I remember the name Bunce, but can’t put a face to it. Could have been just after I left SCA.
The only fatality that I can remember in my time was that of one of the van drivers. Can’t remember his name or anything about him apart from what a cheerful little fella he was. If I remember correctly he died in a head-on in Belgium. The vehicle he hit belonged to a Belgian haulage firm that SCA had just bought. Again, no names remembered.
Two van drivers died in smash in Luneville doing the non-stop London Swiss.
there was a driver on the vans called freddy bowls,he was coming up the A1from paris 2 weeks b4 xmas in the fog.He ran into the back of a wagon an drag,went through the windscreen an got cut to bits.It happened at perone.I visited in perone hospital on my last trip b4 xmas his face was badly cut up.I did see him about a year later driving for another company.The belgium firm was from Hasselt had lots of flat trailers i think it was called Bijloos this might not be the right spelling.
Harry and Boyzee
You’re both correct. Thanks for putting me straight on that.
Hi
Just stumbled upon TruckNet UK and read with great interest on all the stuff about our times at SCA . Call me an idiot, but I still can’t work out your name (except for Boyzee) or any of the others who posted on the site, but you can see from this post that I’m Jeff Sears. On the subject of maybe the last of your postings last year about Freddie Bowles - he was my absolute best mate from when we were kids and I felt great sorrow at his accident and had to literally twist Adrian Chamber’s arm to get Ronnie to drive Freddies wife out to see him in hospital. He had 2 little girls at the time and sadly after he recovered, I think he had to do a midnight flit from his flat and move up north. I don’t know where he is at the moment as I lost touch with him
Anyway, it was sooo good to read all that nostalgia and I don’t know if you wanted to start the thread up again and see if we can find anymore drivers . A chap called Mark from Lydd or Dungerness used to drive the Maggie road train - great fella - I always did the Alfa Sud factory just outside Naples (Pomligiano D’aco ■■?) with BGK 792H 3 axle Scania used to be Etheringtons cast off I think lol
Anyway keep in touch ?
Jeff Sears
PS When I left SCA, I went and worked in the office as transport manager for Terry Creasey on SGH - as you say - A GREAT MATE !!! so I most probably know you if I knew your name ■■?
The Jeff I knew had long hair & was the transport manager ;good bloke .The time of the last days of the Maggie r/ train & the FIAT…? Some nasty /B took over when he left & so did I.
The Jeff I knew was transport manager & had long hair. It was the time of the last days of the Maggie r/train & the start of the FIAT. A nasty B took over when Jeff left & so did I.
Something funny is happening to the reply page!!
harry:
The Jeff I knew had long hair & was the transport manager ;good bloke .The time of the last days of the Maggie r/ train & the FIAT…? Some nasty /B took over when he left & so did I.
Hi Harry - that was me mate -dunno about good bloke but I had long hair and glasses and went in the office after about 1.1/2 years shunting first then doing Italy
(mainly Naples) after I managed to get Alan & Ronnie my job shunting. As I had no ties in England, I always got turned around in Dover and straight back out again. Good days when you look back - never did fancy buying an Alfa Romeo though 
What’s your surname Harry so I can try and place you ? The only person I ever stumbled across byaccident really was Mickie Powis who drove a 2 axle Scania on the tanks. Not sure who took over from me, but I saw the writing on the wall and didn’t like what was going on in the office, so made a move.
Jeff ive sent you a pm.Also if you look through thes pages under tentrco and sgh you will see some photos of me and sgh trucks to jog your memory.
I dont know if you got my email so i will answer on here.My name is martin harris when i was at sca you were driving and after a while you became the transport manager,you shared the office with eddy dennet who managed the uk side there was also an older bloke who,d just started to run the tanks i think he came from pickfords.You drew a picture on the office wall chart of the back of a trailer with the scenary and put something like this is your commrade in front dont risk his life an drive to close in the fog.After sca you came to SGH you had a blue vw beetle,we were a rough lot compared to sca,I then meet your brother malcolm who had not long been out of hospital after an horrific car race accident at snetterton in a sunbeam tiger.I would take him on local trips with me sometimes he was a nice bloke.The office in wapping was a far cry from what you had been used to.There were a few others from sca smith in sgh internationals office and a driver called tony who was a shunter on sca before alan bates an ron hall.This is a bit like this is your life so ill sign off. C ya jeff.
I PM’d you as well Jeff.
I was, I believe, their third ever driver when I joined them at their depot in Eastleigh. That was in about 1965. They had two Maggie Deutz. I drove a 6x4 with a V10 engine. Column change gear box with a spliter. HKM 449D was the reg as I recall. Ran UK to Italy with the occasional Swiss thrown in. Terrible job then. Boss was a real pusher. Only lasted about 10 months myself. Left and joined Eurohaul as their first ever driver. Within a couple of years SCA had grown substatntially and moved to Stepney in East London. Joined them again foir the best job I ever had then or since. Heavily unionised by then, on very good money and terrific condoitions. Stayed there til about 1970 when I went back to the fishing. Only went back driving once more when I worked for Russell Davies in Tilbury. Good enough job but so boring.
I’ve never forgotten my time in the haulage game and particularly with SCA. Just wondering if any of my old mates are still around. Johnny Edwards, Keith Parley, Dennis Scorer, Ronnie Hall, the Etherington brothers and so many others. Ah, happy days. Single, footloose and fancy free. Living with my old mum. Retired now, thank God.
Is there anyone out there■■? Oh, my name is Steve Holman, nearly forgot
Hi steve yes i remember sca…bit like reggae…but more faster…just kidding
sca was bought out by Europa and was still running sca trailers when i worked for them…the name is gone now forever…ronnie hall bought his own truck and was subbing for them as well and eventually ended up with 2 or 3 and was based in east india dock…where i resumed my middle east trips with tanker bill and roy bradford…oh those were the days …
Hi Truckyboy
That’s right. Andy Dare, who was a director of SCA, started Europa. A guy called Adrian Chambers started SCA in about 1965. He had been a racing car driver and got the idea of int. transport when he desparately needed a replacement gearbox for the car and sent his mechanic, Ralph Mullins, on a non-stop round trip back to the UK to get it for the next race.
Ralph took me on my first trip to Zurich. He was great bloke and a marvellous driver. Much better than me.
SCA was heavily unionised, with Ronny Hall as the shop steward. He became so powerful that it became difficult fro SCA to earn anything like a real return on their investment. We should have seen the light really, but you don’t turn down a good thing, do you? SCA played with double manning and then.
stage posts in mid-France. It never really worked and everntually started more and more subbies. And then Andy Dare left and started Europa, and the rest is history.
By that time, I’d become bored with the repetitious work and left to work for Kwikasair which was TNT in disguise. Worked for them in Paris but never got paid for 9 weeks and walked out on the ferry. (Not proud of that, but I was single and didn’t give a toss for much in those days)
Wonder if Ron Hall is still operating. I did hear that he had moved to Canada.
There were certainly some really good jobs about then You must remember Sammy Williams from Dagenham Dock. When they folded, most of their top men moved to Russell Davies which was just starting.
I eventually ended up on RD for about 5 years around 1990. Terrific firm to work for, but boxes are so boring!!!
I never did the Middle East. Wish I had really. Would have made some good memories for me now in my near dotage. Trouble was, the pay wasn’t as good as a good firm running to Italy, so I couldn’t see the point
A toute a l’heure
Steve
cor…blow me down with a feather…(fevver) cos i`m a cockney…anyway sammy williams outta dagenham dock…first guy to put a ■■■■■■■ in a F88…all that coal i did my bit steve…worked for a guy called Tony Truder…tipper firm till he went all class 1…and i did the first trip with a container tank from tate & lyle to felixstowe…i started middle east not for the money but for the adventure…i was getting bored with european work and loved to travel…well you do when your young and carefree dont ya !..but i sometimes remember all the old firms from that era…when i worked for hiltons…he was buying all the local firms up at the time and we lost some more good names…armstrong…tommy paine…kestrel freighters come to mind when looking back…bill puxley i worked for…then taken over by david groome…oh the list is endless…well thats all for now steve…gotta make my cheese on toast…speak later
regards bob
Hey Bobby, that takes me back. Ralph Hilton was a very big operator, wasn’t he. I also remember some of the names like Armstrong, Puxley and Kestrel.
I remember when Sammy Wiliams decided to start european work and none of their drivers would do it. They earned so much on London day-work. So a whole crowd of drivers from Coward European went on board. Can’t remember any of their names now except Billy Moore. Hardest man I eaver met. Walked in to the bakehouse one evening and there he was with four Frenchmen hanging off him, trying to bring him down. He was actually laughing and jsut swatted them away with those huge hands of his.
Talk about the old east end days. Do you remember Poulters from the West India Dock road? Now there is a company I could write a whole book about.
Shame its all ended now and they’ve all moved out to Grays and canvey Island.
Coming fom a sleepy little market town in deepest Sussex, I found the east end a totally different experience. So much quickwitted banter flying about. I couldn’t begin to keep up with it. I’m afraid I was a bit of a natuarl target to them, until I learned to chuck some back.
Actually, I must admit to not being totally committed to european work. I liked it OK, but it was only ever a means for me to earn good dosh for a while, while the fishing was poor. Trawling off Newhaven was my life and I was quite good at it.
Speak soon perhaps
Steve
rexyu:
I also remember some of the names like Armstrong, Puxley and Kestrel.
it was before my time but if it’s the puxley who was at dovers corner roundabout at rainham, they evolved into croome international (david croome becoming bill puxley’s business partner at some point in the early 70s)
yes your right…i worked for bill puxley on the isle of dogs before he let his son run it…was a good firm mostly on austrian work which is where david croome came in…and the rest as they say is history…we had a fleet which consisted of F88s in red and green and on saturdays when we had to go in to wash the trucks we had to tilt the cabs as well to clean the engines and chassis and then he would buy us breakfast..the isle of dogs in those days were a hive of industry and transport companies..we had a steel contract as well and could do scotland and back in a day..if we had to and of course no limiters in those days...oh where did it all go wrong..those interfering office bods with an ology` i suppose…
have a nice day
I wonder if any one rembers seeing a F89 volvo with a redesigned
highroof cab, it also had the following tranplant , engine,gearbox, axle,
The driver explained that his boss had put a 350 ■■■■■■■■ and a
fullergearbox with a rockwell 3.8 axle, Inside the cabin was a
washbasin in one corner of the cab, the bed was above the driver like
the scania has done, when we chatted , he said that he was doing
gr,ro, yu, and turkey routes at that time, he also stated that his
boss had also modified a scania 111 as well with a bigger cabin
THIS would have been around 1987–1988 when I first saw them.
DOES any one recall seeing either of the above lorrys.