This thread has been really interesting over the last few days looking back at all the wee firms that ran out of ■■■■■■■ also the bit on Marchon I did’nt realise it was as big or even what they made. Regarding the opencast debate we have an opencast just north of Kirkconnel owened by ATH who have just announced 60 redundancies due to a Global downturn in the price of coal.ATH also own the one at NEW-■■■■■■■ which was previously owned by LAW MINING who also owned one in ■■■■■■■ somewhere. Eddie.
Leyland600:
No Dennis , Barrow never ever ran Leyland Titan PD 3s (30 footers) they had a variety of PD2s the latest being PD2As with St Helens style radiator grills all the previous PD 2/3s (10) and 2/40s (10) had traditional exposed radiators all 26ft 6in or 27footers with Park Royal bodies exept the 10 PD 2A/27s which had Massey Bros bodys I think. Certainly a very elegant fleet and well maintained.
Cheers Leyland 600.1
Please accept my apologies L600,I know “jack” about Buses or coaches but I knew the Barrow Corporation deckers were Leylands and PD summat!! Did they have the eponymous L600 engine in them ? What I do remember is the sight of all the Vickers workforce exiting the Works from a number of entrances and probably 10 or a dozen Barrow Corporation deckers lined up and absorbing many of said workers for the town and various outlying destinations,you could’nt move on the high level bridge with the swarm of cyclists and pedestrians rushing home at finishing time!Cheers Dennis.
Do any of you old ■■■■■■■ lads remember a tanker driver called Jim Mounsey who worked out of Marchon?
He was always back loading dobane from Shell Stanlow to Marchon in the early 70’s at the same time as me.
Also there was a chap with only one hand and a hook where the other should be who drove a tractor and shunted in Marchon.
I always remember getting stuck on the hill to Marchon when it was wet, my load had run to the back of the tank and I lost the grip on the drive axle. the tractor man came and towed me up.
I once reversed up the hill for the same reason so the load would run towards the unit and put some weight on the drive axle.
I was told that the police were looking for who ever it was who reversed up the hill and if they found out they would be banned from Whitehaven for ever.
I went there many times over the years so the police must never have found out it was me.
Tankerman:
Do any of you old ■■■■■■■ lads remember a tanker driver called Jim Mounsey who worked out of Marchon?
He was always back loading dobane from Shell Stanlow to Marchon in the early 70’s at the same time as me.
Also there was a chap with only one hand and a hook where the other should be who drove a tractor and shunted in Marchon.
I always remember getting stuck on the hill to Marchon when it was wet, my load had run to the back of the tank and I lost the grip on the drive axle. the tractor man came and towed me up.
I once reversed up the hill for the same reason so the load would run towards the unit and put some weight on the drive axle.
I was told that the police were looking for who ever it was who reversed up the hill and if they found out they would be banned from Whitehaven for ever.
I went there many times over the years so the police must never have found out it was me.
hiya,
Russell I worked with a Jim Mounsey for a short spell in the very early 60s the firm we was both at was J & E Transport,
a Bacup lad if my memory is still working, obviously he wasn’t a tanker driver in those days but he was a night trunker
on the Scottish run which was the only work they did in those days, he would have still have been young enough to have
changed to tanker work in time you mention in your post.
thanks harry, long retired.
Hi Tankerman, Yes I knew Jimmy Mounsey and his brother Joe quite well, Jim drove for Billy Pattinson from Plumbland on a Leyland Comet artic flat with 4 in line trailer then later on one of Patty,s tankers.
Cheers Leyland 600.
PS are you keeping those BRH letters polished ■■
Hi Bewick yes I guessed that, stick to wagons but at least you recognised the best double deck chassis ever built. Yes they had the 0/600 engine and 4 speed box, lovely machines to drive. L600
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erfguy:
This thread has been really interesting over the last few days looking back at all the wee firms that ran out of ■■■■■■■ also the bit on Marchon I did’nt realise it was as big or even what they made. Regarding the opencast debate we have an opencast just north of Kirkconnel owened by ATH who have just announced 60 redundancies due to a Global downturn in the price of coal.ATH also own the one at NEW-■■■■■■■ which was previously owned by LAW MINING who also owned one in ■■■■■■■ somewhere. Eddie.
law mining ran keekle head site which is at pica nr workington.it closed before it was worked out and never reinstated its now being lined up for a low level radioactive tip
Leyland600:
Hi Tankerman, Yes I knew Jimmy Mounsey and his brother Joe quite well, Jim drove for Billy Pattinson from Plumbland on a Leyland Comet artic flat with 4 in line trailer then later on one of Patty,s tankers.
Cheers Leyland 600.
PS are you keeping those BRH letters polished ■■
Hi Gerald,
That’s the Jim Mounsey I was thinking about, he used to backload Dobane from Stanlow after coming down and tipping a load somewhere from Marchon.
I used to let him load in front of me so he could get back home. I would then run to a cafe just off the junction by the Tickled Trout and park up to get a lift the ten miles home. The day after I would tip Marchon and run back to the same place to park up again. Two nights out for a Whitehaven from Stanlow was the norm. Jim drove for Patty in those days, it would be the early 70’s. I had a Handyman and was envious of Jim’s Scania.
What was the firm called who ran molten sulphur to Marchon from a small dock nearby (maybe Workington) I think they could have been west ■■■■■■■■■■ farmers, brown tankers if I remember.
Yes the BRH letters are nicely polished and I was talking to a driver the other day who drove the motor they are from and he said it’s biggest drawback was the blind spot at the side of the windscreen.
Hi R. the company you were thinking of would be West ■■■■■■■■■■ By Products from Flimby. I think Jim worked for a tanker firm from Tingley very early on I seem to remember a coach built cabbed Atkinson artic tanker painted a pale green with dark Brunswick green relief around the cab windows and mudguards. I recall seeing it parked up Blennerhasset at weekends. I cannot think of the firm,s name, any ideas ?
Cheers L.600.
Leyland600:
Hi R. the company you were thinking of would be West ■■■■■■■■■■ By Products from Flimby. I think Jim worked for a tanker firm from Tingley very early on I seem to remember a coach built cabbed Atkinson artic tanker painted a pale green with dark Brunswick green relief around the cab windows and mudguards. I recall seeing it parked up Blennerhasset at weekends. I cannot think of the firm,s name, any ideas ?
Cheers L.600.
Oh! so your name is Gerald frae’ Wigton eh!!! and I thowt you were a conductor on a PD2 in Barra eh! ding ding !! any more fares,no standing !! Cheers Bewick.
Hi George, Here are some statistics for you regarding ■■■■■■■■■■ Motor Services. Founded in 1912 by Mr Henry Meageen a cashier in Lord Lonsdale’s colliery office in Whitehaven and a group of Whitehaven businessmen trading as the Whitehaven Motor Company the company trading title being changed to ■■■■■■■■■■ Motor Services Ltd just prior to 1920. The Meageen family became major shareholders with a strong allegiance to Leylands buying very little else apart from a brief flirtation with a few AECs in the 1930s and various odd makes acquired with businesses of many small operators bought up in the 1930s. Also due to wartime restrictions a number of Gardner engined Guy Arabs with utility bodies (wooden slatted seats etc) were acquired but immediately after the war almost a fleet renewal programme was put into practice acquiring almost 150 new buses and coaches over the following 10 years or so which would all have been Leylands had it not been political intervention when CMS was partially acquired the Tilling Group (a State organisation) which decreed that Bristol buses must only be bought a decision which Tom Maegeen son now in charge hotly disputed stating that they had pre -ordered a number of new Leyland deckers, and Royal Tiger underfloor engined buses and coaches. Apparently there was quite a bitter battle with the authorities ending up with Central SMT taking 10 new PD 2/12 double deckers and United Automobile Sevices at Darlington taking 10 Royal Tiger saloons. In exchange CMS got their first Bristol Lodekka LD6G deckers and Bristol LS6G coaches.
In 1974 the fleet strength was 159 vehicles comprising 117 single deck saloons and coaches and 42 double deckers. with 347 road staff, 112 engineering staff and 102 office administration staff. In 1983 the fleet had dropped to 155 vehicles. During the war the fleet was much larger due to all the wartime industry workers services. For example in the 1940 Wigton depot had an allocation of 33 buses and a staff of about 133. By 1983 when the depot closed the allocation was 6 buses. Wigton was responsible for all the Air Ministry services to Silloth, Kirkbride, Anthorn, and 14 MU Carlisle plus all the normal day to day stage-carriage services and school services. . Cheers Leyland 600.
georgeking:
Here is a list of the 50 or so largest hauliers from ■■■■■■■■ it starts with the name of the haulier, where they are based, numbers quoted are the peak vehicles owned, then the source of information.There are quite interesting stories behind the T Brady and W Armstrong (Longtown) figures.
When Brady’s went into administration their administrators PwC tried to sell the business as a going concern, so they prepared a memorandum of sale for any potential buyers. I got hold of a copy and the figures interested me it said that the last annual turnover was around £12m and it listed all of the assets they owned which included around 120 lorries.
W Armstrong (Longtown) took over the assets of Martin Oliver of Bardon Mill at the time both companies had around 70 lorries each bringing the total to around 140 lorries, the lorries were never repainted. Now the W Armstrong (Longtown) fleet size is back down to about 80 lorries.stobart carlisle     2,250 lorryspotting
ecm carlisle       350 lorryspotting
jenkinson penrith       300 lorryspotting
robson carlisle       180 press article
w armstrong longtown       140 lorryspotting
brady barrow       120 pwc
wcf carlisle       100 estimate
t armstrong maryport         80 lorryspotting
bewick milnthorpe         80 before wrm
watt carlisle         70 word of mouth
brown carlisle         70 lorryspotting
stalkers brampton         60 lorryspotting
murray longtown         60 lorryspotting
millicans longtown         60 word of mouth
barnett & graham penrith         50 word of mouth
lawsons cockermouth         40 lorryspotting
burridge distington         40 lorryspotting
harrison wigton         40 lorryspotting
nicholson cockermouth         30 lorryspotting
greggains maryport         30 word of mouth
wcbp maryport         30 estimate
fearon mealsgate         30 word of mouth
dent penrith         40 lorryspotting
bulman penrith         30 estimate
steel barrow         30 press article
ME Saunders Ulverston 30 lorryspotting
pellters kirby lonsdale         25 estimate
j irving mealsgate         20 estimate
henderson alston         20 estimate
johnston gilcrux         20 word of mouth
JW Graham Bass Lake 20 estimate
G Bell Carlisle 20 estimate
handley kirby stephen         20 lorryspotting
Ostle kirby stephen         20 lorryspotting
r stampers kirkbridge         20 lorryspotting
jg stamper penrith         25 press article
ga stamper penrith         20 estimate
holiday penrith         20 estimate
alberti carlisle         15 estimate
V Thompson Maryport 15 lorryspotting
Alderson Appleby 15 word of mouth
barker lindale         15 estimate
hill maryport         15 lorryspotting
ashburner millom         15 estimate
burnholme penrith         15 estimate
markley silloth         15 estimate
cannons witherslack         15 estimate
boyes ireby         14 lorryspotting
dayson carlisle         12 estimate
kts kirkbridge         12 estimate
wh irving longtown         12 estimate
monkhouse longtown         12 estimate
cargill penrith         12 estimate
donnan whitehaven         12 estimate
roper workington         12 estimate
All I would say “george” is that your accounting/arithmatic is someway ( a long way IMHO) off the mark,estimates,word of mouth and lorryspotting!! How could Lonsdale & Co audit that load of bending/massaging of the numbers !! fast eddie are looking for “number crunchers” like you I believe !!Cheers Dennis.
Nah Bewick thoos got it wrang agean, Barra is in the Western Isles. !! By the way how many vehicles did John McGuffie have when you took him over, I only knew him vaguely when he ran the Atki 4 wheeler…
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I am reliably informed that Jim & Joe Mounsey worked on an Atkinson 8 wheel tanker and trailer (not an artic as I thought) owned by Hutchinson’s of Tingley. L 600
Leyland600:
Nah Bewick thoos got it wrang agean, Barra is in the Western Isles. !! By the way how many vehicles did John McGuffie have when you took him over, I only knew him vaguely when he ran the Atki 4 wheeler…
John got his first,and only,“A” licence of the same firm I got 2 from,Coward Bros of Sedbergh which he had on his new Atki 4 wheeler( supplied by JWG, Puzzle,George ect.) which ended up,I believe,at Burridges.At the time I bought his flat business off him in 1974 ( 7 Crane 40footers and a MK1 Atki) he was also running a couple of artic tippers which he carried on running.However,later on I also bought one of these tipper trailers of him as well but I found that a couple of tippers didn’t mix with the flats which were more lucrative than tippers !! We turned the basic McGuffie flat traffic into a very lucrative medium distance operation,mainly hauling loads of new 45 gal drums from Braby’s,Aintree, to Marchon (A & W) and the south bound traffic was from Workington Steel (JWG) and Marchon and also from our main customers Libby and Henry Cookes in Milnthorpe, The McGuffie business fizzled out in around 82/83 as drums were a dying part of A &W’s production,but while it lasted it was great!! Cheers Dennis.
Leyland600:
I am reliably informed that Jim & Joe Mounsey worked on an Atkinson 8 wheel tanker and trailer (not an artic as I thought) owned by Hutchinson’s of Tingley. L 600
That would be before 1970 then L600, he was driving a Scania artic tanker when he backloaded ex Stanlow.
did Harold Wood have a few tankers based at Whitehaven? I seem to remember them up there.