I can remember seeing this company`s in orange colour [ I think ] delivering produce to the Glasgow fruit etc , the fleet was always fairly old ? , has anyone out there any information , photos ,on this company and what happened to them ?.
Cowburns Transport worked out of Hoole as you say they loaded mostly fruit off Liverpool docks and i worked along side a number of their drivers in the sixties. If i remember rightly it was run by two brothers Derek and … ( i cant remember the other one ) they ran a number of waggons (all types and colours ) including a chinese six erf and a maxi commer stroker. One of the drivers who worked for them was the son of the people who ran the cafe (silent seventh) which was next door to the Caledonian Depot just up the road. I spent many hours on Liverpool docks loading fruit, in all weathers and knew many of them even though at the time their was a friendly rivalry between the firm i worked for and them. You havent lived until in the depths of winter with the wind howling in off the Irish sea you,ve handballed a Thousand plus boxes of tomatoes on to a eightlegger giving you a load that was higher than a double decker bus and then used four canvas sheets to cover it but then thats wot we did day in and out (that was after handballing a Thousand cases of Whisky or Singer sewing machines off in the morning before dinner ). After loading we would all meet up at Ma Derbys cafe off the dock road for a brew and a natter and get home at about 7/8 at night and at 6 the next morn it all started again. By the way on arriving at the yard some nights you loaded " extras like carrots or cabbage on top of the load you already had .
I remember Cowburns from Much hoole,they ran an ERF E series every night up to Glasgow fruit market in the mid 80s with produce.I used to do the same run for a company called Primpack of Pilling,in an ERF B series FNN 118V.Last week i passed Cowburns old yard,and it’s all been built on with new houses.
norfolk:
Cowburns Transport worked out of Hoole as you say they loaded mostly fruit off Liverpool docks and i worked along side a number of their drivers in the sixties. If i remember rightly it was run by two brothers Derek and … ( i cant remember the other one ) they ran a number of waggons (all types and colours ) including a chinese six erf and a maxi commer stroker. One of the drivers who worked for them was the son of the people who ran the cafe (silent seventh) which was next door to the Caledonian Depot just up the road. I spent many hours on Liverpool docks loading fruit, in all weathers and knew many of them even though at the time their was a friendly rivalry between the firm i worked for and them. You havent lived until in the depths of winter with the wind howling in off the Irish sea you,ve handballed a Thousand plus boxes of tomatoes on to a eightlegger giving you a load that was higher than a double decker bus and then used four canvas sheets to cover it but then thats wot we did day in and out (that was after handballing a Thousand cases of Whisky or Singer sewing machines off in the morning before dinner ). After loading we would all meet up at Ma Derbys cafe off the dock road for a brew and a natter and get home at about 7/8 at night and at 6 the next morn it all started again. By the way on arriving at the yard some nights you loaded " extras like carrots or cabbage on top of the load you already had .
Iworked for Derek and Stan in the sixties as a second mate and remember it just like you descibe it.did you work for “uncle Bill” molyneux at tarelton?
Certainly did ! Happy Days