That nostalgic look back tells me you miss it Dave.
Lol you are not kidding. Had a ball back in the very late 80,s and 90,s , Used to drag a 38ft rigid furniture truck and 32 tonne 8 wheelers round sometimes lol, now i would have tickets in the post for weight limits lol. The trusty Ford Granada, or Transit or Bedford vans were a bit more sensible. I kid you not i spotted a nice looking blonde on the hard shoulder of the M6 early one morning, Stopped, got her in, stopped next services and done her up the arse on a new sofa in the back lol, Left her in the services.
There was some great young British girls around then, not on gear and had regulars all over the place. Had a young wife and 2 girlfriends for a lot of that time, Wish i had the energy and stamina now.
Saw it go downhill with the drugs and the dealers getting them on it and then pimping them, The ones not on it became fewer and fewer. Different areas got affected first but it spread everywhere. The locals then had little problem with girls on the street, shopkeepers loved it for the money they spent on condoms food and drin but none of them wanted the drug addled shit and the pimp dealers. Even plod never got involved until the drugs came. Off course there was always the few druggies and alkies but with so much choice they were easy to avoid.
Even met a few of their partners and one 6 foot 2 Jamaican i went on holiday with to her fathers time share in Portugal, that took some lying about a lads week away lol. Spent quite a lot of time with her and yes i met the parents but she lived on Seven sisters and we used to walk to the Roxy i think it was called on the High road. The only time i have come across real nasty racism in my life was then, The west Indian boys just hated seeing her with me and would spit in front of us lol, or make racist comments. I just got used to it and laughed it off which was probably a wise decision.
So yes i miss those days when working nights in London was fun, Money was there to be earned, you could get around the place quickly and there was sex available everywhere. Tax and Insurance were optional extras lol, Ate a few dodgy tax discs in my time.
Met a lot of fun people and some of them were politicians household names from tv. One great fella i had a lot of good times with including his arrest for drink driving is still a top Newsreader. Went walkabout one day in the House of Lords While waiting for Harold Wilson, he was gaga by then but sat in the back of the granada pipe in gob, I had access to just about anywhere with a tv pass stuck in the window. Different times now, London is not the place it used to be.
I could go on all night about those days lol. I doubt the swinging sixties were better. there just wasn,t the same money around then.