Hello.
Mr John Birch,of Birch international Logistics,based near Ashbourne,would like to know if there are any other ex Barlows men on the forum.If so,step forward and be recognised.I am his eldest son,Borrowash Flyer. I can remember Tom Harrison,years ago,pulled into Leicester Forest about 20.30 hrs to park up for the night,there is old Tom,“Putting some more blood in her”.i asked if he was staying,no said he,asked him if he was going Via Gellia way home,yes,car was in Dene quarry,home i came .
If any of you have survived,“Fergy” would like to know.
Borrowash
not too clued up , but we had 3 barlows drivers come to hazel croft when barrows packed up and hazelcroft bought some tankers . jim buxton passed away several years ago , last i heard ron steeples is still around and ian clayton from ashbourne as well . old barlow wouldn’t have fuel cards and all the tanker trailers were boarded in between the chassis rails to store 5 gallon drums of diesel . cheers , dave
that should have read barlows , computer thinks it can spell better than me …
I knew a few of them, not likely to be on here though. Used to pick Tom Harrison up in Pikehall occasionally after he retired, ran a few times with his lad Pete when he was on Fletchers. Maurice Fearn I see occasionally at vintage shows and also Denzil Goodwin. Had a few ex Barlow men at Ballidon, and Ken Hodgkinson had a Ford D series four wheeler in there. Alan Kendrick, Tom Wibberley, Pete O Leary, Dave Wibberley, Fred Brownlee, Tom (I think?) Mellor who lived at Allsop Moor drove for them as well, his wife worked in the canteen at Ballidon. There will be loads more of course, I think that a lot of local driver’s had a spell with them. Used to get our Foden spares from them, if they hadn’t got a part in stock they would rob one off the new chassis/cabs that they had in the ‘field stores’. Some of those must have stood for years before they were put on the road, rumour used to be that the Rolls engines were taken out and sold and the Gardner out of the ‘retiring’ truck was put in but I don’t know if that was just heresay? 
Pete.
Hi Windrush.
Is’nt it a small world,i worked with O’Learys brother on Celanese transport Spondon,he was a good chap,if you see Pete,tell him i am thinking about him,(And his Mrs.!!)worked with him and Mick at Phillips plus a bloke you may know,“Chester”-Mick Newton ?Mick and Chester worked out of Ballidon for Dennis,and their lorries had to be top notch. Keep those memory cells ticking,we have a few more miles to cover yet!!
Borrowash
Hi “OOOOOOh Mr Rigsby”
Sorry about that,but i loved watching “Rising Damp”, proper. OK,thanks for the input,will let Fergie know (Thats John Birches nick name) something to do with him and a Fergy tractor being inseperable in his youth ,
maybe he will be able to name a few. Be carefull,watch out for “Miss Jones” 
Thanks again.
Borrowash.
PS. Is it an offence to interfere with a fergie tractor? 
hulltramper:
Hi Windrush.
Is’nt it a small world,i worked with O’Learys brother on Celanese transport Spondon,he was a good chap,if you see Pete,tell him i am thinking about him,(And his Mrs.!!)worked with him and Mick at Phillips plus a bloke you may know,“Chester”-Mick Newton ?Mick and Chester worked out of Ballidon for Dennis,and their lorries had to be top notch. Keep those memory cells ticking,we have a few more miles to cover yet!!
Borrowash
Hopefully I wont be seeing Pete for a long while, he passed away many years ago! 
His sister Monica is married to David Massey at Longliffe who has the tanker’s. Didn’t know many of Phillips lads as they had finished when I started driving, we had plenty of their ex driver’s at Ballidon though.
It was Sam Mellor at Barlows, not Tom, he lived in the cottages above Tissington gates near the New Inn’s
Pete.
Hi.
Whoever you are,if you are reading this,every time i hear the joke about,“Noises you hear in the farmyard”,when it gets to the last lad in the class,he say’s.
“GET OFF THAT F*****G TRACTOR”.
YES !! YOU will think “Fergie To” !!!
Borowash aka “Him that will never grow up”
Windrush,Got your ears On!!!
Fergie has been telling me about Sam Mellor,did you know about his exploits WW 2 Navy Gibralta ?. If you don’t know,get to know,you could make a film about them and him. Ferg said he was a super chap,smoked cigars regular guy.
Was talking to him about Peter Harrison,lives opposite the Kingsfield,W/worth,he is retired BUT NOT DEAD !!. Could not get your inside leg measurement as there were no “Old ■■■■■” who may have known you about .Has he got this right,he thinks you are a nice chap,well spoken ?
Enough from me,UP THE RAMS !!
4 Borrowash
hulltramper:
Windrush,Got your ears On!!!
Fergie has been telling me about Sam Mellor,did you know about his exploits WW 2 Navy Gibralta ?. If you don’t know,get to know,you could make a film about them and him. Ferg said he was a super chap,smoked cigars regular guy.
Was talking to him about Peter Harrison,lives opposite the Kingsfield,W/worth,he is retired BUT NOT DEAD !!. Could not get your inside leg measurement as there were no “Old ■■■■■” who may have known you
Enough from me,UP THE RAMS !!
4 Borrowash
I know that Pete Harrison (aka Barnrat) is alive, ask him about a lamp standard in a carpark just off the A34 near Shirley! I was talking about Pete O leary (as I thought you were) 
Dont worry about my inside leg measurement, that’s between me and my tailor, and I told you before that I am a nice chap and yes, very well spoken! There are still a few around who would know me, I had 27 years at Ballidon and being 6’ 4" tall didn’t go unoticed, though not many Dene lads would recall me as I didn’t do much from there if I could avoid it.
Pete.
Hi Pete.
Sorry about the mix up,yes i did mean “Barn Rat” .I would appreciate it if when you see him,you could drop into the conversation that i had asked about his wife ,she is lovely . It was Frank O’Leary i worked with at British Celanese,he was a grand chap,another driver there,taught me to rope and sheet,Charlie?.Butcher ?. It’s a shame most of the men from Barlows,have reached their sell by date,bet there where a few stories waiting to be told there.Ferg told me a bit about Sam Mellor,would be interesting to get sat down with him in a pub,and let him relive the navy days over a pint or three. Will be speaking to Ferg tomorrow night so may find out a bit more,stay well,stay LUCKY.
Borrowash
Hi Windrush.
Just remembered two Ballidon lads,one lived on Oat Hill W/worth McCabe ?,i think he was Welsh ? and “Abdull” Pete Hadfield ?. I don’t think Pete was there long,but he gave it a try,and preferred it where he had been and came back.
When i think Ballidon,three things,1.Mushrooms in season in the field leading down to the quarry.2. Cowslips in the fields,when heading back up to Longcliffe X.roads. and 3. Having to get a loading shovel to run under the loading bins,having a big tank,the lids were in danger of knocking the chutes off !!! (S**t Hole).
Still we survived and skidded on a few more miles before hanging up the spurs. Had two spells at "J&D.A… Brassington,MAGIC. One cold sat.doing the servicing in the “Big Blue Garage”,up at the farm.(It was B****y freezing) .Down from the farmhouse comes Dorothy,big tray of sarnies and huge mugs of tea,the sarnies turned out to be Oatcakes,filled with grated cheese and branston pickle,and they had been warmed up… I can still taste them now,they warmed us all right through,proper lady. Her driving left a lot to be desired,unless you owned an,OFF Road Rally team,i had been warned.One sat,she said she would run me back into W/worth,SILLY ME!! said yes please,by the time we were at Rider Point,my life,(And various HARD DRY STONE WALLS),had flashed before me. At Buntings farm,i said “You can drop me off here,i know a short cut across the fields”,"Are you sure she says2,me “Yes”.I have never been so sure about anything as much before or since,lovely lady,HELL DRIVER qualified !! Schumaca/Vettal = ■■■■■ CATS !!!
Happy days.
Borrowash Flyer.
Don’t recal Pete Hadfield, must have been before my time? Basil McCabe I worked with (another ex Phillips driver) but he passed away many years ago. Basil (Dickie Bow) and Geoff Land (Big Tilly, ex Loxley’s from Bonsall) ran everywhere together, mostly down country to London and Somerset etc until Baz had to retire early and then passed away, Geoff died a few years later. There are a pics of them both on the Peak District thread.
I never got involved with tanker’s, didn’t fancy being in the Supertax bracket so plodded on with the tipper’s quite happily. I knew my place! Rod Gills lad is based at Ballidon now for Seafield, the place has changed a lot with all new powder plant and is a lot cleaner, the tarmac plants are no longer in use though and I doubt that there are many laughs there now either.
Pete.
Hi windrush.
It’ called progress,first thing quarry bosses do in the morning is,“■■■■ half a lemon”,they then proceed to make life all but impossible for all those around them,and this is passed down the chain. At dinner/lunch?,they ■■■■ the other half and continue kill any good will that tries to rear its head. Stood in for my mates lad when he broke his wrist,old school me,had yellow vest on,just nipped out of the cab at the sheeting area to check the sheet had located… “Where’s your hat you ?”.me ,ooops sorry,only be 2 secs0.i am new on this job i’will put it on now… Next day,mate said,had a call from the quarry manager,if they see you again without your hat,they are going to ban the lorry. Why could he not have given me a bollocking and told me ?.Had it been some chap desperate for a job to hold down,he could have been sacked. I have just read on another post,that you can no longer secure a load on a flat,by using the rope hooks… It sounds daft enough to be true !.
Mines a small pint in the Wheatsheaf,after Christmas ok.
Borrowash
Apparently Barlows garage still got tools where they were left to this day.
Regarding Barlow and Hodgkinson I remember Pete O Leary telling me this tale when he was a fitter there. Back in the days when they ran Dodge four wheeler’s with Perkins engines a chap from, probably, Churchill tools, arrived at the garage with a diesel compression tester claiming that he could save them money by telling them the state of their engine’s. Pete was instructed to remove the injector’s from a Dodge and the chap duly tested the engine, he then asked if the engine actually ran! On being told that, yes it did run as it had just returned from Kent and was still loaded with flint for the Potteries the poor chap murmured something like “you dont need this” as he put the tester back in its box! Little did he know that it had to be towed on a chain to get the thing to start each morning, and was possibly not switched off during the day!
I was also told by a local chap in our vintage club that when he drove a tanker for them he was given a Foden S21 ‘Mickey Mouse’ with an experimental Gardner engine fitted, it was only ever touched by Gardner’s including oil changes and went like a rocket doing Biggin to Brighton and back in the day plus reloading! It wasn’t there long and to this day he doesn’t know what the engine was.
Pete.
a question for you pete . who was the chap on longcliffe tankers with a cb that we could hear in buxton . i spoke to him most days for years but i just can’t seem to remember his name or handle . i remember he was grey haired and had a roman nose . cheers , dave
Iam thinking that could be the late Dennis Humphreys ,I think he boomed out rather well.
Dan Punchard:
Iam thinking that could be the late Dennis Humphreys ,I think he boomed out rather well.
Reckon so Dan, he parked in Ballidon village at one time. Cannot remember his CB handle though, John’s was Spannerman up at the Longcliffe garage and I worked with his nephew at Ballidon. Good times back then, it was a joy to go to work yet we didn’t have all the fancy tackle to do the job that they have nowadays. Decent for those days though with firms like Longcliffe and Tilcon, no expense was spared on maintenance. Yes we moaned at times, but that’s driver’s the World over!!!
Pete.
Hi.
Sounds JUST like Dennis," Jack Eye" was his handle. Sorry to say he is not Gearjamming any more,unless they do Lorries in heaven. His son lives near to me,so if there are any messages want passing on,get posting.Super chap,one of the good uns.
Borrowash