The mechanic:
I WORKED FOR MILLAR 1968–1984 ANY MEMORIES
, hi i didnt work for millars garage , but knew the lads at the beattock millars garage , keith watson , keith millar and his dad jimmy millar , i use to work for mcinnes garage in moffat many yrs ago , good times
essex30v6:
The mechanic:
I WORKED FOR MILLAR 1968–1984 ANY MEMORIES, hi i didnt work for millars garage , but knew the lads at the beattock millars garage , keith watson , keith millar and his dad jimmy millar , i use to work for mcinnes garage in moffat many yrs ago , good times
I WORKED FOR MILLAR 1968–1984 ANY MEMORIES
The mechanic:
I WORKED FOR MILLAR 1968–1984 ANY MEMORIES
Yes,I was pulled in from Lesmahgow to Abington by Millars when a hub brearing collapsed on the trailing axle of an AEC MK5 Mammoth Major tanker I had.The tyres caught fire and a couple of Tyburn Road Services drivers stopped and gave me a hand when my two extinguishers were empty.The load of toluene I had ex BP Grangemouth had to be transhipped in a layby and the A74 southbound was closed while we did it.It would be 1970 and the BP safety team organised the tranship onto another one of our vehicles.Scottish TV turned up as well much to the disgust of BP 
I worked for A.E.Evans Regent Transport at the time and down at Abington the hub was burned off,axle chained up and away I went next night back to Sheffield in a 7-wheeler.I got some funny looks and plenty of headlight flashing on my way home.I’m not sure but didn’t Millars have digs as well as I stayed in Abington overnight.Can’t remember what wrecker dragged me in either.
Mrs. Millar used to do digs ;most likely where you stayed. Thewrecker at that time would be an hd57 albion eight wheeler or an ex wd albionsix wheeler.
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Millers Abington, Millburn, Carlisle. Hudsons, Milnthorpe.
these lads were real mechanics, they could rebuild a wagon at the roadside, not like the technicians of today,
Dave.
.
.
SorryIdon,t have any of hd albion;I have others that I will have to look for and
scan onto computer and then work out how to link them.
Robert, you must remember bulwarks, we used to have seddons & leylands and pull skellie tanks for carlsberg, and stopped many times in the hotel, I a lone had you out to me at least half a dozen times for various breakdowns, I remember a tall slim grease monkey with a mop of unruly hair, he was a nice bloke, and we was on C.B., my handle was “Curlytop” Norman
Hi Norman I think the guy you remember might be Billy Weston. He started on his own and actually bought the
garage from Jim Millar in the mid eighties.He is still operating as Westons Reckovery atCrawford.
They have some terrific wreckers.
That is nice to know, now I come to think of it, I know I had at least three injector pipes go bust on them leylands, a tyre flat. also the cafe on the right side as you come in from the south, had many meals in there, also a short hair tall big built lad who liked his football. But this is along time ago, starting from 1978 till I retired at 62 in 1999, some of your mates, had some Carlsberg special brew, if we broke down on the way back from Dunne & moores Glasgow, I would let them empty it into a bucket, because there was always at least a couple of gallons left in Norman
Robert,according to an old Lanarkshire friend of mine he thinks Millars was originally Jackie Harveys,back in the 40s and 50s. Is that right?
Would this be the wrecker in question just found this in an album, not sure but I think its a Peter Davies photo 
could be the 6 wheeler Albion behind it and also looks like a Bedford QL to the left.
Hi Chris. The garage was orinally built by Jim Millar in the sixties,previous to that he was involved in haulage as Brookfield haulage.Before that his father
Dan Millsr had a coal business.It was sold to Westons in the mid eighties and sometime later sold to James Harvie &sons who are the present owners.
Hi Lemonmouth. That is the HD Albion. It originally belonged to Inter City Transport and had a second lever for changing the transfer.
This was changed to an air shift and the box was reversed giving it a speed of about 60mph.It had done well over half a million miles
on the original engine.The wrecking gear was I think Garwood and the winch which was mounted forward of the booms was out of a
Scammell similar to the one behind it.You had to stand at the n/s of the vehicle with a pole over the lever to operate the winch.
The Scammell Pioneer had aGardner 6LW fitted it done 26mph and met its end when it ran into the back of a Lomas of Bollington
vehicle which was broken down between Abington and Crawford. I think the other vehicle was a Canadian Ford with a snow plough
attachment.The first job I had when I started in 1968 was fitting a clutch to it. This was done outside on the forecourt. Where did
that photo come from?.
I’ve been studying that photo and I am not sure what it is in the background.I don’t remmember us having a QL. It looks like a cab on its own.
Robert, this was a photo I bought at a rally a few years ago, there is no name or mark on the back but looks to me very much like a Peter Davies photo pdtruckphotos.com looking closer at the photo it looks like a Scammell behind the albion and the QL to the left has the Millar name on the door, was the A35 the ‘Emergency Van’ 
Hi Robert your mention of Lomas of Bollington mind’s me there was a lad drove for them and married a lass from a farm just out of Abington on the south side I think he packed in the driving and took a job locally does that ring a bell with you.
You would know my old Boss Tam McMurdo I drove for them.
Eddie.