I remember Humber’s buying out Thornbury Transport very well,a tannoy message down to the workshop at Grimsby " Roger Griffin to Mr Hallam’s office" oh ■■■■ what have i done now. Off with my boots and on with my shoes cos he wouldn’t appreciate grease all over his carpet and upstairs with trepidation, a knock on the door and i’m in, a big office,a massive oak table and a very expensive leather chair
but the boss is on the phone,at least he glanced up and half smiled so it cant be that bad.
I have almost agreed a deal to buy a haulage company at Thornbury in Gloucestershire and i’m going down again tomorrow to maybe finalise it, i want you to come and check the vehicles over and if all goes well to stay down there as the fitter what do you say ?
I said yes because i dont think he would have understood the word no so 6am the next day i’m at Granville St and whisked off in the new Rover 3 litre ( luxury indeed after my Standard 8 ).
The A46 to Leicester in about 1 and a half hours then onto the Old Fosse Rd, narrow back lanes,cattle grids,many crossroads and we arrive at The Redesdale Arms, Moreton in the Marsh.
Good morning Mr Hallam your newspaper sir handing him a broadsheet,breakfast is ready when you are, the place to me oozed class maybe like a London gentlemans club.
The food was brilliant the experience great ( thats finished me with the Jubilee Cafe on Grimsby docks ) and so we floated off to Thornbury.
There were a couple of other Grimsby office staff and i did my inspections and then it was off to the Swan Hotel at Alveston for dinner
and the night.
Another class place,your own room, people calling you sir,you could get a pint without paying for it, i could get used to this!
Sunday morning, breakfast then back to the depot, everybody shaking hands, deal done.
I was then told to get into this Rolls Royce and Raymond Till who had just sold his company to Geoff took us all over the brand new
Severn road bridge ( it’s still impressive today,46 years ago to a young kid from Lincolnshire “carrot cruncher to boot” it was mind boggling).
Still i must not digress there was work to be done, we pulled into the impressive car park of The Cross Hands at Old Sodbury a wonderful
Cotswold hotel and restaurant and i climbed out of the Roller just as the Duke of Beauforts hunt was meeting outside the hotel.
There was horses jostling about,horns hooting, red and black jacket’s everywhere, people shouting, gorgeous lasses who spoke a bit different to me as if they were eating plums,i would not have been surprised if Dya ken John Peel had made a guest appearance himself.
We had lunch which was to me a magnificent experience in that place but i could not help laughing too myself about my mates back at Grimsby changing clutches and gearboxes and head gaskets,i know what you are thinking “rotten sod”
I have in later years been back there a few times with my family and it has always been very good but i will never forget the first time.
Thats how i come to remember Geoff buying Thornbury Transport.