retriever:
Does anyone recognise the location of the weighbridge in this Roger Kenney picture. Must be somewhere in or around Rochdale going by the S&D refuse wagon
I used to ride with these guys on school holidays etc and they used to go to Rochdale gasworks (among others).
Another from Roger Kenney. Regards the radiator, that is not a mark on the neg. but a small badge of a ballerina pirouetting.
What grand photos they are,you can’t beat black and white pics for nostalgia. I drove a Reiver 7637 WJ,Sheffield reg so Shaw’s 8418 WW West Riding reg would be about same year.
Great stuff! 
Chris Webb:
What grand photos they are,you can’t beat black and white pics for nostalgia. I drove a Reiver 7637 WJ,Sheffield reg so Shaw’s 8418 WW West Riding reg would be about same year.
Great stuff!
I agree, it is also the environment in which the subject was photographed that added so much to images from that era. It was a black & white era then in many ways.
rigsby:
looking at the shot of the hanson atki in barnsley town centre . do any of you remember the copper on point duty in the 60s . big bloke with a handlebar moustache he certainly kept the traffic moving , but god help you if you didn’t stop when he put his hand up , i swear he could have stopped you in your tracks with a glare . if you were slow moving off when he waved you on he bollocked you as you passed him . cheers , dave
Hi, that photo wasn’t taken in Barnsley. A closer look reveals trolleybus wires overhead - something that Barnsley never had. The trams went about 1931, and only had a single wire anyhow. If this was taken in Yorkshire, it would be Bradford, Huddersfield, Rotherham or Doncaster. The formidable copper was P.C. Bill Harber, a native of Wakefield but often to be seen on point duty at the junction of Pontefract Road and Cheapside in Barnsley. Often, small crowds would gather to watch his antics. That bloke was worth a dozen sets of traffic lights when it came to keeping traffic moving. Woe betide anybody who disobeyed his signals. He wasn’t averse to giving offenders a sharp clip with his gauntlets, usually with a couple of threepenny bits in the fingers for added weight.
More black and white nostalgia for you Chris.
Old Stan, the Ghost, pushing his luck tipping coal down the rail shute at Bank Hall.
My old mate “Yorkie” drove the Foden, it rolled about like a ship in a storm.
A well abused Albion Reiver.
half abused Albion.
A real workhorse, they would run for ever.
T.M.
Stanfield:
Right then lads how many of you can remember these in the 50s/60s the coal men from yorkshire.
For anyone interested Base Toys are doing this Albion in 1 7/6 scale for 7 quid
Dieseldogsix:
Stanfield:
Right then lads how many of you can remember these in the 50s/60s the coal men from yorkshire.
For anyone interested Base Toys are doing this Albion in 1 7/6 scale for 7 quid
Does it have all the genuine knocks and dents plus a representation of smoke billowing from the brake drums? 
Pete.
I don’t remember the Albions Pete but the 8 leggers were always rushing through Walsden where I lived.
In winter when the high roads between Yorkshire and Lancashire were closed there could be dozens of coal wagons through the village returning to the coal fields of Yorkshire. Slaters lads were always there in numbers.
T.M.
i was just wondering if any one on here would remember thorntons in greatbridge the gaffers nick name was wager he done alot of work for the brymill my farther drove for him in the early 60s is name jimmy boot and allso another driver there was nevil garner//////////jim boot
transportphotos.com/photos/road (Bob Hobbs brilliant collection)
AEC Marshall-- same motor but different owners 
and take a look at the greedy boards they have fitted.
Anyone know the operator of the Bedford.
I remember R Colin Snow,coal merchants from Denaby IIRC. They were to be seen regularly in NCB Manvers near Wath. I think there was a relative called M J Snow who ran tippers in a red livery. I think they have both pulled the pin though.
Colin snows Bedford climbing Rawmarsh hill out of parkgate under the trackless wires(mexbro&swinton)Parkgate steelworks in the background.
Hi when i was a young kid used to go every where with my late uncle bob proudfoot,most of the times was to warrington with foundry coke from the northeast but odd times we went to afirm called whiteheads near todmorden tipped in there yard anybody got photos of that company please cheers
Tankerman can you give us the lowdown on Gilmartin were they part of the Gilbraith fleet
There was a chap named Thomas Gilmartin who ran a few lorries from a back street garage, his main work was carrying coal and coke from the local pits. Gilmartin bought out a chap who had two lorries carrying coke and coal, this chap was called Robert Martin. Robert Martin also had a business buying foundry sand and delivering it to foundries but he kept it in his wife’s name.
Gilmartin made Robert Martin his manager and when Gilmartin died Gilbraith bought the business and left Robert Martin as MD.
This is where the confusion comes in. People though that Gilmartin was a combination of Gilbraith and Martin but now you know different.
Eventually when the O licence came into being the name Gilmartin died out and all new lorries were painted with the Gilbraith name. After Gilbraith bought Gilmartin the livery had been identical apart from the name. Gilbraith had of course bought Gilmartin for his 20 or so A licences.
I started at Gilmartins and did two short spells there. First lorry was a clapped out S type Bedford then a TK and a J type. next one was the four wheel Albion in the picture above and after that I got a brand new Reiver with greedy boards, that was number ten and you can just see it hidden behind the four wheeler in the picture.
Robert Martin became chairman of the Gilbraith group and continued to run his sand business, usually as back loads from the sea side after tipping coal or coke at the coal merchants in the area.
Hope that makes sense.
T.M.
Hi TM Thanks for the info I often wondered what the connection was cheers.I remember Sam Newton who I believe became MD but was that the Leyland sales division because when I knew him he was a salesman who used to come into Biestys yard quite often as they bought all their motors from Gillies.
Taken by Roger Kenney. I have a neg of a very similar vehicle operated by Sykes & Sons (Shipley) Limited. Were they linked in some way.
Quite a long body on this vehicle, obviously maximising load capacity. With coke the weight would be no problem but would a full load of coal push it towards its legal load capacity. Also the sloping bodywork at the rear - the same feature appears on the Sykes vehicle - what is the reason for this.
Regards
Retriever
Stanfield:
Hi TM Thanks for the info I often wondered what the connection was cheers.I remember Sam Newton who I believe became MD but was that the Leyland sales division because when I knew him he was a salesman who used to come into Biestys yard quite often as they bought all their motors from Gillies.0
I was with Sam Newton not long ago, we attended the funeral of Gilbraith Tankers fleet engineer. He had done twenty five years at Gilbraith Commercials and then moved to Tankers for another twenty five years.
I think Sam had been General manager of Commercials and Philip Gilbraith’s son in law was the MD, he finished up owning Tankers with Phillips daughter, they recently sold it to Hargreaves.
Gilbraith Haulage and tippers were eventually owned by John Gilbraith and the Tankers by Phillip Gilbraith, both old Henry Gilbraith’s sons.
They jointly owned the Commercial depot which moved to Botany bay nr Chorley and then sold it to a chap who turned it into a shopping outlet.
The Haulage side of the old Gilbraith empire bought Fogarty’s out at Blackburn and are still going strong, John Gilbraith’s son owns it.
I remember seeing Biesty’s lorries having the bodies built and then going to the paint shop. The Albion Reiver, number 10, which I got new was registered at the same time as one of Biesty’s Leylands and was one number below on the reg plate.
It was a very busy Company when British wagons ruled the roost.
There was a wagon firm which I think was on Hyde Road and they had a big coal yard. They ran some Leyland LAD cab Retreivers and were always up and down the Pennines. I think they were black and red, would that be Biesty’s.
I did a couple of load into their yard in the 60’s from Mansfield with coke, big greedy boards full to the brim.
T.M.
Hi TM So Sams still about then? if you see him again ask him if he remembers my old boss Tom Stephens who owned Biestys along with his brother,they were the grandchildren of John Biesty.You never know he may also have some old photos knocking about.The company you are on about would be E&F Beattie who ran a mixture of lorries including Retreivers,Mamouth Majors,Thames Traders,etc,and they had a coal depot at bennett street Ardwick Green of Hyde Road.
.
You are right about Biesty having the bodies built by Gillies,in fact they did everything from supply the Chassis Cab to designing & building the body,fitting the tecelemit system,painting & sign writing, they even had the same wording.Biesty for Transport as Gilbraith for Transport on the sides of the body.Biesty yard was at Rochdale Rd Collyhurst Manchester what used to be the old gas works.
You will also remember the late Bill Benson aswell,he went to gillies after Townson/Sadler closed there depot at Morecambe I was depot supervisor there when Billy was driving for us.
