Those damn little white posts

Those damn little white posts

STORY 2

Those damn little white posts

The instructions sounded simple enough: deliver the new cultivator from Cummins to Cleve.

“No problem,” said Norman John “Nig” Fraser, a retired farmer and grandfather of current Ramsey Bros Director, Linc Ramsey.

“Now mate, take it easy and stay off the roadside as much as you can, keep an eye on your mirrors, and the cultivator, and try not to hit anything.”

“Righto,” he said.

So Nig set off on the road to Cleve.  It was a good steady drive and he relaxed into the journey.

After an hour or so, when the first car came up from behind with the driver waving enthusiastically, he gave them a nod and smile.

When another car drew close a little while later, pointing and flashing its lights, Nig politely responded with a wave, oblivious to everything but the rattle of the old 4WD.

“Gosh, we’re a friendly mob on the Eyre Peninsula,” he thought as he puttered down the bitumen.

Back at the Ramsey Bros dealership in Cleve, the phone rang.  It was the police officer from Lock, sounding a bit anxious.

“Have you got a bloke towing a cultivator on the road to Cleve today?” he asked.

“Yes, that would be Nig.”

“Well he’s wiped out nearly every white post from Cummins to Cleve.  There’s over 100 of them lying on the ground like matchsticks,” he said.  “And no-one can stop him.”

Now this was back in the 1980s when the transport department didn’t skimp on roadside markers.  No flimsy PVC guide poles on this stretch – these were solid lumps of 2 x 4 timber rammed deep into the earth, now sheared off by a 40-foot piece of farm machinery.

The dealership team realised the only way to halt this trail of destruction was to send a runner who was quickly despatched to overtake and block Nig’s unintentional roadside clearing.

When he was finally pulled over, Nig stepped out to survey his handiwork. “Old cock!” he declared (his favourite expression). “I was only cruising to Cleve…”

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