John West:
Thanks Franky.I’m too old to remember exactly when I saw them. They would have been, I think, on Athersmith’s contract with Barrow Paper Mill, long since defunct, whether on contract A licences or full A licences I couldn’t say, but the mill had plenty of outbound traffic to places south and the return loads would be some sort of clay used in paper making from Devon or Cornwall.
Bill Athersmith used to enjoy a yearly cruise, so I was told, and related to someone that he didn’t need huge profits from each individual wagon, ten pounds per week was sufficient. Tales from yesteryear!
John.
With regards to the yearly cruise John this was in the days before jet travel and the Liners were the means of communication around the world and apparently the done thing was to travel south on either an Australian or S. African bound liner stopping off in Funchal, Madeira, or carry on to Cape Town then return North eventually back to the UK. I don’t think it was the same as cruising we have to-day it was far more up market and I believe this was the sort of cruises Billy Athersmith went on, well at least that is how Jackie Brady explained it to me ! The Big’un could never understand why anyone would ever want to leave the Furness Peninsula 
( Unless it was to go into Lancashire to a RLF match 
) Cheers Dennis.