A LIFE ON THE ROAD

Truck & Driver August 2019^47

Oor

Wullie

At 73, Inverness born and bred Willie

Hay is still hard at work – and he’s now

at the wheel of a new Merc Actros 2553

Words & images by Ian Lawson

O

or Wullie was created

as a newspaper

comic strip character

by D C Thomson and

appeared in The

Sunday Post, but in Inverness we

have our own Oor Wullie. Willie is

now aged 73 and has given his

boss notice of his retirement – in

August 2019. As a reward for good

service, employer Steven Barclay,

of Seafield Park Transport, insisted

he take over a brand-new

Mercedes Actros 2553 in March,

despite Willie being more than

happy with his existing 65-reg

Actros. We met up with this local

legend of a man and the new

Actros at Café V8 in Inverness.

Born in 1945, Willie Hay left

school at 15 to take up a panel

beater’s apprenticeship with

MacRae & Dick Ltd Motor

Engineers in Inverness. Aged 21,

Willie got his first lorry driving job

on a four-wheel Thames Trader

tipper with Bill MacQueen before

moving on to a Bedford TK,

followed by an Albion Reiver.

“I was around lorries from an

early age,” says Willie. “My father

was a showman. I was used to

coupling trailers and moving

lorries around the yard from

about 12, so it was only

natural I would venture

down that road. In those

Used by kind permission of DC Thomson & Co Ltd