Hi–Dont know if this is ok for this thread just come across it in one of my books.
JOHN
143topline:
alick archer , leintwardine albion clydesdale at llangollen sheep sale
hi folks its great to see the pic of archers albion clydesdale as this was my dads first truck he took it over from peter archer when it was around 3-6 months old
chepstowchap:
Hi 3300John is this the Maers you were mentioning this Atki was at Shrewsbury market Have got a BW shot with its drawbar Kingswinfordkit mentioned an abbatior in Northampton i can remember one near a railway crossing not sure if it was Baxters though There is one near Bedford and ican remember Crowthers Craven arms and Mj Parry unloading there
I can remember a chap, sadly no longer with us, that used to drive one of these old Atki’s for Mears as well as working in their garage.
He told me that on one occasion in the late eighties he broke down on the M6 near Birmingham and used one of the Motorway emergency telephones to summon assistance. He gave the reg no to the person at the other end, then they asked him what make the vehicle was, when he replied Atkinson, the chap at the other end replied “Seddon Atkinson”.
When the driver said no, Atkinson the chap on the other end said “Good grief”.
regards,
John.
Brilliant to see more lovely cattle lorry photos getting posted. Thanks very much to all who share them.
BB
FODENMAN:
chepstowchap:
I can remember a chap, sadly no longer with us, that used to drive one of these old Atki’s for Mears as well as working in their garage.
He told me that on one occasion in the late eighties he broke down on the M6 near Birmingham and used one of the Motorway emergency telephones to summon assistance. He gave the reg no to the person at the other end, then they asked him what make the vehicle was, when he replied Atkinson, the chap at the other end replied “Seddon Atkinson”.
When the driver said no, Atkinson the chap on the other end said “Good grief”.regards,
John.
What a lovely old girl that is thanks for putting her on. 
cheers
John.
Was visiting friends near Whixall last thursday so looked out Les Dulsons place. The ergo cabbed motor at the canal side must be a Super Comet its G registration so 1968, there’s no badges, its wearing a later front panel, forgot to check if it had hub reduction rear axle to after I’d left. Its certainly not a 500 series as it does’nt have the extended height cab. It looks very restorable, even the box frame appears sound. Is it a Worcester box with a curved roof? Must have been a smart turnout in its day.
There’s two other ergo cabbed motors in the field at the side of the house but they look far gone, there’s a Leyland Boxer also at the canal side and the Mercedes that’s still in use.
This AEC Mercury was at Gaydon.
143topline:
andrew you will recognise this one
struggling to remember where i took it, either at 3 coun. really think it was 3 countiesties or royal welsh
same truck photo taken last week
jonmea, that 113 looks the business, nice job.
Cheers Paul
Hi all,
This is my first post in this forum so apologies if it comes out wrong!!. Ref Mac arrowsmith and his dodge, he would be delighted to see some pictures as he is very proud of his motor. It was a 21st birthday present from his father (Alf Arrowmith) and still workd 5 days a week. We managed to get Classic and vintage Mag to do a feature in the June 2009 issue and are due another feature in another mag soon - but not on the Dodge this time, but thye next project - rebuilding the Volvo F88 still parked in the back of the shed!. I have a lot of photos of the Arrowsmith fleet and when I work out how to i will post them. If anyone has any photos of other members of the fleet, please post them as well as Mac would love to see them.
Trev_H:
Basilbrush:
tonyb70:
There is a dvd about alf arrowsmith from market drayton,Ithink he is still working his old motor.Tonyb
I’ve seen some potos of that lovely Dodge, it was still working when it was featured in a truck magazine. I wonder if he’d mind if pictures were posted of it.
BB
Hi,
I saw Alf Arrowsmiths Dodge on the A5 at Gailey last week, its still working and still looks very smart. I would have taken a photo but I was going the other way, plus its a bit tricky on a motorbike
Got this out of the classic & vintage commercials mag from july 2009 hope you dont mind me putting them on this thread.
If you have any more lets put them on
JOHN
Hi,heres a couple of old Alfs…
Cheers Bubbs, 
Hi all,
Thanks for the shots of the old fleet, have dug some more out and will post photos when finish this week of night shifts (you still doing those Bubbs??). The Volvo is the one we are about to start restoring. Cab should be on its way from Oz very soon (hopefully), just need to get the rest of the ‘Airfix kit’ and then we can start.
H
.
Blimey it worked!! This is N126 VAW before its high rof conversion turning into what was the main yard at Arrowsmiths. Its now a housing estate. More to follow.
A line up of Dafs, not sure of exact date but believed to be mid to late 70’s.
andrew brick:
Hi 143topline, just wondering if you have any pictures of Bells, Carlisle,cattle wagons. I well remember that they used to do Carlisle to North Devon Meats in one hit.
regards Andrew.
Is this the same operator, I was a call out fitter at Thomas Hardie Volvo Preston at the time and was called out to repair this F12, I arranged to meet the driver at our Red Scar site and did the repair at the workshop if I recall ?
More and more lovely photos coming through on this thread, it’s great to see some of the old cattle trucks again.
BB
jonto:
Hi Haydons sold to Ian Phillips, Baldwins Gate, he has my old Triumph TR4 1421VT restored and running. Mears are still going, another north staffs firm was Ron Marsh. I know Haydons have a photo album as I’ve seen it.
I’m a newbie and have been posting a lot of Haydons wagons on the “Companys in Stoke on Trent” section. If you don’t mind me gate crashing the Shropshire lads I’ll post a few here. Some lovely wagons and I couldn’t believe the Mear’s Atki - I remember it well from the 70s although I thought it had a canopy back then. I remember being at a market one day when news filtered through that one of their drivers had been found under the drawbar trailer, crushed by it - he’d been doing something with the handbrake and it rolled on him - passers by thought he was under it, fixing something! I think he was injured but OK - about 1977/78?
Brand new (polythene on seats and no reg) 1966 E reg (I think) Albion 6 wheeler (underpowered apparently) gull wing mud guards, wooden box with sheep deck and a shot of the yard in Biddulph in the early 60s. 7 Albions and a lovely Bedford.
J Haydon & Sons (John the founder was my great grandad) ran livestock haulage out of Wharf Rd, Biddulph from 1929 to 1989. We used to be at Banbury every Thursday for years, Mold on a Friday and Shrewsbury too. My cousin saw a gap in the traffic and pulled out of Shrewsbury in an ERF B-Series artic a bit sharpish one day and dropped sheep all over the shop!
At home, it was another tight turn (on full lock) out of Wharf Rd onto Biddulph High Street. Fresh off the wash, water used to sluice out the corner of the wagon - look out Saturday morning shoppers!
