pete smith:
Found on net,
One of a pair built new for a daily round trip shuttle service between Croydon and Eindhoven, for Philips
Chris62:
A few pics of my time at Bowkers
Nice photos, Chris - the F12 will be John Robinson, I think, in no.95, the one with the prototype Geartronic gearbox
robert1952:
0
That one did go abroad, Robert… but not until the mid-1990s!
GBV 759E Atkinson ‘Silver Knight Mk.1’ by 240 Gardner, on Flickr
240 Gardner:
Chris62:
A few pics of my time at BowkersNice photos, Chris - the F12 will be John Robinson, I think, in no.95, the one with the prototype Geartronic gearbox
Hei and yes John Robo,great guy,i used to wait for him at Zeebrugge ( when possible ) if i knew he was coming over from Hull,and yeh he had the first geartronic gearbox,i think John was pleased with it in general
Chris62:
240 Gardner:
Chris62:
A few pics of my time at BowkersNice photos, Chris - the F12 will be John Robinson, I think, in no.95, the one with the prototype Geartronic gearbox
Hei and yes John Robo,great guy,i used to wait for him at Zeebrugge ( when possible ) if i knew he was coming over from Hull,and yeh he had the first geartronic gearbox,i think John was pleased with it in general
John was with the company for many years, and was still there when I left in 2001, as was no.95, by then the MOT shunter in Hull
240 Gardner:
Chris62:
240 Gardner:
Chris62:
A few pics of my time at BowkersNice photos, Chris - the F12 will be John Robinson, I think, in no.95, the one with the prototype Geartronic gearbox
Hei and yes John Robo,great guy,i used to wait for him at Zeebrugge ( when possible ) if i knew he was coming over from Hull,and yeh he had the first geartronic gearbox,i think John was pleased with it in general
John was with the company for many years, and was still there when I left in 2001, as was no.95, by then the MOT shunter in Hull
I dont know about you 240 Gardner but i enjoyd my time at Bowkers,i went there from Brian Yeardleys
and my wages went up quite a bit,i was reading on another thread that somebody was offered £7,50 an hour to work for them,sounds like its gone to the dogs,i was lucky to be on the continent 99% of my time there,i remember the day Ken Bowker and Dennis ■■ decided to pay expenses into our bank accounts instead of giving us cash,there were a few sad drivers about the Hull depot,one said to me " frigg me Chris,how am i gonna explain my pay rise to the Mrs" ,he had told her before that night out money was very low,maybe enough for a meal and a beer 
Chris62:
I dont know about you 240 Gardner but i enjoyd my time at Bowkers,i went there from Brian Yeardleys
and my wages went up quite a bit,i was reading on another thread that somebody was offered £7,50 an hour to work for them,sounds like its gone to the dogs,i was lucky to be on the continent 99% of my time there,i remember the day Ken Bowker and Dennis ■■ decided to pay expenses into our bank accounts instead of giving us cash,there were a few sad drivers about the Hull depot,one said to me " frigg me Chris,how am i gonna explain my pay rise to the Mrs" ,he had told her before that night out money was very low,maybe enough for a meal and a beer
I thoroughly enjoyed my eighteen-and-a-half years there, and left mainly for personal reasons. The Dennis you’re referring to is Denis Turner, the MD of the international business. I recall that Denis was well acquainted with Brian Yeardley - had they both worked for MAT originally? I know that Denis did, prior to joining Bowker around 1973.
I can’t comment on current wage rates, as it’s now 16 years this month, since I pored over the drivers’ time sheets and tacho cards, but there do seem to be comparisons against jobs with a straight hourly rate, whilst I presume that Bowker still pay the traditional time-and-a-half over 40 hours, with double time at weekends. There used to be various guarantees of hours too.
Hello Chris, what year was that in BARCELONA
peggydeckboy:
Hello Chris, what year was that in BARCELONA
Hei peggydeckboy
After thinking and racking my grey matter,i think it was 1991, but i am prepaired to be corrected
Chris62:
peggydeckboy:
Hello Chris, what year was that in BARCELONAHei peggydeckboy
After thinking and racking my grey matter,i think it was 1991, but i am prepaired to be corrected
It must have been later than that: the FH wasn’t out in 1991. I’m trying to remember when that batch of FHs came, nos 95-00, and I’m guessing around 1996
240 Gardner:
Chris62:
peggydeckboy:
Hello Chris, what year was that in BARCELONAHei peggydeckboy
After thinking and racking my grey matter,i think it was 1991, but i am prepaired to be corrected
It must have been later than that: the FH wasn’t out in 1991. I’m trying to remember when that batch of FHs came, nos 95-00, and I’m guessing around 1996
Could be 240 Gardner,my memory is bad,everything else works 
,did you know Colin Leader ? We were big mates,he used to live over the road from us in Endyke lane,lost touch when i left Bowkers,i think the Bowker lads were some of the best ive worked with,i remember an older guy from Blackburn,his nick name was " wingnut" ,bit strange but his heart was in the right place ,Tommy ■■ was another from Blackburn,good lads,the deep strong Lancashire accent used to have me in stiches sometimes,what with me being a Londoner with no accent,
Ps The Fh i had was Belgium reg,i think we were 4/6 English drivers who got these
Chris62:
240 Gardner:
Chris62:
peggydeckboy:
Hello Chris, what year was that in BARCELONAHei peggydeckboy
After thinking and racking my grey matter,i think it was 1991, but i am prepaired to be corrected
It must have been later than that: the FH wasn’t out in 1991. I’m trying to remember when that batch of FHs came, nos 95-00, and I’m guessing around 1996
Could be 240 Gardner,my memory is bad,everything else works
Ps The Fh i had was Belgium reg,i think we were 4/6 English drivers who got these
Yes, I remember Colin Leader, and the other gentleman to whom you refer was Harold Monk, from Accrington.
Tommy, now, let me think… there was Tommy Potter, who was the foreman driver on the Huntsman contract at Skelmersdale, and we also had Tom Brooke from Blackburn on domestic work at Preston, though he was a younger chap, and there were probably others if I think hard enough!
There were a number of FHs and F10/12s on Belgian plates, since we had had a genuine, legitimate Belgian subsidiary since 1976, and one or two Belgian drivers too
Yes Chris 62 as you have said in all my driving time [many years like a lot of you] Bowkers transport company and the drivers were in my view the best you could get in all the time i was there i cannot recall any back biting, nasty- ness etc i would have liked to have worked there from about 1980 all my euro time…untill 2002.but i arrived at Bamber Bridge around 1992,i think …
The reason i asked about Barcelona i never ever heard of any of the drivers commenting on Spanish runs , as for the driver Harold ,pipe smoker,dry,all round nice chap he retired when i was there i am sure…as a southerner/midlands… i used to like the lankashire/yorkshire banter from the hull drivers and lankashire drivers,esp when using water to make a brew from where it came from…
I had this one for a spell in the early 70s. Photo taken just prior to going into the paintshop. Don’t remember the reg.
Nice pic Eddie
Peggydeckboy,i did loads of Spain,Phillips south of Barcelona,then groupage back to UK or load from Spain to Italy via the Vent,then plastics back to that awkward ■■■■ in Manchester,ive never met a more ignorant man in my life,cant remember the companys name,good old days
Colin Leader is living in Leconfield, I see him most Saturdays in Beverley having a drink. I remember Wingnut, also Donald, Geoff (always spotless) I think they all went to one of the big Irish companies around Preston.
I start at Bowkers in 2000/2001 was only there 6 months. Thought great,job for life here. First few weeks were easy so when it was wages time I thought it’s been a easy couple of weeks. Then a couple of harder weeks and money still the same,so had to move on.
I had a LHD F10 on Belgium plates and small wheels, it was taken of shunting in Hull and given to me with the promise of a new one coming soon. Every bump I went over coco powder dropped out the roof lining. Got it cleaned up over the next few weeks.
Great company, easy work, legal, old gear at the time. Shame about the main part . MONEY.
Eddie Heaton:
0I had this one for a spell in the early 70s. Photo taken just prior to going into the paintshop. Don’t remember the reg.
PUV 435F… The chap who used to drive it is on here as “Guesty44”
Thanks for that Chris 62 i had no idea… when i was there it was Phillips from Durham To MILAN 0R FRANCE really good work ,ship Tessport=,Zeebruge … yes they had some realy good work.people say would you do it all again 90% i would not, but i would do all the time i was at WHBowkers…dbp.