Davis bros, felling

when i was working for davis bros felling,1966 as a fitter jimmy ruff was a driver,eight wheel aec, ralph lowery, leyland octopus, jimmy wilkinson ,leyland beaver, and freddie page,aec mercury i think, and i am sure there was a driver called■■? smart, can anyone recall any of the drivers.

bigal20:
when i was working for davis bros felling,1966 as a fitter jimmy ruff was a driver,eight wheel aec, ralph lowery, leyland octopus, jimmy wilkinson ,leyland beaver, and freddie page,aec mercury i think, and i am sure there was a driver called■■? smart, can anyone recall any of the drivers.

Hi Big Al,
Worked out of Wapping in 1966 so far back cant remember a lot, was Ray Tately the Manager then can only remember a couple of Drivers,Billy Green, Dicky Bird, some of the names you mention rings a Bell but just cant put a Face to them, remember later when they had to vacate the Depot and they worked out of the Layby was you there when that happened.
Ben.

hi ben,billy green was the manager when i was there, the conditions were terrible, one old nackered salamander heater for heating the workshop,no doors on the workshop, but the pay was good for fitters, there were two of us there,but what a difference when i left there and went to cawthorn and sinclair(birtley),central heated workshops,20 to 30 fitters, better wages,12hour dayshift then 12 hour nightshift, i saw mr hubby once at davis, and he left his son roger to run the place, he was not there very long, we had a few thames traders(albert e ewer) charles poulter, and c bristow written on the doors, then we had some mercedes, i think they were larrow transport. al.

bigal20:
hi ben,billy green was the manager when i was there, the conditions were terrible, one old nackered salamander heater for heating the workshop,no doors on the workshop, but the pay was good for fitters, there were two of us there,but what a difference when i left there and went to cawthorn and sinclair(birtley),central heated workshops,20 to 30 fitters, better wages,12hour dayshift then 12 hour nightshift, i saw mr hubby once at davis, and he left his son roger to run the place, he was not there very long, we had a few thames traders(albert e ewer) charles poulter, and c bristow written on the doors, then we had some mercedes, i think they were larrow transport. al.

Hi bigal20, Larrow Transport rings a bell, They had a depot at BirtleyIIRC, And an office on the Quayside in Newcastle, I cant remember the Traffic Managers name but he had a real heavey tash, Big enough to stop a train, I recall a couple of drivers, Big Jimmy Mitchell who worked laterley for JR Adams and retired from there, The Late Charlie ■■? who died in a freak accident in a snow drift on the A 1 M At the Darlington Exit, Very sad I may say, The loss of another good lad, Regards Larry.

Lawrence Dunbar:

bigal20:
hi ben,billy green was the manager when i was there, the conditions were terrible, one old nackered salamander heater for heating the workshop,no doors on the workshop, but the pay was good for fitters, there were two of us there,but what a difference when i left there and went to cawthorn and sinclair(birtley),central heated workshops,20 to 30 fitters, better wages,12hour dayshift then 12 hour nightshift, i saw mr hubby once at davis, and he left his son roger to run the place, he was not there very long, we had a few thames traders(albert e ewer) charles poulter, and c bristow written on the doors, then we had some mercedes, i think they were larrow transport. al.

Hi bigal20, Larrow Transport rings a bell, They had a depot at BirtleyIIRC, And an office on the Quayside in Newcastle, I cant remember the Traffic Managers name but he had a real heavey tash, Big enough to stop a train, I recall a couple of drivers, Big Jimmy Mitchell who worked laterley for JR Adams and retired from there, The Late Charlie ■■? who died in a freak accident in a snow drift on the A 1 M At the Darlington Exit, Very sad I may say, The loss of another good lad, Regards Larry.

Would I be right in Saying The name was Charlie Linton, ■■?, Regards Larry.

That depot at Felling, didn’t that later become Deighton Bros? Ralph Crow’s place in a later life. He’s been a bit quiet lately. It could be, he’s still basking in his celebrity status as the first one over the newly refurbished Ovingham Bridge in his beautiful Bullnose Morris.
Although due to “Storm Desmond” it was a short lived reopening!!! Did you manage to get back over Ralph? Regards Kev.

hi kev, yes that yard did become deighton bros, then ralph crows, i don,t know who has the yard now,i have not seen ralph for around 6 months, when i was at his place at prudhoe looking for old bedford parts, prior to that i saw him at south shields ,he was a judge at the tyne tees vintage run, i was there with my 1943 bedford tipper,al.

bigal20:
hi ben,billy green was the manager when i was there, the conditions were terrible, one old nackered salamander heater for heating the workshop,no doors on the workshop, but the pay was good for fitters, there were two of us there,but what a difference when i left there and went to cawthorn and sinclair(birtley),central heated workshops,20 to 30 fitters, better wages,12hour dayshift then 12 hour nightshift, i saw mr hubby once at davis, and he left his son roger to run the place, he was not there very long, we had a few thames traders(albert e ewer) charles poulter, and c bristow written on the doors, then we had some mercedes, i think they were larrow transport. al.

ben walker:

bigal20:
hi ben,billy green was the manager when i was there, the conditions were terrible, one old nackered salamander heater for heating the workshop,no doors on the workshop, but the pay was good for fitters, there were two of us there,but what a difference when i left there and went to cawthorn and sinclair(birtley),central heated workshops,20 to 30 fitters, better wages,12hour dayshift then 12 hour nightshift, i saw mr hubby once at davis, and he left his son roger to run the place, he was not there very long, we had a few thames traders(albert e ewer) charles poulter, and c bristow written on the doors, then we had some mercedes, i think they were larrow transport. al.

Hi Bigal.
A while before Davis finished up i went on to Nights London Warrington- and back on one of the Mercedes 1418s so i did not see Billy for a while before they finished up and did not know he became Manager,he had some kind of Accident I think but cant remember what it was.Moving to Cawthorns would be a good move i suppose, the conditions in the Workshops in Wapping were just the same for Fitters just a big Shed with no front on it open to the Elements and the old Salamanders for Heating and the Turkish Fitters always looking for Diesel to run them when you were filling up at the Pump,Ubby was the best of the Brothers easy to talk to and his son was was young when he used to hang about Wapping but seemed a nice Lad,They started Larrow after Davis finished but it only lasted a couple of Years think,
Ben

bigal20:
hi kev, yes that yard did become deighton bros, then ralph crows, i don,t know who has the yard now,i have not seen ralph for around 6 months, when i was at his place at prudhoe looking for old bedford parts, prior to that i saw him at south shields ,he was a judge at the tyne tees vintage run, i was there with my 1943 bedford tipper,al.

Hello Al, Hoddy’s Recovery has the yard now, I kept my vehicles in the yard and Ralph did my maintenance from 1992 until he retired. Regards Kev. Ps will you be at the “do” in N/cle. Labour Club on Dec 28th?

will certainly try kev, but cannot promise,al

what was your company name kev?, al.

kevmac47:

bigal20:
hi kev, yes that yard did become deighton bros, then ralph crows, i don,t know who has the yard now,i have not seen ralph for around 6 months, when i was at his place at prudhoe looking for old bedford parts, prior to that i saw him at south shields ,he was a judge at the tyne tees vintage run, i was there with my 1943 bedford tipper,al.

Hello Al, Hoddy’s Recovery has the yard now, I kept my vehicles in the yard and Ralph did my maintenance from 1992 until he retired. Regards Kev. Ps will you be at the “do” in N/cle. Labour Club on Dec 28th?

Hi Kev, This yard on Abbotsford Rd was oringinly The Tyne Solder Co, IIRC,Eagle Transport had it for a while then Fergusons of Blyth, The IIRC Ralph took it over, Im referring to the 50s when it was the Solder Plant as I used to load there for the Carnation Milk Factory in Dumfries.Regards Larry.

ben walker:

ben walker:

bigal20:
hi ben,billy green was the manager when i was there, the conditions were terrible, one old nackered salamander heater for heating the workshop,no doors on the workshop, but the pay was good for fitters, there were two of us there,but what a difference when i left there and went to cawthorn and sinclair(birtley),central heated workshops,20 to 30 fitters, better wages,12hour dayshift then 12 hour nightshift, i saw mr hubby once at davis, and he left his son roger to run the place, he was not there very long, we had a few thames traders(albert e ewer) charles poulter, and c bristow written on the doors, then we had some mercedes, i think they were larrow transport. al.

Hi Bigal.
A while before Davis finished up i went on to Nights London Warrington- and back on one of the Mercedes 1418s so i did not see Billy for a while before they finished up and did not know he became Manager,he had some kind of Accident I think but cant remember what it was.Moving to Cawthorns would be a good move i suppose, the conditions in the Workshops in Wapping were just the same for Fitters just a big Shed with no front on it open to the Elements and the old Salamanders for Heating and the Turkish Fitters always looking for Diesel to run them when you were filling up at the Pump,Ubby was the best of the Brothers easy to talk to and his son was was young when he used to hang about Wapping but seemed a nice Lad,They started Larrow after Davis finished but it only lasted a couple of Years think,
Ben

Hi, I saw this thread and thought I would try to set the record a bit straight-ish.
I worked for one of the other brothers for a while, Solly, and remember Davis bros going down, I was based in the Highway at Wapping, I do remember the Turk fitters arriving I think it was Alfie Green who went to Istanbul in a bus and bought them all back, they was OK as fitters, not, one of the drivers had trouble with the air wipers on a mandator the fitters spent ages flicking water onto the screen trying to convince the driver there was nothing wrong with them. Time that could have been used solving the problem. Larrow trans was running as a member of the group and went with the rest of it, they had a driver named ginger Godfrey on a merc 1418 who went same time as Davis, another member was bristows trans Alan Kendall was one of their lads, he came onto chas poulter until they finished approx 1970.

Heres one of the 1418’s

pollystag:
Heres one of the 1418’s

That pic needs to go on the roping and sheeting thread, but Berwick needs to be warned first, he’ll need to take some trancs!!! :imp: :imp: :smiley: :smiley: as if the sheeting wasn’t bad enough :open_mouth: :open_mouth: the tractor is a beauty :wink: :wink: Regards Kev.

we had some new mercedes tractor units cawthorns 1966/7, flat fronters, engine in the cab,the engines were whisper quiet,lovely to drive,with an exhauster brake pedal on the floor,the fitters had to drive them over to caterpillar through the night to pick up loaded trailers,fully loaded they would pull like a train.big al.

kevmac47:

pollystag:
Heres one of the 1418’s

That pic needs to go on the roping and sheeting thread, but Berwick needs to be warned first, he’ll need to take some trancs!!! :imp: :imp: :smiley: :smiley: as if the sheeting wasn’t bad enough :open_mouth: :open_mouth: the tractor is a beauty :wink: :wink: Regards Kev.

Aye Kev it looks like a load of Camels :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Regards Larry.

Lawrence Dunbar:

kevmac47:

pollystag:
Heres one of the 1418’s

That pic needs to go on the roping and sheeting thread, but Berwick needs to be warned first, he’ll need to take some trancs!!! :imp: :imp: :smiley: :smiley: as if the sheeting wasn’t bad enough :open_mouth: :open_mouth: the tractor is a beauty :wink: :wink: Regards Kev.

Aye Kev it looks like a load of Camels :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Regards Larry.

That looks like a load of body panel racks from Fords, they was a pig of a load to sheet up but it was something that had to be done. A lot easier when the racks were empty, no sheets.

just been talking to bill hudson, ex davis bros and andaray bill quay,now retired.big al.