Truck & Driver UK – July 2019

98

THE BLUNT END

July 2019 Truck & Driver

Tal es of driving,

dar ing and disaster...

T

he introduction of the sleeper cab in

trucks sounded a death knell for

many traditional transport cafés and

‘digs’, where drivers met after long,

often very long, days on the road.

Some adapted and became thriving transport

hubs, while others fell by the wayside.

Many readers will have memories of The

Punch Bowl (pictured below) at North Stainmore

on the A66 trans-Pennine route. Once sitting

proudly by the roadside, this traditional country

roadhouse fell into a slow decline after being

bypassed by a new dual-carriageway. I was

saddened recently while driving past for the

first time in many a long year as it now appears

to be derelict and falling into disrepair.

One former landlord attempted to halt the

steady decline in trade by having the car

park expanded, creating an ad-hoc truckstop.

Offering free parking, a free shower and pub

food, it was soon a popular spot to overnight.

Failure to arrive early meant parking spaces

were at a premium. Live country music added

to the appeal and the place was soon booming.

Cellar beware

To give some history to the place, a small

chapel stands across the road from this once

busy traditional coaching inn. During times

of religious unrest, priests were sometimes

considered legitimate targets and as such

needed routes of escape from people

wishing to do them harm. A tunnel had been

constructed under the road, leading from a

‘priest hole’ in the church to the cellar of The

Punch Bowl and hopefully a route to salvation.

One night, a group of us drivers became

involved in an after-hours ‘lock-in’ session

with the landlord and his good lady. Stories

were swapped and our host regaled the

company with tales about the tunnel. Some

were sceptical, so the landlord offered to show

them the underground feature. The assembled

doubters descended to the cellar via a hatch

and ladder. In the bar, unseen by them, the

landlady descended by another route.

Hammer horror

Grouped around the tunnel entrance, the

landlord told a lurid tale of the ghosts and

spirits that were said to haunt the tunnel and

invited the most gullible of our number to put

his arm into the tunnel to feel the breeze. As he

waved it around in the darkness it was seized

by an unseen hand (belonging to the landlady,

of course, having a laugh) with an iron grip.

The scramble for the ladder after his terrified

scream would be worthy of any Hammer horror

film. Try to picture three less than athletic

truck drivers trying to ascend the same ladder

simultaneously! It is alleged that the guy who

was gripped jumped on the ladder last and got

off it first, passing the others on the way up!

The pub’s fortunes seemed to slip again

shortly after that when a car transporter driver,

having imbibed a little unwisely, departed the

establishment in the early hours and managed

to flip his vehicle over at nearby Warcop,

leaving the road strewn with new cars. This led

to a purge; Cumbria’s finest took an interest and

many drivers leaving in the early hours were

routinely breath-tested. The rot again seemed

to set in and, like so many of the best boozers,

The Punch Bowl was doomed to decline.

It seems it may have been less dangerous to

be a priest during the Reformation than an

HGV driver during modern times.

In the distant past, when dinosaurs roamed the planet, truck drivers were

a very different breed, made from sterner stuff than us mere mortals

DAVID RUSSELL

Retired truck driver

Bob Tuck