Does anyone remember A.Dowell?
I remember they ran a few very smart Scania 110/111’s on international work and I think they were from the Suffolk or Essex area.
If anyone has a picture of them I’d like to see it.
I think they were from Basildon in Essex, green and cream? I recall them being parked up by the side of the A127 by the Halfway House in the transport cafe that used to be there.
Please someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I am sure that there is a haulage yard on the Burnt Mills estate in Basildon with their name on it?
Going back about 6 years I was running tractors out of new holland at basildon and we used to store some for saturday pickups in a yard at the end of josselin road on the burnt mills estate.
There was a sign at the gate with A Dowell on it and we used to see the owner quite regularly and he said he used to run trucks abroad. He said he’d given it up but never went into detail.
At the time he was running a pallet or parcel hub out of the yard but I think the yard was available to anybody for a price. He also had a house in the corner of the yard and was a nice old boy.
We had to load/unload tractors off a flat trailer and the ramp was basically an old trailer with the headboard removed and some inprovised ironwork to provide the slope. It used to wobble all over the place and I’m amazed thet it never collapsed.
He also rented space to a firm who seemed to change there trucks every couple of weeks until all of a sudden 6 brand new FH’s turnded up on dutch plates. I had to move one once to get to the ramp and after the bloke lecturing me about left hookers although never offered to move it himself he was most impressed with the fact I backed it into a tight gap in one. From then on he was always badgering me to work for him but it was one of those outfits always draining diesel and never the same drivers for too long so I politely refused.
Cheers
neilf
Remeber them in the early 80s on Frans Maas think they where out of Essex area ,good bunch of boys from what i remember.
Looks like the yards still there .I tipped /loaded containers there.They are at the bottom of Josselin Rd . on the corner.
A Dowell & Sons
Address: Josselin Road, Burnt Mills Industrial Estate, Basildon, SS13 1EW
Cheers for the replies.
I only remember them as there used to be one of their 110/111’s parked up most weekends at the Sunset Transport Cafe on the A299 Thanet Way just outside Whitstable,where I grew up.
Alway’s well turned out with matching tilt trailers,at one time they were blue & white and then green & white.
hi KW, saw your questions about dowells on my daughters computer the other night.
i used to drive for dowells on continental runs in 69-74.
it was me parked up on the thanet way ( A299) outside the sunset cafe, whitstable. but dont let old man dowell know he mite want my night out money back as i only lived down the road.
i have some photos i will get somebody to put on the computer for me to send to you as i have no idea what to do!
hope you get this ok.
cheers
little john.
if it is that yard at the end of josselin rd, i wouldn;t worry about the old man as he’s long dead.
its his son who has the yard now or had it when i ran out of there (2003)
he just rents spaces out now, he’s a nice chap lives alone in the house with his dog if we were sleeping in the yard he used to come out at night to warn us when he was ready to set the dog loose, we used to do spain out of there and he used to tell us they ran to germany a lot and had a large fleet of scanias
I’ve got a couple of pics of a 111Scania pulling a 20’ flat container load of wood,that shifted (IMSC) on the Wandswoth one-way system.This would have been in the early '80’s.I will try to put them on photobucket,but me dad only knows how to scan them onto this site 
There are two addresses on the door,Essex &Suffolk.
Oldman dowell died back in the 80’s - young Alec the eldest son run the woolpit yard , and typically after big fall outs with the family and brothers being
ALBERT/ROGER/JOHN - Alec later run trucks from both yards running f.mass
unnacompnieds and export trailers to spain/portugal.
early days it was mandators running Austria, 110 /111’S. NEVER SCANAV8’S
So true about the old man - he would check your tyres of a morn to see how hot to see if you had just come from home and booked a nightout.
remember when the first 111 came home - compared to the 110 we said how plastic the dash and front grill.
when you think of a r series now eh 
8 times i worked for alec - not funny really back in the early 70;s - back in the 80’s and lastly in the 90’s .
alec saw him 2 years ago lives in torreveja.
chalkeys dad.
chalkey:
remember when the first 111 came home - compared to the 110 we said how plastic the dash and front grill.
when you think of a r series now eh
Similar thing on WhiteTrux with the first F12 that came into the yard. Just didn’t seem right inside after the businesslike, but comfy, F89. It didn’t go to any of the most favoured drivers.
little john:
hi KW, saw your questions about dowells on my daughters computer the other night.
i used to drive for dowells on continental runs in 69-74.
it was me parked up on the thanet way ( A299) outside the sunset cafe, whitstable. but dont let old man dowell know he mite want my night out money back as i only lived down the road.
i have some photos i will get somebody to put on the computer for me to send to you as i have no idea what to do!
hope you get this ok.
cheers
little john.
Cheers for thar little john,small world eh!
Do you still live around the Whitstable area? I was born and raised in Yorkletts,until moving to Felixstowe in the late 70’s,then my mum & dad moved to Dorset Close,just off Joy Lane.
Look forward to seeing the pic.
To Chalky / Chalkys dad - were you a uk driver or continental driver?? I worked mainly Austria / and old Yugoslavia and did very little uk work. Except when the old man caught me to do atlas trunk.
Little John.
International - along with ray burgess Austria every week leave the yard on the arterial every sunday.
green 110 / also one in bil spedition colours also old man had painted.
would like to get a photo of that.
in that days we didnt really do photos hehe
chalkey, i used to run with ray ( we used to call him uncle ray) but i don`t recall a chalkey. what else would you have been known as?? towards the end of working with Dowells we went 2 to a motor apart from uncle ray who carried on alone. little john.
im mike lacey - senior i add (very senior)
i remember you big time - last time i spoke with you you were working for townsends in dover on a tug.
i did austria like you - along with
jim jamieson
egg on legs (graham)
at the time of the doubleups i moved doing fred olsen/ trailer express for young alec.