As a complete newcomer to this forum as of this week, I would like to ask if there is anyone out there who recalls a firm called Darby’s Sand and Gravel of Cambridgeshire. As a small boy, my father, who drove a Bedford O series 5 ton tipper for them, would often take me with him. I still can remember the smell of the hot petrol engine, and the distinct whine of the transmission as he went through the gears with a load of wet gravel on the buck, and the water dripping from the tipper in front of us as we left the pits at Mepal heading towards Sutton. It was exciting as he tipped the load and then nudged the lorry forward on the clutch to empty. The pits were fascinating for me with the sights of huge draglines, chase-sides and bulldozers. The company also had contracts for road surfacing, and there were steam rollers and tar spraying lorries;…they also did work on runways etc… I heard that Darby’s became part of St. Ives Sand and Gravel Co…
The fleet had Bedford O and OY types, and some Fordsons, also Fodens…the yard was at Sutton in Cambridgeshire, the sand pits at Mepal, and the trucks worked all over Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk.
I would like to hear from any one who remembers them…I have some black and white pictures of some of the trucks from the 1940’s and 50’s, which were sent to me by one of the Darby familysome time ago. It would be great to see a colour image, but I suspect that is extremely unlikely from such a long time passed. I recall that the lorries were a sort of dark maroon/brown with red chassis and mudguards so you could spot one coming from a long way off!! My father eventually left Darby’s to work for another tipper firm in the Ely area called French. Their lorries were green;… I think they might have been Dodge Kews. Hope this is of interest… norman long
Good interesting stuff about you and your Father and the firm he worked for.I’m sure someone on this forum will remember them.Hope you get as much pleasure as the rest us on Trucknet.
Cheers Dave.
Hi Norman and welcome to the trucknet site.
A couple of photos here of a company called French,could this be the one you mentioned.
transportphotos.com/road/photos
Two H reg D Series Ford 6 wheelers
I can remember Darby’s very well, My mother used to keep the Crown Inn at Earith which was / is on the main road through and as a lad i would sit for hours and watch the local lorries go by and i remember Darby,s having a Leyland Beaver which used to pull a lowloader, i beleive the driver was called ■■■■ Martin, you could always tell the Beaver by the sound of the exhaust and when there was no plant to move it usually pulled a flat loaded
with land drains.
Darby’s where a big company in their day and had a nimber of different sides to the business.
Stanfield:
Hi Norman and welcome to the trucknet site.
A couple of photos here of a company called French,could this be the one you mentioned.
transportphotos.com/road/photos
Two H reg D Series Ford 6 wheelers10
Hi John,…thankyou for your welcome message.Although I was never an HGV driver, I am very interested in this sight as my particular interest is classic commercial vehicles, especially the Bedford O series. I used to drive a non HGV Iveco Box wagon for a few years, and in my 20’s a Ford D series dropside for a builders merchants ( Marlows of Bury St Edmunds ).Most of my driving has I admit been for Cambridge Buses (E.C.O.Co) London Transport, and to finish National Express. However I have great respect for good heavy haulage drivers. The Ely firm(?) known as “French”…were operational during the 1950’s, and feel almost certain they were Dodge Kew tippers. I lived in Ely until I was 18yrs old, and I don’t remember seeing them about after 1952, so perhaps the firm didn’t last long. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, and for the pictures…all the best… Norm
LB76:
I can remember Darby’s very well, My mother used to keep the Crown Inn at Earith which was / is on the main road through and as a lad i would sit for hours and watch the local lorries go by and i remember Darby,s having a Leyland Beaver which used to pull a lowloader, i beleive the driver was called ■■■■ Martin, you could always tell the Beaver by the sound of the exhaust and when there was no plant to move it usually pulled a flat loaded
with land drains.
Hi LB 76,…thanks for taking the time to reply…It’s great to be in contact with someone who remembers those days in the Fens! I particularly recall my Dad driving through floods near the bridge at Earith in his tipper. I was only 5 or 6 then, and the water was coming through the doors and into the cab. He then told me about having to make sure his brakes were safe to go on…I took it all in, and learned a lot from watching him. we also used to go to the airfields at Lakenheath and Mildenhall and Feltwell…probably sand and ballast for runway work. It was great to see the big American jet bombers taking off and landing. Dad left Darby’s to work for a firm called “French”…green Dodge Kew tippers, but soon after he was very badly injured when a split rim blew out of his wheel and smashed up his arm and leg…couldn’t work for months, and had to give up heavy driving. Sorry I don’t remember the Beaver lowloader, but he did once take me into their yard at Sutton…all the best…Norm.
roadcommander2:
Darby’s were a big company in their day and had a number of different sides to the business.
Hi, Road Commander, thankyou for responding to my posting…I found Darby’s advert very interesting indeed. The Darby family members that I was in touch with a while ago sent me some stuff about their firm, and until then I had no idea just how big they were. They provided work for a lot of people. As a very small boy of 5/6 yrs I thought it was just tippers, but found out more later. I’ve never seen your leaflet before, and thanks for sending it. I discovered the other day that Darby’s transport yard at Sutton has now been redeveloped for housing, and is known as…“Darby’s Yard” which is an appropriate tribute to a good firm…all the best…Norm.
they also had a motor dealers up near Louth , Lincs, i cant think of the name at the moment.
roadcommander2:
Darby’s where a big company in their day and had a nimber of different sides to the business.
Hi there Road Commander2…
I was really surprised to see the Darby’s advert you posted, and wonder at where you found it? Is there any other info for the firm that I could access. I’ve tried everything I can think of, and it all seems to be a dead end…no responses on the internet at all. The Darby’s workers are probably long gone, except the very youngest who are few and far between. I did hear that the firm was eventually merged into St Ives Sand and Gravel Co., near Cambridge. I’m thinking of trying the various local history societies and rely on their members to pass on my requests. It’s a long shot, but it has worked for me in the past. Norman Long
LB76:
I can remember Darby’s very well, My mother used to keep the Crown Inn at Earith which was / is on the main road through and as a lad i would sit for hours and watch the local lorries go by and i remember Darby,s having a Leyland Beaver which used to pull a lowloader, i beleive the driver was called ■■■■ Martin, you could always tell the Beaver by the sound of the exhaust and when there was no plant to move it usually pulled a flat loaded
with land drains.
Hello again LB76…
I’m still hoping for more about Darby’s Sand and Gravel Ltd. but I suppose most of the drivers are long gone, except the very youngest, who would be well into retirement now. I heard some time back that the firm sort of merged into St Ives Sand and Gravel Co between Cambridge and Huntingdon (A604). I remember going there to pick up 6000 concrete bricks and a site labourer helped me load them by hand in the rain onto my Ford D800 dropside (late 60’s) I was well overloaded but only had to get to a site at Dry Drayton …just a few miles so I took a chance. I threw all the bricks on the heap with another labourer, but was deeply stuck in the clay. Dickersons had to lift me out with a mobile crane the next day (Sat) and I got sacked then re-instated with a warning!! The other half has just called me away,so allthe best …Norman Long
Hi Norman,
Im glad that you liked the Darby’s advert, a friend gave it to me and I will ask if he can remember where he got it. Im catching up with him over the Christmas break so I will report back in a few days.
I think some of Darby’s activities may have been absorbed into St Ives Sand & Gravel as I think they had some joint interests / common management.
However Im sure Darbys were trading albeit in a reduced capacity into the early 1990s.
I know that there is a photo about of a Volvo F10 low loader in darby;s colours from the early 1980s and I also remember seeing their road surfacing crews running about in brown mk 4 Transits.
Stand by for more.
Cheers
Mark
rman long
roadcommander2:
Hi Norman,Im glad that you liked the Darby’s advert, a friend gave it to me and I will ask if he can remember where he got it. Im catching up with him over the Christmas break so I will report back in a few days.
I think some of Darby’s activities may have been absorbed into St Ives Sand & Gravel as I think they had some joint interests / common management.
However Im sure Darbys were trading albeit in a reduced capacity into the early 1990s.
I know that there is a photo about of a Volvo F10 low loader in darby;s colours from the early 1980s and I also remember seeing their road surfacing crews running about in brown mk 4 Transits.Stand by for more.
Cheers
Mark
LB76:
they also had a motor dealers up near Louth , Lincs, i cant think of the name at the moment.
They were called A.W.Jaines ltd.Manby nr Louth.
They were Vauxhall,Bedford dealers.
Long since gone.
They also had a company called Red Lion Concrete,which was a ready mixed concrete company based in Alford Lincs.
This was sold to Ready Mix in the 60’s.
5516UB:
LB76:
they also had a motor dealers up near Louth , Lincs, i cant think of the name at the moment.They were called A.W.Jaines ltd.Manby nr Louth.
They were Vauxhall,Bedford dealers.
Long since gone.
Thanks 5516UB, I never knew Darby’s were involved in anything other than Sand and Gravel working and road surfacing etc… What I would really like is for some old photos of their tippers at work, but I reckon that’s rather unlikely now. The Bedford O’s and OY’s are what I recall mostly , but I was only about 5yrs old ,so those memories are now very distant. I also remember trucks carrying sugar beet to the factory at Queen Adelaide near Ely, and Hall Aggregates had some O type tippers as well…norman long
During 1951, August 9th to be exact, a Darby’s lorry driver stopped in St. Mary’s Street Ely to buy some cigarettes. He had just climbed back into the truck when a Harvard trainer plane from RAF Feltwell crash landed onto the vehicle. The driver, who was from Mepal, died as the impact ripped the cab from the chassis and pushed it into the showroom window of the garage opposite. A small saloon car was tipped on it’s side, and the street was filled with the wreckage of the plane and the truck. The pilot also perished, but luckily the young trainee survived. One of the Darby family told me that he remembers the accident, and recalls sending the recovery vehicle from the yard at Sutton
I have some newspaper photo cuttings of the incident, from the Cambridge Daily News, and the Ely Standard archives, sent to me last year, but I can’t get them to upload to the forum. Are they of interest to anyone?
I would love to scan and post those pictures on here norman, let me know
Bill
I would like to see those clippings as well Norman.
If you need help with uploading, Im sure we can sort it out.
Cheers
Mark
Norman,I lived in Lincolnshire in the 60’s.Stan Darby snr.lived in Louth,he died about 1967.
5516UB:
Norman,I lived in Lincolnshire in the 60’s.Stan Darby snr.lived in Louth,he died about 1967.
Hi 5516UB,
The Darby brothers that I managed to contact were Stan, who is around 84, and lives in Ely Cambs., and John, who is about 70, and lives in Sutton Cambs., which is the small town where their yard was in the 1950’s. They were kind enough to answer an appeal from me in the local newspaper about Darby’s Sand and Gravel Co., and they sent me some very interesting information covering all aspects of the firm’s operations right from the early days when they were using steam wagons for long distance haulage. They also had steam agricultural engines and rollers, bulldozers,draglines and chase-sides in the sand pits at Mepal when I was lucky enough to go there in my Dad’s tipper about 1950.
The firm not only did haulage, but also drainage work and road surfacing for Cambs C.C. and all sorts of work on farms. It grew into a very large operation, and they brought a lot of jobs for the local population. cheers…norman long.