Yes you are right Eddie, our mechanics and bodybuilders built the Foden in the same way they built the delivery van bodies in 1966. It had done 5 years as a flat before that.
There are still quite a few bodies in use round here . Someone once said to our boss " you might as well stop making your bodies,it looks like all the farmers round here have started growing them !! "
When was it you were breaking our lorries and what area can our old bodies still be found ? I hope you forgive me for asking but I worked there for 33 years and so have a lot of interest in Ripponden & District and its history.
Regards. John.
old 67:
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.
When i was an apprentice the “wrecker” was called the “brekkdoon”, soon shortened to “brekker”, thence morphed to “wrecker”. It was an ex-army Bedford QL.
In my last post, I was on the point of asking, where were R&D’s bodies manufactured, as the design appears to have been peculiar to this company. Now I learn, R&D made the bodies themselves. Well, colour me impressed. We scrapped about a half dozen of their motors. It would have been about 1977 or thereabouts. It’s difficult to be precise, half a lifetime down the road. I personally didn’t cut them up. That was the job of a certain ’ John Mc Kenna '. If you look on the ’ Hauliers around the Ashton in Makerfield area ’ thread, you’ll find a photo of the man, taking the wheels off a Sutton’s tank trailer. We cut loads of Sutton’s Mk 1 Atkis up as well. Reading Windrush’s post about wreckers being synonymous with destruction, he could well be right. I’m sorry Marky, truly sorry. Don’t read this. We torched the cabs , badges, indicator switches, the lot. I didn’t realise at the time that we were destroying history. I’m truly, sincerely regretful. But let’s not get maudlin, we were only following orders, as Hitler’s henchmen said at Neurenburg. But if only I’d had a little foresight, and a warehouse at my disposal. If only. But I digress. The location of the R&D bodies are dotted about the Ashton in Makerfield area. The old time pigeon men are long gone. Some of the bodies remain, or did until quite recently. I’ll try to get some photos for you if I can John. All the best mate. Eddie.
Seeing as how I’ve mentioned Sutton’s I feel obliged to disclose that all their stuff wasn’t consigned to Irlam steelworks. Here’s one that dodged the ’ hot spanner '.
And here’s another ex Sutton’s motor that dodged the gas axe. This one was powered by 2 x 6LXBs, according to the badging at any rate. It certainly felt as though it was anyway. There wasn’t much that could catch this rascal. We used it for light recovery work. You needed to be on heart tablets to drive the thing, it was that fast.
Thanks for you reply Eddie. Ripponden did everything " in house ", even had a rolling road. It was a very interesting company for nearly 80 years.
Regards. John.
Rapsons of Helmsdale wrecker snapped a while back, aye wrecker was what I remember them being called in my lorry driving days but that was a long time ago.
Oily
Hi, Eddie , We bought about 8 ex Suttons units G K L reges done us proud , Cheers Barry
You surprise me there Barry, I always thought that there was an agreement between Bill Rac and Alf Sutton that none of their motors would be sold on to other hauliers. I know we scrapped a lot of serviceable wagons of theirs. John McKenna cut them up down at Edge Green. The wheels went back to St. Helens, the engines and gearboxes went to Paul Sykes in Barnsley, I don’t know what happened to the axles. The rest of the ferrous went into the skip. We burned the cabs, to my eternal shame, and I experimented with making wood burning stoves with one or two of the air tanks. Still , if one or two got through the net, that can’t be a bad thing, can it? But it’s all history now mate. Nice to hear from you though Barry, Go steady mate, I’ve a few memories about Dee salmon, wink, wink, but I’ll slot that one in at a future date. Cheers. Eddie.
Anybody know about this wrecker? It was operated at one time by BFI. It bore the number plate Q824 RGC after spending some time on trade plates. It was an ERF NGC and had possibly been re-imported from the continent - hence the Q-plate. Picture here by Adrian Cypher. Robert
robert1952:
Anybody know about this wrecker? It was operated at one time by BFI. It bore the number plate Q824 RGC after spending some time on trade plates. It was an ERF NGC and had possibly been re-imported from the continent - hence the Q-plate. Picture here by Adrian Cypher. Robert0
Looks like red fog lights on the bumper 
Judging by the trade plates, it would appear to have operated in the greater London area. The location would appear to be in the Dover/ Folkestone area, and the vehicle appears to be equipped with under lift gear. That’s my contribution, for what it’s worth, but I’m sure you knew this already. Cheers. Eddie.
To add to the debate on the origin of the term ’ wrecker ', I have before me a book written a man who was , or possibly still is, something of an expert in the field of recovery. The name of the author is Ron Grice. His name may be familiar to one or two people on here. He used to run recovery training courses in Ware, Hertfordshire. I believe the man was trained in the military and his methods were logical and mathematical almost to the point of being scientific. The book contains complicated looking equations for calculating stress on the line when winching, wire rope tables, chassis selector charts etc., and at first glance appears to be a bit boring. But as he once said to me, " if it looks spectacular, then you’re doing it wrong ". Copyright law prohibits me from posting extracts from the book, but I’m prepared to risk quoting a few lines from the preface by the author.
— " One is still able to observe a breakdown crew, sometimes even a well equipped breakdown crew, attacking a casualty with more enthusiasm than knowledge ; which is probably where the term ’ wrecker ’ originated. —
It would appear that both Mr. Grice and Windrush are singing from the same hymn sheet. Cheers. Eddie.
Eddie Heaton:
Judging by the trade plates, it would appear to have operated in the greater London area. The location would appear to be in the Dover/ Folkestone area, and the vehicle appears to be equipped with under lift gear. That’s my contribution, for what it’s worth, but I’m sure you knew this already. Cheers. Eddie.
Thanks. Yes you’re right: the location is at the bottom of Jubilee Way in Dover. Robert
Here’s the Ripponden recovery truck again, lovely old girl, picture from Stevie Ridgwick album
flic.kr/p/ddt7wn
flic.kr/p/ddt7oD
The Americans have used the term Wrecker for may years.
I think it first became popular as a term to describe recovery vehicles over here in the mid to late 1970s when the firm Wreckers International was set up in Hertfordshire.
Prior to being called Wreckers International it had been called Dial-Mec and engineered recovery equipment, it later became Dial-Holmes when it began importing Holmes recovery equipment from America, who can forget the Holmes 750 one of the most versatile set of gear ever.
I think it became Wreckers International to enable it to sell a wider range of equipment and from then on people seemed to use the wrecker term more and more.
At the time they used to produce a magazine for the recovery industry which was full of the latest developments and equipment from America.
I hadn’t actually noticed the red lights at the front of the vehicle until you pointed them out suedehead. Quite a good idea when you think about recovering a vehicle in the dark, on the wrong side of the road, facing oncoming traffic.
We never had the luxury of using underlift gear. The Holmes gear that we had, although excellent for executing serious recovery work, wasn’t ideal for a front end lift. It involved chaining round the front axle, then spending an eternity, positioning wooden blocks on top of the chain so as to avoid doing damage to radiators, air lines etc., usually while rolling around on the ■■■■ soaked wagon park of some motorway service area.
Then there would be another half hour to be spent disconnecting the prop shaft and tying it up to the chassis out of harm’s way.
Consequently , wherever possible, I would always try to pick up a unit, or a small rigid from the back end. Far less potential for damage, no need to remove the prop. Just tie off the steering wheel and job done.
This is where the red lights at the front would have come in useful, especially on the slip road of a motorway in the dark. Wish I’d have thought of it, but I didn’t.
In passing, aren’t those two RHA stickers on the front bumper ? And does the RHA still exist ?
Cheers. Eddie.
I agree LeeJ, she’s a beauty. And look at the simplicity of the Foden. Windows that push up or down, and lock with the little catch that engaged with a slot in the glass. I’d forgotten about those. How complicated is that ? None of your fancy electric muck to constantly fail. And the mirrors. Break one of those and you’d go into the stores, take another glass out of a pack of around two dozen, pop the rubber off, put the new glass in. Job done. Cost ? Five Bob in real money, if that. Try breaking a mirror on one of these new motors, and you’re looking at remortgaging the house. It’s just a pity Foden buggered it up with their 12 speed box.
Oops! That’s torn it, I’d better go and fill a few sandbags.
Eddie.
Specifically for old67, as they are unlikely to be of interest to anyone else, here are a couple of photos of what remained of the Ripponden body I had, when I was forced off my allotment in about 1990. I had to break everything up and burn it. Heartbreaking really. Eddie.
