Hey, I’m not jealous at all ROF! Just trying to prevent folk from spending their hard earned pension money. Dennis of course is in a different league, Man City to your Macclesfield Town, he just has the knack of being in the right places at the right time, ‘money comes to money’ is one expression, and by refusing to pay for your R&S course (which all of his drivers and shunters obviously attended looking at his pics of well sheeted containers ) he got to keep his cash close to home. Ever heard a gaffer tell you “there’s no money in road haulage lad” well it clearly isn’t true!
Thanks for your kind words, Pete. I may have been tempted to take a few of his ill-gotten smoky old engines in part payment of his debt but he seems to be moving them around the world in an attempt to stay ahead of the game. I’ve even thought about sending our young, good-looking Foden owner to attempt a coup by turning the head of his office girl- apparently she’s still on the payroll so might be “persuaded” to change sides. However, given the lad’s performance in avoiding his responsibilities regarding the Macc Breakfast Club, I reckon he’d probably make off with the winnings.
Hello Chris, During my 3 years with Robert Baillie Transport of Portsmouth, about once a fortnight,
one of us based at Wigan Depot would have to call at Club Street in Bamber Bridge to pick up parts
to send down to the Main Depot at Horndean. These collections were always tied in with whoever
was heading back to Wigan, having delivered Guernsey Tomatoes to Glasgow, Carlisle, & Kendal.
Bearing in mind that most of Baillies lorries were Atkinsons, was the place in Club Street the spares
and parts department of Atkinson Vehicles ?. Kind Regards, Ray.
Ray Smyth:
Hello Chris, During my 3 years with Robert Baillie Transport of Portsmouth, about once a fortnight,
one of us based at Wigan Depot would have to call at Club Street in Bamber Bridge to pick up parts
to send down to the Main Depot at Horndean. These collections were always tied in with whoever
was heading back to Wigan, having delivered Guernsey Tomatoes to Glasgow, Carlisle, & Kendal.
Bearing in mind that most of Baillies lorries were Atkinsons, was the place in Club Street the spares
and parts department of Atkinson Vehicles ?. Kind Regards, Ray.
Club Street at Bamber Bridge was indeed the Atkinson Service and Spares facility which I used visit regularly during the time we ran Atkinsons and Sed Atks. The two chaps I used to deal with were Joe Wharf who was Service Manager and Mike Fairbrother who was either the overall Boss or the Parts Manager , long time ago now ! But they were Great Blokes to deal with and were probably as sick as I was with Sed Atks ! Chris will probably know these two Lads as well. Cheers Dennis.
Ray Smyth:
Hello Chris, During my 3 years with Robert Baillie Transport of Portsmouth, about once a fortnight,
one of us based at Wigan Depot would have to call at Club Street in Bamber Bridge to pick up parts
to send down to the Main Depot at Horndean. These collections were always tied in with whoever
was heading back to Wigan, having delivered Guernsey Tomatoes to Glasgow, Carlisle, & Kendal.
Bearing in mind that most of Baillies lorries were Atkinsons, was the place in Club Street the spares
and parts department of Atkinson Vehicles ?. Kind Regards, Ray.
Club Street at Bamber Bridge was indeed the Atkinson Service and Spares facility which I used visit regularly during the time we ran Atkinsons and Sed Atks. The two chaps I used to deal with were Joe Wharf who was Service Manager and Mike Fairbrother who was either the overall Boss or the Parts Manager , long time ago now ! But they were Great Blokes to deal with and were probably as sick as I was with Sed Atks ! Chris will probably know these two Lads as well. Cheers Dennis.
Hi Dennis, Thank you for your comments, they confirm what I thought was the reason for calling at Club Street in Bamber Bridge.
In my post above, I mentioned the Guernsey Tomatoes deliveries, and I have tried to recall the names of the Wholesalers that we
called at, there were 3 in Carlisle, but I can only remember W.B.Anderson, and Dockers in Kendal, somewhere near the Ribble bus
garage on what I think was Sandes Avenue. It was a long time ago Dennis. Kind Regards, Ray.
Hi Ray, A.E. Docker & Sons Ltd were Barrow based but they had a smaller depot in Kendal which was originally located down an alleyway off Sandes Ave. as you rightly say. This location was a bit tight to say the least ! So when BR closed the Goods yard at Kendal Station in '68 ( just a couple of 100yds away) Dockers moved into one of the sheds. When I was running my first motor I used to regularly load off Covent Garden for Dockers ( subbed off J & W Watt) at Barrow which was a real grueller but lucrative rate ! I had always to be stood at Dockers at 4 am the following morning ready to tip ! But there were benefits ! Albert Docker who was the Boss ( One of the Sons) would bring me in a slap up Full English which I ate sitting at his desk in the office ! while his Lads tipped the load ! Then, invariably they would then stick some of the load back on for me to drop at their Kendal depot, as well as a nice little additional earner they also used to fill me a box of all kinds of veg for home which Mother always appreciated !
There was another Docker ( separate Family branch) based in Carlisle which you probably delivered to Ray. The Barrow Dockers motors were Red but IIRC the Carlisle ones were Maroon. Happy days ! Cheers Dennis.
W.B.Anderson that’s a good name from the past for me, I wrote one of their TKs off whilst test driving it due to a genuine brake failure and no, I had not worked on the brakes, I was treated very badly by the company who employed me at the time over it, they kept telling me I could have cost them a very good customer, so I decided to leave as my own injuries didn’t seem to be of any interest to them just the work,
I got a job interview with a transport company who had a base in my local town of Stranraer and at that time were looking at taking on third party work for their workshop, they knew partly what had happened and knew I had left my previous employer and they were a bit reluctant to give me an interview but I persisted, They finally gave me a interview and as I was sitting in the small lounge waiting for the interview for the job Edgar transport manager(terrible memory for names) from Andersons of Carlisle who I had met a few times previously just so happened to walk in and he started chatting to me, he asked me why I was there & I explained what had gone on and that I had left on my own accord, He went in to talk to John Sutherland from Shamrock Express about them servicing the fleet they had based in the area, this was before I was interviewed by John, in my mind it either was going to be rejection there and then or we will be in (not) contact, He kept me waiting for ages & when he got round to seeing me John said he would get straight to the point and offer me a job, as he had been told if they employ me they stand a good chance of the Anderson work to which they did, that was such a terrific boost for me as it had been quite a hard time up to that point, from that came the best three years of my early career, it was such a shame when Shamrock/Curries folded three years later.
I know it’s a long shot but Tom Riding and myself have been looking for the ‘Holy Grail’ of Riding’s.
A picture of either LTD 780F or KTF 280F which were the only two Atkinson rear steers that Riding’s ever ran.
Unfortunately although Tom took many pictures of his fleet over the years he never took a picture of either of his rear steers and would love to see one if possible.
I am grateful to Dennis and Dave for their comments. The chap who I saw each time at Dockers
in Kendal was known to us as Dan Docker. Whether he was a member of the Docker family, I do
not know. We were always unloaded straight away, after which Dan would sign your notes, and
give you 2 Shillings tip, then make a nice cup of tea for you. Happy days in Kendal, Westmorland.
Ray Smyth:
I am grateful to Dennis and Dave for their comments. The chap who I saw each time at Dockers
in Kendal was known to us as Dan Docker. Whether he was a member of the Docker family, I do
not know. We were always unloaded straight away, after which Dan would sign your notes, and
give you 2 Shillings tip, then make a nice cup of tea for you. Happy days in Kendal, Westmorland.
Regards, Ray Smyth.
It’s such a long while ago Ray 50 years by my reckoning ! the only name that still sticks was that of “Mr. Albert” as he was known because I at least recall they were a large family so they would have had one or two of them at Kendal depot. Cartmel’s the local Pop firm were down the same alleyway they were a Whitehaven based firm with a distribution depot in Kendal. I went to Senior school with John Cartmel the Son of one of the Directors and they were a deeply religious family from memory, Plymouth Brethren IIRC and our MP Tim Farron is one and the same which is why he resigned as Lib Dem leader because he couldn’t accept same ■■■ marriages apparently ! I sincerely hope we can vote the ■■■■ out at the next G/ election as he only scraped in by 800 votes and if the Greens had fielded a candidate the ■■■■ would have been out last time !! Sorry to diverge Ray ! Cheers Dennis.
Ray Smyth:
I am grateful to Dennis and Dave for their comments. The chap who I saw each time at Dockers
in Kendal was known to us as Dan Docker. Whether he was a member of the Docker family, I do
not know. We were always unloaded straight away, after which Dan would sign your notes, and
give you 2 Shillings tip, then make a nice cup of tea for you. Happy days in Kendal, Westmorland.
Regards, Ray Smyth.
It’s such a long while ago Ray 50 years by my reckoning ! the only name that still sticks was that of “Mr. Albert” as he was known because I at least recall they were a large family so they would have had one or two of them at Kendal depot. Cartmel’s the local Pop firm were down the same alleyway they were a Whitehaven based firm with a distribution depot in Kendal. I went to Senior school with John Cartmel the Son of one of the Directors and they were a deeply religious family from memory, Plymouth Brethren IIRC and our MP Tim Farron is one and the same which is why he resigned as Lib Dem leader because he couldn’t accept same ■■■ marriages apparently ! I sincerely hope we can vote the [zb] out at the next G/ election as he only scraped in by 800 votes and if the Greens had fielded a candidate the [zb] would have been out last time !! Sorry to diverge Ray ! Cheers Dennis.
Dennis, Thank you for your comments, You may have noticed that I still refer to your neck of the woods as Westmorland,
John Wests Barrow is still in Lancashire (Detached), and Gerald 600 is in ■■■■■■■■■■■ Cant be bothered with the ■■■■■■■ name.
At least Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth have remembered the “Westmorland” name. Regards, Ray.
I quite understand your reasoning Ray ! as when the “new” County of ■■■■■■■ was created in 1974 there was enormous objections from all over this corner of the UK. The Barrow area and the Furness area in general were up in arms about being ejected from “mainland” Lancashire even though the Furness peninsula had always been “detached” as you say ! There are still many in Furness who still refuse to accept they are now part of ■■■■■■■■ Then generally all inhabitants of Westmorland, north and south, kicked up a fuss because the old County was wiped off the map ! So much so that Appleby renamed itself “Appleby-in-Westmorland”. Oh! and a bit of the West Riding of Yorkshire was hacked off around Sedbergh and stuck into the “New County” which didn’t go down well either. I recall in around 1968/9 I was in a Clearing House office down Commercial Road and the Cockney guy asked where I was looking to go back to, to which I replied Westmorland ! so he looks at me and says " Where the '■■■■■■ 'ell is W-e-s-t-m-o-r-l-a-n-d " ? I had to point it out to him the map ! Happy Days Dennis.
Bewick:
our MP Tim Farron is one and the same which is why he resigned as Lib Dem leader because he couldn’t accept same ■■■ marriages apparently ! I sincerely hope we can vote the [zb] out at the next G/ election as he only scraped in by 800 votes and if the Greens had fielded a candidate the [zb] would have been out last time !! Sorry to diverge Ray ! Cheers Dennis.
Your mate Tim is actually a native of Lostock Hall, Preston, I believe, not even local to you!
Bewick:
our MP Tim Farron is one and the same which is why he resigned as Lib Dem leader because he couldn’t accept same ■■■ marriages apparently ! I sincerely hope we can vote the [zb] out at the next G/ election as he only scraped in by 800 votes and if the Greens had fielded a candidate the [zb] would have been out last time !! Sorry to diverge Ray ! Cheers Dennis.
Your mate Tim is actually a native of Lostock Hall, Preston, I believe, not even local to you!
Spot on Chris ! an “off comer” ! at least our prospective Conservative candidate, James Airey, is a “born and bred” Kendalian and is a South Lakeland Councillor and local Farmer. Farron thinks he is “Mr Milnthorpe” ( where he lives) and he has never had a proper job in his life ! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
I quite understand your reasoning Ray ! as when the “new” County of ■■■■■■■ was created in 1974 there was enormous objections from all over this corner of the UK. The Barrow area and the Furness area in general were up in arms about being ejected from “mainland” Lancashire even though the Furness peninsula had always been “detached” as you say ! There are still many in Furness who still refuse to accept they are now part of ■■■■■■■■ Then generally all inhabitants of Westmorland, north and south, kicked up a fuss because the old County was wiped off the map ! So much so that Appleby renamed itself “Appleby-in-Westmorland”. Oh! and a bit of the West Riding of Yorkshire was hacked off around Sedbergh and stuck into the “New County” which didn’t go down well either. I recall in around 1968/9 I was in a Clearing House office down Commercial Road and the Cockney guy asked where I was looking to go back to, to which I replied Westmorland ! so he looks at me and says " Where the '[zb] 'ell is W-e-s-t-m-o-r-l-a-n-d " ? I had to point it out to him the map ! Happy Days Dennis.
I was born in Lancashire, but now live in ■■■■■■■ without having moved. If you live in London and want to ‘centralise’ things, (this means reduce costs, but somehow it never does!) you would look at the North West of England and see a bit sticking out and think it all belonged together.
Actually it doesn’t. The main towns are miles apart and there are mountains, lakes and rivers between them. Furness is only 15 miles from Blackpool across the bay. The area was always much more connected to Lancaster and Preston, with ‘the capital’ Manchester! Carlisle is 90 miles away and until 1974 was totally unrelated to Barrow or even Kendal. Westmorland was neither Barrow nor Carlisle.
So, shove it all together. Barrow and Ulverston together could have been the seat for the county, but snobby Ulverston couldn’t abide the relationship with its ‘rough’ neighbour. So Carlisle got and gets all the ‘County’ purchases - police cars, ambulances etc.
Bewick:
I quite understand your reasoning Ray ! as when the “new” County of ■■■■■■■ was created in 1974 there was enormous objections from all over this corner of the UK. The Barrow area and the Furness area in general were up in arms about being ejected from “mainland” Lancashire even though the Furness peninsula had always been “detached” as you say ! There are still many in Furness who still refuse to accept they are now part of ■■■■■■■■ Then generally all inhabitants of Westmorland, north and south, kicked up a fuss because the old County was wiped off the map ! So much so that Appleby renamed itself “Appleby-in-Westmorland”. Oh! and a bit of the West Riding of Yorkshire was hacked off around Sedbergh and stuck into the “New County” which didn’t go down well either. I recall in around 1968/9 I was in a Clearing House office down Commercial Road and the Cockney guy asked where I was looking to go back to, to which I replied Westmorland ! so he looks at me and says " Where the '[zb] 'ell is W-e-s-t-m-o-r-l-a-n-d " ? I had to point it out to him the map ! Happy Days Dennis.
I was born in Lancashire, but now live in ■■■■■■■ without having moved. If you live in London and want to ‘centralise’ things, (this means reduce costs, but somehow it never does!) you would look at the North West of England and see a bit sticking out and think it all belonged together.
Actually it doesn’t. The main towns are miles apart and there are mountains, lakes and rivers between them. Furness is only 15 miles from Blackpool across the bay. The area was always much more connected to Lancaster and Preston, with ‘the capital’ Manchester! Carlisle is 90 miles away and until 1974 was totally unrelated to Barrow or even Kendal. Westmorland was neither Barrow nor Carlisle.
So, shove it all together. Barrow and Ulverston together could have been the seat for the county, but snobby Ulverston couldn’t abide the relationship with its ‘rough’ neighbour. So Carlisle got and gets all the ‘County’ purchases - police cars, ambulances etc.
Cynical, qui moi?
John.
Although the direct sea routes i.e. Barrow to Heysham and Fleetwood were abandoned in the late 19th century so the only surface route between Furness and Lancashire proper was via Westmorland ! I rest my case. PS But you always engage the services of Ced Robinson to see you over the sands !
240 Gardner:
Your mate Tim is actually a native of Lostock Hall, Preston, I believe, not even local to you!
Spot on Chris ! an “off comer” ! at least our prospective Conservative candidate, James Airey, is a “born and bred” Kendalian and is a South Lakeland Councillor and local Farmer. Farron thinks he is “Mr Milnthorpe” ( where he lives) and he has never had a proper job in his life ! Cheers Dennis.
Spot on, eh… I think he graduated to standing for Parliament from being on the South Ribble Borough Council.
My brother was an off-comer in Kendal for several years (remember ‘the Prov’? Loads of people used to come from branches to work at HQ), but eventually retreated to Preston again
240 Gardner:
Your mate Tim is actually a native of Lostock Hall, Preston, I believe, not even local to you!
Spot on Chris ! an “off comer” ! at least our prospective Conservative candidate, James Airey, is a “born and bred” Kendalian and is a South Lakeland Councillor and local Farmer. Farron thinks he is “Mr Milnthorpe” ( where he lives) and he has never had a proper job in his life ! Cheers Dennis.
Spot on, eh… I think he graduated to standing for Parliament from being on the South Ribble Borough Council.
My brother was an off-comer in Kendal for several years (remember ‘the Prov’? Loads of people used to come from branches to work at HQ), but eventually retreated to Preston again
Hiya Chris,
Yes The Provincial was, along with K Shoes, one of the two largest employers in the Town for about 100 years or more owned by the Scott family and sold to AXA eventually and the fairly imposing building ( well for Kendal !) was converted into luxury apartments ( well for Kendal !) We always used the Prov for our GIT Insurance who were acknowledged as the Industry leader for that market. Sometime in the late 70’s, early 80’s,not sure which, the Prov kicked off a new Company called Prolific Ins. who built a brand new office block over the road from the Provincial building and this business grew like Topsy to become larger than it’s Parent and IIRC quite a bit of agg. developed between the two firms and eventually the Prolific side was “cut loose”. It was a case of “The tail wagging the Dog” although The Prov was the controlling Shareholder they lost control !! Cheers Dennis.
Just trying to prevent folk from spending their hard earned pension money. Dennis of course is in a different league, Man City to your Macclesfield Town, he just has the knack of being in the right places at the right time, ‘money comes to money’ is one expression, and by refusing to pay for your R&S course (which all of his drivers and shunters obviously attended looking at his pics of well sheeted containers 
) he got to keep his cash close to home. Ever heard a gaffer tell you “there’s no money in road haulage lad” well it clearly isn’t true! 
