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Description
Antwerp, September 2nd 2017

A retired left-hand drive Bedford TK beer truck stands on the parking of a brewery.

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The Bedford TK was a light commercial truck produced by Bedford of England between 1959 and 1986. Replacing the Bedford S (1950-1959), the Bedford TK was built both with inline four and inline six petrol and diesel engines, and a separate military series was built as the Bedford MK (mixed-fuel, four-wheel drive) and MJ (diesel, four-wheel drive) between 1968 and 1992. It was eventually superceded by the Bedford TL, production of which began in 1980.

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It's odd to think how, as a child, the presence of certain vehicles can leave a lasting impression. For me, growing up in a small Belgian village south of the city of Antwerp, there were a number of cars and trucks which always seemed to be present, and the sight of which suffices to conjure memories of times now long past. The white pair of Ford Taunus 17M parked in the garden of the neighbour. The green Opel Kadett C 'Limousine' used by the elderly neighbour two doors down. The rusted Citroën Dyane which stood wrecked and abandoned in the overgrown vacant plot of land further up in the street. The beige Barkas B1000 that always stood at the end of the street. The red Opel Kadett D used by one of the teachers of the municipal school. The red Panhard 21 parked on the road to the next village. The Renault Master of the local police station. The Renault 4L of the local post office.

And the Green Bedford TK of the beer trader from the main street, a familiar sight in the village and street, the beer merchant loading and unloading crates of bottles and barrels of beer, no matter the weather.

When I recently visited the village where I spent much of my youth, I noticed that the building where the beer trader used to be was being rebuilt for use as a shop and a set of flats. Seeing how the old building's facade was being ruined remodelled, it left me wondering what had ever happened to the trader's old Bedford truck.

Quite serendipitous, while out on a bike ride into the Antwerp harbour on Saturday, I suddenly spotted an abandoned Bedford TK from the corner of my eye, parked up in the parking lot of a local brewery. Imagine my astonishment when I recognised the actual beer truck from my village, the vehicle about which I had been wondering not even a month earlier...! From what I have gathered, it will be preserved as part of the visitors' center of the local brewery, which is currently being set up in an old building in the harbour.

Description
Antwerp, September 2nd 2017

A retired left-hand drive Bedford TK beer truck stands on the parking of a brewery.

----------

The Bedford TK was a light commercial truck produced by Bedford of England between 1959 and 1986. Replacing the Bedford S (1950-1959), the Bedford TK was built both with inline four and inline six petrol and diesel engines, and a separate military series was built as the Bedford MK (mixed-fuel, four-wheel drive) and MJ (diesel, four-wheel drive) between 1968 and 1992. It was eventually superceded by the Bedford TL, production of which began in 1980.

----------

It's odd to think how, as a child, the presence of certain vehicles can leave a lasting impression. For me, growing up in a small Belgian village south of the city of Antwerp, there were a number of cars and trucks which always seemed to be present, and the sight of which suffices to conjure memories of times now long past. The white pair of Ford Taunus 17M parked in the garden of the neighbour. The green Opel Kadett C 'Limousine' used by the elderly neighbour two doors down. The rusted Citroën Dyane which stood wrecked and abandoned in the overgrown vacant plot of land further up in the street. The beige Barkas B1000 that always stood at the end of the street. The red Opel Kadett D used by one of the teachers of the municipal school. The red Panhard 21 parked on the road to the next village. The Renault Master of the local police station. The Renault 4L of the local post office.

And the Green Bedford TK of the beer trader from the main street, a familiar sight in the village and street, the beer merchant loading and unloading crates of bottles and barrels of beer, no matter the weather.

When I recently visited the village where I spent much of my youth, I noticed that the building where the beer trader used to be was being rebuilt for use as a shop and a set of flats. Seeing how the old building's facade was being ruined remodelled, it left me wondering what had ever happened to the trader's old Bedford truck.

Quite serendipitous, while out on a bike ride into the Antwerp harbour on Saturday, I suddenly spotted an abandoned Bedford TK from the corner of my eye, parked up in the parking lot of a local brewery. Imagine my astonishment when I recognised the actual beer truck from my village, the vehicle about which I had been wondering not even a month earlier...! From what I have gathered, it will be preserved as part of the visitors' center of the local brewery, which is currently being set up in an old building in the harbour.