Hedgehogs.

A lazy 9 am start was shifted to an 0445 start with a box collection from the quay. On the plus side it was an easy run up to a place near Tetbury rather than Park Royal in North London, so swings and roundabouts I suppose. I was working for KRP today out of Marchwood. They're a pretty decent bunch and the units tend to be high spec, today it was an FH13 Globetrotter. The way KRP work is that the units and trailers are kept in a separate yard from the office, so you have to access a nearby building where there are lockers with the paperwork and keys. This morning my paperwork was there but no keys. Great, let's start buggering about looking for a set of keys. Walk back to the yard, look around the unit for any likely hiding place. Nothing. Back to the locker to double check that I hadn't missed anything. Nothing. Feeling a bit hacked of now I started to ring the office number when I noticed one of the other packs had the same registration. Ta dah! Sat in the pack from a previous driver were the unit keys. What a waste of time that was and now I was getting close to missing my VBS booking time. Hey ho, tacho card in, vehicle checks completed and I'm on my way.

Early mornings at Southampton docks can be a bit crazy sometimes and this morning wasn't any different, plus, because of the delay in finding the unit keys, I'd timed it just right so that I got to my slot allocation just at the shift change. So another half hour waiting for the box handlers to change.

FH 13 Globetrotter

40' box loaded and I'm on my way. Once I got out of Southampton and hit cruise control I began to wonder about the customer. Wildlife world sounded like some kind of zoo or safari park but I'd never heard of it. I began to wonder what was in the box, maybe some special gorilla food, or antelope shampoo. Ooooh, what about zebra saddles! I know, Lion combs. My mind went on like this all the way up the A34 and M4 until it was time to turn off Northbound on the A46. 

The notes said I had to turn off the A46 onto Chavenage Lane via the old grain store. Well Chavenage Lane wasn't on my map so thank goodness for Google maps on my phone. Hang on a minute, this is a single track lane and when I say single track I mean the width of the wagon and no more. One mistake with the steering wheel and I'm stuck in a field. Oh well, fortune favours the brave, what's the worst that could happen!!!! I only met the car on the 2 mile journey to my destination, thankfully there was a passing place as we met. A couple of cars were following me but they'd just have to wait, sorry but a 44 tonne lorry takes it time down this kind of road. Passed a grain silo, hmmmm, maybe that's the old grain store but it looks quite newish. Eventually reach the destination with a big sign, well quite small actually, saying Wildlife World. It was a farm and not a very big one at that. Oh well, no Lion combs being delivered here. I pull in and there's just enough room either side, I really hope there's somewhere to turnaround. At that point a chap jumps out of one of the cars that had been following me and tells me that this is the head office, I should've turned off at the old, new, grain store. Great I thought, this is going to be lots of fun. And then it turns out that the only space to turn around is already occupied by another artic delivering plastic piping. So a blindside reverse out of the farm onto the worlds smallest single track is required. 

You know I mentioned about being fortunate and brave and all that bollocks, well that all went out of the window when I realised what I had to accomplish. The nice chap offered to watch me back and then I'd follow him to the correct delivery place. All I can say is that I nailed it in a oner, no shunts required and we tootled off to the correct delivery place, which wasn't much bigger but at least I had a new found friend who was in much admiration of my driving skills, if only he knew, and was happy to help in anyway he could. Once we get where we'd going the box is opened and guess what? It wasn't any kind of special wild animal feed or grooming material or cleaning product, it was hedgehog houses.

Hedgehog House

Fantastic, an hour and half handball later and I was back on the road heading home for tea and medals. I wish I'd bought one now but on second thoughts, with 4 cats and a dog I don't think any hedgehog would get peace in our garden. Until next time, be safe and have a look at www.wildlifeworld.co.uk they were really nice people.