Breadcrumbs

Encounter Overland truck in the Sahara with the EMs preparing for lunch
Encounter Overland truck in the Sahara with the EMs preparing for lunch

Encounter Overland Ltd

 

Encounter Overland’s workshop was located in rural Bedfordshire. The address was Wren Park Hitchin Road Shefford Bedfordshire SG17 5JD. Between trips this is where the trucks were stored, repaired and prepared for the next trip. There was a small permanent staff, headed up by Bill Wallace, managing the workshop and the rest of the workforce was made up of drivers between trips. Whilst looking for Encounter Overland’s Shefford address I found info on Working for an Adventure Travel Company. It states;-

  • What Will the Work Entail?
    • Long hours.
    • Mechanical knowledge required.
    • Low pay but travel formalities are taken care of.
    • Essential to get on with people in claustrophobic conditions.
    • Stamina and endurance a must.

Not a lot has changed since ‘79 then.

 

The drivers based at the workshop used to stay in a communal house, about a 20 minute drive away in the small town of Hitchin. The house was near the town centre, in Walsworth Road, if I remember correctly. I do remember however, the cold winter nights. My bedroom was at the top of the house with a sloping skylight in the ceiling which would frequently have ice on the inside when I woke in the morning. Heating for the house consisted of a few electric storage heaters. That aside, it was a good to live there with the other drivers. We did a little decoration and maintenance in the short time we stayed between trips. Then other drivers returned and took our places.

Wren Park, Encounter Overlands workshop

This photo is of the Encounter Overland workshop in Hitchin circa 1980, according to the caption of the photo uploaded by David Hunter, one of the other drivers. I found this photo along with a number of others at the Spirit of Encounter web site.

Each weekday we would scramble into the company van and drive to the workshop. There we would clean the trucks from the previous trip and repair all manner of things as required. This could include a full engine rebuild with new big ends and piston rings if necessary. On one occasion I was asked to repair part of the exhaust of the KM. This involved welding of thin metal, a particularly difficult task. I heard months later that the repair failed in Turkey. The driver, a capable young lady sorted out the problem and continued on their way to India. She told me off appropriately when we met later. Once repaired of all reported faults the trucks were fully serviced. Servicing was always carried out thoroughly, as it is more difficult to repair a truck in deepest Asia, Africa, or South America than in the UK. Once mechanically sound we re-sprayed the trucks. All of this was done by the drivers in the workshop, based on the farm. Then the preparation began. All the spares for servicing the trucks on the next trip were securely wrapped and waterproofed. The same happened for the more probable spares to repair breakdowns. The mechanics tools and equipment loaded, followed by the spare springs and sand mats.

Another photo of the workshop.

My truck was nearly ready by now. The tents, camp beds and the rest of the camping equipment was loaded aboard. Then it was time to do some shopping. We drove to Bedford, the county town, to shop in the cash and carry / supermarket. All the provisions necessary for the trip which could not be provided for locally on the trip. It is an interesting experience to buy quite so much in one go. It dwarfs the weekly shop in the local supermarket this week. Fuel and oils, and now all is ready for the trip ahead.

The next morning I jumped into the truck at the workshop with all my kit for the next year away from home. I drove to London, parked up and stayed in the company’s London flat. The next morning it was a short drive to the company’s office at 267 Old Brompton Road, Kensington, London SW5 9JA. I also seem to recall something about 281 but have yet to track down what.

poster of the typical EO truck of the day.

A photo of a driver / leader fixing his truck away from the workshop.

I have found a very interesting site called India Overland'Travelling Overland ... the Adventure of a Lifetime.'

Overland to India, Africa, South America what better way to experience the World. The journey was long and not with out its risks, but the adventurous wanted to go, all they needed was an inexpensive option.

'The Overland was born. Using old buses, converted fire trucks and double deckers, companies were springing up everywhere. The options ranged from the deluxe trips run by Rotel Tours (Des Rolling Hotel) based in German and Penn Overland from London, down to Magic Bus from Amsterdam which offered a 4 day 24 hours a day trip to Delhi for as little as $45.'

'The purpose of this site is to reconnect those who undertook this adventure to India, Africa & South America & to make an historical record of expeditions that are hardly possible today.'

'The number of operators that made these journeys is endless, this is just a short list...'

 'Aardvark Expeditions, Anglo Australian Company, Asian Greyhound, Atrek, Capricorn Overland Tours, Budget Bus, CCT, Contiki, Encounter Overland, Exodus Expeditions, Hann Overland, Hughes Overland, Indigo, Inter Trek, Magic Bus, Penn World Overland, Rotel Tours, Safaris Overland, Sherpa Expeditions, Sundowners, Tentrek Expeditions, The Overlanders, Top Deck Travel, Trans African Expeditions, King Kong, Himalayan Tiger, Tangerine Tours, The Silver Express, P.B.K., Crazy Bus, No Sweat Overland Tours & Playmates Camping'

I have written to the site owner to seek permission to display some of his items on Encounter Overland. In the meantime please follow the links. The above extracts from his very interesting site are acknowledged with thanks.

Ad from "Trail Finder" newspaper March 1976 This resolves the address issue, 280 Old Brompton Road.

Encounter Overland Brochure

 

The changing face of Encounter Overland brochures  found on facebook. Above and below.

 

The brochure page below was extracted from India Overland website with the kind permission of the site owner, Derek Amey. Then I found it again on facebook posted by the original source Peggy Gregory Jenkins. It is fascinating, for me at least, to read the comments which sometimes accompany the photos. Apparently the brochure is from 1971, so the £188 is about one third of the cost of a new Mini and by using Measuring Worth website calculations is equivalent in 2015 to between £2,396.00 and  £5,760.00 dependent upon the metrics used. Still great value.

Encounter 1969 & 1970 TO THE ROOF OF THE WORLD 'The overland journey to Ktahmandu and High Himalaya has been described as one of the richest and most rewarding experiences within the reach of the adventurous traveller.'
EO flyer

'I'm Peggy Gregory Jenkins and was a passenger on Encounter Overland trips in 1969 & 1970. Encounter Overland used converted army trucks to travel from London to Kathmandu and was led and owned by Tony Lindsay Jones and Stuart Jenkins. Attached are 3 photos of our trip and an original flyer from Encounter Overland. Hope you can use them on your wonderful web site. Thanks for sending your newsletter. I love it.'
'We (Peggy & Stuart) met in Istanbul in 1967 and married in 1969.---still married.'

Second Photo;- 'Group ready for dinner inside the truck: Andrew, Cathy, Tim, Louise Westwater, David Israel, Ros, Maire Ramsay, Christine and Celia'
Third Photo;- 'Peggy Gregory Jenkins and Stuart Jenkins in Nepal. Everest in background.'
Fouth Photo;- 'Our truck at Wren Park'

And more from the Forum

More Old Encounter 
Encounter 1977 - 78 
Attached some old photos from 77 and 78 that may jog some fading memories out there. The trick to not driving off the road when crossing a flooded river is to ask a few luckless punters to walk in front of the truck and blaze a trail! If I remember we did tie them together though! The stuck in the mud shot was actually outside Kathmandu Guest House on day one of the trip! 
Great newsletter, thanks for all your hard work. Paul

Oh look "He's fallen in the water"

Linda at shop Old Brompton Rd circa 80 photo linda2.jpg

Encounter Overland office 280 Old Brompton Road

Bill Wallace having a snooze

First EO

Linda Banks 1978

Ian Way 78 - note first inflatable for EOK on roof

Tony Jones having a snooze

Algeria 79 Lindi Wall (by cab) photo algeria28.jpg

Algeria 79 Lindi Wall (by cab)

Early Africa (Martin Watkinson in foreground) photo encounterearlyafrica.jpg

Early Africa (Martin Watkinson in foreground)

Bob Pearson (Lindi’s partner), Rein, Lindi, Jeannette, Margo (Kev’s wife – only non EO driver/punter), Sue, Kev, Rob, Ellen and Tom

Picture of Tony circa 2006 (taken off the net) photo tonyjonesnepal2006.jpg

Tony Jones in Nepal 2006

Clips of Kathmandu, Kashmir, and On the Bus (Swagman)

 The Spirit of Encounter website has been reduced to a single page with links to three facebook groups. I am not a facebook member so I don't know what goes on behind the EO Crew link. The other two links are open and made generally pleasant reading, bringing back the memories. I did see the comments from Lynn Olson an I confirm that I am the driver she is talking about. I did not get sacked, instead I took a trip London to Jo'burg followed by the return trip. I was offered South America next, but resigned and returned to my career. I am saddened, upset, and disappointed by Lynn's comments.  The enjoyment of the EMs is high on the agenda, but their safety and the safety of the expedition is much higher. Following the engine blowing up I acted to protect them. You can read about my take on events in the story of that trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bridge is safe, it can carry my weight! Another photo from the EO Facebook collection.

Same journey, different time.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more photos.

Slideshow of David Hunter's EO Staff and Friends

http://s24.photobucket.com/user/Hunter-EO/slideshow/Staff%20and%20friends

 

A site by Sarah Blinco celebrating the early years of Encounter Overland with photos by John & June Blinco

 

Another site found with more photos. Encounter Overland Vintage Travel Photography

 

Thanks again to Derek for his site.

 

 

 

 

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Change of host Sept 2023

 

Change of host Sept 2023

 

In the begining of August 2023 I transfered my ivanhurst.me.uk sites, including this one from 123-reg to IONOS. It was meant to be a simple task. However, that was to to be the case. The reason for the move was primarily the hugh increase in price that 123-reg was applying regarding email boxes. Previously, the upto 500 of the boxes were included in the various hosting packages I had. Now they were going to charge for each mailbox based on size, and as far as I could make out, this was going to cost me nearly £2,000. This was not acceptable, and I did not get satisfactory answers from support. So I turned of all the auto renews and stated to move sites and domains accross to IONOS.

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The site is built on a content management system, CMS, using Joomla. Joomla is moving forward and version 3.10.?? is being discontinued. Future developments are for version 4.??

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Part of the migration is relatively simple, I have already changed to a new template which works on the new platforms.

However, some of the helper applications, which work within Joomla are not yet ready.

Fabrik is one of those applications, if fact a significant 'Joomla Custom Website Application Builder'.

Refresh 2021

 

Site refresh Easter 2021

I decided to give the site a bit of a refresh over Easter 2021 and install a new template and some additional functions. One of the things I didn't like about the old site was the delay in text appearing which probably meant some people left before the content appeared. This has been corrected now.