John West:
Bewick:
Leyland600:
Hi Oily the first load I carried as an owner driver consisting of short pit props which I loaded adjacent to Penrith golf course in December 1964 on behalf of Sheffield & Co. The load was delivered two collieries in the Mansfield area. I was driving a BMC FHK 140 four wheeler new in 1963 and quite a good little wagon. Sheffields are still using the same livery as they had back then.
Cheers, Leyland 600.What kind of crane did you have on the BMC Gerald ? HIAB or PALFINGER ?
I was talking to Colin Bateman at Lockerbie on Sunday, he now uses a little four rung ladder to climb in and out of the Atky !
Cheers Dennis.
Oh how we laughed! Mechanical help even in 1969 was in short supply - unless you had just backed a 4 in line under the crane at Barrow steelworks of course, 21 tons on the trailer. Pull the Comet forward, the cab facing skyward as it staggers away with the odd ton or five overloaded. Back round the corner to Brady’s yard, for 'The Big ‘Un’ to sort out with the crane! Don’t want to go out half empty do we! Maybe add a couple of Caird’s mouldings just to balance it out a bit. Followed a few of those four in lines into the bottom of Mill Brow to see the nearside wheel lift and the other wheels tuck under…
Will it…won’t it…
Glad I’m not taking that…
Whether the Chief Constable saw it from his new Triumph 2000 or not I don’t know.You would know more about that than me Dennis.
Timber haulage for me was loading ‘pulp’ from the borders to Ellesmere Port. All handball. 18 - 20 tons on the Mastiff, yes, I did sometimes have an odd ton or two overload! 3 or 4 of us, me on the platform, so I handled every single stick.
Even long timber wasn’t just a ‘watching’ job. As driver you would put the dogs at the centre of the log - not the actual centre, but near the balance point. You mentally added your own weight because you swung up with the log onto the trailer, then placed the ‘heavy’ end into the groove created by the earlier logs, and guided the ‘light’ end down.
What Health and Safety would make of all this now I have no idea!
Happy days.
John.
As regards the recipient of new Triumph 2000’s and also the bloke that pulled up at close of business outside the traffic office in a new Triumph Herald and handed in a list of loads to be loaded on the night shift that night ! Well I’m invoking the “5th” John ! Cheers Dennis. 
