Ancliff’s I remember very well,though only the depot in Felixstowe,which originally was right next to the Little Ships Hotel near the dock basin,before moving to a purpose built site off Walton Avenue.
My brother was a fitter at Ancliff’s in Felixstowe for many years,from around 1972 to 1982,when he left to drive for Tolemans.
I can still remember very well the Atki Borderers,Seddon’s and brace of Scania 110’s they had during the early 70’s as well as some of the driver’s.
Ken Cleaver,Reg Ablitt,Ray Baxter and Bert Moore to name a few.
Ken and Reg had the first Seddon-Atki 400 series sleeper cabs on the firm,and my brother persuaded Ken to take me out for a couple of days.
Fantastic,a trip down to the west country and then up to the Bulwark depot at Chippenham for the night.
Ancliff and Bulwark merged together I believe.
On that trip I also got a ride in a Scania 111 courtesy of a P&O Tankmasters driver,Pedro,which really whetted my appetite for the Scania marque.
Ken was a great character,and a real drinker too,even on the trip down we stopped at a pub for lunch,where he downed a few pints.
He was from Dewsbury,with a typically dry Yorkshiremans sense of humour.
In later years I got to work alongside him when he drove for OOCL,but sadly he died over ten years ago.
Ancliff’s used to ship a lot of trailers over the water from Felixstowe,but the firm eventually closed down in the late 90’s and the depot was taken over for a time by Sheffield based Newell & Wright.
When I drove for Onsala Ã…keri I even used to park in their yard,as well as use the wash to rinse the unit off,but that all stopped when Newell & Wright took it over.