"The AA stopped me going nuts"

Ok, I admit that this is a real trip down memory lane, but what happened to me all those years ago was the reason I joined the AA as a member - and I'm a mechanic!

Back in the 1970's I worked for a garage in Paisley and part of my job was to be on call for breakdowns and accident recovery. As the AA obviously had less patrols in those days, I was quite often called out to attend the breakdowns of AA Members. This mostly involved going to Glasgow Airport and fixing flat batteries for members coming back from holiday or long trips. So I got to know the staff at the AA's Glasgow control centre rather well – even though I didn't actually meet them face-to-face.

Around this time I bought a second hand Morris Oxford estate and one weekend I decided to take my wife and her two cousins on a camping trip to Aberfeldy in the highlands of Perthshire.

On the Thursday before the trip I serviced the car to make sure that it was in good working order. Then Friday after work we set off.

We were just outside Crieff when I heard the rumble that comes with a flat tyre, so I pulled over. The spare was brand new and even though I didn't have any tools with me - just a jack and the starting handle that doubled as the wheel nut key - I was confident that we'd be back on the road in next to no time. But like the best laid plans of mice and men, it didn't quite go like that. The wheel nuts were incredibly tight and although I managed to loosen three of them, the fourth one just wouldn't budge. And when the socket on the end of the starting handle opened up like a tulip I had no choice but to give up the ghost.

So there I was, stranded on a pitch-black road at 11pm with my family expecting a miracle from me. There was nothing else for it but to hitch a lift into Crieff and call the AA for help from a phone box - the irony being of course that I wasn't a member. I decided to cross that bridge when I came to it.

It was nearly one in the morning by the time I managed to get into Crieff. Then, once I'd found a phone box, I discovered I had another problem to overcome. I only had notes on me - no coins. How was I going to make a call? In desperation comes inspiration and I suddenly remembered the unlisted number of the AA Call Centre, so I asked the operator to reverse the charges.

Thankfully the person on duty who answered the call accepted it and when I told him who I was and my predicament he phoned a local garage. The owner came out to me very quickly with a wheel brace and took me back to my car and increasingly worried passengers. And it was lucky that he did, as it took our combined strength to remove that last nut.

The outcome was that as soon as I got home from the camping trip I joined the AA – and although in all the years since then I've never had to call them out, I still keep my membership going as it's always reassuring to know that they are there if I need them.

Robert Dickie, AA Member