I did a week long course for “Goods and Passenger Vehicle Storekeepers” at High Ercall in November 1977. I was working for West Riding buses from Wakefield at the time. They were a bit tight, and wouldn’t pay for petrol to drive down - I got a rail warrant instead, and this involved quite a few train changes, and a taxi ride across Manchester on a very damp, cold Sunday, with long waits for connections. On arrival at Shrewsbury station, a small group of us were picked up by a Motec Sherpa minibus, and taken to what appeared to be a prison camp. We were read the rules - no-one to leave the site, lights out etc…but we found the bar, so that was alright. I found the food good, the rooms were spartan but comfortable, and the tuition interesting, especially when we got to set things on fire and use the extinguishers. Because of the time of year and the awful wet, cold weather, I didn’t get to have a look around at all the vehicles on site, just spent money in the bar. I thought I’d got lucky on the Thursday when one of the cleaning girls left her phone number under my pillow, but when I rang, I got her father, and he was not best pleased! (Neither was I!) Although I enjoyed the break from work, I don’t think I learned much that I didn’t already know, but at least I’ve still got my certificate.
I wonder if “CF” ever attended High Ercall or maybe he was an Instructor,his “breadth” of knowledge would sure place him among the top tier on the RTITB hierarchy !! Oh! and while we’re on has anyone been able to find out where the many £000’s of my levy went, I think I have a good claim to get it all back as I never seen a brass farthing back in Grant/rebate Bewick.
Hi Dennis, Confession time! I passed my Class 3 at Motec under the “Young Drivers Scheme” when i was 18 so your subs went to good use,but as we are both Smiths hopefully this softens the blow, Trev your are right the food was ok and the digs was spot on as well, Cheer’s Pete
pete smith:
Hi Dennis, Confession time! I passed my Class 3 at Motec under the “Young Drivers Scheme” when i was 18 so your subs went to good use,but as we are both Smiths hopefully this softens the blow, Trev your are right the food was ok and the digs was spot on as well, Cheer’s Pete
Oh please! do me a favour, don’t ■■■■■■■ rub it in (with salt) Pete even the memory of those bloodsucking Leftie ■■■■■■ from the RTITB screwing a hard working haulier out of some of his “hard earned” still drives the old blood pressure up and that is not good for my long term health nowadays Cheers Dennis.
pete smith:
Hi Dennis, Confession time! I passed my Class 3 at Motec under the “Young Drivers Scheme” when i was 18 so your subs went to good use,but as we are both Smiths hopefully this softens the blow, Trev your are right the food was ok and the digs was spot on as well, Cheer’s Pete
Oh please! do me a favour, don’t [zb] rub it in (with salt) Pete even the memory of those bloodsucking Leftie [zb]'s from the RTITB screwing a hard working haulier out of some of his “hard earned” still drives the old blood pressure up and that is not good for my long term health nowadays Cheers Dennis.
Dennis i owe you a few single malts,i’ll be having my breakfast at Carnforth truckstop next saturday morning,i’ll pop thru Milnthorpe and leave a bottle in the Spar for you!Cheers Pete. PS there will be a code to retrieve said bottle in case a Mr H.Gill or Mr.L Dunbar try it on!
pete smith:
Hi Dennis, Confession time! I passed my Class 3 at Motec under the “Young Drivers Scheme” when i was 18 so your subs went to good use,but as we are both Smiths hopefully this softens the blow, Trev your are right the food was ok and the digs was spot on as well, Cheer’s Pete
Oh please! do me a favour, don’t [zb] rub it in (with salt) Pete even the memory of those bloodsucking Leftie [zb]'s from the RTITB screwing a hard working haulier out of some of his “hard earned” still drives the old blood pressure up and that is not good for my long term health nowadays Cheers Dennis.
Dennis i owe you a few single malts,i’ll be having my breakfast at Carnforth truckstop next saturday morning,i’ll pop thru Milnthorpe and leave a bottle in the Spar for you!Cheers Pete. PS there will be a code to retrieve said bottle in case a Mr H.Gill or Mr.L Dunbar try it on!
Those ■■■■■■■ at the RTITB owe me a lot more than the odd bottle of Malt Pete but your kind gesture is appreciated Mate all the same ! Cheers Dennis.
Oh! no! I’ve just had a nice alfresco meal on our patio and you’ve got to give me a serious bout of indigestion by resurrecting this RTITB thread I as a large employer was FORCED to pay 1% levy ( tax) on our payroll to finance this bloody “white elephant” and those ■■■■■■■ in white coats in your shot couldn’t hold a job down in real life, the RTITB was a Labour Party wheeze thought up by another bunch of ■■■■■ who had never had a proper job either. It used to ■■■■■■■ infuriate me when I had a visit from a “jobs worth” from the RTITB waving the Olive branch but he didn’t care , his job was safe ( at the time) so he was just going through the motions of carrying out a visit. But I’ll tell you this our payment to the RTITB was always the very very last payment we made each financial year and they always had to threaten us legally to get it !! and I laughed my Bollox off when the whole rotten scheme was “kicked into touch” I could be living in Monaco now with what I was forced to pay into that ■■■■■■■ scam ! Bewick.
Bewick:
Oh! no! I’ve just had a nice alfresco meal on our patio and you’ve got to give me a serious bout of indigestion by resurrecting this RTITB thread I as a large employer was FORCED to pay 1% levy ( tax) on our payroll to finance this bloody “white elephant” and those [zb] in white coats in your shot couldn’t hold a job down in real life, the RTITB was a Labour Party wheeze thought up by another bunch of [zb] who had never had a proper job either. It used to [zb] infuriate me when I had a visit from a “jobs worth” from the RTITB waving the Olive branch but he didn’t care , his job was safe ( at the time) so he was just going through the motions of carrying out a visit. But I’ll tell you this our payment to the RTITB was always the very very last payment we made each financial year and they always had to threaten us legally to get it !! and I laughed my Bollox off when the whole rotten scheme was “kicked into touch” I could be living in Monaco now with what I was forced to pay into that [zb] scam ! Bewick.
I get like that when anyone mentions the old YTS scheme of the 80s, I left school and started as an apprentice storeman doing a day release to what can only be described as a shed to learn out dated methods for the princely sum of £29.50 for a 40 hour week.
Now being an enthusiastic type of lad at the time I accepted the companies kind offer to earn some extra cash by working on a construction site in Forfar all good you think? When the site supervisor arrived onsite to see how things were going (I had worked ten days straight at 15 hours per day) he gave me my pay slip
I was paid £1 per hour after 8 hours and breaks were deducted.
My fellow workers heard that I wanted to go home immediately as I was jacking and they had a polite word with the manager out of sight and strangely I got a massive pay rise
Young Trained Slaves
Bewick:
Oh! no! I’ve just had a nice alfresco meal on our patio and you’ve got to give me a serious bout of indigestion by resurrecting this RTITB thread I as a large employer was FORCED to pay 1% levy ( tax) on our payroll to finance this bloody “white elephant” and those [zb] in white coats in your shot couldn’t hold a job down in real life, the RTITB was a Labour Party wheeze thought up by another bunch of [zb] who had never had a proper job either. It used to [zb] infuriate me when I had a visit from a “jobs worth” from the RTITB waving the Olive branch but he didn’t care , his job was safe ( at the time) so he was just going through the motions of carrying out a visit. But I’ll tell you this our payment to the RTITB was always the very very last payment we made each financial year and they always had to threaten us legally to get it !! and I laughed my Bollox off when the whole rotten scheme was “kicked into touch” I could be living in Monaco now with what I was forced to pay into that [zb] scam ! Bewick.
I get like that when anyone mentions the old YTS scheme of the 80s, I left school and started as an apprentice storeman doing a day release to what can only be described as a shed to learn out dated methods for the princely sum of £29.50 for a 40 hour week.
Now being an enthusiastic type of lad at the time I accepted the companies kind offer to earn some extra cash by working on a construction site in Forfar all good you think? When the site supervisor arrived onsite to see how things were going (I had worked ten days straight at 15 hours per day) he gave me my pay slip
I was paid £1 per hour after 8 hours and breaks were deducted.
My fellow workers heard that I wanted to go home immediately as I was jacking and they had a polite word with the manager out of sight and strangely I got a massive pay rise
Young Trained Slaves
Richard you got more than me I was on £26.25 for an alleged 40 hr week,more like 60 but company topped wages up to around £40 a week! Living the dream wasn’t we !! Cheer’s Pete
IIRC the wages shot up to £29.50 in your second year! I certainly learnt a lot about life in those two years and the company being a small affair all the staff got on really well Infact I am still in contact with a couple of the workers today. God knows how I made the transition from YTS to contract manager via 16 years driving a lorry I guess it’s all part of life’s journey. (I still miss driving some days)
Richard R:
IIRC the wages shot up to £29.50 in your second year! I certainly learnt a lot about life in those two years and the company being a small affair all the staff got on really well Infact I am still in contact with a couple of the workers today. God knows how I made the transition from YTS to contract manager via 16 years driving a lorry I guess it’s all part of life’s journey. (I still miss driving some days)
I’ve managed it after 27 years Richard and yes I miss driving, still pop out in the spare motor when I get chance!
Richard R:
IIRC the wages shot up to £29.50 in your second year! I certainly learnt a lot about life in those two years and the company being a small affair all the staff got on really well Infact I am still in contact with a couple of the workers today. God knows how I made the transition from YTS to contract manager via 16 years driving a lorry I guess it’s all part of life’s journey. (I still miss driving some days)
I’ve managed it after 27 years Richard and yes I miss driving, still pop out in the spare motor when I get chance!
Dennis, Just like you I hate paying taxes etc,But Richard Read never moaned about Motec,He sent quite a few lads to High Ercall so he got something back.I tried to get him to send me on a auto electricians course but as the course was a few months long he said he could not spare me.Shame really as that trade is a licence to print money.
leylandlover:
Dennis, Just like you I hate paying taxes etc,But Richard Read never moaned about Motec,He sent quite a few lads to High Ercall so he got something back.I tried to get him to send me on a auto electricians course but as the course was a few months long he said he could not spare me.Shame really as that trade is a licence to print money.
I understand what you are saying “LL” but as far as I was concerned the RTITB was just a Labour Party wheeze as well as jobs for the “Boys” and also a Tax on hard working Private Hauliers. And yes there was good number of large Hauliers who happily embraced the “extortionate” scheme, if hauliers had stuck together and ignored the RTITB en bloc it just might have brought a close to the “scheme” a lot earlier than it did. No matter how compliant and subservient a Haulier was in making a claim it was impossible to get back every penny that you paid in and, of course , had every Haulier made legitimate claims the claims would have been paid at a lot lower rate but obviously this was “the dodge” and the RTITB new that most Hauliers didn’t have the time or the patience to make a claim so bingo ! the RTITB could reap a large surplus while boasting about the size of claims they actually paid out ! ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ! Bewick.
I successfully did my HGV Class i instructors and Forklift truck instructors courses here in November 1988. A realy interesting time spent here for four weeks.
P/S Still got my MOTEC necktie!
Oh! and while we’re on has anyone been able to find out where the many £000’s of my levy went, I think I have a good claim to get it all back as I never seen a brass farthing back in Grant/rebate 
Bewick.
Cheers Dennis.
