Hauliers around the Ashton in Makerfield area

[eddie_heaton]

Thanks for that Ben. I wasn’t actually aware that Bennett’s main depot was in Thame if I’m being honest, not until it was pointed out to me by 240 Gardner at any rate. I only knew them from their depot at Coppull.

Did you have any luck with the photo of the bonneted 1418 by the way?.. I assume you checked out the unit that I put on the Bowker’s thread? That could quite possibly have been the motor that you bought in Trevalan colours.

Moving on a tad, here are a few faded photographs of wagons than were operated by J.W.Ratcliffe & Sons over the years.

They are all from different eras obviously.

I particularly like the 1418 Merc, although at this moment in time, I have no idea what the Land Rover artic riding on the trailer could possibly have been used for, but I’ll find out. I’m assuming it’s a Land Rover anyway, it couldn’t possibly be an Austin Gypsy…could it? The more I look at it, the more I’m convinced it’s an Austin Gypsy.

[john_west]

Eddie, Good photos, thanks,

John.

[eddie_heaton]

Aerial photograph of J.W.Ratcliffe’s yard on Low Bank road Ashton, taken around 1990 or thereabouts.

Mr. Wadsworth will recognise the place no doubt, although the site has changed a great deal over the years.

The parcel of land in the bottom left hand corner of the shot for instance, is where we used to park all the trailers and cut up the scrappers. It was sold off for building sometime in the 70’s and is now the Pit Pony public house.

Crated up Gardner 6LX engines would be stacked where the front car park of the pub is now situated, waiting to be shipped out to Hong Kong.

The buildings at the top of the picture which used to be the workshops, offices, stores etc. are all now rented out as individual units to a variety of small businesses. The filling station is now a car wash.

Only the small central strip where the units are parked hints at what the place used to be like…Now in 2017, even the wagons have gone, to be replaced by vans.

Change is insidious. It’s relentless, and it’s also inevitable I suppose.

[barrywaddy]

Hi, Eddie , really enjoyed the pics , some i remember well ,the tippers before my time , is jack Bills brother in law who lived op the yard still alive ? keep Well Eddie , Cheers Barry

[eddie_heaton]

Hiya Barry, how are things with you mate, and when are you having a ride up to the yard? I was telling Alan that you called in a while back. He said he was sorry to have missed you. I was up there myself the other day as a matter of fact, fannying about with an old push bike of Alan’s of all things.

Jack Crompton, Bill’s brother in law died a while back, as did his wife Flo. I don’t remember the exact years, but it has to be at least ten years ago, possibly a lot longer. Bill’s long gone obviously.

I went to George Bryan, the mechanic’s funeral. Tommy Austin, the guy that used to park his T.K. Bedford on the yard, he died. So did Ernie Morris who used to subby for Smith of Eccles.

Jimmy Horsfield who used to look after Bill’s cars died years ago. Fred that used to run the garage on the front, ( you probably never knew Fred ), he died a few years back. Alan’s wife passed away about two years ago.

They’re all gone mate, there’s only me, thee and Alan left. Best get up to t’ yard while t’ going’s good pal, and don’t forget to bring a few photos wi’ thi’ to stick on here.

All the best for now Barry.

[eddie_heaton]

A couple of photos here of Trevor Rac, taken in the early 60’s when he were ’ nobbut ’ a lad.

Although I’ve ridden in one or two, I can’t lay claim to having ever driven one. Nevertheless, I always fancied the ’ S ’ type Bedford was a smart looking motor. A pain in the backside from the fitter’s point of view though no doubt.

[cja1]

H Eddie, ers a name from way Back I don"t know if ther still around, do u mate? used t" do lot o" Sankey sugar wrk?

[barrywaddy]

HI, Eddie, Nice to hear from you again. Hope you and your family are keeping well .Those photos are great.Keep them coming.Cheers, Barry.

[eddie_heaton]

Blimey mate, you had the old brain cells rattling about like those ping pong balls in a bingo machine for a minute there. Bugger me.

Taylor and Morgan, yeah I’d forgotten all about them.

There used to be a chap called George Pennington that had a transport operation in Ashton. He was based in Mafeking Place, just off Princess road . He ran a fleet of 4 wheeler Albion flats, and the bulk of his work as far as I’m aware was carting for Sankey Sugar in Earlestown. He may have had the odd tipper or two as well, although I’m not too sure about that. An old mate of mine used to drive for him in fact, a lad by the name of Johnny Baldwin.

Johnny served his apprenticeship whilst still at school, when he used to go out with all of the drivers during the school holidays.

Now I’m assuming that Taylor and Morgan took over George’s operation, possibly following his retirement, or something suchlike. I went AWOL for a few years in the mid to late 60’s, so I didn’t have my finger on the pulse quite as much as I might have had I’m afraid, but I do remember seeing them about.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced I’m right. I daresay Taylor and Morgan threw in the towel at about the same time that Sankey Sugar folded, but I’m only guessing. They used to have a garage in Parr, St.Helens evidently, as a mate of mine tells me he sprayed a couple of wagons for them there.

I’m not sure when Sankey Sugar closed down, but I do know that they were still operating in 1970, as we used to go into there with 8 legger AEC Mammoth Majors for an outfit called Wrights, who were based in Albion St. in Salford. We used to pick up raw sugar, I’m calling it raw, but basically it was brown in colour, and we used to run it up to a refinery in Greenock, just overlooking the Clyde.

Fourteen tons of brown sugar in the back of a tipper box that had just been used for carting lime slurry from Shell at Carrington up to the tip at Darcy Lever FFS, and in a wagon that was capable of attaining 37 mph on a good day, with a following wind. We did endeavour to hose the ■■■■■ out of the box out as best we could before loading the sugar first of course.

This was just before they opened the M6 over Shap, so we had to come off the M6 at that permanent temporary bend near Carnforth to join the old A6, then trundle past Dennis’s bungalow and up to The Jungle for breakfast.

Once out of The Jungle, it was engage Aberdeen overdrive at every opportunity in order to get to The Moss in time for dinner.

Dinner over, we would normally make it to Greenock for mid afternoon, tip, then get across to the Haymarket wagon park in Edinburgh. A couple of pints of ’ Heevey ’ in Princes St. Then kip across the bonnet. Load destructor bales out of that scrapyard down by the docks in Leith the following morning, then back via the Elvanfoot café just after Abingdon, back over Shap, past Dennis’s gaff again, and back home for tea, job done, respect due.

I realise I’m rambling a bit here,but at my time of life, it’s not only expected of me, it’s considered mandatory. Anyway, thanks for giving me the opportunity to bore you all stupid.

Regards. Eddie.

[cja1]

Thanks For That Eddie, Aye Manadory t" ramble a bit mate, Cheers Chris.

[cja1]

Owd Pritchetts Add

[eddie_heaton]

Blimey mate, that’s a blast from the past, where on earth did you come across that one? I’m guessing it’s a London based motor, as from memory, I don’t recall there ever being any ERFs based up at Ashton. Fodens and Guys yes, and the occasional Leyland in the early years, but no ERFs to my knowledge.

They did run quite a few ERFs out of the Chiswick depot though. We used to do a 5 a.m. changeover with the London lads at Tubby’s on the A5 at Crick, usually every day of the week. Sometimes just one trailer, but quite often two or three, usually, though not always, loaded with Mars products from their factory at Slough to go to Harris’s warehouse at Middleton.

Although the advert gives the London address as being Windmill road Brentford, I personally never knew that depot, although John West may have been familiar with the place. In the few years that I drove for Pritchett’s, the London depot was based at the very end of Corney road in Chiswick, right up against the river Thames. A fire in the early 70’s burnt down most of the warehouse area.

The company also opened a depot in Newport for a spell, to cover the Welsh traffic, bananas from Barry docks, foam blocks from the Dunlop factory at Hirwaun being a couple that I remember. I don’t recall the exact address of the place, only that it was somewhere down alongside the river, not far from the transporter bridge.

We used to run one wagon on night trunk down there for quite some time. It wasn’t a bad little number actually, leave Ashton around 7 pm., take your break in the yard at Newport, and you could be back in Ashton, done and dusted for around 3 am., if everything went to plan that is. I think the depot only remained open for a little over twelve months or so, but I could be out by a bit there.

Interesting photo though mate, thanks for taking the trouble to put it on here. Keep well.

Regards. Eddie.

[cja1]

Hi Eddie just an owd add mate Net picc, think it wer a Bubbs picc of origin? how u doin pal? Cheers Chris,

[cja1]

Gaskels wer big around Ashton Haydock wigan etc IIRC

[cja1]

Remember Harbens Eddie? Tattons then Intex ICI Yarns Mitchell Cotts ran the Transport then High St/School st, ad one these at Golborne 70s,

[eddie_heaton]

Hiya Chris, I certainly do remember Harbens. I was only a kid at school at the time, but I used to ride with Pennington’s drivers at every available opportunity, and we’d load out of there occasionally. My outstanding memory of the place being that it was packed with ’ wimmin ', and these brazen hussies had an unnerving tendency to shout and whistle at anything or anyone that could be even remotely perceived as being in possession of a todger, no matter how tiny… I could probably handle it now, but as a school kid, I found it all a little embarrassing. If I’m not mistaken, I think the place ceased to be Harbens sometime in the early 60’s, around about the same time that Jefferson Smurfit at Bryn burned down, but you’ll know better than I do on that score no doubt.

To be honest though, if you hadn’t stated that it was Harbens, I would never have recognised the place from the photo.

Now Gaskells, their yard was at Pimbo near Upholland. I know it says Crawford village on the door, but their yard was roughly halfway between Crawford and Upholland. I could be mistaken, but I seem to recall that the bulk of their work was carting out of Heinz at Kitt Green. Again, I’m open to correction, but I think the company was bought out by Montgomery in about 1986 or thereabouts…good photos mate.

Anyway, go steady pal, and think on, slow and steady trumps fast and furious any day of the week. Or at least it does in my book.

Regards. Eddie.

[cja1]

Aye Slow n Steady always did Eddie, Always time for a Brew mate, somert some of these ter arses could learn from, anyways u b carefull out theer its a Jungle thaa noes, LoL"" Chris.

[john_west]

Thanks to CJA1 for the Pritchett’s pic and to Eddy for the reply.

I don’t remember Brentford as a depot, only Chiswick. I’d finished and was probably on my way to Saudi before the South Wales depot opened, but I well remember the Bananas from Barry and the Dunlopillo from Hirwaun - hand load in about 20 minutes and a van full of fresh air! Great for going back up the M5, which always seemed to be uphill all the way to Birmingham!

There may have been a few ERFs when I first started, certainly they had lorries powered by 205 ■■■■■■■ and they might have been ERFs, or even Atkinsons? Ashton seemed to get a load of new units, around K reg, which would all be Rac-lease I guess. Then a couple of Mercs and a MAN which Mac drove and for some reason everyone seem to refer to as a ‘MANS’ with an s on the end.

I used to like the Fruehauf boxes too, always thought they were better than the Yorks (not that Pritchett’s had any Yorks) and streets ahead of the Rac-lease boxes that started to appear in about '73.

John.

[eddie_heaton]

And you’d have to lay awake for a fortnight in order to come up with a better logo than " The On Time Freight Line “, wouldn’t you agree John ? Far catchier than all this " logistics " nonsense that everyone appears to have plastered across their trailers these days. That’s my view at any rate. Who was responsible for starting that trend off anyway? …” Bishops Move " was another good one, as was " Transflash Units " from Bradford, and not forgetting " The Shore Porters Society " of Aberdeen…There may be the embryo of a new thread hatching here.

I see the ad also boasts Joloda system fitted in all the trailers. Theoretically an excellent idea, in practice however, the ■■■■ things were about as much use as a concrete trampoline. The hydraulic pallet truck, I found, was a far better option, and I don’t remember going to many places that didn’t have at least one of those.

[john_west]

Eddie Heaton:
And you’d have to lay awake for a fortnight in order to come up with a better logo than " The On Time Freight Line “, wouldn’t you agree John ? Far catchier than all this " logistics " nonsense that everyone appears to have plastered across their trailers these days. That’s my view at any rate. Who was responsible for starting that trend off anyway? …” Bishops Move " was another good one, as was " Transflash Units " from Bradford, and not forgetting " The Shore Porters Society " of Aberdeen…There may be the embryo of a new thread hatching here.

I see the ad also boasts Joloda system fitted in all the trailers. Theoretically an excellent idea, in practice however, the ■■■■ things were about as much use as a concrete trampoline. The hydraulic pallet truck, I found, was a far better option, and I don’t remember going to many places that didn’t have at least one of those.

Oh yes, Jolodas, as discussed elsewhere as well. Great for loading new pallets! I suspect you’d have a claim every day nowadays for twisted/broken ankles. How many times did you come out of the box and hobble around until the pain subsided!

To be fair, Jolodas revolutionised van haulage at Bowater Scott, Barrow. The stacks of bog rolls were loaded by clamp truck, often by my mate Ian Burrow, who was about 4 years younger than me and desperately jealous of the fact that I was driving an artic - he got there in the end and the idiot is still driving them! - even worse, his son Stephen caught the disease and also drives for JT Leyland.

Anyway, you used a coin to scatter wax down the van and the driver would push the stacks as far as they would go, then Bowater’s provided a helper and the two of you carried the rolls to the far end, stacked them and returned for a new box. Slow job.
One night (I always seemed to load at night) I suggested to the loader, an oldish chap, whose name I can’t remember that we sit on the floor and push the stacks to one side, then wiggle the next stack in next to it. It wasn’t very successful, we went back to carrying them.
However, it obviously lit a bulb in his head. Most trailers had the joloda tracks and next time I loaded, he had perfected the new loading method. Clamp truck driver put stack onto one side of trailer, driver and helper used feet to push stack further to one side. Stack was then Joloda’d to the front of trailer, next stack to other side of trailer, repeat. Wow, loading (and unloading at depot doing job in reverse) time massively reduced.
I think management gave him an award - probably a stick of Blackpool rock or something.
I realised that reels could be loaded the same way, although Guy Holliday took some convincing. He eventually allowed a trial on a Saturday morning and we took many a load of 8’ reels to Larkfield that way. Larkfield loved it, the reels were damage and wet free - Bradys usually did the reels then and their sheets weren’t as waterproof as Bewick’s!

I also liked the slogan - ‘Freight Line’ was far more catchy and American than ‘Road Haulier’.

John.