Hi Steve,
nice to hear from you. I still have a look on here now and again. I agree it would be nice to revive this thread, I enjoyed reading all the old stories. I’m at work at the min, will post some more when I get some time,
Stay lucky mate,
Tony
Cliff Boulton:
Hi Mick,
Cliff Boulton, ex Quaker, Milupa and Hitachi for Dodds, then with “Worldfleet” out of Stone, Staffs, with Hitachi. (1970 - 200?)
I’ve been told about this Forum by my son Paul. (P.C.B. on here) Not got a lot of time at the moment, but will get back later. Paul has put some photos on here of some of my old lorries, and hopefully, I’ll put a few memories on here later.
Back asap, Cliff.
You never worked for Adam’s in Leek did you?
tonyclark:
Hi Steve,nice to hear from you. I still have a look on here now and again. I agree it would be nice to revive this thread, I enjoyed reading all the old stories. I’m at work at the min, will post some more when I get some time,
Stay lucky mate,
Tony
Good to hear from you Tony. I hope the stories I’ve related referring to you are accurate. The memory fades over the years.
Firstly, forgive the bad photos (and the upside down ones 
)
I joined Dodds in 1989 having only had my class 1 for about two months. Walked into the yard at Shepherds Bush and asked if they had any jobs going. It was Ian King I spoke to. “go get your photo taken down the road son and come back and fill in these forms” was the response I got and that was me started and after a day out for a check test was excepted into the roll.
Started at Hitachi in Hayes and then when I’d cut my teeth I drove the Artic’s running out of Quakers, Southall.
I drove the dreaded 666 motor at first then drove the Norfolk route for a few months in the black Hitachi motors. I even done the night run to Wales and back in Reg’s artic (the one with the chrome stacks).
When I did move up driving Artic’s I drove the smaller Leyland unit at first which use to point you to the sky when trying to pull a fully loaded trailer. Then one of the guys left one day who drove the bigger Leyland Roadtrain units (the one with the air horns on the roof A242FLX). I rang the office and asked if I could move into It and was told yes I could so at 21 I thought I had won the lottery 
the cab was dirty inside and out and already needed replacing but I cleaned it up and was on top of the world at the time.
There were a lot of crap times but I’m glad I did it and have overall good memories of the guys I worked with.
Who was the chap with the Skoda who drove an old unit which was well looked after out of Quakers. I remember he thought it was a good idea to varnish the floor of his cab to make it look shinny. After a day it started to flake and the smell was so bad it made you high 
When I started, A242FLX was John Smurfwaite’s motor. We had it in Wales for a couple of days when one of ours was in for repair. I was on my way down the M50 one dayday and there was some old git in a car doing 50 and he wouldn’t move over. I couldn’t resist it, I got right up behind him and gave him a blast on the air horns.(I was quite young at the time) The bloke got such a fright he actually lifted off the seat! Laugh, I nearly passed my ■■■■ round.
Well Stephen my old muckerThat last line when you said you nearly gave you ■■■■ around it made my day you cracked me up I’m still laughing . Get on the plane and come over again I’ll give you a ■■■ ho ho
rubic cube:
Well Stephen my old muckerThat last line when you said you nearly gave you ■■■■ around it made my day you cracked me up I’m still laughing . Get on the plane and come over again I’ll give you a ■■■ ho ho
Talking of passing ■■■■ round, I remember you passing your Players round in the Quakers canteen. Four people took one. You put the packet back in your pocket without taking one yourself. One of the Sheffield lads said, “Arn’t you having one?” You said, “Can’t afford it now!”
[attachment=0]IMG-20150401-WA0000.jpg[/attachment
sallison30:
rubic cube:
Well Stephen my old muckerThat last line when you said you nearly gave you ■■■■ around it made my day you cracked me up I’m still laughing . Get on the plane and come over again I’ll give you a ■■■ ho hoTalking of passing ■■■■ round, I remember you passing your Players round in the Quakers canteen. Four people took one. You put the packet back in your pocket without taking one yourself. One of the Sheffield lads said, “Arn’t you having one?” You said, “Can’t afford it now!”
Those Players didnt do much harm, not looking bad For 70
Who would of thought It…here I am sitting in doors on a rainy thanksgiving bank holiday Monday in Nova Scotia Canada when this thread pops up on my phone while searching for something totally different
Hi All…Started with Dodds in 97 running out of Strood/Kemsley mill UKPaper, after a short time ended up in Sittingbourne doing general when they took over Hammonds as a journey guy, came off journey for nights doing 4x4 unitl I left in 2010 to start our adventures in Canada
Had the best time on Dodds, met some goods guys from all other depots and made some really close friends, It was sad to hear when Jim Dodd closed doors and called time
Mick, did you hurt your back or injury some part of your body back in the early 90s? I only ask because I drove your Norfolk route for a few weeks while you were away.
Hey all…
Not sure if this thread is still going but just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about Mark Boulton… he was a lovely fella and between him and his dad (hi Cliff if you’re still going!) they made my days on Hitachi. Can I also mention the death of John Smurfwaite aka ‘Papa Smurf’ a few months ago… an absolute legend of a man and one of the few people I managed to stay in regular contact with after leaving Dodds.
It’s amazing seeing all the posts and photos up on here, I only wish i’d found you all earlier.! So thank you to Peter Haynes for putting me onto this… I know i’ve got a few pics of the old Roadtrains and Cruisers somewhere so i’ll see if I can find them and get them up on here.
Keep safe people.
Cyril
Me an my dad used to work with a few ex doods staff when they joined Firmins, Matt Freeman, Dave Fall, Denis Reid and I believe another driver called Pete Maylam
We went to Lenham where Ian Kidd was in the office until he died
