tanker companies

[wirralpete]

hi all,
having been brought up on the wirral and having a dad who worked for castrol on the tankers, i was wondering if their are any people on here who used to work for/have pictures of the following firms

as jones
thomas allen
rts
catchpole
smith and robinsons
burmah/castrol
philmac
van leer

also driving down the a57 yeterday from irlam i passed the cafe on the right that used to be called the bug hut when i was a kid anyone remember it it?, the owner was an american called dick i think?.

[dafdave]

I think you mean the little green shack that used to have a coke stove and you could get a spam sarnie with a pint pot of tea ,its still there but is now a portakabin.Am i right?

regards dave

[wirralpete]

yep thats the one dave, have heard that dick th american went back home, he was getting on a bit when i was a kid so dont know if hes still knocking 'sunny side up' egg butties out

[dafdave]

I dont know about pete but that portakabin has been there about 8/10yrs and is run by three women.


regards dave

[Wheel Nut]

hi all,
having been brought up on the wirral and having a dad who worked for castrol on the tankers, i was wondering if their are any people on here who used to work for/have pictures of the following firms

as jones
thomas allen
rts
catchpole
smith and robinsons
burmah/castrol
philmac
van leer

Didnt get any pictures of those old companies. I never got any of my old trucks either. Have used the cleaning stations though. My old boss had an album of all his dads fleet of Esso tankers,

[jessicas dad]

smith and robinsons used to have a depot where i live in rothwell but that shut down years ago and is now a housing estate.

[Chris Webb]

Eyup,Wirralpete.Yes I remember all those firms you mentioned but no pics sorry.AS Jones were in Bromboro' and taken over by P & O.THomas Allen HQ was at Stanford-le-Hope in Essex but not sure what happened to them.RTS,Runcorn Transport Services carried mostly acids if I remember right and were always flying about.Catchpole were from E.Port I think,same as OB transport and were working out of Shell Chemicals Stanlow when I was on tanker work in 70's-which reminds me of a scrawl somebody wrote in the muck on the back of my tank. "Mummy,Mummy is daddy dead? No darling he's waiting to load at Stanlow". Anyroad Smith & Robinson HQ was Rothwell ,Leeds but they had a depot in T.Park as I used to clean out there.Don't know much about rest but Castrol had a depot in Hyde and used to pick their drivers up regular and drop 'em at the Dog & Partridge on Sheffield side of Woodhead to pick their wagons up after a dodgy night out.I was on nights then running back to Maltby ,Rotherham ex L'pool or E.Port.
Was that cafe on the A57 on the left after leaving Cadishead going towards Warrington? If so it were t'best fried spam sandwich in all Lancs.We used to call it T'wooden hut and it was always spotless and Dick and the women who worked there spot on.
Don't forget , it's a wise sardine that knows it's own tin.

[Chris Webb]

Sorry got it wrong,cafe on right not left leaving Cadishead.There was another further back towards Eccles on left towards W,ton just after going under M63 (it was M63 then) in a big lay-by.Anybody remember it?Maybe it's still open.

[dafdave]

Yea chris i remember that one,the layby was nearly opposite barton airport.Thelayby always had rubbish in it were people had been fly tipping.Always remember blonde girl behind counter and when you got your meal it was on a tray.

regards dave.

[wirralpete]

he he the thought of a castrol driver having a dodgy night out brought back memeories chris, mainly of getting out of bed for 5 am and hitching up to the old pops cafe with dad to pick up motor, castrol depot in hyde is still going, we load oil out of the old united molases plant in birkenhead for there often. i know rts was taken over by tdg the depot is a wash out still in runcorn and the do do a lot of caustic/sulphric out of ineos (formally ici). tan wash in trafford par is still there now part of the tan tainer group after our firm sold it to them. as for the cafe your correct was on the right as you head towards warrington, its still there to this day, dad told me that dic went bac to us, was the best egg buttie you have ever tasted from there!!!

[wirralpete]

just looked back at the post sorry bout the k being missing on the words, laptop gets a hammeing daily by the seven year old

[Wheel Nut]

I remember some of the tank companies on your list.

A few more to jog your memory

Smith and Robinson in Rothwell. Ancliff of Manchester. Bulwark in Chippenham
Andrew Hogg Kilsyth and Carntyne Transport. There was one other from Montrose I cant remember at the moment

I remember the old tankwash on trafford park which was called Bartank and housed the Fifth Wheel Cafe, quite close to the new site of Thurroclean which has been taken over by Isotank.

Ron Hennesy

Leathers Chemicals who ran some tankers, had most of the work done by Pickfords, Tankfreight Exel who originally traded as Harold Woods in Heckmondwike.

Calor Transport, Arrow Bulk and Croda Oils ran tankers from Hull.

The P&O group had several old names in the group.
John Forman
Thomas Allen
Robert Armstrong
A S Jones
James Hemphill

In later times there were several more involved in the food industry.
Charles Lucy became Yeoward Brothers and then Abbey Roadtanks
William Brennan.
Fleet Haulage. from Ribchester.
Stag. became City Tankers.

This should get the topic kickstarted

[Chris Webb]

Wasn't there somebody called Townend from Oldham knocking around in the70's?Seem to recall seeing them in ICI at Heysham and one of their drivers telling me they did a Stirling trunk or a delivery to Stirling from Heysham and return which seemed a lot of work inthose days.Think they were red units and plain stainless tanks with company logo on back end.Also anybody remember Carless Capel and Leonard whose main depot was Harwich but had a tank farm at Longport,S on Trent.

[wirralpete]

he he good old charles lucy, what a character he was, thin one of his lads is ops excuetive with abbey. brennens rings a bell, did they work out of leeds, with red dafs?, remember their was a welsh bloke who lived in his motor and would be parked up in market street in birkenhead every weekend, think they use to load out of p&l lard on the dock road.

[KW]

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.

[Wheel Nut]

Wasn't there somebody called Townend from Oldham knocking around in the70's?Seem to recall seeing them in ICI at Heysham and one of their drivers telling me they did a Stirling trunk or a delivery to Stirling from Heysham and return which seemed a lot of work inthose days.Think they were red units and plain stainless tanks with company logo on back end.Also anybody remember Carless Capel and Leonard whose main depot was Harwich but had a tank farm at Longport,S on Trent.

I think you mean Townson Tankers from Oldham who did a lot of work for ICI Thornton Clevelys. They also had a contract with Esso in Trafford Park and Weaste.

Townson sold out to Sadler on the Q8 fuel contract who were in turn taken over by Stiller. I worked for the son Roger who ran Woodbrow Bulk Liquids until his death.

Carless Petroleum is still operating and the haulage is provided by Sammy Jones (Hargreaves)

[Chris Webb]

Thanks for that Wheelnut.Yes Townson not Townend,but have I got it wrong with ICI Heysham? I'm sure I took Methanol in there once but not sure as could have been Thornton.Have been to Heysham Port several times as IOM ferry runs there but can't mek me mind up where ICI was.
The old memory is fading a bit , pal

[Wheel Nut]

Thanks for that Wheelnut.Yes Townson not Townend,but have I got it wrong with ICI Heysham? I'm sure I took Methanol in there once but not sure as could have been Thornton.Have been to Heysham Port several times as IOM ferry runs there but can't mek me mind up where ICI was.
The old memory is fading a bit , pal

You are probably right too Chris. I only remember going to Cleveleys but ICI had factories everywhere then and I think Heysham was a regular destination for Townsons, maybe even had a small depot there.

Post some pics from your days if you have any. I would be interested in them.

[Chris Webb]

If there's one thing I regret now it's not taking some photos when on the road.I've got some taken when on fridge work but it was never the same as tanker work in spite of all safety regs introduced in 70's-- ADR etc but was necessary.However I have a contact in Sheffield ex A.E. Evans same as me and I'll ask him if he's got any.

[240 Gardner]

Thanks for that Wheelnut.Yes Townson not Townend,but have I got it wrong with ICI Heysham? I'm sure I took Methanol in there once but not sure as could have been Thornton.Have been to Heysham Port several times as IOM ferry runs there but can't mek me mind up where ICI was.
The old memory is fading a bit , pal

There was an ICI factory at Heysham as well as at Thornton (Hillhouse). As I recall (going back 30 years), they manufactured fertliser at Heysham.

[richiessex]

I worked for Tommy Allen out of Stanford Le Hope in Essex, we then went to P&O roadtanks and as usual it all went down hill i'm affraid

[Chris Webb]

Eyup,Richiessex.I used to steam out at Tommy Allens after tipping at Mobil Coryton then away to London and Coastal Oil Wharves in Canvey to load for anywhere.I worked for A.E.Evans Regent Transport Ripple Road,Barking but was from Sheffield depot.
There were some great cafes on the A13 but I do remember Micks and the "bacon,egg and babble".

[dafdave]

Thanks for that Wheelnut.Yes Townson not Townend,but have I got it wrong with ICI Heysham? I'm sure I took Methanol in there once but not sure as could have been Thornton.Have been to Heysham Port several times as IOM ferry runs there but can't mek me mind up where ICI was.
The old memory is fading a bit , pal

dafdave] Chris was ici not at wyre dock nr fleetwood?

[240 Gardner]

Thanks for that Wheelnut.Yes Townson not Townend,but have I got it wrong with ICI Heysham? I'm sure I took Methanol in there once but not sure as could have been Thornton.Have been to Heysham Port several times as IOM ferry runs there but can't mek me mind up where ICI was.
The old memory is fading a bit , pal

dafdave] Chris was ici not at wyre dock nr fleetwood?

Wyre Dock was the old fish dock at the end of Dock Street, and where the old station used to be. The ICI plant is at Hillhouse, Thornton, on the way into Fleetwood.

[dafdave]

Thanks for that Wheelnut.Yes Townson not Townend,but have I got it wrong with ICI Heysham? I'm sure I took Methanol in there once but not sure as could have been Thornton.Have been to Heysham Port several times as IOM ferry runs there but can't mek me mind up where ICI was.
The old memory is fading a bit , pal

dafdave] Chris was ici not at wyre dock nr fleetwood?

Wyre Dock was the old fish dock at the end of Dock Street, and where the old station used to be. The ICI plant is at Hillhouse, Thornton, on the way into Fleetwood.

dafdave] Thanks for the info mate put it down to owd age.

[Chris Webb]

Just to keep things ticking over,here's a few more.
L.P.G. Morley
Barworth Scunthorpe
Marshalls Scunthorpe

[Chris Webb]

Sorry ,forgot these as well(owd age and definitely poverty creeping in)
W.H.Palmer,East london
Tanker Hire Scunthorpe,part of CLS group
R.Rankin Teeside
Manchester Tankers
Midland - Yorkshire Tar Distillers Kilnhurst
S.Jones, Aldridge
Somebody from Cellerhead,Stoke-on-t.,can't remember name.

[killsville]

Somebody from Cellerhead,Stoke-on-t.,can't remember name.

Edwin Shirley's?

[Chris Webb]

Now I remember,it was Shirleys Transport from Cellarhead.
Edwin Shirley Trucking was the pop group remover-still going I think.

[Wheel Nut]

Cleveland Tankers, Think Rankin joined that lot.

Shawfleet, (still running)

Hanson.

AT Stevens

Lock of Headcorn

Sevilles Tankers Manchester