Hi mick.c, thanks for the info and the picture. Am not sure if its the way you have posted it, but I am unable to copy it to my folder. Is there any chance you could try again? Thanks.
The more you here about the two depots of Sheppy & Donny, it does look like things were easier down south than what they were up here. I cant rememebre the exact date, but I seem to recall the donny yard going up the tubes in about 85/86ish. From what I can gather on this thread, the sheppy yard lasted a little onger. Good for their drivers.
Blocker was a formidable chap, stood no BS from anyone. Tachos were just something to place his cuppa on! 
His wagon was a right nail and he ran it to death! You mention dodgy nights out…I know my dad had a few of them. Thumbing back to the wagon early doors the next morning, or sometimes even pulling a real flanker, and managing to park just down the road from home on Summer Lane car park in Wombwell.
I will post some pics of the doncaster yard (as it is now) a little later when I get a minute.
Thanks again mate.
Forgot to mention…try leaving a load of cases of fine scotch whisky un-sheated in a back street like that today!!!
The localyokles would have a field day! 
tyreman:
Just got myself a negative scanner, so here are the original two Sheerness pictures in better quality…along with two more I found.
I can now confirm the date is January 1986. (Despite the sun). At this point Sheerness had about 16 Mercs, which were gradually ousting the ERF’s. There were only 8 ERF’s left, and the Volvo. In the second picture the ERF is either XEV968 or 970X. These were some of the last B Series delivered in March '82, the FFE’s were some of the first C Series delivered in June '82.
In the third picture, the Merc in the distance is one of the XKE/X Contract hire vehicles. In the fourth picture the Volvo is WFC917X, and the ERF is RHD511X, the only RHD Sheerness had.
Incidentally, the ■■■■■■ was my own, not a company car and had been used by a TV rental company, its actual owner was Marley Vehicle Leasing of Sevenoaks, who also had an office on the Eurolink Estate in Sittingbourne in those days.
The Transit was not ours either, but a loan from Canterbury. We had EJD701V. On this type of van if you went backwards with the tailgate down, it would lift the back wheels off the ground, meaning you weren’t going any where!
Just been looking through this thread again, and enjoying the pics…when something spooky occurred to me…looking at the VRM of the ATS van, I remember at the Doncaster yard, we had a B series day cab with the VRM - BWF 697V■■?..could it be that it was actually a Kent registered wagon, and then passed up to Doncaster (as several units did)…we seemed to get your cast offs when you were getting the new Mercs delivered.
Hi there
i used to work with towmaster ,i started when i was 18 yrs old on the forklift truck in the warehouse ,then whent onto the driving and work for about 14years till it closed ,rsy417y was at broxburn ,drivers name was (horsh borash ) not sure how you spell it, the merc sitting at the fuel pumps 413 is a chap (david lothian ),think he works with asda now,the yard is broxburn depot , the other chap with the tanker ,was ronnie cairns (big smurf) i should have some photo around of other truck not sure what ,need to dig them out and get them on hear , i uesed to to a change over at scotch corner with a big chap form doncaster i think his name was dave ,my father (harry bradley)uesed to work with towmater as well he was on mostly on the c/overs at newcastle at the verry start of towmaster days , we had salford van hired f88 then we got erf with the r/r engines , we had f86 for a bit , then we went onto f7 volvos then the mercs , and at the end renult trucks and some merc 1625 , good to see the post ,good going back ,loved working there hope to chat soon ,regards henry,(scotland)
Hi Henry,
Great to hear from you mate, and thanks for filling in the gaps with some fantastic info!. The big chap called Dave from Doncaster that you did a c/o with was probably Dave Stevens…my dad was Stu Mac (Stuart McDermott).
I remember as a young lad I would go up to Washington services on the A1 regularly with dad, and do c/os with the scots lads. I also remember going up to Broxburn once, but don’t remember much of the visit I’m afraid.
Did you ever come down to the Doncaster yard?..I have load of pictures of the yard as it is now if interested. Its still there, and pretty much unchanged since it was being used by Towmaster.
Can’t wait to see any pics you have.
Keep in touch mate, thanks again.
Shaun.
hi shaun
this was me in france , it was the one of the last loads we took over befor we finished up , towmaster name was changed to UYC and then put back to (towmaster distubution) if you look at the trailer you can see the name on it, Guinness had (united yeast company) , i dont know if thay belong to Guinness , some of our other units was 290 renults no name on them just blue and white thay were like the old f7 volvo cabs , i ■■■■ with the merc till we finish , i have not found the other photos yet , going on holiday shortly ,get them on some time, i was in doncaster yard a feu times, went out for a drink with some lads but cant remeber names ,think the yard foreman was there ,had a hat on the time i saw him ,in the yard ,get a we chat later on , cheers for now ,henry
forgot to say that the trailer was (UYC) colours ,cheers henry
i seen your model truck of towmaster , i got one made by a chap down south , and my good lady got my brother to make one for one of my birthdays… 
henryhotrod:
hi shaun
A young looking Badger if i m not mistaken?
Hi Guys…fine looking models. I would love to do a 1:24 scale, but cant seem to locate the correct base model. Going to Gaydon soon, so maybe keep a look out there. Also hoping to see BWF 74T there if lucky!!!
Very interesting stuff about the UYC connection…I never knew that their was life after Towmaster?. Am looking forward to your pics as and when you get them on. Keep in touch, thanks mate.
Shaun.
The below is a nice shot of BWF 74T still working for her keep some time after her life at Towmaster (Doncaster).
I am led to believe that some years later, she was very nearly left to die after ending up in some bushes on someones allotment near Leeds. She was only rescued by chance, as an overheard conversation led her to being rescued by a man who was actually looking for a C series, but made do with her.
He restored her to the below.
A classical looking colour scheme. After attending many shows, I am aware that some restorations are not as good as they may first appear at first site. On closer viewing, there are some out there that are (with respect) a little ropey. Thats not being intentionally rude or offensvie to the chaps that have done them, its merely stating fact. However, I can assure you, BWF 74T does not fall into this catagory. It may not be evident on the image above, but the restoration on this job is first rate. Close up, she is SPOTLESS. A credit to Chris and his efforts. The only negative is a purely selfish one, in that I would have preferred her in her original livery, but there is another debate on the restoration of wagons. (perhaps there’s a thread in there somewhere )
Here’s an mage of Towmaster’s main gate at their Denaby yard in Doncaster. Sorry for the quality (taken on a Blackberry).
It was taken a couple of months back, and shows exactly how the yard looked almost 30 years ago (remarkable considering the level of development in the vicinity)
All the units used to be parked up nose to nose on the right as you go through the gates. Loads more pics available of this yard if interested. Is there anyone out there who recognises the yard?
And a few more for the 1:24 fans…
My first ever attmept at this scale and medium. A conjectury model built pretty much straight from the box with lots of KFS add ons
As you can see…no mirrors. I balls’d em up and am on the look out for more.
KFS rear cluster and sussies
My one and only attempt at weathering by scuffing up the 5th wheel 
A bit of a glue bomb I know, but hey…even the big show boys started off like this I’m sure.
I enjoyed the challenge of switching to RHD, swapping over the wipers etc using tips from the TMW mag. I also enjoyed the painstaking work on the pinstriping. I added a couple of in cab bits like a note pad on the dash, and a folded newspaper on the bed (dont think you can see from my poor pictures…Note to self - must try harder with photography too
My first unit on Towmasters back in the mid 70s out of sheerrness depot when it ran out of canning town glass. Had some great days working there and some good nights out. Only three depots in the early days Sheerness, Doncaster, and Scotland.
Hi ajcampbell, excellent!!!..at last a colour shot of the old livery. Thanks for that. Do you have anymore images?
Cheers.
hilltop4 hello mate. I should have i was on there for about 8 years i’ll have a dig around in the archives! Nice to see a few of the old photos takes me back.
Thanks for that mate…
There are some fantastic old pics on this thread, and like you say, they sure do evoke some great memories for me. I have been suprised to see how many people were also linked to the firm, and even more suprised to see so many pictures come out of nowhere. I was just a spotty kid when I used to go with my dad out of Doncaster during the school hols and on weekends but loved every minute of it.
In the near future, I hoping to build a 1:24 scale of his old ERF B, so will add pics of the build and finished item on here as and when, but maybe some time, as the kit is yet to be manufactured by Kingdom Trucks.
Can’t wait to see any more pics you may have.
Did you venture up to the Donny yard at all?
