Jack Graham:
desertrat mk2:
thanks for that i remember him talking about the lads some of the names were darky donald, jack robbie, taffy and jackie graham which i presume is you, its good to hear about him as i know it was one of the favourite eras of his life and he always talked about it until his death in 2002.
I was at Chapman’s when he sold out DLS to them, I didn’t go over the water then but the drivers who came from DLS Taffy Davis was one of them and he always talked about Ken because they were mates even then, and that’s where the European work came from it was DLS work, but most of it was Italy Germany etc, then A1 bought Chapman’s out and it grew from there, and there’s no doubt it was the best continental company going over the water then, we wanted for nothing, we had the work, permits, good wages & expenses and most of all good back-up when things went wrong, many drivers from other companies often said they wished they were on the same wages and back-up we had, that’s why it was a good firm to work for, and best of all the lorries were serviced regular on time and any faults were sorted out before we took them out again, and better still we kept the same lorries from new with only you as the driver, so really we couldn’t have wanted more from a job which made it one of the best firms in the country, and that’s why it was such a blow when the idiot who bought it out wrecked it until nothing was left and why the site where it was is now an industrial area, sad but true. Regards :-Jack Graham 
Well said,Jack you have my vote,if JMR had been 20 years younger there would have been no stobarts, 
keith
keith 2:
Jack Graham:
desertrat mk2:
thanks for that i remember him talking about the lads some of the names were darky donald, jack robbie, taffy and jackie graham which i presume is you, its good to hear about him as i know it was one of the favourite eras of his life and he always talked about it until his death in 2002.
I was at Chapman’s when he sold out DLS to them, I didn’t go over the water then but the drivers who came from DLS Taffy Davis was one of them and he always talked about Ken because they were mates even then, and that’s where the European work came from it was DLS work, but most of it was Italy Germany etc, then A1 bought Chapman’s out and it grew from there, and there’s no doubt it was the best continental company going over the water then, we wanted for nothing, we had the work, permits, good wages & expenses and most of all good back-up when things went wrong, many drivers from other companies often said they wished they were on the same wages and back-up we had, that’s why it was a good firm to work for, and best of all the lorries were serviced regular on time and any faults were sorted out before we took them out again, and better still we kept the same lorries from new with only you as the driver, so really we couldn’t have wanted more from a job which made it one of the best firms in the country, and that’s why it was such a blow when the idiot who bought it out wrecked it until nothing was left and why the site where it was is now an industrial area, sad but true. Regards :-Jack Graham
Well said,Jack you have my vote,if JMR had been 20 years younger there would have been no stobarts, keith
I wouldn’t say there’d be no Stobarts, but we could compete with them on our terms, but your right if he was 20 years younger it would have been different, it was a sad day when he sold to the wrong guy, but I don’t think for a moment he knew what was going to happen un till it was too late, my bet he was a broken man when he died seeing what had happened to a whole life’s work that he built up to the company it was. :- Jack 
I remember when he sold out he could not contact a one workers,but he always contacted me to do stuff at his house,lawn mower ect ,when you had a firms van like we had it stuck like a sore thumb,and had to hide it behind the house,i would have got the sack big time if anyone found out,but when you get kids to feed you do owt for a few quid,in out keep your mouth shut they trust you,but for him I would have done it for nowt anyway,keith
keith 2:
I remember when he sold out he could not contact a one workers,but he always contacted me to do stuff at his house,lawn mower ect ,when you had a firms van like we had it stuck like a sore thumb,and had to hide it behind the house,i would have got the sack big time if anyone found out,but when you get kids to feed you do owt for a few quid,in out keep your mouth shut they trust you,but for him I would have done it for nowt anyway,keith
How true, most of the drivers would have done anything for him, if he’d started up again Magee wouldn’t have had any drivers to run his lorries we’d have all gone back to Jack, it’s called respect, something that is lacking in modern industry today, it’s not always the management it’s the man at the helm who you respect, there may be issues with management form time to time but he’s the one who sit’s upstares looking over everything, he never said anything wrong to me in over 20 years I was there and I never said anything wrong to him, so we respected one-another and that’s what counts in a good firm, also I can never remember him loosing his rag with any driver but he always listened to what you had to say. :- Jack
Every Tuesday 1 read the deaths in the Telegraph and Argus to try to keep up who is no longer with us. Sadly today this was listed = Ian Scollan 59 after a short illnes in hospital. Funeral Wed Apr 2nd at 1130 at Schoolmore.Looks like another one departs very early. RIP Ian.
maxhagar:
Every Tuesday 1 read the deaths in the Telegraph and Argus to try to keep up who is no longer with us. Sadly today this was listed = Ian Scollan 59 after a short illnes in hospital. Funeral Wed Apr 2nd at 1130 at Schoolmore.Looks like another one departs very early. RIP Ian.
Sorry Maxhagar, don’t know the name at that age he was 15 years younger than myself was he also a driver, it’s far too young to be going to sleep for good, what was wrong with him, was he sick or was it sudden, my condolences to his family. :-Jack
Jack Graham:
maxhagar:
Every Tuesday 1 read the deaths in the Telegraph and Argus to try to keep up who is no longer with us. Sadly today this was listed = Ian Scollan 59 after a short illnes in hospital. Funeral Wed Apr 2nd at 1130 at Schoolmore.Looks like another one departs very early. RIP Ian.
Sorry Maxhagar, don’t know the name at that age he was 15 years younger than myself was he also a driver, it’s far too young to be going to sleep for good, what was wrong with him, was he sick or was it sudden, my condolences to his family. :-Jack
Hi Maxhager,who did he work for kieth
Re Ian, I first saw him on the morning he started at Bradford, then next day I saw him in a cafe on the East Lancs Rd and I have never laid eyes on him since.
It`s not Ian who works at Oils and Soaps is it?
Good afternoon men, anyone there? The site has been like the Marie Celest since Jack flew the nest. Just had to buy a new laptop so that’s my excuse trying to get back on line has been hard work when I am still learning how to use this new bit of equipment. Any one watched the new TV programme Out Back Truckers on Quest? A very good piece of viewing ,6 wheeler Freightliner pulling 3 tanker trailers those blokes certainly earn their wages! Some of them are doubled manned by husband and wife teams,couldnt think of anything worse than to have the wife for 24 hours a day, maybe some one elses wife wouldn’t be too bad!! CHEERS.
maxhagar:
Good afternoon men, anyone there? The site has been like the Marie Celest since Jack flew the nest. Just had to buy a new laptop so that’s my excuse trying to get back on line has been hard work when I am still learning how to use this new bit of equipment. Any one watched the new TV programme Out Back Truckers on Quest? A very good piece of viewing ,6 wheeler Freightliner pulling 3 tanker trailers those blokes certainly earn their wages! Some of them are doubled manned by husband and wife teams,couldnt think of anything worse than to have the wife for 24 hours a day, maybe some one elses wife wouldn’t be too bad!! CHEERS.
And a good afternoon to you too “maxhagar”, Yes I have watched Outback Truckers, it’s a better program then watching the guy’s on Ice from the US, I couldn’t do with that woman moaning in my eare-hole telling me how to drive all day, and could you imagine taking a little dog for walkies every time it wants to p"ss, her husband must be mental putting up with that all day, must admit though the ex model is a bit tasty so could put up with that for a few days, but that woman who thinks she’s a man no chance.
Well as you can see I’m home came home 2 weeks ago, I keep looking on the site but your the only one who’s been on for about 3/4 weeks, I don’t know what to do about the reunion because no-one seams interested except about half a dozen of us, so will give it another 3 weeks to see if anyone’s still interested then give up, but nice to see you up and going with your new lap-top so will keep in contact even if it’s only the two of us. :-Jack 
Good afternoon Jack I am amazed that the planned reunion isn’t showing any enthusiasm, I couldn’t attend the last one owing to looking after my pals small holding up in Dent. If Les Pullen is bringing his beloved I will bring mine so they can catch up on happenings.Hope she has got Derv Money!!
maxhagar:
Good afternoon Jack I am amazed that the planned reunion isn’t showing any enthusiasm, I couldn’t attend the last one owing to looking after my pals small holding up in Dent. If Les Pullan is bringing his beloved I will bring mine so they can catch up on happenings.Hope she has got Derv Money!!
Hi Maxhagar, We won’t be there, if the A One drivers are not interested why would anyone else be, I tried all the drivers .etc. I know but no interest in this.
Was in Bradford over the weekend at a reunion, 40 drivers turned up, no food just a meeting in a pub, best night we have had out for years.
cant wait for the next.
Les.
lespullan:
maxhagar:
Good afternoon Jack I am amazed that the planned reunion isn’t showing any enthusiasm, I couldn’t attend the last one owing to looking after my pals small holding up in Dent. If Les Pullan is bringing his beloved I will bring mine so they can catch up on happenings.Hope she has got Derv Money!!
Hi Maxhagar, We won’t be there, if the A One drivers are not interested why would anyone else be, I tried all the drivers .etc. I know but no interest in this.
Was in Bradford over the weekend at a reunion, 40 drivers turned up, no food just a meeting in a pub, best night we have had out for years.
cant wait for the next.
Les.
Hi guy’s it’s because not many drivers use the internet I know this from before, but I still have some phone numbers so will be making another effort next week by using the number’s I have, but come what may we will still have a reunion of some kind even if we only have about 20/30 come, but it will be sometime before October this time, so don’t give up yet because I know most of us will be able to spill some diesel and talk rubbish over a few pints. Regards :-Jack. 
Hi all!, myself and Stuart Broughton are getting things together for the next reunion, it will be August 9th or 16th which is a Saturday, it will be for everyone wives wags etc, so don’t let us down interest has dwindled since the last one we had so it’s time to spill some more diesel on another pub floor and have a laugh and remind us that we still have interest in what a great friendship we had all those years ago, I met with Dave Smith and Billy Parkinson a few month’s ago up where I live, and we had a great time reminding us of what we had all those years ago, I also notice that almost no-one looks on our page any more so wont know what’s going in, but we need to spread the word again and get all involved so we don’t forget our past.
Stuart is going to put on this page the name of the pub and where it is, it’s the Green Man, Undercliffe, Bradford, but he will be putting details of where it is, so let’s have some support and get as many there as possible, this also includes other drivers from our area who worked together, including owner drivers.
Kind Regards to you all :-Jack Graham
Jack Graham:
Hi all!, myself and Stuart Broughton are getting things together for the next reunion, it will be August 9th or 16th which is a Saturday, it will be for everyone wives wags etc, so don’t let us down interest has dwindled since the last one we had so it’s time to spill some more diesel on another pub floor and have a laugh and remind us that we still have interest in what a great friendship we had all those years ago, I met with Dave Smith and Billy Parkinson a few month’s ago up where I live, and we had a great time reminding us of what we had all those years ago, I also notice that almost no-one looks on our page any more so wont know what’s going in, but we need to spread the word again and get all involved so we don’t forget our past.
Stuart is going to put on this page the name of the pub and where it is, it’s the Green Man, Undercliffe, Bradford, but he will be putting details of where it is, so let’s have some support and get as many there as possible, this also includes other drivers from our area who worked together, including owner drivers.
Kind Regards to you all :-Jack Graham
Hi jack,sorry I missed your call today,any them dates are good and a bit warmer:wink:
keith 2:
Jack Graham:
Hi all!, myself and Stuart Broughton are getting things together for the next reunion, it will be August 9th or 16th which is a Saturday, it will be for everyone wives wags etc, so don’t let us down interest has dwindled since the last one we had so it’s time to spill some more diesel on another pub floor and have a laugh and remind us that we still have interest in what a great friendship we had all those years ago, I met with Dave Smith and Billy Parkinson a few month’s ago up where I live, and we had a great time reminding us of what we had all those years ago, I also notice that almost no-one looks on our page any more so wont know what’s going in, but we need to spread the word again and get all involved so we don’t forget our past.
Stuart is going to put on this page the name of the pub and where it is, it’s the Green Man, Undercliffe, Bradford, but he will be putting details of where it is, so let’s have some support and get as many there as possible, this also includes other drivers from our area who worked together, including owner drivers.
Kind Regards to you all :-Jack Graham
Hi jack,sorry I missed your call today,any them dates are good and a bit warmer:wink:
Thanks Kieth, I’ll make it the 16th August then so we can have a definite date to go on, so anyone else who wants to know it’s the “16th August then”, so we can all go to church next Sunday and pray for a good turn-out so help me god. :-Jack 
Well lads!, after a few days of phoning and emailing I’ve got about 20 up to now, and after a talk with Cuddles yesterday he is going to inform some more who I don’t have contact with, but fortunately he has quite a few numbers and email addresses that I don’t have so he is going to do his best to contact Maureen, John Holdroyd, Geoff Wilkinson, Russel Hutchinson, and some more driver’s, so hopefully we’ll have a good turnout, but even if we don’t it means there will be more beer for the rest of us, one driver who wont be there is Trevor Nussy, he’s not too good these days, he’s broken his hip and in a wheelchair and confined to his home, been like it since January this year, so thing are not too good for him just now but he sent his best wishes to everyone, may-be a card from us all might brighten him up a bit.
So don’t forget keep trying to get hold of anyone you can think of and pass on the info the info. Regards :-Jack
Not a lot of activity going on at the moment, is there anyone out there? cannt really make a comment, How about a laugh! My mum and dad were in iron and steel,my mum did the ironing and my dad did the stealing. Looked at a couple of interesting sites turners of Soham and Clippers of Leeds. Hope someone will reply or I might get carted away for talking to myself.
