hiya, mac d it was just us red and rusters trying to be as clever as our brothers on pickfords we all used the same pot. always fancied a start for pickfords but never got there sort of a dying off job. thanks harry long retired.
hiya, just a sort of a PS to the above post scunthorpe always seemed to use bogies for their long stuff so when backloading they would have only the lorry to load, whereas we mostly used proper trailers so had that to load as well, it wasn’t too bad though you always had the trailer boy to help out if you could wake him up, they was never the same when they added the trailer braking to the footbrake lazy little sods had nowt to do but the occasional whack with a length of rope usually did the trick. thanks harry long retired.
Hi Lads , as its just been my bros 69th birthday the piccy shows both of us nearly 40yrs ago , ■■■■ it . my we was handsome then and its been down hill ever since . Harry and Mac , I used to see those steel cariers on the M1 late 60s , cant remember them being BRS but do remember the 5th wheel mounted on the bed with bogies up back were they out of Scunny .
Regards Frenchy
harry_gill:
hiya, mac d it was just us red and rusters trying to be as clever as our brothers on pickfords we all used the same pot. always fancied a start for pickfords but never got there sort of a dying off job. thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry I hope that does not apply to everyone at Pickfords as I started at 21 in the 1960s as a mate on the big outfits and went driving within 12 months stayed for about 8 years then went on tankers learning to drive a computer now I have time to.
hiya, sammy O it was just that there wasn’t a pickfords near me and of course we was all under the same umbrella and pickfords seemed to train the second men onto driving so it was rare for them to need drivers you could get a start as a mate occasionally but i’d been driving too long to go down that route and in my younger days there was plenty of jobs locally so no need to travel, i did quite a bit of abnormal indivisable work for BRS and privateers, the pic of the eight legger and bogie with the longish load is a scunny motor and they had quite a few of them,lots of lancs and yorks firms used that method of shifting long stuff.thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
lots of lancs and yorks firms used that method of shifting long stuff.thanks harry long retired.
I seem to remember H and L Workington and North Lincs Haulage using that type of bogie as well for long stuff,they were both later known as Consolidated Land Services (CLS) Scunthorpe IIRC. Those Scunthorpe BRS Octopussies were still going in the late 60s I remember.
Just out of curiousity, if you were to take one of those old Octupusses and do a Glasgow-London-Glasgow run how long would that take?
Some of the chat on here makes me think that would be a full week’s work - is that really the case?
You guys must have had it easy 
hiya, mac D heres a rough outline of a weeks work with an octopus and drawbar sun lancs to glasgow, mon tip and load get part way back, tues get to lancs tip and load night at home, wed lancs to glasgow, thurs tip and load get part way back fri get to lancs tip and load ready for sunday, saturday off if you was lucky, sometimes if you’d got a bit behind you had to load on the sat, there you are two trips and a very happy boss, of course it all depended on shap being kind to you and not getting held up anywhere. thanks harry long retired.
Cheers again Harry - you must be getting fed-up with my daft questions.
The reason I asked though, was that when I started (1969), a lot was changing - we had the old Seddons, but they were being replaced by Big J’s and other newer wagons, so I just missed out on a lot of the older stuff. A lot of the drivers were indeed from the old-school (boiler suits and flat caps 
) and I never really thought to ask them about it at the time - I was young and ‘modern’.
The answers you’ve give are a real insight, that’s why I like this thread so much.
Dave MacD
hiya, mac D have never done the london glasgow london round trip would get only one trip in if running legal possible a daytrip in as well if you was lucky, it all depended on the traffic carried and good tipping times, you’ve got to remember roping and sheeting them old girls wasn’t a five minute job either,where’s me cap i’m raring to go, ■■■■ me licence has expired sorry, just have to mow the lawn instead. thanks harry long retired.
Here you are Harry,remember these Scammells? Sid Harrison,Sheffield ran a load of these and there are some still in his yard I think. I’d rather have the AEC MK3 at the side though. 
hiya, where do you dig them up from chris, the old scammell looked a hard work machine still hand cranked by the looks of it most likely leyland engined have seen them about as you say harrison’s had loads of them, never drove that model myself and can’t remember seeing any BRS liveried ones, yes the AEC would be my choice too although i haven’t driven that model either but i’ve driven plenty of later models and they was good for that era, good show mate. thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya, where do you dig them up from chris, the old scammell looked a hard work machine still hand cranked by the looks of it most likely leyland engined have seen them about as you say harrison’s had loads of them, never drove that model myself and can’t remember seeing any BRS liveried ones, yes the AEC would be my choice too although i haven’t driven that model either but i’ve driven plenty of later models and they was good for that era, good show mate. thanks harry long retired.
A friend of mine sent it Harry.If you haven’t already seen it get the book called “A Pictorial History of BRS” by Nick Baldwin ISBN 978-1-871565-50-6,you will enjoy reading it,bags of photos.
If you are skint you can borrow mine - seriously,just e-mail your address,no problem.
In the meantime I’ve allocated this wagon to you for next week,favouritism again! 
hiya, chris you spoil me bet that was en-route to the london docks have only ever driven an eight wheeled AEC solo a couple of times,it was bristols and octopus’s on trailer work mainly, but if needs must go on i’ll start tomorrow, thats a cracking picture mate i just wonder could i still manage it, it looks like it’s just waiting for me to climb aboard, wonder if the starter is behind you just inside the door, toggle switch down and press the red button that was the way on later models if my memory is still working, about the book chris, my daughter likes to buy me books for presents so i’ll drop the hint there first it may take until christmas but she’ll get it for me better than hankies and socks and it will be appreciated, great stuff again chris. thanks harry long retired.
Summat a bit newer for you Harry,a nice 1964 model Seddon.Sheffield BRS,Staniforth Road,taken on Attercliffe Common not far from the infamous Tinsley Wire Industries.Looks like a load of coil,dropped between timbers,not many well trailers about then,at least I never had one.
I’ve actually had a lift in this very wagon,CWE 776B in 1968 from Lichfield back to Sheffield on a dodgy,thats when Lichfield lorry park was in the town centre,right next to the A38,way before the by-pass was built.
hiya, another cracking pic chris, we never had any of them but they was a handsome motor drove seddons just before BRS consett closed it’s doors and i liked them they was the last of the (pure) seddons not ■■■■■■■ with atki and being an old fashioned sod actually preferred them to the sed aks that came later, but i never got a sed ak as a permanent motor but did the odd trip away with them, ok i guess but no rust and pop rivets so they looked a bit out of place. thanks harry long retired.
We had seddons when I started on Bulwarks, they could motor, not what you would call comfortable, next Leyland buffaloes, injectors was a problem, then my little DAF, that was good and reliable, never let me down, then we went to Volvo’s, which I had until I took early retirement. Leyland Marathon on Middle East, fast, climb, reasonable comfort, but came under the title " Have toolbox need to repair". Army I drove everything, Diamond “T” and trailer, Mighty Antar and trailer, loaded with Conqueror tank, approx 150 ton, big Scammell’s, Carriers, Bedfords, Thorneycrofts, Jeeps, Motor bikes, VW beetles, Ambulances, Cranes, Bulldozers, and six types of tanks ( the ones with tracks) Ha Ha Ha. Sandman Norman
hiya, did anybody ever notice how the BRS always had drivers stay there from its inception to themselves retiring it was good to work for them we even had a guy pushing retirement age and one of his duties was to do the first trip on any new routes, different cargo’s etc and make a schedule of the times taken and that was cast in stone as the time for that particular job, god was he slow but it was good for getting the dodgies and nobody dare chop the time and this was authorised by the powers that be, left that depot and didn’t get get back into BRS working till a few years later at a different depot, alas the method wasn’t in force there but you still had to run legal well ish, ahem. thanks harry long retired.
Nice picture there Chris, got any more?
What about this Bristol leaning out of the curve? A BRS motor from South Wales going by the “BO” reg complete with a load of steel coil by the looks of it.
Those ropes won’t do a deal as the coil isn’t in a well by the looks of it,just dropped and nipped in timbers.I lost 14 x 1ton coils in Wakefield when they rolled out of the timbers in 1968.Insecure load,£5,Wakefield Magistrates Court.
