Hi all… wonder if Maureen was on reception when M/boro lads came down, by coach, for their redundency notices. We all were escorted upstairs hoping to meet Jack and or Russell but were told theyd took off to Glasgow to avoid us. A pity cause they missed the party we had at reception. Dont know what those in the offices were expecting but the raucous laughing brought them from their holes to see what all the noise was about. The poor women on reception must have been a bit apprehensive about us all sitting there but once the laughter started it was hard for her to keep a straight face. Once we heard J & R wouldnt be meeting us the pixx-taking started, I dont think the laughter stopped till we arrived back at M/bro. I think we were all a bit disappointed at Jack or even Russell not being there, as we understood why they were closing us. It would have been nice to have shaken hands as we had all enjoyed working for the firm. Jack had said if Id wanted to transfer back to Bradford he would provide a motor but the wife didnt want to move from the N/East, shame as it brought 13 yrs at Chapmans/A1 to an end…dave 
ddrbsn:
Hi all… wonder if Maureen was on reception when M/boro lads came down, by coach, for their redundency notices. We all were escorted upstairs hoping to meet Jack and or Russell but were told theyd took off to Glasgow to avoid us. A pity cause they missed the party we had at reception. Dont know what those in the offices were expecting but the raucous laughing brought them from their holes to see what all the noise was about. The poor women on reception must have been a bit apprehensive about us all sitting there but once the laughter started it was hard for her to keep a straight face. Once we heard J & R wouldnt be meeting us the pixx-taking started, I dont think the laughter stopped till we arrived back at M/bro. I think we were all a bit disappointed at Jack or even Russell not being there, as we understood why they were closing us. It would have been nice to have shaken hands as we had all enjoyed working for the firm. Jack had said if Id wanted to transfer back to Bradford he would provide a motor but the wife didnt want to move from the N/East, shame as it brought 13 yrs at Chapmans/A1 to an end…dave
Hi Dave,can you remember a 6 legger f10 going up to m/boro, a new one on a steel job,was not very old then got nicked ,possabel a A or B reg,thanks keith
keith 2:
the_boss2013:
is this the A 1 Transport your talking of?
sorry unable to open
0
sorry boss,bradford lad put it on here befor,thanks keith
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Hi Dave,can you remember a 6 legger f10 going up to m/boro, a new one on a steel job,was not very old then got nicked ,possabel a A or B reg,thanks keith
[/quote]
Hi Keith…yes I did hear about it, in fact I believe I did get a glimpse of it. But it disapeared so quick I can`t be sure. I do remember when the rear light clusters were stripped off all five new F7s parked in Thornaby yard over one weekend. Mine only escaped because I had it at home in Sunderland. The F7s were that new they had a wait of 3/4 days for replacements. dave 
ddrbsn:
Hi Dave,can you remember a 6 legger f10 going up to m/boro, a new one on a steel job,was not very old then got nicked ,possabel a A or B reg,thanks keith
[/quote]
Hi Keith…yes I did hear about it, in fact I believe I did get a glimpse of it. But it disapeared so quick I can`t be sure. I do remember when the rear light clusters were stripped off all five new F7s parked in Thornaby yard over one weekend. Mine only escaped because I had it at home in Sunderland. The F7s were that new they had a wait of 3/4 days for replacements. dave
[/quote]
Hi Dave,yep the days when you could take moters home ,did not need a car for work,like me with the van,went to the coast in the summer at no cost then they come in with 500 quid tax if you took it home and a quid a week if you had a mobile phone,i went mad ,all good things come to a end 
the good old days,keith
kojak:
was the owner called jack robbie,or am i mistaken there? sure i heard that name mentioned some were.
He was’nt frightened to get his hands dirty either, remember him digging out a trench when new fuel pumps were being installed in yard at Gildersom.
If I remember correctly the fleet engineers name was “reg” who liked cigars and he had an alsation called “corky”
depablo:
If I remember correctly the fleet engineers name was “reg” who liked cigars and he had an alsation called “corky”
was that the old boy who got the “blame” for the disastrous ERFs they had in the late 70s? if so he ended up at chris metcalfe’s in keighley but cannot remember his name (yet again - thought i had a good memory too 
)
jj72:
was that the old boy who got the “blame” for the disastrous ERFs they had in the late 70s? if so he ended up at chris metcalfe’s in keighley but cannot remember his name (yet again - thought i had a good memory too
Do’nt know what happened to him, to far back in time (1971~72 
)
Hi Dave,yep the days when you could take moters home ,did not need a car for work,like me with the van,went to the coast in the summer at no cost then they come in with 500 quid tax if you took it home and a quid a week if you had a mobile phone,i went mad ,all good things come to a end the good old days,keith
[/quote]
Hi Keith …yes they were the good old days. At Chapmans I thought nothing of running up to 20 miles home for the night. At weekends my unit was my transport to pub, shops or to visit family. When JMR asked me to transfer to M/bro depot I asked will I still be able to take motor home to S/land, he said yes unless it was needed for service. Of course this was the time of cheap fuel, no tacos and nobody was bothered seeing a unit running around local. Dont know if Jack remembers or if its a myth. Was once told of 2/3 lads at Chapmans one weekend decided to go fishing on the coast. They felt they hadnt caught enough so ran to Hull fish dock for a couple of boxes. On the way out of Hull they got pulled by the law wanting to know if they had permission to use the unit for pleasure. They said yes and this was confirmed by Harold Preist our T/M. Come Monday morning they were called to the office given a right rollicking and handed a bill for the diesel and told next time don`t stick the rods out of the windows for all to see… 
dave
ddrbsn:
Hi Dave,yep the days when you could take moters home ,did not need a car for work,like me with the van,went to the coast in the summer at no cost then they come in with 500 quid tax if you took it home and a quid a week if you had a mobile phone,i went mad ,all good things come to a end
Hi Keith …yes they were the good old days. At Chapmans I thought nothing of running up to 20 miles home for the night. At weekends my unit was my transport to pub, shops or to visit family. When JMR asked me to transfer to M/bro depot I asked will I still be able to take motor home to S/land, he said yes unless it was needed for service. Of course this was the time of cheap fuel, no tacos and nobody was bothered seeing a unit running around local. Dont know if Jack remembers or if its a myth. Was once told of 2/3 lads at Chapmans one weekend decided to go fishing on the coast. They felt they hadnt caught enough so ran to Hull fish dock for a couple of boxes. On the way out of Hull they got pulled by the law wanting to know if they had permission to use the unit for pleasure. They said yes and this was confirmed by Harold Preist our T/M. Come Monday morning they were called to the office given a right rollicking and handed a bill for the diesel and told next time don`t stick the rods out of the windows for all to see… dave
[/quote]
when i went on call and got a van of my own and took it home i come back from the pub one Sunday dinner and found it missing from outside my house,i ran inside found no keys ,no wife,no kids 
found out later my wife had taken it for a ride to her mothers,she had just passed her test 
i could have killed her,ex wife tales ,a long time ago keith
Am I getting mixed up but who was on the Whitehouse Road and also had a depot at South Mimms, thought it was A1 or could it have been AAA, remember collecting somewhere north of Halfiax for them and delivering to Lakeside.
The company I worked for then has now gone (T&R Haulage, Southend Airport).
cogob:
Am I getting mixed up but who was on the Whitehouse Road and also had a depot at South Mimms, thought it was A1 or could it have been AAA, remember collecting somewhere north of Halfiax for them and delivering to Lakeside.
The company I worked for then has now gone (T&R Haulage, Southend Airport).
a-one were on geldered road (the A62) rather than whitehall road (the A58) and had depots at south mimms, bradford and glasgow 
Just know they were not far from the truckstop between Leeds and Bradford, used to see the trailers on way to the truckstop. Seems years ago now.
cogob:
Just know they were not far from the truckstop between Leeds and Bradford, used to see the trailers on way to the truckstop. Seems years ago now.
come off m62 junction 27 turn left onto gelderd rd and yard was there straight away on the right its now known as bracken park elite forwarding has a warehouse there and sewells are there.
cogob:
Just know they were not far from the truckstop between Leeds and Bradford, used to see the trailers on way to the truckstop. Seems years ago now.
yep probably briggs’ motel and cafe at drighlington, is that closed now?
keith 2:
ddrbsn:
Hi all… wonder if Maureen was on reception when M/boro lads came down, by coach, for their redundency notices. We all were escorted upstairs hoping to meet Jack and or Russell but were told theyd took off to Glasgow to avoid us. A pity cause they missed the party we had at reception. Dont know what those in the offices were expecting but the raucous laughing brought them from their holes to see what all the noise was about. The poor women on reception must have been a bit apprehensive about us all sitting there but once the laughter started it was hard for her to keep a straight face. Once we heard J & R wouldnt be meeting us the pixx-taking started, I dont think the laughter stopped till we arrived back at M/bro. I think we were all a bit disappointed at Jack or even Russell not being there, as we understood why they were closing us. It would have been nice to have shaken hands as we had all enjoyed working for the firm. Jack had said if Id wanted to transfer back to Bradford he would provide a motor but the wife didnt want to move from the N/East, shame as it brought 13 yrs at Chapmans/A1 to an end…daveHi Dave,can you remember a 6 legger f10 going up to m/boro, a new one on a steel job,was not very old then got nicked ,possabel a A or B reg,thanks keith
I remember the 6x2 that got nicked, infact I drove it a few times when the normal driver was on leave, nice truck and always pulled a triaxle trailer, yes it got stolen and I dont believe it was ever recovered. Loads of happy memories working out of Teeside, those polish containers were good. Do you remember the Transport Manager Ian Matthews? Wonder where he is these days. I was there from 81-84 as an owner driver sub contracting
snifferdog:
keith 2:
ddrbsn:
Hi all… wonder if Maureen was on reception when M/boro lads came down, by coach, for their redundency notices. We all were escorted upstairs hoping to meet Jack and or Russell but were told theyd took off to Glasgow to avoid us. A pity cause they missed the party we had at reception. Dont know what those in the offices were expecting but the raucous laughing brought them from their holes to see what all the noise was about. The poor women on reception must have been a bit apprehensive about us all sitting there but once the laughter started it was hard for her to keep a straight face. Once we heard J & R wouldnt be meeting us the pixx-taking started, I dont think the laughter stopped till we arrived back at M/bro. I think we were all a bit disappointed at Jack or even Russell not being there, as we understood why they were closing us. It would have been nice to have shaken hands as we had all enjoyed working for the firm. Jack had said if Id wanted to transfer back to Bradford he would provide a motor but the wife didnt want to move from the N/East, shame as it brought 13 yrs at Chapmans/A1 to an end…daveHi Dave,can you remember a 6 legger f10 going up to m/boro, a new one on a steel job,was not very old then got nicked ,possabel a A or B reg,thanks keith
I remember the 6x2 that got nicked, infact I drove it a few times when the normal driver was on leave, nice truck and always pulled a triaxle trailer, yes it got stolen and I dont believe it was ever recovered. Loads of happy memories working out of Teeside, those polish containers were good. Do you remember the Transport Manager Ian Matthews? Wonder where he is these days. I was there from 81-84 as an owner driver sub contracting
i am glad someone remembers it,was never seen again,ian matthews came down to leeds wot i remember was a bit of a jack the lad and had some enemies up in the north east on a steel job,you my tell us more ,keith
keith 2:
snifferdog:
I remember the 6x2 that got nicked, infact I drove it a few times when the normal driver was on leave, nice truck and always pulled a triaxle trailer, yes it got stolen and I dont believe it was ever recovered. Loads of happy memories working out of Teeside, those polish containers were good. Do you remember the Transport Manager Ian Matthews? Wonder where he is these days. I was there from 81-84 as an owner driver sub contractingi am glad someone remembers it,was never seen again,ian matthews came down to leeds wot i remember was a bit of a jack the lad and had some enemies up in the north east on a steel job,you my tell us more ,keith
Yes Ian was a bit of an Arthur Daley, ‘likable rouge’ thats if you could see him through the smoke in his office, I dont know much of his history with British Steel as I came from Castleford but worked out of Teeside for A-one 95% of my time, at that time there were only 3 A-one units running out of Middlesboro, I can only remember one of the drivers name, that was Ricky.
snifferdog:
keith 2:
snifferdog:
I remember the 6x2 that got nicked, infact I drove it a few times when the normal driver was on leave, nice truck and always pulled a triaxle trailer, yes it got stolen and I dont believe it was ever recovered. Loads of happy memories working out of Teeside, those polish containers were good. Do you remember the Transport Manager Ian Matthews? Wonder where he is these days. I was there from 81-84 as an owner driver sub contractingi am glad someone remembers it,was never seen again,ian matthews came down to leeds wot i remember was a bit of a jack the lad and had some enemies up in the north east on a steel job,you my tell us more ,keith
Yes Ian was a bit of an Arthur Daley, ‘likable rouge’ thats if you could see him through the smoke in his office, I dont know much of his history with British Steel as I came from Castleford but worked out of Teeside for A-one 95% of my time, at that time there were only 3 A-one units running out of Middlesboro, I can only remember one of the drivers name, that was Ricky.
There is i photo of Ian on page 9 on here,back row right hand side,i think but may be wrong that he was the guy that wine and dined the customers,thanks keith
Jack Graham:
HI lads, thanks to the 2 Stuarts sending me the info I have now confirmed another 5 mates who will be there for the reunion, it will be nice to see Alan Bennett this time, sadly his wife was too ill to be left at the time but now he’s back on his feet he’ll be there, Dennis Brown has confirmed he’ll be there Frank Breslin and Richard Brent a guy who is writing a book on A One Transport so he will be looking for info and advice for his book, I just called Tony Wood but not sure yet because it looks like he will be on holiday again, I’m still looking for info for “Walter” Jack Tether for some reason no-one has a contact number or email address for him, but there must be some-one out there who knows, he missed last year for the same reason and it’ll be a shame to miss him out again, if I remember his daughter brought him the first time but I still dont have a number to call, I still dont have conformation on Peter Calvert which would be another missed, so if any of you have numbers or any info please let me know, up to now we have about 48 which is about the same as 2 years ago and we need more.
Kind Regards :-Jack.
Ive managed to get jack teathers phone number from his stepson. Let know how to get it to you