On our way back from Bury St Edmunds, our truck broke down on the A1 near Harrogate. We had trouble reaching recovery services, both by phone and online, as the calls kept disconnecting. After about fifteen minutes, a recovery van finally arrived when our third call went through. The recovery man found that our radiator had ruptured when he opened the bonnet. When he tried to refill it, water just poured out. He thinks the head gasket might also be damaged, since the truck would not start after it cooled down.
Charlie spent about five minutes searching a nearby field for a water trough so we could refill our radiator and find the leak. The truck barely steamed because the hole was so large that, by the time we stopped, almost all the water had already evaporated.
As it got dark, I heard something moving in the bushes outside. Charlie told me to lock my door since a couple of cars had stopped on the hard shoulder in front of us for a little while.
I was completely caught off guard, and I really hope no one is trying to make things harder for us on purpose. This situation felt different. We were stuck on the hard shoulder for an hour with a broken-down car and no barrier to keep us safe, which put our lives at risk.
At Scotch Corner, the truck is being towed.
Charlie always has a smile, even at the worst times.
He arranged for our truck to be recovered because his small van couldn’t tow it. The first tow took us to Scottish Corner, and the second brought our truck back to our farmhouse at 2:30 in the morning.
Both times, the drivers arrived quickly and were friendly and professional. After such a long day, we were just glad to be off the side of the road and back home with our truck. We took a few things from the truck, went inside, and finally got some rest under a warm electric blanket.