hiya,
Most depot’s had something like that usually for a a bit of C&D work or the fitters nipping out for the bacon sandwiches, that one would be plenty big enough for me to throw about now and i bet i could clamber in the shed without assistance.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Most depot’s had something like that usually for a a bit of C&D work or the fitters nipping out for the bacon sandwiches, that one would be plenty big enough for me to throw about now and i bet i could clamber in the shed without assistance.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
You wouldn’t want to throw one of those about,I drove the smaller version to that at 19,no power steering,noisy bloody things,drove several without power steering including an AEC Matador breakdown truck,and those little FG BMC’s were heavier on the steering than any of them,drove one a few years old,also a six month old one.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Ah Dave the Matador done a lot of miles in one of them aged 18 to 20 pulling a trailer=gun, now they had a special geared steering which made them quite easy to maneuvre and comparable to power steering, this was also on the civilian AEC’s driving a Mammoth with a drawbar was a doddle compared to the likes of the Octopus or Bristol outfits, been there done that bought the tee-shirt, “got owt back”.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
Yes being in the forces you would have had plenty of experience of those type of moters.I never struggled without power steering,being a country boy,had plenty of arm strength,not much brain,so pulling a steering wheel around with a loaded lorry wasn’t a problem. Those litle BMC’S also the little Morris Commercials like the one on heartbeat were the heaviest things on the steering that I drove.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Yes Dave and usually had a guy with his head through the roof manning a machine gun, that would’nt be neccesary in your neck of the woods, but would have been useful if dragging wrecks out of other parts of Wild Wales,splat take that.
thanks harry long retired.
We got plenty of army ranges in Mid Wales Harry,you can hear the guns from the range ar Eppynt from here if the wind is in a certain direction,get quite a few Chinnooks flying over dropping blokes out on exercise. We haven’t as much activity as Brecon Beacons,but we get a few.We use this for crow shooting. 
Cheers Dave.
Tanks alot for that Dave.
your humor never ceases to amaze me norm 
Kid you have seen nothing yet 
jimmy m:
your humor never ceases to amaze me norm
hiya,
Dave is there anything left of the army camp at Oswestry, i did my first two weeks in basic training there in 1954, then moved over near Rhyl to do the rest it was supposed to be a sixteen weeks driving course but i got away with only eight because i had a driving licence prior to call up which was rare in those days most lads had to be taught from scratch, funny i’ve always been available on the cheap and it got me on the troopship to Korea all that much quicker, if i’d been a non-driver and had to do the full driving course i might have stayed in the UK and be bored rigid.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Dave is there anything left of the army camp at Oswestry, i did my first two weeks in basic training there in 1954, then moved over near Rhyl to do the rest it was supposed to be a sixteen weeks driving course but i got away with only eight because i had a driving licence prior to call up which was rare in those days most lads had to be taught from scratch, funny i’ve always been available on the cheap and it got me on the troopship to Korea all that much quicker, if i’d been a non-driver and had to do the full driving course i might have stayed in the UK and be bored rigid.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
Nothing left of the Park Hall camp now,it’s mainly used for light industrial purposes as far as I know. I go up to Gobowen right by there quite often,will have a drive through next time I’m up there. Know what you mean about being able to drive young,as soon as I was 17 I had passed my test and drove vans on the building firm that I worked for,as a lot of the blokes couldn’t drive.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Actually had a motorcyle licence in 1952, but when filling an online comparison insurance quote thing, the question “how long held a licence” i answered 57yrs 10 months, they must’nt count an m/c licence because they altered it to 56 years 10 months making me 17 when i passed my car test as the start date for my driving career commencement, and there was me trying to be a smart arse, aged 16 May 52 got m/c licence, aged 17 may 53 got my car licence in the June, so an m/c licence does’nt count,the m/c was only a pushbike with a little engine over the back wheel but you still had to put “L” plates on the thing and have a provisional licence, passed that test before the end of May, no waiting in those days just turn up and do the business.
thanks harry long retired.
hi harry, one of the sunters in rothmas was called harry, never got to know his full name, he always signed the empty containers in with bumps and bruises on the sheet, took a new container in, as he started to sign it in as B&B, i said to him you cannot do that harry is brand spanking new the paint still wet, so smiling he signed it wet paint 
bumper
hiya,
Never got near the loading bay at Rothmans Bumper usually in there two or three times a year with the raw tobacco picked up as backloads normally from the BRS depots away from home usually Lister st Glasgow, and me being from the Consett depot it usually meant a night at home when tipped, then under a trailer from British Steel Hownsgill for down/up the road next day, the proper good old days.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
Same as you passed moterbike at 16,then car at 17,1964 and 1965 as I was born the end of 1947,so a decade later than yourself. As you say the moterbike was easy,all yo did was ride around the block a few times get the signals right and the position on the road right,plus the emergency stop and a few highway code right and you passed,none of this two part job like nowadays. But the bikes are much more powerful now.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Dave, within a few weeks of passing the m/c test bought ( £i2) an Ariel Square Four combination with a box for the sidecar and clearly remember loading part of a dry stone wall into the box for ballast and towing my pals broken down Austin 7 a distance of about five miles, it dragged it no problem and most of it was up a canny bank it was a 1000cc job but not in the same category as today’s 1000s, wish it was still parked in the shed they say it would be worth a small fortune today, had another big un a Vincent Black Shadow i think i paid about three weeks wages for that about £15 that had to be a combi as well was’nt big or strong enough to ride it in solo form, happy days.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
I remember both of those bikes from when I was a kid,as you say be worth a fortune nowadays. A chap who lodged next door to where I lived in this village always had big bikes in those days,ending up with a Vincent Black Shadow,everyone was predicting he would kill himself as he was mad,he nearly did,hit something and broke both his legs,but survived,still lives in the area,must be about 80 now. I worked with an old boy on the building as a teenager,he had a Panther 600 with a chair on it,think it was a Watsonian,he was selling it,only wanted £25 for it,he had bought a new Reliant. I was tempted to buy the outfit and have a bit of fun with it. I by then had an A35 van. The last bike I had was a Greeves 325 two stroke twin with a Villiers engine,cost a fortune in fuel,sounded good and would lift the front wheel in the air,was going to buy a 650 Matchless,but thought better of it and bought my A35 Van instead.
Cheers Dave.
As I told you before, I had a matchless 500cc G9,but my brother-in-law had a Black shadow, and his brother had a big vincent, I rode them both, my son has the big BMW, he goes all over europe, his next trip is to see Saints V Munster, last time he phoned me from Gibralter, I told him I had been there, he said he knew, he was feeding some of my mates, but I got my own back, by asking him if he spoke to his brother.
Hi Norm,
There are probably more moterbikes on the road nowadays than ever,also some seriously powerful machines. The BMW’s are a nice touring bike,always look comfortable. We have a lot of bikes through this way,they like the winding roads of Mid Wales,there’s usually a few tragedies every summer,born again bikers,unfortunately some aren’t born again for long.
It’s a wonder they can get insurance for them,no wonder most of the riders are oldish blokes,no young kids would getor afford insurance for them.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Hi Norm,
There are probably more moterbikes on the road nowadays than ever,also some seriously powerful machines. The BMW’s are a nice touring bike,always look comfortable. We have a lot of bikes through this way,they like the winding roads of Mid Wales,there’s usually a few tragedies every summer,born again bikers,unfortunately some aren’t born again for long.
It’s a wonder they can get insurance for them,no wonder most of the riders are oldish blokes,no young kids would getor afford insurance for them.
Cheers Dave.
hi dave, believe it or not i actually fell off the back of a bsa bantam!! 
ended up with a broken ankle and concussion!! it was then that i decided the minimum number of wheels i wanted under me was 4, but when i think back, no crash helmet, or boots or gloves ,so i spose i was lucky,but i havnt been on a bike since!..chris