with two of the Gallopers on Tuesday 6 December 2005 for a 2000-mile journey through France and Italy and into Greece and finally arriving in Athens on the Saturday. The problems encountered are not only the roads themselves, but bridges and low tunnels always present a challenge as our centre trailers are 4.2 metres high and most of the continent is gauged to four metres.

On the first day, we were just hitting France when the phone rang. It was our European agent, asking if everything was going OK. I replied: “Yes, no problems yet.” He continued: “Well I’ve just had a request from the mayor - she has just gone on Greek television and told the people of Athens that she’s going to put another carousel in Kipselis Square. Can you get me another carousel?”

A few more phone calls later and I’d managed to convince my friend, Charles Drakley, to come along with the ride that in turn I’d sold to him… a healthy 42ft foot Savage machine with a road height of 4.5 metres. Charles was going to leave with our third set on 15 December; so acting as ‘advance party’, we were able to be in the position to spot any bridges or tunnels that would be a definite no-go area for Charles and his very high load.

Through France, we only encountered a few problems. Garage canopies are not marked with their height dimensions as they are in the UK, something we found out about when one attached itself to our centre trailer! Toll booths also present a problem as our lorries and trailers are six inches over width, which can make things a little tight. Especially so if you get in the car lane, as Charles did. We only had a little trouble with tyres, but as we were notching up 600 miles a day this was only to be expected.

The big problem started when we left the south of France. We started climbing a long hill that must have been 25 miles long when something went pop! The oil pressure was OK, as was the air and water temperature, so we just kept going. When we stopped around 100km later, there was oil everywhere.

We stopped at the service area for the night and vowed to have a look in the morning. Next morning we wiped the oil off but couldn’t find where it was coming from, so we topped it up, with thoughts of monitoring it as we went along. Fifty miles on, we stopped again and more oil was being lost. We had to find the source of the problem, for oil is very expensive in Europe at about £25 for a five-litre can. We were wasting a lot (although the lorry chassis won’t go rusty!)

So the boiler suit was donned and we found the leak. The front oil seal on the timing chain cover had popped out, but when the tools were presented, the only socket we hadn’t got was the one we wanted. The big adjustable one was not good enough, but we managed to prize it back in using a couple of screwdrivers! To get the oil off me was another problem, for there was only cold water in the services and it was
-5C outside. That’s what I call a cold shower!

Fifty miles later and the temperature was again warming up a bit. We pulled into the services and got the cab up again. Then I spotted a small hole in the front fly wheel in line with the seal, so with the aid of an 8mm bolt, I managed to tap the seal further in - and just to make sure I put a piece of string about a metre long through the hole, tied a knot in the end then spun the engine over. The string then wrapped itself round the shaft so the oil seal couldn’t come back out - and it still hasn’t, 3000 miles later.

Still driving through Italy, there came another phone call from our Greek agent: “We need an additional carousel.” “Yes I know, you want four rides,” I said. He replied: “No I want five rides and we need them to be open on the seventeenth of December.” Oh dear, that would mean Charles would have to set off tomorrow to be able to make the opening. As we’d gone on ahead earlier with the idea that we could spot any problems for him, we said it should be OK, a bit tight in places but it should fit… and we were very nearly right.

The trouble didn’t start for Charles until he got to the port. He boarded the ship no problem, but it was that tight on board that the centre pole of the ride caught an RSJ but he didn’t realise and didn’t stop. It scraped under it and then popped up. He was on the ship but trapped between two RSJs. “No problem,” I said on the phone. “Just take the hinge pin out and drop the pole down on the cogs.” The pin wouldn’t budge. “OK, grind out and cut the pin.” No grinder! They eventually managed to cut the pin with a broken hacksaw blade they found in the lorry.

Regarding finding a fifth machine, nobody wants to work through the Christmas and New Year period if they can help it, but after a few phone calls and emails, David Wallis Jnr agreed to come; but before he could travel he would have to alter the platforms on his ride. David’s was the only new type set of Gallopers, a 36ft ‘Mardi Gras’ machine. After a few days' work, he was ready to set off for Athens and the new venue of Petroula Square at Kolonos, two miles from the centre of Athens. Well we made it, with all five rides. It must have been one of England’s best exports that Christmas.

By this time, I’d left my son-in-law, Brett Graham, in Athens and flown back from
Greece ready to take our No 3 set out there.

The last to leave due to other commitments; after getting to the docks a day early, which we thought was great, we had found a short cut through the Frazjurs Tunnel through the Alps, saving 250 miles.

The shipping agent moved our booking a day forward and then at the docks, after waiting to load, the local agents told us there was no room on the ship. After watching the ship sail away, I phoned our shipping agent and told him in a few unsavory words the day’s thoughts. He then told me even more bad news... he’d cancelled the original booking and there was now no room on the next day’s sailing.

The next available ship from the port of Ancona was Tuesday - a day after we were supposed to be open. We then got the map out and started looking at going the long way through Bosnia etc. The phone rang again. “Good news,” said the agent. “I’ve managed to get you on a ferry from Bari.” This was a little better than the long way, but only just. Bari is the southernmost port in Italy, about 400 miles from Ancona. “You’ve got to be there by noon tomorrow.” We arrived after driving through the night at 11.30am to be told that the ship had not docked yet and was running four hours late.

When the ship arrived, I saw the sign above: ‘Loading ramp four metres!’ “Are there any more ships on this route?” I enquired. The response was negative but we were assured they would get us on. Personnel came off the ship with a piece of wood, which was about four inches lower than the lorry. “Follow me on.” We went thorough the door with no problems and managed to get on about 60 feet before having to shunt over to the side, which with other traffic loading, took us about an hour. We eventually sailed at 10pm for what was supposed to be a nine-hour crossing.

We arrived in Patris at 1pm the next day, only to be faced with more problems. Brett phoned from Athens to inform me HGVs were not permitted to travel on Sundays between 2pm and 10pm on major roads! We didn’t get off the ship until 2pm after an hour of shunting and the ramp was that steep (due to the tide) that the centre trailer slid sideways down the ramp and nearly tipped over, breaking the light plug and bending the drawbar.

We left to get some diesel and hunt for a new plug. Several lorries were leaving Patris so we decided to take our chances on the motorway. No problems through the tolls but after about 20 miles, out walked a policeman from the side of the road. “What's the problem officer?” I said in my best ‘I know nothing’ voice. “You no travel till 10 o’clock,” pointing at his watch. I replied “But we must be in Peristeri tonight. We have the carousel for the mayor. It has to be open tomorrow.” “No!” he insists. “You must stop over there.” “But we have the galloping horses for the mayor.” “You have horses?” “Yes in there, yes!” He relented. It appears that he thought we had real horses and as livestock can travel on Sundays, we didn’t stop until we made Athens.

We got plenty of dirty looks from other drivers who had been pulled over but we had got 27 horses and six cockerels to get to Peristeri! Who knows what they would have done if they had looked in the back of the lorry.

Next day we opened all five Gallopers with full riding from 10am through to 10pm daily for almost a month.

As I tell our agents, our motto is: ‘The impossible we do straight away but miracles take a little bit longer’.

To a showman, writing this is a miracle in itself, but special thanks to my family, employees and colleagues who put their trust in us.

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