Keith Sanders the Storyman Podcast

June 1950 to July 1953 was the Korean War….when North Korean invaded South Korea……. America and the UK went to the aid of the South Koreans and from all accounts,  it was a bloody and bitter fight. After the end of the War, the tanks had obviously come back as scrap metal…….and I had the chance to investigate…..while Archie kept my parents occupied I had a couple of hours of unchecked exploration....

 As usual, there were road works in the town and Michael was sat at the temporary traffic lights waiting for his turn. Suddenly and without any warning there was a huge thump at the back of the lorry. Michael got out and there embedded under the back of his vehicle is a red Morris 1100 family saloon car. The windscreen of the car was shattered where it has hit the back of the lorry body and the bo...

My wise old grandmother had always said the same applied to our family, but ours was a bit different.  It was not until many years later when I needed her help to enable my marriage to take place, that much of the family history came to light.  The marriage bit and all the intrigue I will come to later, in the meantime sufficient to say that she produced two volumes of a family history produced by...

Around about the year 1999, the Heavy Horse Centre at Northcote was approached by the family of an old gentleman from Nottinghamshire who owned two Shire Horses. I think it was the daughter who first contacted us and explained that these two horses were the pride and joy of her father..........but he was having difficulty in facing the fact that he was just getting too old to cope with their care....

 I must mention the amazing support we obtained from my old employers of 24 years or so before, the Boston Standard and even more so my old boss Lionel Robinson the actual owner of the Newspaper.  Yes the very man who had taken me to task all those years ago for “misuse of his company vehicles”. (See Book Two “Lincolnshire Standard Tales). He was unstinting in his support and instructed the newspa...

The Jag story for example was from about 1977, we had been to Faslane for a holiday with friends Bob and Kaye. The car was running so well and almost home, instead of turning off at Markham Moor island and going home through Lincoln we decided to keep on the A1 and turn at Newark. It was an excellent stretch of road, all dual carriageway, on through Tuxford and down to Newark by Sutton on Trent an...

 Finally, I must tell you about the most difficult one ever, while we were living at New Bolingbroke. I was tracking it on a bicycle across country.   On roads at first, but then I had to take to the fields and between the fields were dykes and land drains large and small. I must have been about 31 or 32 years of age at the time and very fit.  I needed to be on this night, the number of times I ha...

I began the descent by selecting a low gear which helped a bit,  but the old KM  6 cylinder motor was lacking compression when pulling....... never mind trying to slow the 16ton vehicle.  Jabbing and releasing the brakes is the recommended method of allowing the brakes a ‘breather’ to try and keep cool; when they get too hot they cease to grip! I was jabbing steadily then as the hill got steeper,...

I decided to hire four wheel box vans, with as big capacity boxes as possible.  The Uniroyal manager at Leeds organised the lorry hire from Salford Van Hire in Leeds and we provided some of the drivers.  We decided it would be best to travel in convoy for safety and give us more “clout” when we encounter any Trade Union Pickets, we were informed that a picket line was in action outside the Uniroya...

This tale comes from the end of the 1990's when I was using an old 400cc Honda Superdream for all my travels. This included delivering all the promotional leaflets and posters for the Horse Centre in the Springtime............ I travelled throughout the whole of Lincolnshire, then down into Cambridgeshire, across to Norfolk and upwards beyond the Humber into South Yorkshire and of course Nott...

6th BOSTON We discussed all this with the Cub Unit Parents committee. Our proposal was to move the whole unit to Carrington the next village to our own and a little nearer to Boston. It was also not too far from the homes of many of the young boys attending this particular Cub Unit.  Ruth and I both felt that at Carrington we would have a much improved catchment area to attract a greater number of...

In this Second Book about Sammy the Shire Horse and his friends........ Sammy has gone to live in the countryside and finds it so very different. This is a FREE AUDIO BOOK. This story is also available as a page flipping e book. More details can be found at "Sammy the Shire Horse Stories for Children on facebook" https://www.facebook.com/Cracker.books/ Thank you for listening to our Buzz...

A true horse story for Children. This unique true story tells how Sammy the Shire Horse who is working at a London Brewery is able to leave the City and travel to live in Lincolnshire with his big friend Ebony, when Ebony begins his retirement. The story is an audio book. The story is also available FREE OF CHARGE as a page flipping e book. For full details look up   " Sammy the Shire Horse s...

Why have we decided to give our books away...........  In a word............COVID........ . For over a year the World has faced the greatest virus ever to try and overcome mankind.  All over the World there are ordinary people and small businesses trying to survive. We know all about survival having run small businesses ourselves.............and lost them too! Money is short, nobody can say when n...

Here in France, your local Pharmacy is your first call for assistance with health problems............  Thank you for listening to our Buzzsprout audio stories. You can follow many of these with added film and photographs as videos and slide shows on our YouTube Channel at  "cracker books on youtube". WEB SITE CHANGE:  New Web site at  www.crackerbooks.fr At the same time, Cracker Books...

Adventure is the name of the game.......there would have to be some proficiency requirements along the way.................if the situations did not happen.....we created something that needed their expertise! Thank you for listening to our Buzzsprout audio stories. You can follow many of these with added film and photographs as videos and slide shows on our YouTube Channel at  "cracker books...

The British Driving Society is a National Organisation in the UK,  for folk who love to drive horses and their accompanying vehicles. A short tale about one of our local rallies.......  Thank you for listening to our Buzzsprout audio stories. You can follow many of these with added film and photographs as videos and slide shows on our YouTube Channel at  "cracker books on youtube". WEB S...

2001 was the year the Foot and Mouth epidemic swept the Uk. This is a tale of our short break in France and the consequences of oversleeping!!!  Thank you for listening to our Buzzsprout audio stories. You can follow many of these with added film and photographs as videos and slide shows on our YouTube Channel at  "cracker books on youtube". WEB SITE CHANGE:  New Web site at  www.cracker...

The Skegness Fire Station approach was our chosen parking spot.  The road was wide and there was plenty of room to unload horse and dray.  We managed this in double-quick time as we were already twenty minutes late. However, I suppose funerals are somewhat different to weddings! In an effort to make up time we galloped and cantered down the main road into Skegness and eventually arrived at the Fun...

"Cricket Cracker" had a profound effect and lasting impact on the whole life at the  Northcote Heavy Horse Centre. He was difficult to load into his transport........all his life he was no difficult although never again as spectacular as that journey back from Somerset. Thank you for listening to our Buzzsprout audio stories. You can follow many of these with added film and photographs a...

The roof was covered in immense Westmoreland slates. Each piece was around eight to ten inches long, six inches or so wide and about half an inch thick.  They weighed several pounds each and had come loose. The original wooden pegs securing each slate to the roof battens had perished and the wind had just pushed them out of place. Worse to come was that unlike modern roofs, under the slate was not...

HOW MANY? Julian decided to use ‘prednisalone’........a cortisone treatment generally used for many different health problems, it was much cheaper but would it work.  He contacted a drug supplier and they told him what was needed for an animal the size of Bonnie. How many tablets? We needed to give him over 360, five milligram tablets a day for the initial two weeks. “ How many tablets,” was my in...

 We also found a water tap on the end of a pipe coming out of the ground among the gravestones surrounding the Church. We looped Dinan's lead around the pipe and thought that very suitable and convenient……..  “You know what thought did”.......... not long before the bride and groom were ready to depart, the dog appeared at our side, complete with his lead. A steady jet of water could be seen...

 “Will it affect the engine?” I was asked the one question I did not wish to hear. “It shouldn’t do,” I replied knowing full well that was THE big problem. Hesdin came nearer and nearer and we did manage to pull into the hotel car park relatively safe and sound. Next morning we had time to spare and the local garage proprietor was called in to supply a new alternator drive belt as the one I had bo...

ROBERT ACTUALLY DISMANTLED THE BURNING BUILDING.......... WHILE IT WAS STILL BURNING! The first problem was finding water to fight the fire. There were three fire engines and one was used to feed hose about 500 yards down into the village where there was a water main access. Robert was back very quickly and as the firemen soaked the hay Robert dug it out with his shovel and took it across our yard...