from LCB they were the 2nd biggest private haulier in the world. if i remember correctly we 1268 vehicles at the height and in the sixties that was alot of lorries.
littlelegs:
sorry bewick i didnt think they needed an explanation they were the biggest privatly owned haulage company of their time
Hiya…it was great fun years (before tautliners) everyting on flat trailer.s. some of the loads was
a guessing game what’s that. where’s it going to.the crates was good reading… BL parts for Dubi
crate 900lbs size xxxxft wide x…xxxxft wide x…xxxxft high…lift here…top stow only.
destination aaalllabad box one of 10 and so on…Massey Fergy tractors on the trailer (7)sideways from
Morton’s BRS to Liverpool destination Madras.sometimes you’d see one trailer loaded with construction
gear on. then after half hour another even a different company you could work out they was going to
the same dock.there 'd be a square piece of plywood with a pile of writing giving weight destination
which port and a contract number…all this passed the time away while we was on our way to god knows.
sometimes you’d see something a odd shape and see how it was fastened down a month later you had the
same load. now how was the load fastened on i saw weeks ago. all good fun wasn’t it
if you saw Bassets running north with reels on you had a guess who to phone for a return load. it may have
been plate or timber but your mind was always working overtime to who was carrying what and where.
then the curtain side come along. you never knew who was up to what anymore…just having a moment
their thinking i was still a lad with a big lorry
Cheers John
Bassman:
Hi, Dennis
This is turning into an interesting thread. I think my contenders would be 1) the late Doug Holloway who built up one of our areas biggest haulage concerns,mainly based on the steel industry,namely Consolidated Land Services. Many is the story of his deals and means to get contracts, stories of him sailing close to the wind but if you worked for him and did your job you were generally well looked after. A lot of his drivers spent many years with him and were quite loyal.
I would like to talk to him now because my father was one of his first drivers,when it was North Lincs Haulage ,which was Doug and three drivers.
I have memories of my father and Doug handballing two four wheeler loads of bagged fish meal onto my Dads eight wheeler for my dad to do umpteen drops round Devon and Cornwall, and then Doug and my dad sat at our kitchen table talking. Me,a tiddler who in later life went to work for Doug but owing to the size of the firm I was a driver among many. It would be interesting to see if he thought life was better in his early days ,when everybody pitched in and helped or later on when he had made his money and sold out to Powell Duffryn.
No.2)I think that would have to be Harold Woods. A man who built an empire out of other empires and became one of the names for tank haulage, what would his thoughts be about todays monopolies.
Lastly I would love to be able to talk again to one man who spent all his working life in haulage, never owned a truck or managed a company ,just went out every day and did his job, My father.
A man who as a kid for many years we saw at bed time Sunday and again on Friday night or Saturday dinner. In later years I suppose after the joy of the open road and cab hotel had worn off he moved onto tankers and more local work.
Now that I am about to retire I think my dad and I could spend many an hour comparing two generations of haulage, and even now I wish I could ask his opinion about matters transport related.Cheers Bassman
Number 3 listed, excellent paragraph, well said.
Hiya …CLS wow they had some tackle…next question… was their any connection between Clugson’s and CLS
i have a friend who worked for Clugsons many years ago and i can’t remember if he left Cluggy’s to go to CLS.
i know he worked at both firms at one time.he was the top man at Mitchel Cotts at one time, now in his
late 80’s he out of the game. his name is Ray Blood if anyone remembers him
John
Hi 3300,
CLS Scunthorpe and Clugstons were two different firms . Their yards were close to each other , CLS being on Midland Road and Clugstons on Brigg road .
Both heavily involved in steel and the steelworks, both ran flats and tippers. CLS had a fleet of Guy Invincibles and Atkinson 8 wheelers plus artics on the tipper fleet mainly involved in taking raw materials into the steelworks, plus a large fleet ,mainly Guys , on steel distribution.
Clugstons tippers were mainly involved with slag and tarmacadam out of the steelworks and again with a large fleet of artics on steel distribution.They had a T/M called ■■? Brooksbanks who moved over to CLS,this was shortly after Ken Harvey gave up the traffic office.
Incidentally , Clugstons yard was the other side of the fence to BRS Scunthorpe, another big player on the Scunthorpe steel scene.
Cheers Bassman
this was put on a cls thread,north links guy before it was cls,I loaded pit arches out of cls,billets out of clugstons yard & coiled wire from tanker hire,even though I drove for BSC,it was quicker to load out of a contractors yard than load direct out of BSC scunthorpe
loaded for Tinsey wire,out of BRS scunthorpe
does no one out there remember BRIDGES TRANSPORT from preston or do you prefer to forget as they left you standing
bingo:
does no one out there remember BRIDGES TRANSPORT from preston or do you prefer to forget as they left you standing
The founder wrote a very good book entitled “As I remember…”
marky:
bingo:
does no one out there remember BRIDGES TRANSPORT from preston or do you prefer to forget as they left you standingThe founder wrote a very good book entitled “As I remember…”
Harold Bridges. That book is brilliant, he had an interesting life and was a very fortunate haulier.
Bob Booty Caravan Transport from Hornsea. They were quite innovative in their designs of lorries
bingo:
does no one out there remember BRIDGES TRANSPORT from preston or do you prefer to forget as they left you standing
I bought a copy of Harold Bridges book on a stall in the market a few years ago,it was a great read about a great firm who rose to prominence as a regional Carrier from the 1920’s through to the late 60’s when they sold out to the Tay-Forth group (could never understand the logic in that deal!)Bridges were a great outfit in their day,they could run rings around BR and BRS Parcels,they used to fly about all over the north west,no computers or sat navs in those days,the drivers knew their own patches like the back of their hands ! Cheers Bewick.PS Their slogan lettered on the side of their motors was " It’s best by Road and better by Bridges".
you got next day am delivery with bridges wether you wanted it or not and no extra charge
On the tail board it read “Send it by road, send it Per Bridges”.
Anybody got any photos of this firm?
There is an old farm on Cow Hill near Preston where the doors on the barn are made from Bridge’s wagon bodies and you can still read the sign writing. The bodies are from TK bedfords.
I used the digs at the Ribbledale cafe later known as the Silent Seventh at Longton south of Preston and if you were in early you had a bother parking as the parking area was full of Bridges putting of time before they ran into the Depo.Eddie.
Davis Bros
The term yiddle is taken from the yiddish language,it was used to describe the father of the the Davis Bros who owned Taxis and horse and carts driven by old style carmen.The five Bros HARRY,FRANKIE, HUBBY, SAMMY,SOLLY, started a transport company which became the second biggest private haulier in the world.It is true that if we needed a part they would take a part from a vehicle being built on the line if it was at the weekend and nowhere else had spares.I worked for the brothers for many years and i have to say it was a great experience,the stories which i hear about YIDDLES makes me smile because most were true.Any info required please ask.
LCB
lcb:
Davis Bros
The term yiddle is taken from the yiddish language,it was used to describe the father of the the Davis Bros who owned Taxis and horse and carts driven by old style carmen.The five Bros HARRY,FRANKIE, HUBBY, SAMMY,SOLLY, started a transport company which became the second biggest private haulier in the world.It is true that if we needed a part they would take a part from a vehicle being built on the line if it was at the weekend and nowhere else had spares.I worked for the brothers for many years and i have to say it was a great experience,the stories which i hear about YIDDLES makes me smile because most were true.Any info required please ask.
LCB
I seem to recall that Davis Bros kept the Trade press busy as well as the drivers mag Headlight keeping up with their exploits and antics in the late 60’s early 70’s,from memory it was Solly that seemed to figure prominently,maybe his older brothers? were out of it by the time of their final demise,but it sure was riveting reading at the time ! Cheers Bewick.
Lance Biscomb:
There is an old farm on Cow Hill near Preston where the doors on the barn are made from Bridge’s wagon bodies and you can still read the sign writing. The bodies are from TK bedfords.
can you see them from google street view
