Speaking only of Hauliers long departed,if you could ,who would you like to chat to for a couple of days.Name your 3 favourites and Why !! Mine ,I think, would be 1)Alf Sutton,surely one of the greatest hauliers of the 20th century,an absolute A.C.E. at his trade.2) James and Alexander Smith who created a nationwide operation from Maddiston.3) Jack Brady,because I never had the time to absorb all he imparted to me and a re-run would fill in some blanks !! There may,hopefully,be some very interesting responses,or none at all !!! Cheers Bewick.
Beresfords, Sayers of Newbury & R&G Maritime
tribsa:
Beresfords, Sayers of Newbury & R&G Maritime
A bit of background info as well then !
I think I would enjoy spending time with Harold Wood and enquiring how he built his chemical tanker business up to what we see now as Exel DHL against competition from James Hanson
Secondly would be Jack Adams who owned Springfield Haulage. I knew Jack quite well as he was a friend of the family and my mum worked for him in later years. They had several contracts but the main depot was on Ferries Street in Hull and also a place on Trafford Park. His great nephew is occasionally on here as Springfield Rifle.
Last but certainly not least would be John Bogg whose family owned Link Transport in Hull. They were the main fish hauliers and trawler owners when Hull fishing industry was at its busiest. They had a night trunk to London and the lorries were dripping with melting ice and fish scales.
My choice would be Sam longson , he went from a horse and cart to the fleet he had at chapel . He had all the work from ici lime , a lot of it was subbed out without fear or favour . He was as tight as a fish’s chuff , but if you did the work he payed good money . Before I was old enough to drive , I worked on building his new bungalow , and we were always well looked after with tea and cake . His yard was at the bottom of a mile long hill , and he would often stand at the entrance and throw water on the lorry wheels as they turned in , and woe betide any driver whose drums steamed . Old style boss , everyone started at the bottom , and if you were good enough you worked your way up . Most of the drivers were 20 year men , or more , so it must have been a good job , cheers , dave
hubby davies solly davies & frankie davies
littlelegs:
hubby davies solly davies & frankie davies
Who are they then? could be anybody I suppose ! Bewick.
I`d like to meet Henry Long or any of his family who operated over 100 lorries at one point with some good contracts only for the bloke who bought A One transport and ruined them to bust Longs too.Jack Ashworth who is a legend in these parts with tales of his mechanical skills ,he aledgedly put a turbo on a Gardner well before Gardner did and a header tank behind the cab on AECs before AEC ever did, he was a real character apparently and as mentioned earlier on this thread Harold Wood who started from scratch and built a nationwide tanker fleet from womauld street in Heckmondwike ,something i can never see being acheived again
stan robson, gordon plant , gerald priestner, old school lads, motors in tip top condition smart liverys and never heard a bad word cant be bad can it
Well for me it has to be my late great uncle Issac Smiles, the founder of “SMILES FOR MILES”, he started in the 20s & soon built a fine company up, a man with a head for making money, sadley he passed away in 1939, but of course his sons kept the business going, but there was a falling out with the remaining brothers in 1975 & the Co was put into volentery liquidation, One of the brothers carried on running a clearance house for a short time, & that was the end of a Family business alltogether, They had a mixed fleet, tippers,flats artics, heres a picture of Isaacs Ford Sussex tippers from the early 30s, Regards Larry.
Robsons of Carlisle would be a good one, very respected Haulier
Post removed.
Hate to be pedantic but the word is ressurected!
Jazzandy:
Hate to be pedantic but the word is ressurected!
Obviously I went to a different school than you did and can’t have had as good an education !!! If it is your intention to scrutinise all the spelling on this site mate you’ll sure have your work cut out “big time” best of luck in your future endeavours !! Cheers Bewick.
- Allison’s of Dundee, the last firm my dad drove for.
- W&J Riding of Longridge, good motors, long history, great livery (Until TDG colours)
- Killingbeck of Blackburn, A haulier who gave motors a new lease of life with various alterations and re-builds (well rememberd)
These are my 3 choices and I could have listed many more.
The problem is we no longer have the general traffic that was about when these great hauliers where in buisness very little chemical plants no heavy industry they would be struggling like the rest off them in todays crazy world ,plus when they where in buisnees the rates where a lot better ,companies they worked for appreciated what you did for them and accountants did not rule the world we had bank managers you could talk to not like todays faceless wonders
Bewick:
littlelegs:
hubby davies solly davies & frankie daviesWho are they then? could be anybody I suppose ! Bewick.
Dennis,
Perhaps the Davies Bros?..just a guess really!!
David
You are correct Davis bros very big company in the old days
Sorry for upsetting you Bewick. I was an English teacher originally before I saw the light and took up truck driving and latterly management. My post also was incorrect but no one noticed. It’s actually resurrected? No other nationality treats it’s language and spelling in such a cavalier fashion. It is a reflection on our education system and is probably one of the reasons our unprofessional management lost out to the professionalism of the Europeans.
Being a bit younger than most who read this particular Forum my list is a little bit more modern…
Bob Paul - As I have the utmost respect for what he started.
Peter Roff - As a Leighton Buzzard boy I used to stand and watch in awe as his trucks left on a Sunday and used to dream of driving one.
Norbert Dentressangle - I bet it would be damned interesting!!