John West:
Hi Carl,I haven’t been on here for many months. No particular reason, I think I may have wished Dennis a Merry Christmas, but that’s it. Just to let you know how much I’ve enjoyed delving through your recent posts today.
My Dad was possibly more like your Grandfather than your Dad in terms of starting up. I wish I’d asked him more about his early life, but when you’re young it’s of no importance! Born in 1905, he served his time as a Fitter and Turner in the Vickers shipyard in Barrow. After that he joined the Merchant Navy and sailed the world. He came home in the depression of the thirties. With the money that he had, he bought a sterilised milk round (nobody had fridges then.) He worked at that for a few years, making about £5.00 per week, not a bad wage in the thirties. In about 1935/36 the government changed the price of milk. From £5.00 a week, he was earning £35.00 a week! This gave him the capital to start a removals firm, but was nationalised in 1948, the year I was born. His firm was taken over by Athersmith Bros, the largest firm at the time, to run under the name of BRS and Pickfords. Another firm you may have heard of T. Brady and Sons, was too small to be nationalised. Dad said that he had a Jensen, which Bradys wanted to buy, but they couldn’t afford it!
A photo attached of one of his vans, a postcard at the time, passing the Ritz cinema by chance in 1939. I have somewhere other photos of his vans, but like me, he was no photographer!
He bought another firm after Nationalisation finished, with a couple of vans, but his heart was no longer in it. He sold the vans and A licences to Alan Cooksey, who became a large local removals firm, eventually working for Bowater Scott and selling out to Blue Dart in the Seventies.
I guess haulage was in my blood. When i was 21 I bought a Leyland Comet and started pulling Timber from the Scottish borders to Lancashire, mainly Riding and Anderton’s Seven Stars Sawmill in Wigan, to be converted into pit props for the many pits around then. Eventually I did overland, then stayed in Saudi for 11 years, coming back and bought an ‘AMTRAK’ parcels franchise. Worked 15 hours a day for 20 years, watched Roger Baines sell the Franchisor for 86 million, without acknowledging any input from the franchisees, then when Amtrak finally folded in 2008, not what you want at age 60, was left with a large overdraft having expanded the depot to include CA postcodes. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Luckily, my wife is careful with money and I have worked since, and still do!
Hey, life is what you make it!
John.
Hi John £5 per week must have been an incredible wage in the 30s
I was born in 1947 and can remember being told in the 50s a driver got £2.50 per week and a porter got £2
Now we just have our memories to look back onto and I hope you, like me can say overall I have no regrets
Take care
Carl