Ray Smyth:
I have just had a closer look at Atkinson Borderer POA 509M, pictured above,
and the drivers nickname “SHY TOT” is in the windscreen. I do not know his
real name, but I expect some Portsmouth/Horndean lads will know who it is.Regards, Ray Smyth. :
Late reply there is a member on here who post under that name may be one of the same
Hi Dean, Thank you for the advert picture above. It reminds me of Tony Mapson who sadly passed away recently.
Tony passed his HGV Class 1 on this Ford D Series artic, Reg No POU 920G, in 1971, aged 21. The Ford was new to
Percy Powell Transport, who were taken over by Robert Baillie early in 1970, and also appears on this thread in the
livery of Percy Powell, and in the Midnight Blue of Baillies. I also passed my HGV Class 1 driving test on POU 920G
in 1970, despite driving lorries from 1965, because I didn’t qualify for the licence through “Grandfather Rights”,
as I spent some time driving buses for Ribble Motor Services during the qualifying period. Picture from Tim Walker.
Click picture for full image.
Tony Mapson……Rest in peace.
Ray Smyth.
I have managed to enlarge this picture, which I posted last month, more by luck than laptop skills.
I do not know the location of Atkinson POA 509M, It could be at Albert Johnson Quay at Portsmouth,
where the Guernsey Tomatoes were loaded for wholesale fruit & vegetable markets throughout the UK…NMP
Ray Smyth.
This Atkinson, OPN 26F, was the second one that Robert Baillie acquired with a Gardner 6LXB engine.
Picture by Tim Walker, ex Robert Baillie, motor vehicle engineer. Click on picture for full image.
Ray Smyth.
Three J.R.Courtney lorries seen in the yard of Robert Baillie Transport at Horndean.
The Leyland Marathon is coupled to a Robert Baillie trailer, and judging by the sheeted
load, it is more than likely a full load of Guernsey Tomatoes. NMP.
Ray Smyth.
A Ford Transcontinental of J.R. Courtney in the yard of Robert Baillie Ltd at Horndean.
Through the drivers door window of the Ford can be seen the headboard of one of the
Robert Baillie lorries. Picture from Tim Walker, ex Robert Baillie.
Ray Smyth.
Life after Robert Baillies i got this on Ebay the other day so i don`t know who the original photographer was but i recon the picture was taken in the Hampshire area as all the other pictures were taken around the Southampton area the only part of originality is the fleet number 57 just visable behind the crash bar looking at the rear wings possible owner driver or a keen younger driver because thats what we used to do years ago.
truckworld:
Life after Robert Baillies i got this on Ebay the other day so i don`t know who the original photographer was but i recon the picture was taken in the Hampshire area as all the other pictures were taken around the Southampton area the only part of originality is the fleet number 57 just visable behind the crash bar looking at the rear wings possible owner driver or a keen younger driver because thats what we used to do years ago.
Paul, Thank you for this picture of ex Robert Baillie Atkinson, FCR 567L. It also appears on pages 2, 3, & 4 on this thread in its original livery.
Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray your the first one i thought of when i spotted the picture the reg number rang a bell thanks Paul
Hi Ray your the first one i thought of when i spotted the picture the reg number rang a bell thanks Paul
In August 2018, I posted a couple of pictures on page 4 of this thread, they were by Kevan Taylor,
a Model Railway enthusiast, and also a great modeller. He is originally from Wigan, but now resides
in Australia, and is creating a large layout representing the railways in the centre of Wigan in the
1950s/1960s. I have recently found these 2 pictures of what was Fyffes Bananas building, later to
become the Wigan depot of Robert Baillie & Co Ltd. I would like to contact Kevan to see how far
he is with the layout , considering that I think these pictures are from a while back. Other pictures
of the actual building and the yard appear in some of the earlier pages of this thread.
Ray Smyth.
Hi the trailer that FCR 567l has on could be a Johson & Johson trailer i used to pull them, load Bananas from Portsmouth up to Huddersfield then across to there factory at Gargrave swap trailer’s then back down to either Basingstoke or Portsmouth. They were not a good trailer to pull with 20 ton in the back as they had no chassis and bent and flexed when going up and back down the road. 
gerbil sb152:
Hi the trailer that FCR 567l has on could be a Johson & Johson trailer i used to pull them, load Bananas from Portsmouth up to Huddersfield then across to there factory at Gargrave swap trailer’s then back down to either Basingstoke or Portsmouth. They were not a good trailer to pull with 20 ton in the back as they had no chassis and bent and flexed when going up and back down the road.
Hi Gerbil, Thank you for your post. I imagine that a Chassisless boxvan trailer was OK with Johnson & Johnsons products,
a full load of Pampers for babies bums, but as you said, not with 20 tons on board. Do you know who owned the Atkinson
FCR 567L when the above picture was taken. You mentioned delivering bananas, one of Robert Baillies main sources of
regular traffic was " Jamaica Producers Bananas ", which, in the early days were loaded out of London Docks, and because
of frequent dock strikes, the banana boats started to unload at Sheerness, where Baillies established a small depot.
The 30ft containers on some of the pictures on this thread were specifically acquired for the Jamaica Producers Bananas.
Did you ever have any connection with Robert Baillie and its long time Guernsey Tomato work ?
Cheers, Ray.
Hi Ray, no never as far as i know did any work for Robert Bailey’s, did a lot off work for Mainland Market in Portsmouth when i worked for Roy Muscatto then a bit later early to mid 70’s channel island tomatoes i was a subbing for Smith of Maddison loading from Flat house quay trunking to Heywood or Garstang a couple off times went to the Moss at the bottom of the A74 just north of Carlisle but the Scotch driver’s would get upset as they say we could not load in Portsmouth and get that far up in a day legally did not have the heart to tell them we used to go to Glasgow market and tip spud’s in a day,well night really. As buzzer would say good old day’s. (mary hopkins moment).
Hi Gerbil, Thank you for your interesting post, You mentioned Mainland Markets…occasionally, if one of our Guernsey Tomatoes
loads had a bit of space on the rear of the trailer, Mainland would add a couple of pallets of Jersey Tomatoes for the same market.
From memory, there were 2 Robert Baillie drivers who came from Mainland Markets, they were John Heather and Les Lashley.
I keep learning bits of Robert Baillie history from time to time. In the early 1960s, Mr Robert Baillie was a senior Transport Consultant
with the Beecham Group, makers of pharmaceuticals and Lucozade, during which time he did a Distribution Consultancy for the
Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board, and started his own company to deliver their product to England, Wales, Scotland, & Northern Ireland.
This work lasted from March until the end of October. Beecham employees, Terry Walker, fleet engineer, and Amos Phipps, transport manager
were with Robert Baillie right from the start and remained right through to the end in the mid 1980s. Throughout the year the company
carried bananas for Jamaican Producers Group, delivering to ripening rooms across the UK. During the sometime quiet months Nov to Feb,
we did full loads of cauliflower from Brittany. Regular return traffic was from H.J.Heinz at Wigan, delivering 20 ton loads to Heinx factory
at Harlesden, London NW10, and Heinz branch at Southampton. I am hoping to find some more info and pictures.
Cheers, Ray.
Another picture of Atkinson ETX 993K, ex John Raymond of Bridgend, Robert Baillie of Horndean,
and Sarnia Services of Guernsey. ETX 993K is in the care of Tony Henwood.
Ray Smyth. Ex Robert Baillie, Wigan depot.
I am saddened to announce that Dominic Fagan has passed away recently. Dominic was a HGV Driver that I first
met about 50 years ago. Our paths would cross over the years, and around 1981, Dominic started to drive for
Robert Baillie at their Wigan Depot. Around that time, one of my work sources was delivering Guernsey Tomatoes
subbed from Robert Baillie. The attached picture at Baillies depot shows Dominic, without his shirt, in front of him
is Paul Banks, depot foreman, and then me, just left of centre. As recent as 2009, Dominic did a few journeys for
me, covering for when one of my drivers was on holiday. Rest In Peace Dom.
Ray Smyth,
For about 9 months of the year from just before Easter, The main work for Robert Baillie & Co Ltd was tomatoes from
Guernsey for distribution to Wholesale Fruit markets throughout all of the United Kingdom. My time as a driver with the
company from early 1970 and for the next 3 years coincided with " The Troubles " in Northern Ireland, so Baillies arranged
with Agnew & Lithgow from Stranraer to deliver the Guernsey Tomatoes to Belfast. Agnew & Lithgow had a depot at Heywood
near Bury, and would travel the 20 or so miles to Baillies Wigan depot to load the palletised tomatoes and then head up
the M6 and along the A75 to Stranraer to catch the short crossing to Belfast, to arrive at the wholesale market by 6 a.m.
Not my picture. Ray Smyth.
Ray Smyth:
For about 9 months of the year from just before Easter, The main work for Robert Baillie & Co Ltd was tomatoes from
Guernsey for distribution to Wholesale Fruit markets throughout all of the United Kingdom. My time as a driver with the
company from early 1970 and for the next 3 years coincided with " The Troubles " in Northern Ireland, so Baillies arranged
with Agnew & Lithgow from Stranraer to deliver the Guernsey Tomatoes to Belfast. Agnew & Lithgow had a depot at Heywood
near Bury, and would travel the 20 or so miles to Baillies Wigan depot to load the palletised tomatoes and then head up
the M6 and along the A75 to Stranraer to catch the short crossing to Belfast, to arrive at the wholesale market by 6 a.m.Not my picture. Ray Smyth.
Hi Ray, A&L never seemed to have very much trouble in Northern Ireland back then compared to some other operators, They had always done a lot of traffic to & from Ireland right from their early days, I can not recall if they had a depot in Ireland at any time.
They were eventually brought out by Montgomery Transport quite some time back now.
Dave…
![POA 509M Robert Baillie[854].jpg](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/business20/uploads/trucknetuk/original/3X/b/4/b4df1e08850eb39ecc81b90bf0d4ffc2414ee9bd.jpeg)
