Hi Gazzer just realized can’t do that weekend got family coming for a few day’s sorry mate hope to make it next time. 
Only a suggestion Kev. The following weekend is available and yes a booking would need to be made.
Suggestions for 17th or 24th please.
Hi gazzer 24th would be great for me but it’s what would suit everyone else. 
24th then Kev. Would you contact Gaz and Rocky please?
A.M. Garage were based in Selly Oak Birmingham. As their midland customers started exporting by road in the early 60’s,A.M.Garage developed door to door road services for groupage & full loads.using initially Thoresen Car Ferries services from Southampton in 1965
They opened a Southampton office & depot in Empress Road Bevois Valley . Both artics & rigids were based in Southampton,covering UK haulage as well as International
A 1965 Southampton built Highway chassis with a Boalloy Rag top body
A M Garage tilts were mainly built by Carrimore Trailers.AMGT 6619 is a 1966 example
A.M.Garage used British vehicles until the switch to Mercedes & later for the Renault traffic, Renault/Berliet units.
A 1969 ERF.
In 1967,A.M.Garage switched to Normandy Ferries when their Le Havre service commenced.In Southampton,BTDB (now ABP) provided the stevedoring using specialist Douglas Tugmasters for loading/unloading of unaccompanied trailers.In Le Havre, S.A.G.A. used ordinary tractor units
roolechat very interesting your mention of Townsend Thoresen out of Southampton just wondered when they started services out of the city as when I was a kid I went out on one of there ships with the family on holiday and would have been about 6 or 7yo so well over 60 years ago, Buzzer
Buzzer:
roolechat very interesting your mention of Townsend Thoresen out of Southampton just wondered when they started services out of the city as when I was a kid I went out on one of there ships with the family on holiday and would have been about 6 or 7yo so well over 60 years ago, Buzzer
British Railways coud see no profitable future at Southampton & withdrew their Southampton to St Malo & Le Havre services in 1963. The 2 vessels withdrawn -Normannia & Falaise - were then converted to ro/ro & deployed at Dover & Shoreham
Otto Thoresen saw the opportunity & commissioned 2 purpose built ro ro vessells -Viking 1 & Viking 2. Tourism -coaches /cars & caravans - were the target market as people became more affluent & took “foreign” holidays Thoresen Car Ferries first sailing was Viking 1 to Cherbourg in May 1964 I’ll add to this with another posting
Viking 2
roolechat:
Buzzer:
roolechat very interesting your mention of Townsend Thoresen out of Southampton just wondered when they started services out of the city as when I was a kid I went out on one of there ships with the family on holiday and would have been about 6 or 7yo so well over 60 years ago, Buzzer
British Railways coud see no profitable future at Southampton & withdrew their Southampton to St Malo & Le Havre services in 1963. The 2 vessels withdrawn -Normannia & Falaise - were then converted to ro/ro & deployed at Dover & Shoreham
Otto Thoresen saw the opportunity & commissioned 2 purpose built ro ro vessells -Viking 1 & Viking 2. Tourism -coaches /cars & caravans - were the target market as people became more affluent & took “foreign” holidays Thoresen Car Ferries first sailing was Viking 1 to Cherbourg in May 1964 I’ll add to this with another posting
Morning “roolechat” now you have gone and shaken the old brain cells.
My first trip abroad was in 1966 from Southampton to Le Havre in an Austin A55, age 21 with Thoresen, cant remember the name of the ferry.
Ended up on the south coast of France in a huge building site were they had built hundreds of posh houses and dug out all the soil arround them to eventually let the sea in, later found the name was to be Port Grimaud. What ship would that have been ■■? any idea. Harvey
HRS:
roolechat:
Buzzer:
roolechat very interesting your mention of Townsend Thoresen out of Southampton just wondered when they started services out of the city as when I was a kid I went out on one of there ships with the family on holiday and would have been about 6 or 7yo so well over 60 years ago, BuzzerBritish Railways coud see no profitable future at Southampton & withdrew their Southampton to St Malo & Le Havre services in 1963. The 2 vessels withdrawn -Normannia & Falaise - were then converted to ro/ro & deployed at Dover & Shoreham
Otto Thoresen saw the opportunity & commissioned 2 purpose built ro ro vessells -Viking 1 & Viking 2. Tourism -coaches /cars & caravans - were the target market as people became more affluent & took “foreign” holidays Thoresen Car Ferries first sailing was Viking 1 to Cherbourg in May 1964 I’ll add to this with another postingMorning “roolechat” now you have gone and shaken the old brain cells.
My first trip abroad was in 1966 from Southampton to Le Havre in an Austin A55, age 21 with Thoresen, cant remember the name of the ferry.
Ended up on the south coast of France in a huge building site were they had built hundreds of posh houses and dug out all the soil arround them to eventually let the sea in, later found the name was to be Port Grimaud. What ship would that have been ■■? any idea. Harvey
In 1966,Thoresen Car Ferries were operating:-
Viking 1 - Entered service in May 1964.She was renamed Viking Victory when she initiated the new P/mouth- Cherbourg/Le Havre service in 1976, she was sold on in 1983 & then ran under various names & owners -mainly in the Med-until scrapping in 2005
Viking 11 Entered service in July 1964 & then passed to Sealink/British Rail in 1977 operating P/mouth/Weymouth - Channel Islands (as
Earl William) Sank in 2011 whilst en route Trinidad - Venezuela.
Viking 111 Entered service in June 1965 & sold in 1982. was laid up near Oslo in 2004
Incidentally,in 1964,an Austin A55 would have cost £5-10 shillings (£5-50p in new money) each way for the 4.5 hr trip to Cherbourg or the 5.5 hr trip to Le Havre
Also in June 1966,Klosters Sunward Ferries inaugurated a weekly passenger/car ferry service to Vigo,Lisbon & Gibraltar using 49 Berth
but it only lasted for the one season however,it did pave the way for later developments such as Southern Ferries MV Eagle
Morning “roolechat” now you have gone and shaken the old brain cells.
My first trip abroad was in 1966 from Southampton to Le Havre in an Austin A55, age 21 with Thoresen, cant remember the name of the ferry.
Ended up on the south coast of France in a huge building site were they had built hundreds of posh houses and dug out all the soil arround them to eventually let the sea in, later found the name was to be Port Grimaud. What ship would that have been ■■? any idea. Harvey
[/quote]
In 1966,Thoresen Car Ferries were operating:-
Viking 1 - Entered service in May 1964.She was renamed Viking Victory when she initiated the new P/mouth- Cherbourg/Le Havre service in 1976, she was sold on in 1983 & then ran under various names & owners -mainly in the Med-until scrapping in 2005
Viking 11 Entered service in July 1964 & then passed to Sealink/British Rail in 1977 operating P/mouth/Weymouth - Channel Islands (as
Earl William) Sank in 2011 whilst en route Trinidad - Venezuela.
Viking 111 Entered service in June 1965 & sold in 1982. was laid up near Oslo in 2004
Incidentally,in 1964,an Austin A55 would have cost £5-10 shillings (£5-50p in new money) each way for the 4.5 hr trip to Cherbourg or the 5.5 hr trip to Le Havre
Also in June 1966,Klosters Sunward Ferries inaugurated a weekly passenger/car ferry service to Vigo,Lisbon & Gibraltar using 49 Berth
but it only lasted for the one season however,it did pave the way for later developments such as Southern Ferries MV Eagle
[/quote]
Fantastic, thanks for that.
We sailed from the old docks Southampton, (all filled in now), to Le Havre.
On the way through Le Havre stoped at a very quiet square ( early morning) and stood in this low perforated shield by a very big quiet road for a pee only for a bl***y bus to pull up mid desperate flow and all passengers my side just looked at me. big education for a vergin 21 year old. Harvey
You needed not to worry Harvey, from my experiences the French did that road side watering all the time and did not give a toss if you saw what they were holding or maybe not holding at the time, if you had to go you went, Buzzer
Due to lack of interest by the pub at Windhover AND the backup pub, The Fleming Arms at Swaythling to even bother to return my booking request for lunch, INCLUDING intervention by the Head Office of the chain, I’ve booked The Cricketers Arms, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh. They returned my call within an hour of leaving a message.
So there you have it those that have expressed a wish to attend. 12.00 for 13.00 lunch on the 24th of Feb.
16 spaces are reserved.
Buy your own booze and split the food bill! Unless you want to treat me!!
Buzzer:
roolechat very interesting your mention of Townsend Thoresen out of Southampton just wondered when they started services out of the city as when I was a kid I went out on one of there ships with the family on holiday and would have been about 6 or 7yo so well over 60 years ago, Buzzer
British Railways coud see no profitable future at Southampton & withdrew their Southampton to St Malo & Le Havre services in 1963. The 2 vessels withdrawn -Normannia & Falaise - were then converted to ro/ro & deployed at Dover & Shoreham
Otto Thoresen saw the opportunity & commissioned 2 purpose built ro ro vessells -Viking 1 & Viking 2. Tourism -coaches /cars & caravans - were the target market as people became more affluent & took “foreign” holidays Thoresen Car Ferries first sailing was Viking 1 to Cherbourg in May 1964 I’ll add to this with another posting
Viking 2
[/quote]
British Railways had operated the Normannia on the Southampton Le Havre service since 1952 The facilities on board were somewhat dated,but brave motorists could use the service as a small number of cars could be craned on & off which were stowed in the holds along with conventional freight. The Falaise offered similar facilities on the Southampton St Malo route. Neither route made any money & British Railways decided to close them both & Normannia’s last sailing to Le Havre was in early December 1963
At that time,conventional shipping,both short sea & deep sea, provided the means to to move imports & exports The Falaise could carry400 tons (presumably onions for the French onion sellers who cycled around Hampshire !).
Hauliers would collect export goods from factories or export packing places & deliver them to various ports with the usual delays incurred ( In 1964 the vehicle offloading queue at 104 berth for Union Castle exports was often 4 days or even more) The same for import collections,3 or 4 collections from various sheds in Southampton would be a full days work-even if some of the collections were for minimal amounts of cargo.
Shipping methods were limited to vessel design.Red Funnel ran ferry services to & from Isle of Wight but with very limited freight capacity
The Cowes Castle & Carrisbrooke Castle were 2 of the Castle class with only bow doors & limited height clearance,until they were all stretched & converted to drive through in the early /mid 70’s
Most freight to & from the Island was carried by barge. In 1960,over 70,000 tons was carried this way. British Road Services introduced 2 new barges on their Town Quay-Cowes/Newport service in 1961,Both “Needles” & "Cowes " had a crew of 4
“Cowes”
Otto Thoresen had looked at 3 possible South Coast ports for a new ferry service & decided on Southampton -Cherbourg as his first venture. When his decision was taken,he was not aware British Railways were intending to terminate their Le Havre service.
Chris,
I remember one of those onion sellers with his bike was a regular visitor to Oxford Street.
Regards
Richard
gazzer:
Due to lack of interest by the pub at Windhover AND the backup pub, The Fleming Arms at Swaythling to even bother to return my booking request for lunch, INCLUDING intervention by the Head Office of the chain, I’ve booked The Cricketers Arms, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh. They returned my call within an hour of leaving a message.
So there you have it those that have expressed a wish to attend. 12.00 for 13.00 lunch on the 24th of Feb.
16 spaces are reserved.
Buy your own booze and split the food bill! Unless you want to treat me!!
Hi Gary,
Angie and I will be there, quite happy to treat you to a packet of crisps !While we do the washing up !
Regards
Richard
MaggieD:
Chris,I remember one of those onion sellers with his bike was a regular visitor to Oxford Street.
Regards
Richard
He was knocked off his bicycle one day by a certain haulier,brought tears to his eyes-but I think they berry’d the hatchet soon after
gazzer:
Due to lack of interest by the pub at Windhover AND the backup pub, The Fleming Arms at Swaythling to even bother to return my booking request for lunch, INCLUDING intervention by the Head Office of the chain, I’ve booked The Cricketers Arms, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh. They returned my call within an hour of leaving a message.
So there you have it those that have expressed a wish to attend. 12.00 for 13.00 lunch on the 24th of Feb.
16 spaces are reserved.
Buy your own booze and split the food bill! Unless you want to treat me!!
Some memory stirrings there Gazzer, for me. I use to live in Swaythling back in the late 40s, went to my first school Bassett Green primary (I think 
) and my Grandparents lived in the woods at Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh. When we moved north to Manchester they bought our house at Ethelburt Avenue.
Also, the later mention of BRS brings back fond memories of my ‘Uncle’ George Bunce. My Dad’s best friend, both born and brought up in Southampton, who ran his own haulage company before the war (my Dad, never a lorry driver, nevertheless drove for him casually from time to time) and declined to have it back after nationalisation but spent the rest of his working life as manager of BRS, presumably on the Island. Well that is where he and ‘Auntie’ Peggy spent their retirement.
Bon Appetit for the 24th, there will be many miles done that day. 
Morning “roolechat”,
Ozzy pall and I were on the maided trip on the Hydrfoil in this shot, although it docked at the south side of the old pier.
Local TV, Day by Day had the cameras out and interviewed us, Duncan and I used the hovercraft from besides the old chainlink ferry each day for over 2 months and thought it would be differant so gave it a go.
Reporter said to me, (as we sat waiting) how does the jurney compare to the hovercraft, Duncan said, let you know when we get to the other side, place collapsed in laughter and they walked off. never got my chance of staredom. Harvey
roolechat:
Buzzer:
roolechat very interesting your mention of Townsend Thoresen out of Southampton just wondered when they started services out of the city as when I was a kid I went out on one of there ships with the family on holiday and would have been about 6 or 7yo so well over 60 years ago, BuzzerBritish Railways coud see no profitable future at Southampton & withdrew their Southampton to St Malo & Le Havre services in 1963. The 2 vessels withdrawn -Normannia & Falaise - were then converted to ro/ro & deployed at Dover & Shoreham
Otto Thoresen saw the opportunity & commissioned 2 purpose built ro ro vessells -Viking 1 & Viking 2. Tourism -coaches /cars & caravans - were the target market as people became more affluent & took “foreign” holidays Thoresen Car Ferries first sailing was Viking 1 to Cherbourg in May 1964 I’ll add to this with another postingViking 2
British Railways had operated the Normannia on the Southampton Le Havre service since 1952 The facilities on board were somewhat dated,but brave motorists could use the service as a small number of cars could be craned on & off which were stowed in the holds along with conventional freight. The Falaise offered similar facilities on the Southampton St Malo route. Neither route made any money & British Railways decided to close them both & Normannia’s last sailing to Le Havre was in early December 1963
At that time,conventional shipping,both short sea & deep sea, provided the means to to move imports & exports The Falaise could carry400 tons (presumably onions for the French onion sellers who cycled around Hampshire !).
Hauliers would collect export goods from factories or export packing places & deliver them to various ports with the usual delays incurred ( In 1964 the vehicle offloading queue at 104 berth for Union Castle exports was often 4 days or even more) The same for import collections,3 or 4 collections from various sheds in Southampton would be a full days work-even if some of the collections were for minimal amounts of cargo.
Shipping methods were limited to vessel design.Red Funnel ran ferry services to & from Isle of Wight but with very limited freight capacity
The Cowes Castle & Carrisbrooke Castle were 2 of the Castle class with only bow doors & limited height clearance,until they were all stretched & converted to drive through in the early /mid 70’s
Most freight to & from the Island was carried by barge. In 1960,over 70,000 tons was carried this way. British Road Services introduced 2 new barges on their Town Quay-Cowes/Newport service in 1961,Both “Needles” & "Cowes " had a crew of 4
“Cowes”
Otto Thoresen had looked at 3 possible South Coast ports for a new ferry service & decided on Southampton -Cherbourg as his first venture. When his decision was taken,he was not aware British Railways were intending to terminate their Le Havre service.
[/quote]
Otto Thoresen saw the opportunity to create a new market & Thoresen Car Ferries Viking 1 & 11 set new standards They were the first Ro/Ro vessels & the up to 800 passengers enjoyed first class facilities-Le Commandant restaurant-Smorgasborg(later replicated on Sally Lines vessels ) excellent bar areas & duty free shops(large Toblerones weren’t available in the UK !).This all contributed to a high on board spend.“Your journey should be enjoyed,not endured”.As a result,freight was not a priority. TCF targetted the tourist market via travel agents,Coach operators & newspaper adverts “Your holiday starts the moment you come aboard”
Both vessels were charted out for the winter at the end of the 1964 season,but both returned to Southampton for the 1965 season.
TCF had seen the potential of the Le Havre route vacated by British Railways & with the introduction of Viking 111 in June 1965
TCF were able to offer an all year round service & the coach operators & the tourist market quickly adapted to it “Your quickest route to the sun”
Traditionally imports & exports were caried in the holds of conventional ships with all the delays,cost,packaging etc associated with perhaps a weekly or fortnightly service , but with the opening up of all year round sailings the haulage industry was presented with all sorts of opportunities
