Hi Jimmy,
I’m sorry, but my memory for names is not too clever, and I just can’t place George Clapp, but you could well be right. Are you on (LENHAM?) Storage now? I still do Saturdays on there, hopefully up until that CPC thing comes in, then they can keep their Lorry Driving. Not going back to school at my age!!
One name from Dodds and Hitachi I DO remember, and I’m surprised Mick didn’t mention him, was Trevor Stacey. If you worked out of Hitachi at Hayes Middlesex, you had to know Trevor. A great little “I’m in charge” bloke that nobody took a lot of notice of really, but we had a lot of laughs with him. He just loved it when the drivers ran over the body demounting leads and, in his words, “anhilitated” them. He was straight on the phone to Dodds then.
Talking of which, I’ve been in touch with Jimmy Dodd today (Thursday) and he’s looked on this Forum. He likes the pix and said he would get his daughter to put some of his own photos on when she gets a chance. Should be interesting to see them I reckon.
Cliff Boulton:
The 3 Foden units pictured were, I think, meant to be for a company pulling out of the Oil Storage Terminal on the Isle of Grain in Kent, hence the Kent (BKO) registration plates. I’m not sure how or why Dodd’s got them.
New Fodens in Dodd’s colours parked up with a petrol tanker… coincidence?
Do you think these are the same ones just before they came to Dodd’s?
Jimmy Dodd said he can’t remember the full story of these Fodens, but they certainly were rigged up to pull fuel tankers, and also they may have been painted in Kent.
mickthebrush:
Good pic of Roy Dodd.taken from a magazine article.
Mick, is that Ted Farrier the yard foreman with Roy?
Re:- Funny stories involving Jeff May. He once had a moan at Jimmy Dodd about the state of the Sheffield Yard. Went on and on about the mud and pot-holes, and what it was like to stay the night there in bad weather if you wanted to use the loo in the night. Jimmy listened intently until Jeff came up with this gem. “The other night I jumped out the cab to go to the loo and I got mud all up my dressing gown and ruined my slippers!” J.D. nearly fell off his chair.
Another time, 3 or 4 of us “out-based” drivers were in The Arches yard on a night out. Arthur Stroud’s poor old Alsatian Guard Dog had died a little while back, and as we were all walking back from George’s Cafe after our meal, Jeff spotted a kiddies push along toy dog in a skip in Macfarlane Road. Jeff took it back to the yard, got the biggest bit of chain he could find and tied the dog just inside the now locked gates. He then added a big cardboard notice with “Woof-Woof” written on it. J.Dodd was coming in at 5am to take a load out, and was the first to see it, and was quite amused if I remember correctly.
Hi PCB/Cliff.keep them names coming,as i need a memory jog.Trevor Stacey,there was a character,i had a few run ins with him but on the whole got on OK with him…let him rant on then ignore and get on doing your own way…And Jeff,he used to make me laugh…great bloke.
Next time your in contact with Jimmy give him my best regards…Got on good with him.
Bill West…Hitachi transport controller.got on well with him also,I had the East Anglina area running like a clock and used to sort my own paperwork and deliveries in drop order,then i would go on the loading dock with Tony Clarke and load my own motor/trailer drop boxes.Happy days.I like to think I had everybody happy,we did give a good service to the Ambassador Hitachi Dealers…Not just me but all of use on that contract.
I was also outbased on the Quaker job as well,and i had that sussed as well.I did this sort of thing for years,even when I was at Roy Bowles i got the East.
Get Mark on here,we used to have a few laughs and a few bevies as well.
Stay Lucky…Mick
hi Cliff, you have some interesting stories to tell! Yes I’m still on storage doing a night trunk up to norwich to Fitzmaurice carriers, then either reload their waste from waitrose or into Snetterton for a load of Kettle crisps into waitrose stock at Lenham. Never worked at Dodds mate. Been on Lenham for about 24 years now, only Graeme Smith done longer than me. i’m 2nd longest serving driver. Scary or what? Did you hear about Paul Jordon passing the other day? he was only 47. very sad. he was a super fella…jimmy
Hi PCB,is Mark with Lenham?the Scanny a contract motor for Waitrose?
Hi Daddylonglegs,I used to Kettle Crisps out of Snetterton.DHL were the contractors on that job.I was on agency at the time but i did spend a lot of time on that job.i drove an ex Securicor Scania 4 wheeler and used to do the deliveries that the artics could not access.I also did Jeyes of Thetford in the same truck for the same reasons.
Stay lucky Mick
Hello pop, Bruv & mick.
Or should that be hi de hi now mick.
It’s been great to here from you again mick and to catch up with what you are doing. It’s great to remember the good old days and a job I really enjoyed. Dodds gave me the chance at 21 to get me started for which I will always be greatfull.
I was thinking of all the blokes at Hayes too. As you you have mentioned already, mark & Glynn Taylor chalky, reg, Pete bennett & his video collection Trevor Stacey, bill west, and tony Clarke to name a few. I do remember going to the pub with you and tony (the great western or something). That boy could drink. How he made it to work each day I don’t know. I remember too the cafe at maple cross was a good place to meet up and one morning about 5 of us pulling up on the layby together and filling it with hitachi motors.
I last saw " I’m in charge" Stacey driving for green star transport from somewhere around heathrow I think. He still had his trade mark ■■■ with about an inch of ash hanging of it too.
When you said about the draw bar trailers, I too remember mark Taylor helping me to back the flipping thing up. I had done Argos at bridgewater & change over with dad and was going to have night out at Swindon truck stop. Only a couple of spaces where left that night and all in difficult places. It took me about 20 mins to park up with that trailer kicking out. Only the help of a friendly travis Perkins driver saved me more embarrassment. He talked me in and it was perfect in the end.
I have got some pictures too somewhere that I’ll get dad to put on. ( I’ve not got that far yet) but Paul has put on most of our collection. I do think dodds had a great livery then, those roadtrains looked great. I’d still love to have one now.
Bye for now, mark.
Hello again mick, I’m back so soon.
I just saw your message to Paul.
I now work for waitrose, I will have done 5years in July. This to is a good job and we are looked after very well. After Dodds I went to Lenham storage, I was tempted away by an owner driver putting a 2nd motor on the road who let me down and not living up to his promises. Lenham took me back until I got a job delivering insulation to building sites all over the south (but no more nights away) then waitrose opened a new depot in the old safeway site at aylesford.
Did you ever go back to your sign writing? I seem to remember you saying you were going to do that.
All the best, mark.
Does anyone remeber the young girls that used to “offer their services” to Dodds staff that could get them over that wall on the nearside of the ERF? That was the BBC yard and when the right groups were on Top of The Pops, we most times had to lock the gates if we were there on a night out. The girls tried climbing the wall all along the service road to the right of the picture. The old guard dog, mentioned before, had his “kennel” between the gate and the wall, poor old thing.
Sorry, the picture didn’t copy. See Mick’s “Here’s an Oldie” ERF pic earlier.
I remember Dodds Transport in the 70/80s doing work out of Winthrops at Fawdon allong with Armstrongs from Bermondsey, they were in there frequentley also Murray Hogg had wagons in there dailey, We used to do the notifiable waste loads. Regards Larry.
Hi Larry, I remember Dodds doing Winthrops, but had nothing to do with it myself.
I started on Dodds in 1970 and had 14 years delivering Quaker out of Southall around Kent and keeping the lorry at home down there. First motor was an Albion Clydesdale CLD 932H which had the body removed when it was sold on and went to the desert somewhere I think. (I’ve still got the Clydesdale Badge off it though) Next was a now Leyland Clydesdale MLP 712P, then XLF 754S, the Turbo one in a previous post. After that was a Leyland Freighter ALX 583Y
I can’t remember what year I went on to Milupa Baby Foods out of Uxbridge, but I had 2 or 3 years on there, a lot of which involved delivering just 2 or 3 boxes to up to 20 Health Clinics in the Welsh Valleys. Not everybody’s cup of tea but I loved it. I’d moved to Plymouth by then, and one time Mick, the bloke who allocated the runs, gave me “The Valleys” and a pallet for Butlins at Barry Island for Thursday, with another pallet for Butlins at Minehead for Friday. Told me to run home to Plymouth for the weekend and back to Uxbridge to load “sometime” Monday. Another time I had about 9 pallets around Portsmouth & Southampton on Thursday with half a pallet for Exeter on Friday, back to Uxbridge Monday as before.
Again, I can’t remember the year, but when Dodds “won” the Hitachi contract to do the West Country, Roy & Jimmy approached me to take that on, which I did. Got my own inside parking space in Plymouth CityBus Garage, half a mile from my home. I had the de-mount bodied Cruiser D820 PVX, and left Hayes on Friday morning early delivering from Honiton through Exeter and Torquay to Plymouth and park up for the weekend. Monday I covered Cornwall and back home. Tuesday was North Devon, Ilfracombe, Barnstable etc. and then a change over box was brought down to me at Langdons Truckstop at Taunton on Wednesday. This took me up through Bridgewater, Bristol, Gloucester on Weds and Thursday and back up to Hayes for a change of box, diesel up ready for the Friday trip back down the South West again.
Happy Days and more to tell, but no time now. Probably boring for you all anyway. Sorry. Cliff
Know way, all this crack from the good pld days is great stuff, There is still all lot of old drivers from that era still about, just like myself, & I enjoy this thread all the time, I have an old mate who is 84 coming up in August, He is great to talk to, his memorie is fading a bit, but he is tops, when he is on form, he nver past a driving test, because when the war was on it was put asside, when he was 17 his mam got his licence & he was hauling opencast coal off the Newcastle Town Moor Site on is birthday. Regardss Larry
Hi Mark or should that be HI DE HI…indeed…Yes still at the signs do them for the campsite,over 200.
See you have given me another name,Pete Bennett,lots of laughs watching his video collection,all night long,at the arches!!!Glad your settled in a good woking enviornment…We had a good few beers,did we not!!Clarky could sure put it away.
I moved to Spain 7 years ago and done some driving…Gibraltar/Spain/UK and return.Trip took 2wks,then 1wk off…not the best job,and it finally finished my driving career,i was 60yrs old then and never renewed the licence…Good tackle tho…Volvo FH12 460 or DAF Superspacecab 480.These were 6 wheeled rigids with drawbeam trailers(not drawbars)like big caravans really,like backing an artic.I do miss the driving and the crack but i dont think i could handle all this new crap that you,ve got these days,smart cards.digi tachos,CPC,s ect.
Stay lucky mate,more to come Mick
Blimey . . I remember Dodds when they were in Mcfarlane road shepherds bush . . Those days they ran Guy big Js and ERF A series. I worked down the road in wood lane . Unigate dairies.
I used to work for Worldfleet in stone which was owned by Jimmy Dodd, but when we had no work we did general haulage for Dodds. I now live in Nova Scotia so I am out of the loop. What has happened to Dodds Transport?
stokey:
I used to work for Worldfleet in stone which was owned by Jimmy Dodd, but when we had no work we did general haulage for Dodds. I now live in Nova Scotia so I am out of the loop. What has happened to Dodds Transport?
Hi Stokey,
Worldfleet was a jointly owned company founded by Jimmy Dodd and the bloke that owned the company that delivered Hitachi from Manchester. (Another name gone!!) It seems Hitachi wanted just one depot, so they got their heads together and formed Worldfleet, based at Stone in Staffs, with Dodds doing the South, the others going North. There were 2 lads living and working in Scotland, but again, the names have gone.(Jock, maybe?) Tony Payne from Hitachi office in Hayes moved up to Stone, Pete Bennet, Glynne Taylor and myself transfered from Dodds to Worldfleet, but didn’t move up there. I was actually on a night out on the changeover night. Went to bed in the lorry working for Dodds, in the morning I worked for Worldfleet.
I was taken off the South-West and put on South-East which was OK as I’d moved back to Kent by then. Dodds had a depot in Sittingbourne, so I used to park there at the weekend, but eventually Worldfleet lost the contract and closed down. Jimmy offered me a job back on Dodds, but I’d already got a job at Lenham, a lot nearer home, so I took that.
I obviously don’t know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but Jimmy decided the time had come to sell up, had an offer he couldn’t refuse from a Swedish(?) bloke that was gonna wipe Stobbart and every other British Haulage company off the earth. It was about a couple of months, I think before he went under.
J.Dodd MAY come on this forum he said, so keep your eyes peeled.
Gott to go, just been on the phone for an hour to Mark Taylor who I’ve contacted thru here. Cheers Cliff Boulton
PCB:
Mind you, do you remember the days before the Cruisers? Dodd’s used to have some motors on contract to Hitachi way before then. They had some Clydesdales (probably about T or V-reg or something) with pod sleepers. They were white and orange colours back then. In fact, I saw an old episode of Minder a few weeks ago and there, right in shot, stuck in traffic, was on of those Clydesdales. Great!
The episode of Minder was called ‘Senior Citizen Caine’ and the Clydesdale appeared after about 5 minutes.
Anyone have the technology to get a picture from the screen?
Hi Cliffy,thank for the info re Dodds demise.I wondered what happened.Such a great company to work for and a great bunch of blokes on the job…Hope Mark Taylor gets on trucknet,love to e in contact with him again.Hoping to that J.D.also can contribute.
Anyone know what happened to Ian King??He hired me and was eternally grateful that he did,intoducing me to you lot!!!
Keep the tales and pics coming.
Stay Lucky Mick
HI Cliffy,yep another name,Tony Payne.Got on with him too.He gave me a good reference when I left,and i used it on a few occasions,I still have it.
When I left Dodds/Hitachi,I still did a lot of work in East Anglia for other firms and still had contact with my old dealers,often used to pop in for coffee ect,Many times i used to see the chap that did my old area for Worldfleet,cant recall his name tho but he did have a Foden.
Stay Lucky Mick
