Some more borrowed from another site. 
Had to use em
Hi all. I used to work in the office in Edmonton before leaving in early 90,s
to become a London Cabbie. Recently picked up the “Coffee to go” book
and it led me to here. Presume all the drivers have retired by wondered
if anyone sees Dave Coop,John Whitbread,Alf Koski or any of the
others. Cheers Paul.
Paul5464 I last saw Alf doing UK only with Hercock & having his nights out at South Mimms, altho he had a house in the East End. The story was that all those years doing Swiss he shared the house with his Mum. But when he came home he never slept in the house but in a transit van in the front garden. His Mum passed away and then he suffered heart probs. & died. Alfie was a good mate of mine.Whats happened to the Whitbread. Fantastic stories of active service in Korea. He was the only Cockney Colour Sergeant in the Black Watch.He got the rank for his services in Korea. One of the lads got killed in the fog going to Italy on the Bakehouse road.He was a big blonde guy who was condemned to live for the rest of his life in a truck. He gave a SA office girl a lift from Hercock in Italy to London & other drivers had clocked her in his truck & kindly rang his wife. He walked in the door & she had already packed his bags & kicked him out. He could have been called Steve?
Hi Harry. Sad to hear about Alf, he lived a mile away from the yard but
quiet often slept in his cab so your tale doesn’t suprise me. A lovely
bloke. John was a legend, so many stories, the best one I heard was
he told people Fatima Whitbread was his daughter although both him
and his wife were white, another lovely bloke. Steve Anderson was the
drive who sadly died in a crash on a Saturday morning, I took the
original call from a Houseman’s Of Derby driver. He had taken to going
back to Scotland every four weeks to see the kids, but slept in his cab
if he wasn’t on the road. So many good characters came in and out
the office from both Hercocks and subbies. Do you know what
happened to the firm, did they sell up, go bust ■■, any info would be
great. Thanks for taking time to reply to first post.
Paul5464 No idea what happened to the outfit. I remember when John caused problems in his local & the landlord called the police .They arrived with an old timer leading a posse of sprogs & Johnny said." Is this all you can manage, Sarge?"
Alfs favourite description of drivers was." 'Es a face. You must know 'im."
Paul5464 NEWS FLASH!!! I’ve just seen Johnny Whitbread. He looks as fit as a fiddle ,is seventy-five & is living in Dovercourt.
One for Gunnerheskey
Bit of rough trade I know but had this little minky for a short while n a fella on effbook tells me Hercocks ran some on tipper work. Don’t suppose any of you have any pics of them, did the same sort of work but I’m bugard if I can remember em. Cheers Paul
Punchy Dan:
0One for Gunnerheskey
Nice pic Dan 
Always good to see more Hercocks 
coomsey:
Bit of rough trade I know but had this little minky for a short while n a fella on effbook tells me Hercocks ran some on tipper work. Don’t suppose any of you have any pics of them, did the same sort of work but I’m bugard if I can remember em. Cheers Paul
I remember Hercocks from the earl 70s when they had mandators & F86s on tippers & all 8 leggers. But never saw a Foden, but ya never know as I don’t obviously know everything about them.
I didn’t even know they had one of these & I used to live near the depot.
gunnerheskey:
coomsey:
1
Bit of rough trade I know but had this little minky for a short while n a fella on effbook tells me Hercocks ran some on tipper work. Don’t suppose any of you have any pics of them, did the same sort of work but I’m bugard if I can remember em. Cheers PaulI remember Hercocks from the earl 70s when they had mandators & F86s on tippers & all 8 leggers. But never saw a Foden, but ya never know as I don’t obviously know everything about them.
I didn’t even know they had one of these & I used to live near the depot.
Photo credit to Clive Luff
gunnerheskey:
gunnerheskey:
coomsey:
1
Bit of rough trade I know but had this little minky for a short while n a fella on effbook tells me Hercocks ran some on tipper work. Don’t suppose any of you have any pics of them, did the same sort of work but I’m bugard if I can remember em. Cheers PaulI remember Hercocks from the earl 70s when they had mandators & F86s on tippers & all 8 leggers. But never saw a Foden, but ya never know as I don’t obviously know everything about them.
I didn’t even know they had one of these & I used to live near the depot.Photo credit to Clive Luff
Thanks anyway Gunnerheskey great picture didn’t see that one either. Running out of the same places you’d imagine you’d see em all but I could go weeks without seeing fellow drivers on small companies let alone other firms. This guy on effbook seemed to know his business n talked as if they had 4/5 of them which appears a bit odd cos they would have been big on Volvos at that time but we’ve seen the Leyland so who knows? Somebody
I used to spend a lot of time up there Leicester yard in the 70/80s . Was all Volvo apart from a Bedford tk tipper . Big mixture of 6 and 8 wheel tippers and the odd 6 wheel rigid . The rest were all artics . Plus the smart draw bar outfit . Only saw it once , theres a pic of it a few pages back which was a real nice bit of kit back in those days . Think it spent most of the time in europe . It was a lhd W reg iirc . They also had an AEC and a Volvo heavy recovery trucks . I don’t remember any fodens tho . Used to see some alberti santi trucks there from time to time . All the rigids painted hercock simpson . The artics were just hercock continental . Was interesting to see the pic of the 8 wheel Leyland as I never saw that .
DID NOT KNOW ALFIE HAD DIED HE WAS A GREAT GUY AND LOVED BY ALL
YES JOHNNY WHITBREAD IS OK SPOKE TO HIM ON THE PHONE EARLIER
THIS YEAR WAS WORKING AT A HOMEBASE IN ESSEX. FOR THOSE THAT
DONT KNOW DAVY COOP DIED ABOUT 3 /4 YEARS AGO I BELIEVE IT WAS A HEART ATTACK AND I HAVE NOT SEEN KEVIN FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS I BELIEVE HE HAS HAD HIS HAIR CUT SHORT BUT I WILL BELIEVE IT WHEN
I SEE IT HAHA ON REFLECTION THAY WERE A GREAT BUNCH OF GUYS
AND I SALUTE THEM ALL AS I DID THE JOB MYSELF AND YOU HAD TO
BE A CERTAIN BREED TO DO THAT JOB WEEK AFTER WEEK
BOB CAIRNS 
john whitbread is as we speak in america,(he has gone to advise bush on the strategy yanks are using in iraq and with his assistance the conflict should be over within 15 years), he is driving a transit for b&q colchester and is in good health. 
ok guys its been posted on here that Alfie from Hercocks had died i can
thankfully inform you all that Alfie Koski is alive and well and living in his mums
old house in Walthamstow i spoke to him this salvo and he was tickled pink to hear he was in that big old TIR Park in the sky and will be attending the
christmas reunion this year (without wings) im glad i can bring you all this happy bulletin and i did not shout once.
CRACK ON TO MACON:
ok guys its been posted on here that Alfie from Hercocks had died i can
thankfully inform you all that Alfie Koski is alive and well and living in his mums
old house in Walthamstow i spoke to him this salvo and he was tickled pink to hear he was in that big old TIR Park in the sky and will be attending the
christmas reunion this year (without wings) im glad i can bring you all this happy bulletin and i did not shout once.
Ahhh, peace at last Bob, and good news on 2 fronts. Thanks for both mate
Doubt whether I could be tempted out of my exile heaven but do you think there may be some old WhiteTrux hands in your happy band? Names are a real failing for me but a few I remember are Billy Broad, Tony Buckle, Stewart ?, 2 different Richards - one large one small and Pathfinder from your neck of the woods, Sheppey. All from the 80s.
Good news about Alfie!!! John has come off the road now but still works for B+Q. he had a bad smash near Thetford on Black ice in the winter & smashed up all his legs etc. But he is OK now.
harry,where are you getting your info from?i spoke to john lunchtime today and he is as fit as a 75 yr old should be and certainly dont have a limp. 
