Anyone got any photos of david blockleys wreckers from leeds/Bradford,they always look and sound well,some of you lads may have been in one of them due to they do a lot work for crossroads/volvo Yorkshire,keith
keith 2:
Anyone got any photos of david blockleys wreckers from leeds/Bradford,they always look and sound well,some of you lads may have been in one of them due to they do a lot work for crossroads/volvo Yorkshire,keith
There is a thread on here for them if you do a search which has some nice pictures on it.
Heres an old girl !
These 2 Matadors were based at the BRS Irthlingbotough repair centre when I worked there in the 60s,they did stirling work in the early days of the M1 recovering all types of BRS trucks plus a few others when requested by Mr Plod . I posted them previously on the BRS thread last year.
Cheers DIG
DEANB:
keith 2:
Anyone got any photos of david blockleys wreckers from leeds/Bradford,they always look and sound well,some of you lads may have been in one of them due to they do a lot work for crossroads/volvo Yorkshire,keithThere is a thread on here for them if you do a search which has some nice pictures on it.
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1Heres an old girl !
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With regard to the Hudson piece it was incorrect about the de/re nationalisation as Raymond’s Mother “Maggie” bought back 5 ex BRS "A"licences which they ran up until 1960/1(4 Leyland Octopus’s and an ERF 4 wheeler) and after Maggie’s death in 1960 Raymond sold the the haulage side of the J.B.Hudson operation to Athersmith Bros. of Barrow-in Furness,who in turn sold the J.B.Hudson Ltd operation to Davy & Co (Grange) Ltd in June 1966 and in turn Bewick Transport Services Ltd purchased the Davy business in June '76 which included J.B.Hudson Ltd as one of the group co’s.Got to keep the record straight 
Cheers Bewick.
^^ funny looking wrecker Dennis.
Dan Punchard:
^^ funny looking wrecker Dennis.
I don’t think that Dennis spotted the letters ‘ERS’ on the thread title Dan, possibly an age thing? 
Pete.
Wrecks ,I like it,it’s another Bewick sheeted box trailer !!
Hanging off the back of our own Wrecker at Sanquar in Scotland
Dan Punchard:
^^ funny looking wrecker Dennis.
All I was doing Dan’l was correcting an inaccuracy in the Hudson article,read the small print then you will understand what I was on about 
Cheers Dennis.
Is that a diesel tank on top of the chassis Dennis ? Or one of those awful tipper hydraulic tanks I remember my dad having one once that ended quickly when he pulled a deep pin semi low which broke the tank !
Dan Punchard:
Is that a diesel tank on top of the chassis Dennis ? Or one of those awful tipper hydraulic tanks I remember my dad having one once that ended quickly when he pulled a deep pin semi low which broke the tank !
Yes Dan,I had all of our F88’s fitted with a saddle tank,they were secured with spring loaded fixtures which allowed for a bit of torsion ! The earlier F88’s had IIRC a 60 gal tank and the later ones had an 80 odd gal tank.The saddle tanks held about 40 gal IIRC.Cheers Dennis.
This motor came to Pennington Haulage as a normal unit from Pilkington’s. The chassis was stretched by David Pennington, the Rolls Royce engine was removed to be replaced by a ■■■■■■■ unit. The crane, which I believe came from Heaton’s was mounted onto the chassis and the wrecker began to take shape. The finished article went on to be the company’s recovery vehicle for thirty years, being retired only just recently, still in good running order, to be replaced by the Scania. Eddie.
I hope this old motor is saved before being scrapped.
used it only a few times, in late 70s early 80s.
Way beyond my league to restore
This is a very interesting thread with some great pictures. Am I on my own though when I think referring to a recovery or breakdown lorry as a " wrecker " sounds somehow not just right ?
Thinking about it, it’s probably just me, as I can’t bring myself to call transport cafes " truck stops " or call big lorries " 18 wheel sem eyes " either 
Maybe I need to post on the " very old timers " forum
Regards. John.
Good point John. I’m with you on Americanisms, ( if that’s actually a word ). I would certainly never call myself a trucker. I’m a wagon driver. I’m aware that this description also doesn’t suit many people, but that’s not my problem, thats how I describe myself, or at least did until recently. With regard to the word wrecker, I have to admit that I haven’t given it much thought. American origin ? I really couldn’t say. It certainly sounds American doesn’t it ? I only go as far back as the late 60s, but we were calling them wreckers even then. What are the alternatives ? Tow truck ? mmm. I don’t think so, that really has to be American. The only other description that I can come up with is ’ recovery vehicle ', which describes the vehicle and its purpose admirably. But it’s a bit long winded don’t you think ? Maybe the word ’ wrecker ’ doesn’t have its origins across the pond at all, maybe it comes from the word ‘recovery’ as in ’ rec…er ’ or maybe it’s because they’re used to recover wrecks. I’ll admit, I really don’t know, but whatever its origin, I suspect the word is here to stay, and speaking for myself, unlike many other ’ ■■■■ ’ terms that are currently being used in the haulage game, I’m quite happy with the word ’ wrecker '. Best of luck with the ’ very old timers ’ forum mate. Cheers. Eddie.
There live albums cracking
Never heard of The Wreckers before alix, but I’ve just listened to ’ Leave the pieces '. Reasonably impressed. Nice to listen to whilst driving across New Mexico I would imagine. Nice Volvo just up the page by the way. Shame if it was left to rot. Is that a N. Yorks. Registration? Eddie.
Thinking back to the 60s , I think I must have got my dislike of the term " wrecker " from our old workshop foreman ( not " fleet engineer " ) 
, who would bollock anyone who used it to refer to our recovery wagon !!
Regards. John.
In all my time working in garages I never heard the term ‘Wrecker’ used, it was either ‘Breakdown truck’ or ‘Recovery vehicle’. Wrecker infers to me that the vehicle is destroying something. 
Pete.
The Ripponden & District Foden is a tidy looking motor John. I presume the workshop mounted on the back is a body off one of their old motors. They had a very distinctive shape. I had one of their old bodies on my allotment for many years. It made a great shed. Wooden floor, fibreglass upper body with a roller shutter door at the back. We broke up several of their old wagons, but as the fibreglass content was difficult to dispose of and the scrap value of the metal didn’t warrant the effort of stripping them, I donated them F.O.C. to anyone within a 10 mile radius of the yard who was prepared to take one. They were very popular with the pigeon fanciers in the area. The one that I had is long gone, but there are still a few in use around here. Cheers. Eddie.