long shot but does anybody remember a company called Dougal ? they were based in kent ,greenhithe/swanscombe area in the 80`s . my late father worked for them driving a tipper . looking for any old pics or tales . would love to find out more about his trucking days . many thanks
Remember them as a kid had grey fodens mainly
ive seen some off them on ebay pics for sale green fodens 6 and 8 wheeled tippers
green tippers thats em , off to ebay . thanks very much for that
Remember them well mate. We used to see them in the Merrychest Cafe quite a bit. I even remember the phone number on the side, 0322 845775. Was’nt the last new one B187 VEU?. I used to run with them sometimes in my tipper driving days. All Fodens i think.
that’s them mate , always foden`s with the good old eaton splitter ! wish me old pa was about the first time I had crack it driving a lorry with one of them boxes . great once you master it ay !
Yard is still there, at the bottom of the hill opposite the entrance to the old Swanscombe Blue Clircle works. After Dougall left it stood empty for a while, then a plant hire firm occupied it briefly, but now empty, lovely yard in a good location with offices, workshop, lots of hard standing & a small quarry to the rear. Would make an ideal spot for a crushing/screening operation. Can’t understand why nobody else has taken it over?? As for their trucks mainly 8 wheelers with a few 6 wheelers thrown in. Green & grey fodens. I would say 25 years possibly more since they finished.
Also had a place at Dartford Heath “Gun Club Quarry” iirc the family had other business interests,property,fuel stations etc not bumped into any of them for 10/12 years now, that Foden reg number ring a bell btw, I remember they they purchased some new ones on “A” reg plates the drivers thought all their Christmas’s had come at once after some of the old dogs they had to do a days work in!
This could start a whole new theme about some of the tipper firms around there, Erith Haulage(the Darseys),Mark Luck, L D Ward ,Ellerbys,RHT,Jed Banham,Biggs Bros, Bill Wolley, Keith Noakes, Hursty etc (see it’s not just “oop narth” there’s loads of hauliers) if I was to sit here at the keyboard I’d suffer RSI typing all the stories
Do one about the firms that were in the gasworks at Greenwich some real live wires round that 20.
kr79:
Do one about the firms that were in the gasworks at Greenwich some real live wires round that 20.
Dan Ryan? 
also was around Tower Bridge Rd at one time iirc think he even made a guest appearance(un willingly) on aTV news programe ,anyway 45mins nearly over back to work!
My dad worked for him when he was in sillwood st and at the tunnel.
Still remember him throwing milk bottles at the tv crew.
Thats the one I remember,the good old days 
when I last came across him he was running as Halesworth Haulage subbed a job out to him well you can imagine what happened,thats a tale for another day what a laugh! he retired to Ireland a good few years ago now(gone by now?)I think his son Seamus? ran a training firm for 360&JCB drivers, what about John Carr(J W Carr), Kensal Rise or Kilburn area Danny Linehan aka “Danny the Thief” Croydon gas works lorry park, the thing is these guys paid top wages no maxing out your hours & living worse than a dog in a tin box all week, in fact tipper drivers wages in our area are on the up again just had to give my guy a wage rise but because we’re tipper drivers we come in for a bit of stick!anyway how about a “Tipper Drivers Tall Tales Club” (won’t allow Muckaway in till he gets a start on Earthline)
Hes been dead a long while mid 90s i think. Thats right seamus was his son.
As you say decent money and even now its not bad for the hours but like most haulage work to many clowns running round for stupid rates. And a bit harder to duck and dive.
certainly some strokes pulled and characters at it over the years.
