Ackworth / Onward Transport

maddan:
Hello folks I can tell you a fair bit about the Onward group because I worked for them. 1st for the Selby depot for a short time in 1960 then I started with Onward Castleford in 1964. It was the formative years of my life, where I learned about hard work and long hours. By far most of the traffic was United Glass, we new it as John Lumb & co Castleford. Rockware knottingley was never a big customer allthough some traffic did come Onward/Ackworths way from there.

Nobody I mean nobody roped sheeted and corner boarded tidier loads out of there than we did late into the evening then it would be 5.00am start for Kilmarnock or all destinations countrywide. Bill Pennington was the yard foreman and shunter in United Glass and a legend in his own lifetime. Put the fear of god into greenhorn drivers including me but you could earn his respect. I,ve seen big stong lads afraid to come down off the top of the load because they had incurred Bills wrath through letting a corner board fall or mishandling ropes. he did’nt suffer fools gladly. I had a massive respect for him, I expect he’s long gone now.

In 1970 I became an owner driver and did a lot of sub-contract work out of Ackworth depot. They were allways a smart fleet, with a high level of maintenance.
I hope this may be of interest to some folks…Dan

hi there i also worked for onward at the castleford depot from 1972 till 1990 just remebered i have already posted 1972 till 2000, but i bought my truck off onward in 1990 then worked as an owner driver with them until they sold off the work and trucks in 1993 i think,great firm to work for though fantastic money,royhebb

Sorry to bump an old thread but I took this picture in the 90’s…

I remember Onward used to have a depot in Livingston…in the 80’s… loads of Flat bed trailers and they used to have a warehouse full of empty glass (whisky) bottles…used to enjoy watching the drivers rope and sheet their loads and then give us a wave…as they roared off for destinations unkown…

oh how i wish i had taken some pics back then… :blush:

I was parked at Livingston depot one night, I woke up to loud bangs crackling and smoke, the garage was on fire !!! I dialed 999 then set about moving the trailers out of danger, the fire brigade arrived shortly afterwards and got stuck in to sorting the fire (their first question was where are the gas bottles) and as I knew they were on the other side of the garage to the seat of the fire they soon had it under control and a team were playing water on the bottles. George Whyte (the manager) arrived soon afterwards and we worked with the firemen to move everything out of danger. I got a very nice monetary thankyou from Ackworth and I was flavour of the month with George for the rest of my time with Onward. Regards Kev.

Heres a few shots of Birtley vehicles.




Hi Kevmac
Would that be the same George Whyte that was the Yard Foreman with Strathclyde remember him well, good Guy.

Ben.

Yes that’s the man, great bloke to work for with, didn’t suffer fools gladly. regards Kev.

Great photos Kev, FROM THE GOOD OLD DAYS, Keep them coming please, Regards Larry.

Lawrence Dunbar:
Great photos Kev, FROM THE GOOD OLD DAYS, Keep them coming please, Regards Larry.

Larry, Those pics were taken by Iain Wilkinson so I can’t take any credit for them. I have to say Onward was the best job I ever had!!! It’s the only job I can say I would go back to tomorrow, no competition. (My present job excepted Tynedaz) :unamused: :unamused: :laughing: :laughing: Regards Kev.

kevmac47:

Lawrence Dunbar:
Great photos Kev, FROM THE GOOD OLD DAYS, Keep them coming please, Regards Larry.

Larry, Those pics were taken by Iain Wilkinson so I can’t take any credit for them. I have to say Onward was the best job I ever had!!! It’s the only job I can say I would go back to tomorrow, no competition. (My present job excepted Tynedaz) :unamused: :unamused: :laughing: :laughing: Regards Kev.

I think my childhood friend Geoff Tallant drove for Ackworths or Onward last I heard of him he had a fishing boat in Bridlington.My dad Jack Ellener, who drove for A.One used to see him regular on there nights out.

jeffrey ellener:

kevmac47:

Lawrence Dunbar:
Great photos Kev, FROM THE GOOD OLD DAYS, Keep them coming please, Regards Larry.

Larry, Those pics were taken by Iain Wilkinson so I can’t take any credit for them. I have to say Onward was the best job I ever had!!! It’s the only job I can say I would go back to tomorrow, no competition. (My present job excepted Tynedaz) :unamused: :unamused: :laughing: :laughing: Regards Kev.

I think my childhood friend Geoff Tallant drove for Ackworths or Onward last I heard of him he had a fishing boat in Bridlington.My dad Jack Ellener, who drove for A.One used to see him regular on there nights out.

Yes Jeff, I remember the name Geoff Tallant from my days at Onward, I’m sure Big AW will also remember him. Regards Kev.

kevmac47:
I worked for Onward transport from 1985 until 1992 at their Birtley depot which principly existed
to service the north east area Castrol contract. Unfortunately when the contract came to an end
the depot was closed as it was no longer viable. That apart I have some great memories of that
time, it was a family owned business and my abiding memory is that you could talk to the senior
management (with certain exceptions) on a one to one basis. The chairman of the board
Mr Granville Storey could be approached and spoken to on a first name basis something
I had never encountered before. We had a depot manager imported from yorkshire
(Bill Gallimore, sadly no longer with us) once he knew he could rely on you left you alone
to get on with the job. I am sure there are lots of former employees out their to prolong this thread.
I will try and sort some photos out in the next few days. kevmac47.

Hiya Kev I remember you from the East lancs Paper mill days i think either Clive Sinclair was the transport manager then or maybe Russell? cant recall his last name I had a B series With a jennings sleeper conversion then i got a brand new E series fleet Number 385 ? reg NumberG634 PUG did you ever collect the waste paper from prestatyn ? the manager always gave the driver a box of dinted cans of food i think it was Kwik Save supermarkets RDC IIRC . I have to say that working for the storey family was a pleasure.Then it went belly up when the sheep farmers took it over ! All flash and no cash I think the saying goes. That was it for me i was always looking for a way out after that . Great to hear you are still alive and Kicking Best Wishes John P.S I think you used to night out at ELPM when you were on route to Stanlow IIRC

brothertonmick:
Think this could of once belonged to onward, any views?

Did Mike Rhodes help paint this!

Great to hear from you John, yes I often parked at ELPM en-route to Stanlow. I think you got your fleet number wrong! I had D916 WJX with that fleet no. After I left Onward (as you say the best job ever) I became an owner driver,(1992 til Feb 2012) I then retired for a few weeks :smiley: :smiley: and now I have a job on day work for Tyneside Express. Have you any photos of your time at Onward and what are you doing now? Regards Kev.
Ps you can find a shot of 324 on page one of this thread.

I see the fleet no is 385 did I misread it?

kevmac47:
Great to hear from you John, yes I often parked at ELPM en-route to Stanlow. I think you got your fleet number wrong! I had D916 WJX with that fleet no. After I left Onward (as you say the best job ever) I became an owner driver,(1992 til Feb 2012) I then retired for a few weeks :smiley: :smiley: and now I have a job on day work for Tyneside Express. Have you any photos of your time at Onward and what are you doing now? Regards Kev.
Ps you can find a shot of 324 on page one of this thread.

I see the fleet no is 385 did I misread it?

HI Kev great to hear from you i may be mistaken ref the fleet no but i do have some nice photo’s and as soon as i can work out how to post them i will . After the Bewick takeover i worked for a further 2 years at ELPM and then i was lucky to get a start at Rank Hovis on Trafford Park ,and thats where i am to day it will be 19 years in september so i was surprised you remebered me
I was being a bit unfair in my description of Bewick’s on the whole they were a decent company to work for,and to be honest i quite enjoyed it, But having worked for onward it just wasn’t the same .
I still have the plate to commemorate Onwards anniversary that all employees got,still in the box in the cupboard upstairs Ha HA .
Great to hear you did ok after it finished there were a lot of decent lads there,i certainly enjoyed my time
Cheers John

1159jrh:

kevmac47:
Great to hear from you John, yes I often parked at ELPM en-route to Stanlow. I think you got your fleet number wrong! I had D916 WJX with that fleet no. After I left Onward (as you say the best job ever) I became an owner driver,(1992 til Feb 2012) I then retired for a few weeks :smiley: :smiley: and now I have a job on day work for Tyneside Express. Have you any photos of your time at Onward and what are you doing now? Regards Kev.
Ps you can find a shot of 324 on page one of this thread.

I see the fleet no is 385 did I misread it?

HI Kev great to hear from you i may be mistaken ref the fleet no but i do have some nice photo’s and as soon as i can work out how to post them i will . After the Bewick takeover i worked for a further 2 years at ELPM and then i was lucky to get a start at Rank Hovis on Trafford Park ,and thats where i am to day it will be 19 years in september so i was surprised you remebered me
I was being a bit unfair in my description of Bewick’s on the whole they were a decent company to work for,and to be honest i quite enjoyed it, But having worked for onward it just wasn’t the same .
I still have the plate to commemorate Onwards anniversary that all employees got,still in the box in the cupboard upstairs Ha HA .
Great to hear you did ok after it finished there were a lot of decent lads there,i certainly enjoyed my time
Cheers John

I had forgotten about the plate John, I still have mine in the loft somewhere. regards Kev.

jeffrey ellener:

kevmac47:

Lawrence Dunbar:
Great photos Kev, FROM THE GOOD OLD DAYS, Keep them coming please, Regards Larry.

Larry, Those pics were taken by Iain Wilkinson so I can’t take any credit for them. I have to say Onward was the best job I ever had!!! It’s the only job I can say I would go back to tomorrow, no competition. (My present job excepted Tynedaz) :unamused: :unamused: :laughing: :laughing: Regards Kev.

I think my childhood friend Geoff Tallant drove for Ackworths or Onward last I heard of him he had a fishing boat in Bridlington.My dad Jack Ellener, who drove for A.One used to see him regular on there nights out.

dont know if your still looking jeffery, but i worked with jeff tallent i remember him starting at the castleford depot, we became best mates for years ,we had some great times up and down the country,as far as i know he is living in barmston, near bridlington, and he has a fishing boat in the harbour, if you ever see him ask him about the time him and laury cole closed the main line from london to inverness lol. when it was quiet we used to do a lot of piggy backing to save fuel, jeff and laury found a ramp in a yard ,put one on the back of the other but forgot about the cb ariel, when they went over the level crossing it touched the overhead power lines, then everything went bang ,the wagon on top welded itself to the trailer below, it was a mess, royhebb (ex onward )

Jeff Tallent left onward in the late 90s he was driving during the week and going out at the weekends before that he went to do it full time then, when he left he ask me and fez to go with him we were in the warehouse at the time but turned him down a bit diffrent to loading trailers last ,i heard things went well for him till he sank in harbour in brid lost everthing had to start agian he is still fishing goes out for crabs now has a bit ov a small holding at barmston i think fez saw him a couple ov years ago he was still at it.

kevmac47:

1159jrh:

kevmac47:
Great to hear from you John, yes I often parked at ELPM en-route to Stanlow. I think you got your fleet number wrong! I had D916 WJX with that fleet no. After I left Onward (as you say the best job ever) I became an owner driver,(1992 til Feb 2012) I then retired for a few weeks :smiley: :smiley: and now I have a job on day work for Tyneside Express. Have you any photos of your time at Onward and what are you doing now? Regards Kev.
Ps you can find a shot of 324 on page one of this thread.

I see the fleet no is 385 did I misread it?

HI Kev great to hear from you i may be mistaken ref the fleet no but i do have some nice photo’s and as soon as i can work out how to post them i will . After the Bewick takeover i worked for a further 2 years at ELPM and then i was lucky to get a start at Rank Hovis on Trafford Park ,and thats where i am to day it will be 19 years in september so i was surprised you remebered me
I was being a bit unfair in my description of Bewick’s on the whole they were a decent company to work for,and to be honest i quite enjoyed it, But having worked for onward it just wasn’t the same .
I still have the plate to commemorate Onwards anniversary that all employees got,still in the box in the cupboard upstairs Ha HA .
Great to hear you did ok after it finished there were a lot of decent lads there,i certainly enjoyed my time
Cheers John

I had forgotten about the plate John, I still have mine in the loft somewhere. regards Kev.

If you had stopped a few more years kev you would have got a knife and fork as well HA HA

Aye up Roy laughing to mi sen reading your posts never seen you with a rope in thi hand HA HA only kidding ant seen you in bus fora bit as tha hung up thi guns and put thi slippers on■■?