Cumbria companies

Cockney Pete3:
Evening all

Looking at pics of Cargills older motors, A series ERFs the address and phone number is different, the E series where based at Gilwilly but where were they based before that?

cheers

Curly’s original operating site was a Texaco filling station on the A6 in front of what was The Lowther Estate sawmill ( Now Jenkinsons)
Curly and his wife lived in the bungalow and he kept his E Type in the showroom ! Later on his Range Rover ! He had a single bay workshop attached to the side where he maintained his immaculate fleet. He was running two D reg LV ERF’s 180 ■■■■■■■ engines in the mid 60’s when I got to know him as an 18 year old trailer mate and his Driver of the other unit was a chap called Gordon Furness from Shap who again I was friendly with. Gordon often stopped in Kendal on the layby opposite the Victoria Tavern for a pint on his way North from S.Wales loaded for Scotland. Even in those days Curly was fastidious as ropes were not allowed to be carried in the cab and apparently each weekend Maggie ( Curly’s wife) vaccumed out both cabs ready for starting the next weeks work. Curly’s main traffic south was Fire brick from Castlecary ■■ to S.Wales then coil from S.Wales to Scotland but he would tackle any traffic in the UK but always back up to Scotland ! His fleet expanded and contracted at times as he could get cheesed off the he’d sell some of the fleet off and then over time build up again and in later years he moved the operation to The Gilwilly estate where he eventually packed up . Unfortunately his demise was a sorry set of circumstances as he was retired and living on his own in a log cabin on the Lowther estate and the poor B------ had apparently been dead for a week or so when he was found ! He was laid to rest before many of his old Pals found out and I for one would have attended his funeral if I had found out but anyway I can recall him as being one of a breed of Hauliers that have long since disappeared never to be seen again . He was as hard as iron and the quality of his fleet maintenance was something to behold and I used to see him in later years when he visited the MOT centre adjacent to our depot in Milnthorpe and he would call in for a brew and a bit craic although on the odd occasion when he was handed a trivial failure ( The arosols in the MOT just loved to knock off the clean fleets ) We would sort him out in the workshop and get him back into the Station for a pass 100% no danger ! Cheers Bewick.