Even if you’d been blindfolded you knew just where you were on the M1 when you got a whiff of that acrid smell of London Brick at Stewartby! I always thought those LB lads had a monotanous job,handballing thousands of bricks day after day! You would come across them parked at various cafe’s around London,usually 5 or 6 of them or sometimes blocking the whole car park up!I’m talking about pre mechanical handling days in the 60’s and early 70’s of course.I wonder how to-days drivers would take to the same daily handballing these lads had to endure? Anyway whose got all the photos of these brick motors? lets have a few of them on!!! The first two loads I did when I started with my first “A” licence were two loads of facing bricks of 3000 each,loaded by forklift but handball off! Cheers Bewick.
There’s a few LBC motors on the Brickies thread which you can find on the Photo Forum. Unfortunately, there’s not many
from the pre-mechanical handling days, but to start you off, here’s one that must have been one of the last not to have
a Selfstak.
And just to think… after the truck, you’d got that ■■■■ trailer to do too.
When I left Swifts in 87 it was to work for Transfleet contracted to London Brick and Stewarby and Bletchley, I did a night trunk from either of those locations. Myself and a mate (Pete King) started the same day. We both got brand new DAF 2800’s with tri axle flat bed trailers, they were in the livery of J R Loughton who held the main contract. I was shocked on my first night as I spread a fly sheet over the load and looked for ropes ? … “we don’t use ropes” said a man who had worked for Loughtons for years, “the loads dont move, if the do no amount of rope will stop it” and he was right ! I worked there a year driving a suicidal speeds because it was drop and hook, job and finish, we would drop our loaded trailers in Bridgewater, hook up to an empty and return to Cranfiled (our base). After just two weeks Pete and I were given new prototype DAF 95’s, two of the very first on the road in the UK, they were great trucks but a pain in te ■■■ when things went wrong becaus no DAF dealer could do repairs, we had to call out DAF specialists which took ages and the most common fault was the air compressor pipe blowing out due to short threads, they eventually modified this item to stop it happening.
We drove so fast along the A420 to Swindon on route that one night Pete had collected his load from another location and I was running well ahead of him so taking my time and about 15 miles south of Oxford two patrol cops pulled me and said it was just a check ? they walked round and asked “Is something wrong with the lorry ?”
“No … why do you ask ?”
“Because you blokes usually drive down here at about 60 miles an hour and you are doing 30” They laughed and went away which just goes to show how british cops have a sense of humour 
Some nights we had to return our trailers to the brick yards and the night watchman would fry bacon and eggs on a shovel over the kilns. 
Greetings,All.
I agree, the Brick Drivers earned their money prior to mechanisation.This one was at Brighton on Sunday.Regards,900X20.
Recovery
Back
Another
4 wheeler
Looks like they’ve had a bit of a tidy up at Rush Green Steevo 
Hiya …whats gone on at rush green please… i’ve got photos of that foden (2002ML) with no damage to the screens.
the AEC (rts )cab i would like some parts off that(doors and maybe a grill) have they been cut up .
John
Pics at Rush Green only a couple of weeks old. Dont think motors will be torched, they have just been having a tidy up and digging them out of the undergrowth!
Remember when London brick merged with Butterly brick, the motors looked smart in that short lived red white & blue livery
Hiya …although looking sad that model AEC had air suspension… In the 60’s not bad A
John