Iancarr1968:
Just heard this week that Tony Crooks is now in a care home with dementia. Sad news
Hi Ian,
Sorry to hear about Tony. I used to work at Dents with him in the 60’s. He used to come to work in a big Mk10 Jag, it had a 3speed auto. gearbox stuck in 2nd gear he used to get 5 or 6 mpg out it. He later had a rotbox of a E type.
Regards Ken
I last drove for John Dee in 1987 and this is the first time I have ever seen this blog.
I recognise many of the names in the chat above and wonder if any of you remember me? I operated ot of Wetherby for a few years, originally had a night trunker but in the last 12 months I used to go collect my own loads, Thorn at Spennymoor, Magnet at Darlington, a cardboard company that I have forgotten where that was, the docks at Hartlepool etc. I had the CB handle of Gas Meter and my better half was known to many as Meter Maid
Andrew Morrison:
is this the same john dee that went bust owing lots of people lots of money■■?
John Dee Group and Magnet had a major financial “fall out” back in the early 90’s,IIRC Magnet owed a substantial amount,how or perhaps when it got paid or not is unclear.
David
Iancarr1968:
dickie carr you speak of was my dad. he died of cancer in 1987 aged 46… i used to go away with him as often as i could when i was young and loved every minute of it. i know he loved working at john dee transport even though like all the driver he would moan about the wages! i remember lots of drivers … davey stores,micky wright,summer ronnie,mel hall,tommy johnson. peter johnson,bambi, richie, crooksy, the fitters nat and rocky, tommy maddison. baz in the office dennis calahan, peter newtoni had some great times and i knew my dad did as well, having a few pints was one of the things he liked but he did have a bit of a hot head at times, i like to think he passed a lot of knowledge to me as ive been driving now for 24 years (46 yrs old now) and have worked with a few of the drivers above storesy wrighty crooksy at peter cooks (6yrs) also worked at john dees for 2 years previous to that… last 13 ive been on car transporters…
from what i remember in my dads years at john dees the job aint the same anymore, drivers dont socialise like they used to… and aint got as much time for each other as in days gone by, thanks for reading this ian carr
Seeing some of those names brings bak memories - I was there at the height of the AM type CB radios so remember most of the guys by their handles - Ben Gunn (Tony Crooks), Slap Shot (not sure if he was Tommy Johnstone), Cowboy to name just three. The CBs did a lot in bringing people together - I was proud to be in the Banana Bunch! Dents - was that the Hole in the Wall Gang?, It’s been such a long time I forget the “group” names of some, like Elldis, Barnfather & Wilks (Barney’s Army?), The Williams crew with thier furniture vans - 10-4
My dad worked for John Dee in the 70’s/80’s , I believe his CB handle was Geordie Boy , he died in 1986 and I remember the banana bunch sent a flower arrangement in the shape of a banana , I sometimes went with him in his lorry and even had my own handle DaintyLady
Well hello Daintylady77, Welcome to TNUK, Its nice to hear from people that had a Dad working in the haulage game, As for myself Im an old man, And my CB Handle was The Phantom 
, I hope you continue to post things on here, Regards Larry.
bethmeganjordan:
not sure if it was charcon f10,s i think concrete products and bricksmarkwill:
cranedog:
some really old onesandrew what was the company that johns oldest son set up? i think they had offices in south mimms, im sure barry hargreaves was down there running it
John Dee had a yard at S.Mimms. They used to load kerbstones,paving slabs etc. out of Charcons on flats then back at Mimms they used to take the back 2 pallets off and roll a hiab onto the trailer and go and deliver. Every 10 loads from Charcon meant there was enough in the yard to make up another trailer load! The hiabs used to sit on a platform in the yard with rails on and the trailers had a ‘mouth’ at the back to guide them square onto the platform so the hiabs could roll onto the chassis rails of the trailers under their own ‘donkey’ power.