835 replies to this topic

[Lee Nicolle]

I got out on Tuesday, the truck got out on Wednesday, the concrete is still there in the paddock.

A big tow truck pulled it out, the hard part is the lack of tow points on the back of the truck.

The highlight of the day was nearly stepping on a brown snake while walking around the paddock.

Another view...

I drove tippers a very long time ago, and driving through paddocks like that was always scarey, particularly after rain because of soft spots.
Though I once got bogged like that on the edge of a main road. It was going nowhere. I got dragged out by a backhoe, he put it on stands and just pulled me out with the hydraulics. So easy. Though first he tried to tow me out, it just bounced up and down on the bitumen! 22 tonne of truck and load.
I too have scared myself with snakes on new subdivisions, slid out of the truck straight onto a snake that ran away!! Thank Christ as i was wearing Japanese Safety Shoes. thongs!!

Edited by Lee Nicolle, 11 February 2011 - 23:56.

[Catalina Park]

I had to drive through the paddock around the back of the greenhouses that are in the right of the photo and into another paddock to get to the job site. They has cut the grass to try and let the paddock dry out. I walked through the paddock with the builder to check the condition of the ground before attempting to drive through. It was all OK till I hit the spot where the seepage from the greenhouses hits the subsoil and down it sank.

We unloaded most of the concrete into a loader on the front of a fairly small tractor. It took about three hours to unload what they wanted (about half of what they had ordered!) I had to keep adding water to the concrete to stop it from drying out, I had to make a few trip to the greenhouses to fetch water with a 20 litre drum, this was when I met the brown snake!
I unloaded the rest onto the ground after giving the concrete a dose of an additive that stops the cement from curing properly so that it is relatively easy to break it up later on.
I then washed the inside of the mixer with the little bit of water that I had left and we left it overnight.

The next day we arranged a tow truck to pull the empty truck out of the bog. These truck do not have any tow points on the rear and there was not way to get around to tow it from the front without sinking another vehicle. You can't hook to the rear suspension as it it all rubber mounted. So we ran a chain alongside the left hand chassis rail onto the rear spring hanger of the front suspension then it winched out quite easily.

Just another day in paradise.

[Mandator]

So far no one has come up with a suggestion as to the location of the transport cafe - I still believe it is on a route somewhere between Dundee and Yorkshire or Lancashire.

I have considered putting up more images from the 1950s and 1960s on this thread for TNF members but sadly it seems to have wandered somewhat off topic.


www.nynehead-books.co.uk

Hi,just joined this forum and was interested to see the photo of the cafe with the AEC and the ERF outside.It looks familiar but I just can't place it,however it can be dated at 1959 or later as the AEC Mercury has a "HG" Burnley reg and "HHG" was Burnley,Feb 1959.Allisons from Dundee took over a firm from Rossendale,Lancs called J and E Transport which would probably account for the Burnley reg.The ERF six-legger has a familiar livery too but I just can't place the company either - must be an age thing.
Please put some more images on retriever,I spent 40 years in road haulage and the old B and W photos bring back lots of memories.

Chris.

[JtP1]

Chris, is that Park Royal or Ergonomic?

[Mandator]

Chris, is that Park Royal or Ergonomic?

That is a Park Royal cab,although some big firms like Harold Wood of Heckmondwike Yorks ran a huge fleet of AECs and they built their own.Wincanton did the same.

These are ergo/tilt cab AECs,the vehicle on the left is a Leyland Marathon.

[JtP1]

Is that a Buffalo on the left side of photo beside the Marathon?

[Mandator]

Is that a Buffalo on the left side of photo beside the Marathon?

Yes.A.E.Evans started buying Marathons in 1976 and Buffalos in 1978 after operating AECs for years.I worked for them out of the Sheffield depot from 1969 - 1979 and drove AEC Mk3s,MK5s,tilt cab Mandators and finally a Marathon in 1976.

I wish I had taken photos from 1968 when I started on steel haulage in Sheffield with an Albion Reiver,Leyland Badger and a Leyland Octopus.
This is me in my Marathon in 1976,loaded with toluene for Whitehaven.It was a 0200 start for a 0600 delivery from Sheffield,so a couple of pints on the way home,some tea and early to bed,up at 0130,down to the yard and away.

[exclubracer]

Hi,just joined this forum and was interested to see the photo of the cafe with the AEC and the ERF outside.It looks familiar but I just can't place it,however it can be dated at 1959 or later as the AEC Mercury has a "HG" Burnley reg and "HHG" was Burnley,Feb 1959.Allisons from Dundee took over a firm from Rossendale,Lancs called J and E Transport which would probably account for the Burnley reg.The ERF six-legger has a familiar livery too but I just can't place the company either - must be an age thing.
Please put some more images on retriever,I spent 40 years in road haulage and the old B and W photos bring back lots of memories.

Chris.

Hi Chris.
I grew up in Burnley, now living in France.

I remember Fearings Transport in Burnley, do you have any recollections?

Burnley regs were HG and CW as I recall, when you wanted to tax your car you had to go to the pokey little office under the Town Hall which was so slow it involved half a day off work.

[Mandator]

Hi Chris.
I grew up in Burnley, now living in France.

I remember Fearings Transport in Burnley, do you have any recollections?

Burnley regs were HG and CW as I recall, when you wanted to tax your car you had to go to the pokey little office under the Town Hall which was so slow it involved half a day off work.

Hi Retreiver and Mick.
First,thanks for the AEC photos,I have driven every type shown in the photos and remember every company concerned.
Mick,I do remember Fearings Transport from Burnley,I'm sure they ran in a green livery.I've seen a photo of one of theirs somewhere and I'll post it on here if I find it.CW and HG were Burnley regs as you say.

Chris.

[bradbury west]

I worked for them out of the Sheffield depot from 1969 - 1979

You probably recall Redferns then. Always thought of it as a top own account fleet IIRC.
Roger Lund

[Mandator]

You probably recall Redferns then. Always thought of it as a top own account fleet IIRC.
Roger Lund

Hi Roger.I remember Redfern National Glass from Barnsley but don't know much about them.A lot of their work was done by BRS,from bottles to sand tankers.They ran two Scania 111 artic sand tankers over Woodhead to Chelford (I think) at night which is when I used to see them.Dark blue livery and I haven't seen one photo of them yet.

Chris.

[bradbury west]

Does anyone recall the Charles Poulter fleet of LS1418 Mercs in the late 60s, a cream colour, based in the East End?. They ran loose timber and ply from the docks, and Vauxhall ckd stuff out of Luton IIRC. Solly Davis and his brother owned the firm, sort of forerunners of Ralph Hilton, HTS.
Roger Lund

Edited by bradbury west, 10 March 2011 - 22:31.

[Mandator]

Does anyone recall the Charles Poulter fleet of LS1418 Mercs in the late 60s, a cream colour, based in the East End?. They ran loose timber and ply from the docks, and Vauxhall ckd stuff out of Luton IIRC. Solly Davis and his brother owned the firm, sort of forerunners of Ralph Hammond, HTS.
Roger Lund

I remember them Roger,a regular sight running that timber.Somebody once told me you wouldn't get set on at Poulters unless you were an ex con,don't know how true that was.
Wasn't it Ralph Hilton?

Chris.

Edited by Mandator, 10 March 2011 - 11:17.

[bradbury west]

I remember them Roger,a regular sight running that timber.Somebody once told me you wouldn't get set on at Poulters unless you were an ex con,don't know how true that was.
Wasn't it Ralph Hilton? Chris.

You may think that, but I could not possibly comment. It was a different world in those days, perhaps true of Hilton too. You are right it was Ralph Hilton, but I was playing with the link with "The Brothers" TV series Hammond Transport, based out of Ralph's yard.

A couple of years ago on holiday I met a chap in our tour who had started his accountancy training with the Hilton accountants. Nuff said. He reckoned Ralph always went to meetings with his minder, Crusher or Nosher or some such. Whatever, they provided jobs and created wealth in the community.

Another early user of imported trrucks was Samuel Williams from Dagenham with his fleet of grey LB76 Scania Vabis. They seemed to be everywhere, like Poulters.

Talking of AECs, did you come across the dark blue fleet of the Kent fruit grower and distributor Alan Firmin, many 8 wheelers, all regd with AF reg, AF 96, 109, 107, 56 etc etc, which were Cornish regs ? We have discussed earlier the V8 Mandators. Our sister co. Western Transport had one, NGO499D, double shifted, ran for years, went like stink, but eventually ended tround a tree on the A4 IIRC. They were one of the early Scania 110 users, their first being WHW901H .
Roger Lund

[Mandator]

You may think that, but I could not possibly comment. It was a different world in those days, perhaps true of Hilton too. You are right it was Ralph Hilton, but I was playing with the link with "The Brothers" TV series Hammond Transport, based out of Ralph's yard.

A couple of years ago on holiday I met a chap in our tour who had started his accountancy training with the Hilton accountants. Nuff said. He reckoned Ralph always went to meetings with his minder, Crusher or Nosher or some such. Whatever, they provided jobs and created wealth in the community.

Another early user of imported trrucks was Samuel Williams from Dagenham with his fleet of grey LB76 Scania Vabis. They seemed to be everywhere, like Poulters.

Talking of AECs, did you come across the dark blue fleet of the Kent fruit grower and distributor Alan Firmin, many 8 wheelers, all regd with AF reg, AF 96, 109, 107, 56 etc etc, which were Cornish regs ? We have discussed earlier the V8 Mandators. Our sister co. Western Transport had one, NGO499D, double shifted, ran for years, went like stink, but eventually ended tround a tree on the A4 IIRC. They were one of the early Scania 110 users, their first being WHW901H .
Roger Lund

I remember Alan Frmin well and there is a restored AEC MK5 Mammoth Major and trailer of theirs which does the shows.And when I was on tanker work I used to load at Samuel Williams Thames Terminal tank farm at Dagenham Dock quite regularly.They were the agents for John Hudson Fuel Oils as well.When you say Western Transport was your sister company who did you work for?

Found this on the net........



Chris.

[bradbury west]

your sister company who did you work for?
Chris.

For another TDG company
RL

[bradbury west]

Taken by the late Roger Kenney

A winter scene on the Pennines - Also by Roger.
Arthur Ingram also photographed Davis group vehicles in the 1950s and 1960s. Davis, Tozer, Bristow, Charringtons, Monger

Bump.
Time delay for posting process for retriever means his pictures went in prior to later posts.
Scroll back to posts 623, 625 & 626 and see the Solly Davis and Chas Poulter pictures
was the Tozer, above, later involved with Tozer, Kemsley and Milbourne(sp?), later TKM Holdings who had the MAN? franchise when they hit these shores in the 70s? It is all a long time ago.
Roger Lund

Edited by bradbury west, 11 March 2011 - 17:51.

[Mandator]

Bump.
Time delay for posting process for retriever means his pictures went in prior to later posts.
Scroll back to posts 623, 625 & 626 and see the Solly Davis and Chas Poulter pictures
was the Tozer, above, later involved with Tozer, Kemsley and Milbourne(sp?), later TKM Holdings who had the MAN? franchise when they hit these shores in the 70s? It is all a long time ago.
Roger Lund

Great pictures of the A.E.Evans Mandator and Buffalo,also the Davis,Poulter and Fearing photos. I especially like the Davis AEC in the snow.

Chris.

Edited by Mandator, 11 March 2011 - 20:46.

[ghinzani]

Hello Mandator, glad youve signed up - are you on Trucknets Nostalgia forum btw? I campaigned with Spardo and others for the setting up of that based on this Forum. First wagon I remember going in as a kid was my Dads AEC Mandator V8, fast as ffff but you could see the road thru the holes in the floor and it was only 4 or 5 years old.

[Mandator]

Hello Mandator, glad youve signed up - are you on Trucknets Nostalgia forum btw? I campaigned with Spardo and others for the setting up of that based on this Forum. First wagon I remember going in as a kid was my Dads AEC Mandator V8, fast as ffff but you could see the road thru the holes in the floor and it was only 4 or 5 years old.

Hi Ghinzani,yes I'm on the old codgers bit of Trucknet as Chris Webb.I've seen your name on there and I know Spardo (David) used to go on a lot but don't hear much from him now.I've been retired since 2005 and now live in the Isle of Man.I started driving in 1967 straight out of the RAF,on steel haulage out of Sheffield,then a bit of market work(not enough hours in the day on that job),ten years with A.E. Evans out of their Sheffield depot then finally I was at Glass Glover Distribution/Wincanton at Maltby near Rotherham for 27 years - apart from a few months in 1994 when I was made redundant and went back on tankers.I came off the road when I went back to Maltby and was shunting there for 11 years,a job I used to do for Glass Glover.
I don't have many photos of my own but I can put a few on if you would like to see them.
I have driven AECs from the MK3s up to the Mandators and still have fond memories of them,especially the MK5.I never drove a V8 though,Evans went to look at some secondhand Mandators and gave one of them the knockback as it was a V8 - pity.I've had lifts in them when on dodgy nights out and I was really impressed.

Chris

[ghinzani]

Hi Ghinzani,yes I'm on the old codgers bit of Trucknet as Chris Webb.I've seen your name on there and I know Spardo (David) used to go on a lot but don't hear much from him now.I've been retired since 2005 and now live in the Isle of Man.I started driving in 1967 straight out of the RAF,on steel haulage out of Sheffield,then a bit of market work(not enough hours in the day on that job),ten years with A.E. Evans out of their Sheffield depot then finally I was at Glass Glover Distribution/Wincanton at Maltby near Rotherham for 27 years - apart from a few months in 1994 when I was made redundant and went back on tankers.I came off the road when I went back to Maltby and was shunting there for 11 years,a job I used to do for Glass Glover.
I don't have many photos of my own but I can put a few on if you would like to see them.
I have driven AECs from the MK3s up to the Mandators and still have fond memories of them,especially the MK5.I never drove a V8 though,Evans went to look at some secondhand Mandators and gave one of them the knockback as it was a V8 - pity.I've had lifts in them when on dodgy nights out and I was really impressed.

Chris

Ah yes, glad you are here. Always nice to see the AEC's!

[exclubracer]

Many thanks for that retriever, it brings back childhood memories for me, I've contacted family in Burnley to try and unearth any photos or history of Fearings Transport.

Edited by exclubracer, 14 January 2013 - 22:04.

[Pullman99]

Not strictly a "commercial vehicle" as such, but not wishing to start another thread, I wonder if any of our knowledgeable TNFrs will be able to throw any further light on the photograph below?

A work colleague has been scanning some pics relating to his great uncle, a gentleman called Walter Ernest Ellis, who served throughout the First World War as a driver. I believe that the car in the prhotograph, taken c1915, is of a 12/16hp Sunbeam, possibly one of the cars built under contract by The Rover Company. These are quite frequently seen in photographs and film of the period but if anyone has any further suggestions, please feel free to contribute. My friend would also like to discover if his relative may have driven for a specific senior officer or whether it is more likey that he was in a "pool" of drivers. The vehicle bears the military fleet number of M (WD arrow) 70010. Does anyone know if there is a UK archive that would be able to provide further details from this number?

[bradbury west]

I cannot promise anything immediately, but I am happy to look through the WW1 Army records on Ancestry. com thing to see in what unit he served, which might give clues to other links. I know we were able to download lots of docs about my grandfather's service in WW1 and prior to it.
Roger Lund

edit. at a first check there are 2 by that name. Any idea where he came from? One looks young for war service, born in 1898. There are 13 and 28 docs listed for them. Will check more fully when I have a moment
RL

Edited by bradbury west, 17 March 2011 - 21:04.

[Pullman99]

I cannot promise anything immediately, but I am happy to look through the WW1 Army records on Ancestry. com thing to see in what unit he served, which might give clues to other links. Any idea where he came from? One looks young for war service, born in 1898. There are 13 and 28 docs listed for them. Will check more fully when I have a moment RL

Thanks for that Roger. Greatly appreciated. I will ask my friend for more details.

Ian

[Mandator]

Not exactly vintage stuff but here's a couple of wagon and drags I drove in the late 70s and early 80s.A Ford Transcontinental and a Scania 82m.





Both photos took on the A628 Woodhead coming off nights.

[Ray Bell]

From a time when 'commercial vehicles' were rather more scarce than today:





Cutting down a tourer to make a utility was a national pastime here in the thirties. Cost-effective and making a dual-purpose vehicle of just about anything.

Just down the road from it was:



While last week I spotted this rare bird:





Not nearly as common as the van here, this is the first of these that I've seen on the road in maybe thirty years! Apparently it's in regular use.

[Ray Bell]

Meanwhile, I posted a pic of its smaller brother a couple of weeks back elsewhere:



The little light green ute pulled just off the access road at Lakeside...

[Pullman99]

I at a first check there are 2 by that name. Any idea where he came from? One looks young for war service, born in 1898. There are 13 and 28 docs listed for them. Will check more fully when I have a moment. RL

Hi Roger,

Thanks for that information. My friend says that he believes that his relative was very young during his war service so, if it was the latter part of the conflict, then a birth date of 1898 could be correct. My related question was on whether it would be possible to trace the vehicle's war service from its WD number (M 70010)?

Any further information would be gratefully received and I will then forward to my colleague. I have suggested that he joins the Forum anyway as he does follow motorsport.

[ghinzani]

Not exactly vintage stuff but here's a couple of wagon and drags I drove in the late 70s and early 80s.A Ford Transcontinental and a Scania 82m.





Both photos took on the A628 Woodhead coming off nights.

Ooh that Transcontis a peach! What motor?
Shame the Scannys a daycab or was it one of those weird day sleepers where half the passenger sleep folded down for a brief kip at best?

[Bjorn Kjer]

Cummins 6 cyl.

[ghinzani]

Yes indeed Bjorn, but 220, 250, 270, 290, 325, 350?? the excitements in the numbers!!

[Mandator]

Yes indeed Bjorn, but 220, 250, 270, 290, 325, 350?? the excitements in the numbers!!

290 Cummins with 13 speed Fuller,talk about rock on!

[ghinzani]

290 Cummins with 13 speed Fuller,talk about rock on!

Ah yes - we had the same combo in an early C series on loan from Frank Tuckers for a while, it went very well.

[Bjorn Kjer]

The Transconti was reasonable popular in DK then , but with none under 290. It unfortunately ended a bit like the Bedford TM and Leyland T45 !

[Mandator]

Ah yes - we had the same combo in an early C series on loan from Frank Tuckers for a while, it went very well.

Frank Tucker was something to do with Westbrick I think? Brown and cream motors,or am I having a senior moment?

[ghinzani]

Frank Tucker was something to do with Westbrick I think? Brown and cream motors,or am I having a senior moment?

Think you are right, however he was also an ERF agent so we had one in the factory white with red piping scheme.

[Terry Walker]

Seen close to Osterley Park in 2006: Morris J?

[Lee Nicolle]

Seen close to Osterley Park in 2006: Morris J?

That it is, the pride of British 50s engineeering! It is hiding a good 60s Supermodified diff. With its 5.6-1 diff ratio.

[2Bob]

One of my neighbours has had this for at least 28 years (as long as I have lived around the corner). Still used, maybe once a week now, for his 'concrete swimming pool' business.

[eldougo]

Beaut old Bedford i see a couple of them still around on the northern beaches still working.

Edited by eldougo, 13 May 2011 - 07:24.

[cdrewett]

What exactly was this engine? I would love to know more, they sounded brilliant

If you want to see and hear a Commer TS3 in action, (3 cylinders, 6 pistons, 12 con-rods, 6 bell-cranks and a chain driven blower) come to Shelsley Walsh on June 4/5.
We are celebrating 50 years of the E-type and 60 years of the C-type. Dick Skipworth is bringing the amazing Ecurie Ecosse transporter powered by guess what.
Don't miss.
Chris

[Roy C]

If you want to see and hear a Commer TS3 in action, (3 cylinders, 6 pistons, 12 con-rods, 6 bell-cranks and a chain driven blower) come to Shelsley Walsh on June 4/5.
We are celebrating 50 years of the E-type and 60 years of the C-type. Dick Skipworth is bringing the amazing Ecurie Ecosse transporter powered by guess what.
Don't miss.
Chris

Can't wait!


Ecurie Ecosse transporter at Kop Hill Climb 2010

[DouglasM]

London Transport's cleverly designed low bridge bus: upstairs passengers accessed seats via a low channel alongside one side of the bus.

I remember these. Potteries Motor Traction (PMT), Hanley to Trentham Gardens in the 1950's. Probably used to get under the bridge near Stoke railway station.
Get to the front and pretend to be driving! Great memories.

[Lee Nicolle]

One of my neighbours has had this for at least 28 years (as long as I have lived around the corner). Still used, maybe once a week now, for his 'concrete swimming pool' business.

I was going to take a pic of the adbandoned one on Pt Wakefield Rd yesterday, near the Mallala turnoff.
I have never understood why those old Bedfords seem to attract so much allegiance. Horrid to drive and usually as slow as a wet week.

[hotshoe]

I was an apprentice farrier at Yalding forge in Kent during the seventies..and ..small world... i found this postcard recently ,so i thought i'd share it with you . Err .. no idea what it is ..blinkin' old though.

[Mandator]

Dear TNFers, As this is a Nostalgia Forum and space has been given to allow discussion on the Supermarine Spitfire I am hopeful that our moderator might look kindly on this submission being allowed to stay and not consigned to the bin.

I have been trying to identify the location of this wonderful scene without any success. It dates from the late 1950s / early 1960s.

Allison's worked out of Dundee and I believe the load on the AEC is jute bound for the mills in the north so it could be in the Scottish Borders or a location further south in Yorkshire or Lancashire. If anyone travelling in the region remembers the location of this transport cafe I would be most grateful for a response on this forum.


image deleted

With reference to the first photo that you put on,the cafe with the AEC Mercury of Allisons and the ERF 6-legger parked at the back.I have it on good authority from a trio of 80+ year old Scotsmen via a friend of mine in Lockerbie, that the cafe was on the A94,south side of Brechin on the Aberdeen road.The ERF belonged to a company called Welches from Dundee.

Chris

[ken devine]

In the early 50s trucks like this Leyland were used to cart Manganese in Port Hedland Western Australia.






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[ken devine]

This International tipper carted gravel for road making in the Pilbara Western Australia.





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[ken devine]

The mighty Haulpack the work horse of the West Australian mining industry.







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