gingerfold:
One of my personal favourite photos, tin-front AEC Mammoth Major Mk.III of CWS 15 tons of sacks, in the City of London outside the Bank of England.Yes thats a smashing photo., gingerfold.Two great AEC’s together.
A cutting here I have found in my pile,don’t know who this could
be attributed to but worth a look.
Mike.0
thelongdrag:
gingerfold:
One of my personal favourite photos, tin-front AEC Mammoth Major Mk.III of CWS 15 tons of sacks, in the City of London outside the Bank of England.Yes thats a smashing photo., gingerfold.Two great AEC’s together.
A cutting here I have found in my pile,don’t know who this could
be attributed to but worth a look.
Mike.
It’s one of mine. Here it is in colour. Location Beaufort Road Mill, Birkenhead
In the late 1960s Ranks moved to Dodge and Ford D-Series 4-wheelers for its local bagged delivery work. Here an 8-ton load of Hovis sacks is being sheeted. I can’t decide on the location, Barry Dock Mill or Southampton?
i’m enjoying this thread no end john , it brings the memories flooding back . i worked for f.r. somerset from 93 to 2000 largely on rank’s work . when they decided to have each mill producing certain products it was great for us as we got the job of taking loads from mill to mill . we loved it because we got a loaded mileage bonus and we were always loaded on ranks work . we have probably met in passing , i overnighted at canklow and did collections and deliveries to trafford park . you tanker men were a far superior breed to us lowly taut liner riff raff in those days , lol , so you wouldn’t have noticed . cheers dave
gingerfold:
Lawrence Dunbar:
This Daf was an ex Spillers Tanker, from their Trafford Park Depot & converted to a tipper by its present owners G.Lowdon Ltd Seaton Burn, it was down by David Lowdon, & I hand painted the tipper body for him, Regards Larry.As it was in Rank Hovis livery
0
Well if my mems is correct Im sure one of the drivers at Trafford Park said that this tanker ran to Blackpool every day to a biscuit factory, he didnt say the name, But I used to load biscuits in the 60/70s at Symbol Biscuits, perhaps thats the job it was on, ■■? anyone know anything, Regards Larry.
Going back to the 1930s, Ranks ran AECs before moving to Gardner power (!) and Fodens. A Mammoth Major Mk.11
Cleveland Mill’s Foden DG taking part in a Victory Parade at the end of WW2. Cleveland Mill was bought out of receivership by Ranks in the 1930s and was somewhere on Teeside.
Spillers’ Leyland Comet artic was based in Northern Ireland.
Multi-purpose bodied Foden in the Hovis fleet of the 1950s. It could be used either as a bulk grain carrier or for loading sacks of flour.
A Spillers Homepride Trader.Another M.T. cutting I think. 
.
Mike.
I’m sure Rank flour used to have a mill in Selby, North Yorkshire. BOCM Pauls is still there but I’m sure the Rank mill was in the town centre next to the River Ouse
I cannot believe how modern these Dodge look even now!
S Fitton and son invented Hovis and the name comes from a latin word meaning the “Strength of Man” hominis vis
Joseph Rank first mechanised flour milling in Hull by using an engine driven mill using steel rollers rather than stone milling wheels.
J Arthur Rank the filmaker was Joseph Ranks son
yeah I thought so…
Rank Hovis in Selby, on the site of Olympia Mills…
As well as milling and selling flour Hovis also had 30 or so motor trade dealerships, selling cars and commercials, and also a large commercial vehicle body building division. The latter survived into RHM days and was known as Locomotors. It built bodies for the flour vehicles and bread van bodies for the massive fleet of Mothers Pride, Red Seal, and several other bread brands of the last century that were baked by RHM’s bakery division.
rigsby:
i’m enjoying this thread no end john , it brings the memories flooding back . i worked for f.r. somerset from 93 to 2000 largely on rank’s work . when they decided to have each mill producing certain products it was great for us as we got the job of taking loads from mill to mill . we loved it because we got a loaded mileage bonus and we were always loaded on ranks work . we have probably met in passing , i overnighted at canklow and did collections and deliveries to trafford park . you tanker men were a far superior breed to us lowly taut liner riff raff in those days , lol , so you wouldn’t have noticed . cheers dave
Hiya Dave not sure about us being superior to you guys ! I would have seen you out and about no doubt, but my problem was i didn’t get to Rotherham that often due to being asked by Ranks if i would look after the delivery to Warburtons in Bolton as the guy (Eddie Simpson ) who did the job regular decided to finish . So i agreed to look after the job for three weeks over the christmas period in 1993 this was due to the fact that Warbies wanted a regular driver to do the job, so like i said i agreed to do it for three weeks and i did it ,3 loads a day and 2 on saturday morning for 15 years !!!, I even went on there works do every year.We finally finished supplying Warburtons with flour in 2008, unsure of the reason i think it was a political decision after we had been taken over by Premier Foods. I have fallen in to the same trap again i now seem to spend all week running to Grimsby, To countrystyle foods on wickham road on the docks, Dont know if you ever went there yourself but if you did i’m sure you would have met Joy the lovely store’s woman, .Do you remember big Arthur Morton from Rotherham ? He is still going strong and working out of Bawtry
Regards John
gingerfold:
As well as milling and selling flour Hovis also had 30 or so motor trade dealerships, selling cars and commercials, and also a large commercial vehicle body building division. The latter survived into RHM days and was known as Locomotors. It built bodies for the flour vehicles and bread van bodies for the massive fleet of Mothers Pride, Red Seal, and several other bread brands of the last century that were baked by RHM’s bakery division.0
Another Fantastic Period Photo i never realised that Locomotors was once owned by Ranks. If you ever find yourself on Trafford Park and you have your camera with you take a look at the Electric motor in the glass case on the front of the mill just up from the fuel pump,It was the motor that used to run Hull mills. When the mill closed it was cosmetically re-conditioned and brought over to Manchester and put on display . If you think you may have a problem taking photo’s let me know as i could meet you when i get back from my days work and make things ok . You never know you might want to get some shots of the existing fleet of mis-matched trucks and trailers
Lawrence Dunbar:
gingerfold:
Lawrence Dunbar:
This Daf was an ex Spillers Tanker, from their Trafford Park Depot & converted to a tipper by its present owners G.Lowdon Ltd Seaton Burn, it was down by David Lowdon, & I hand painted the tipper body for him, Regards Larry.As it was in Rank Hovis livery
0
Well if my mems is correct Im sure one of the drivers at Trafford Park said that this tanker ran to Blackpool every day to a biscuit factory, he didnt say the name, But I used to load biscuits in the 60/70s at Symbol Biscuits, perhaps thats the job it was on, ■■? anyone know anything, Regards Larry.
Hiya Larry The Daf in question was driven after we got it in the Spillers buy out by a guy called Jimmy Hughes who came to Ranks at Trafford Park after Birkenhead mill was closed down.He did spend a lot of his time running to Blackpool (Squires Gate ) but it was to Warburtons Bakery Where They make Blackpool Milk Roll. I have to say it’s great to see the old girl looking so good, you have done a brilliant job on her Larry,I can also tell you she had quite an easy life she rarely went out with a full load she used to do a lot of small bulk loads,anything up to 10 tons so she was always on top of the job. I hope she continues to give you a good service 
Regards John
1159jrh:
gingerfold:
As well as milling and selling flour Hovis also had 30 or so motor trade dealerships, selling cars and commercials, and also a large commercial vehicle body building division. The latter survived into RHM days and was known as Locomotors. It built bodies for the flour vehicles and bread van bodies for the massive fleet of Mothers Pride, Red Seal, and several other bread brands of the last century that were baked by RHM’s bakery division.0
Another Fantastic Period Photo i never realised that Locomotors was once owned by Ranks. If you ever find yourself on Trafford Park and you have your camera with you take a look at the Electric motor in the glass case on the front of the mill just up from the fuel pump,It was the motor that used to run Hull mills. When the mill closed it was cosmetically re-conditioned and brought over to Manchester and put on display . If you think you may have a problem taking photo’s let me know as i could meet you when i get back from my days work and make things ok . You never know you might want to get some shots of the exsisting fleet of mis-matched trucks and trailers
During the 1920s, the milling capacity in Great Britain exceeded the demand for flour. Nevertheless, Joseph Rank was able to expand into Scotland and consolidate and expand his operations in Ireland. He perceived the potential of new methods of transportation and communication very early, forming the British Isles Transport Company Limited to provide for the distribution needs of his company in 1920. Mills that were acquired were reorganised and equipped with the latest machinery to improve efficiency. These included;
1920 John Herdman and Sons Ltd (Edinburgh)
1920 Kirby’s (Selby) Ltd
1923 Wm Sutcliffe and Son Ltd (Manchester)
1923 Thomas Hanley and Sons Ltd (Doncaster)
1923 Cleveland Flour Mills Ltd (York)
1931 Stanbury and Son Ltd (Barnstaple)
1932 Josh Appleby and Sons Ltd (Bootle and Blackburn)
1933 Simmons and Gifford (Winchester)
1933 Associated London Flour Millers Ltd which comprised 7 separate firms.
Thomas Bell founded a wholesale grocery firm near the Tyne quays and railway station in Newcastle in the 1880s. Among his top-selling brands were ‘Bells Royal’ baking powder and a self raising flour.
Following the death of Edward VII, it became illegal to use the Royal name. As a result, Bell decided to take the first couple of letters from the each of the two words of the brand name and turn them into the more catchy sounding ‘Be-Ro’.
Another imposing Hovis photo of London Mills.
