You have got me there John! Cannot think who you mean alas, maybe Rob or Malmic will know as they were ‘on the lorries’ while I was still repairing them! 
I only remember the Late Pete O’Leary and Tommy Babb carting bags with six wheeled flats, plus Sellers and Kent of course.
Pete.
3300John:
Hiya trying to think of a chaps name !! help me out…Peter ■■? did some bag work out of Balidon he had a green
and red S 21 6 wheeler after running that for years he had
a 6 wheeler Haulmaster twin headlights…he used to sell second hand sheds. youd see him with a sky high load coming
in towards Derby at tea time…i can t think of his name… is he still alive. the type of chap who ll be at it when hes 80.
John
Are you thinking of Peter Leason from, I think, Alstonfield, I know he ran a green & red Foden, he used to deliver concrete pipes but may well have been in Ballidon doing bags aswell.
I don’t recall anyone of that description running out of Ballidon.That’s a nice photo of Herbert Hambletons 2stroke Commer on Ashbourne lorry park.
cheers Commer… Peter Leason… is he still around do you know i used to have a chat with him on the odd occasion
1970commer:
Are you thinking of Peter Leason from, I think, Alstonfield, I know he ran a green & red Foden, he used to deliver concrete pipes but may well have been in Ballidon doing bags aswell.
Forgot all about Peter, he ran from that concrete works in Leek I think but I don’t remember him in Ballidon regularly which doesn’t mean that he didn’t come in at times!
Some good memories in those Ashbourne pics, you forget just how many smaller hauliers there were in the town back then. Now I suppose it is mostly powder tank work. Who owned that six wheeler Commer tipper Mick, I can’t read what is on the door and I don’t remember seeing it about?
Pete.
That was Jack Rileys 6wheeler Commer.I’d say there were about 40 owner drivers in Ballidon in the 70’s. not many left now
malmic:
That was Jack Rileys 6wheeler Commer.I’d say there were about 40 owner drivers in Ballidon in the 70’s. not many left now
No, I don’t remember him Mick, thanks anyway. I remember just how many four wheeler’s there were in Ballidon when I started, most of the od’s ran them and then suddenly they were all gone! 
Pete.
windrush:
malmic:
That was Jack Rileys 6wheeler Commer.I’d say there were about 40 owner drivers in Ballidon in the 70’s. not many left nowNo, I don’t remember him Mick, thanks anyway. I remember just how many four wheeler’s there were in Ballidon when I started, most of the od’s ran them and then suddenly they were all gone!
Pete.
In those days there were no satellite plants.We must have had at least 20 council depots that we delivered to probably more.Too much exercise for the brain cells trying to remember them all.Walsall met had 3 or 4 loads every day.Pete Sullivans lorry could have driven there on its own.Load at 5am back in the quarry for 8.00 for second load those were the days.
malmic:
In those days there were no satellite plants.We must have had at least 20 council depots that we delivered to probably more.Too much exercise for the brain cells trying to remember them all.Walsall met had 3 or 4 loads every day.Pete Sullivans lorry could have driven there on its own.Load at 5am back in the quarry for 8.00 for second load those were the days.
Yes Mick, we did plenty of depots on the eight leggers. Off the top of my head over the 20 years I was running-- Clay Cross, Sandiacre, Duffield, Derby City (Stores Road) West Brom, four different ones in Walsall (some with wet mix), Northfield, (B’Ham), Venetia road (B’ham) Aston (B’Ham) Piers Road, (Handsworth) Dudley met (Lister Road) Burslem, Longton, four in Sheffield plus loads more when Fleximac was made including some in South Wales of course! Didn’t need any other work! 
The last day that I worked for Stuart on the Foden I did a tarmac to Castle Vale (Brum), tarmac to Newark, stone to Ashbourne and finished off with a hand lay at Crystal Peaks, I landed back at the quarry at 7.30 pm after a 5 am start! Not a bad last day, eh? And STILL the truck didn’t pay…
Pete.
Trust me Pete that did pay. What didn’t pay were the long distance stone trips coming back empty as far as Mancetter. When I was doing London I loaded back from the London area . Either foundry sand from Redhill or Reigate back to Hoben or from Tilbury to Stoke amongst other places
malmic:
I don’t recall anyone of that description running out of Ballidon.That’s a nice photo of Herbert Hambletons 2stroke Commer on Ashbourne lorry park.
You should see it now Mick, here’s a picture of it as it is now, if Herbert was still alive he’d be summing up how much it would be worth today & kicking himself for selling it too cheap all those years ago.
windrush:
malmic:
In those days there were no satellite plants.We must have had at least 20 council depots that we delivered to probably more.Too much exercise for the brain cells trying to remember them all.Walsall met had 3 or 4 loads every day.Pete Sullivans lorry could have driven there on its own.Load at 5am back in the quarry for 8.00 for second load those were the days.Yes Mick, we did plenty of depots on the eight leggers. Off the top of my head over the 20 years I was running-- Clay Cross, Sandiacre, Duffield, Derby City (Stores Road) West Brom, four different ones in Walsall (some with wet mix), Northfield, (B’Ham), Venetia road (B’ham) Aston (B’Ham) Piers Road, (Handsworth) Dudley met (Lister Road) Burslem, Longton, four in Sheffield plus loads more when Fleximac was made including some in South Wales of course! Didn’t need any other work!
The last day that I worked for Stuart on the Foden I did a tarmac to Castle Vale (Brum), tarmac to Newark, stone to Ashbourne and finished off with a hand lay at Crystal Peaks, I landed back at the quarry at 7.30 pm after a 5 am start! Not a bad last day, eh?Pete.
I’ve never heard of any of them depots you ran to every day Pete, couldn’t have been in Boss Hogg’s elite club like you, I would get sent to Manchester or Sheffield with dry stone but after a while I was promoted sideways as Denis put the lorry in Ivonbrook, we still ran to the same places though, at least I had a nice powerful lorry for pulling up Owler Bar or going over Long Hill
Well Rob, I did actually work for Tilcon (not a strugg like you!) so I should have got decent work! Plus if they ordered 20 tonne then you couldn’t quite squeeze that onto a Reiver. 
Ray and myself had to play ‘second fiddle’ behind Cotty, Mellor and Fred Brownlee for years though, they were loading at 5am for Dudley, Sheffield or Walsall and Ray or me would be loading at 6.20 for the same place. We would usually meet them coming back at Muckley Corner and then we were were queuing all the way to Dudley! Boss Hogg, bless him, couldn’t understand how they could do it so quickly yet it took Ray and me twice as long, he couldn’t grasp the fact the one hour later starting off could make such a difference traffic wise. 
A lot of those depots were after your time anyway, you would be delivering wheel barrows for B & Q by then, and even Boss Hogg had long gone.
Regarding Ivonbrook, I did a few loads out of there but even though I had the right surname haha my face didn’t fit somehow so I much preffered Shining Bank where they treated me well and sometimes loaded me before their own trucks, mostly uphill work but I never minded that.
Pete.
Names from the past there Pete. I bumped into someone who knows Fred Brownlee in his nineties now and still soldiering on.Good photo of the reiver Robert.I remember Arthur ringing me to say it had got a bit hot and stopped when I got there you could fry an egg on the engine Towed it into Kevin to get the load off and it drove back to the garage.
malmic:
Names from the past there Pete. I bumped into someone who knows Fred Brownlee in his nineties now and still soldiering on.Good photo of the reiver Robert.I remember Arthur ringing me to say it had got a bit hot and stopped when I got there you could fry an egg on the engine Towed it into Kevin to get the load off and it drove back to the garage.
Yes Mick, I understand that Fred is still enjoying retirement and I am very pleased that he is. I spoke to Cotty at Jim Bank’s funeral and he couldn’t place me at all…and then he suddenly remarked that many years ago I had replaced the head gasket on his Astra (I had forgotten THAT!) at my house but couldn’t remember all the years that we worked together! 
He is in his late eighties and did some graft in his days with Phillips and at Ballidon but it obviously did him no harm! We had some good workers there, most stayed for many years as you know and I would never have left if things had stayed as they were, still I enjoyed my five years with Eric and Frank as they treated me well enough. And then it all ended!!
Pete.
Another one still going strong is Bay Spencer walks miles around Ashbourne and could probably still tell you every load he ever delivered if you give him the chance.Hardly looks any differant from the day he retired,
malmic:
Another one still going strong is Bay Spencer walks miles around Ashbourne and could probably still tell you every load he ever delivered if you give him the chance.Hardly looks any differant from the day he retired,
Yes I see Bay at vintage rallies, I could probably tell you every repair I did on his half cab as he didn’t spare it much trying to keep up with Mick Foxon! 
Pete.
B M Charles
BonkeyDollocks:
Windrush, was this you tipping at Ringway airport in '92?
No Bonkey, most likely a truck from Tilcons Weaste plant (Mode Wheel Road) though we did run black into the Manchester area a lot before the tar plant at Bredbury opened and Weaste was taken over by Agg Industries.
Pete.
