Bewick:
I have always acknowledged that as a teenager I was very fortunate to start as a mate with one of the finest,probably the best,8 wheeler and trailer drivers in the UK.His name is Eric Postlethwaite “Possy” and the motor,a Power Plus Octopus,was the last of this combination that T.Brady & Sons Ltd. operated,Athersmith Bros. of Barrow-in Furness carried on running 2 or 3 until the legislation altered.
I was not similarly fortunate and the first drawbar I drove was in the days of power steering. So tell me Bewick, how did you reverse the trailer? Backwards or nosing it in?
I will put myself against anybody even now in a reversing competition with a drag but I know full well that the secret is ‘little and often’ on the wheel. When I was a TM with a fleet of them I forbad my drivers from nosing and insisted on the ‘proper way’ mainly because you could see down both sides with the mirrors whereas nosing left you blind. On the other hand without the power that is a different kettle of fish but then, if you had a competant trailer boy to direct you…
Liverpool. On Midlands Storage we used to deliver Raleigh bikes in cartons roped and sheeted on flats. If parked overnight we always gave the kids a couple of bob to ‘guard the wagon’. One driver who didn’t found several bikes lying around with buckled wheels in the morning, they were transported without tyres fitted you see.
Glasgow. Ilkeston Haulage had an office on Corunna St. and, after loading whisky in Dumbarton bond we would ■■■■■■ a bit of kip there on the sofas provided before setting off down the road. Again, all roped and sheeted loads and we always made sure that one of us sat in the window watching the wagons across the road on the waste ground, looking for little legs on the far side under the trailer slitting and nicking the odd bottles.
The loneliness of the long-distance driver of the past - park-up and off to the digs with the battered suitcase.
As photographed by Roger Kenney - copyright Roundoak Publishing (sorry about the grain - fast b/w film)
Hello retriever, could you please post this classic photo of Rogers on the Old Cafes thread. I can’t think where this was taken at the moment but I have a feeling that I have passed this place and I will kick myself when somebody gives it an exact location. I have a feeling that the shop across the road was a small cafe and who knows maybe at some time the digs were upstairs. My first thoughts were that it was on the A58 at Heap Bridge near Bury not far from The Transparent Paper Mills and as there were a couple of pubs near there maybe those pubs did B.and B. If it is in the Bury area then maybe D.A.F.Dave, Boden or Foden 46 might remember it.
If suedehead is right and that is an Hanson tipper then the driver could of been Wilf Mellor whose son Ian did a bit of Middle East work in the 80’s.
Please keep the brilliant photos coming.
i was surprised when you said you carried bikes for raleigh spardo . i did a lot in the 60s , subbing for marshall’s at bulwell , and they only shipped components then . it could be a pain if you got a full load of wheel rims , bundles of 12 , wrapped in hessian and stacked on the deck . their shunters were good blokes though and showed me how to stack them so they wouldn’t shift , cheers , dave
rigsby:
i was surprised when you said you carried bikes for raleigh spardo . i did a lot in the 60s , subbing for marshall’s at bulwell , and they only shipped components then . it could be a pain if you got a full load of wheel rims , bundles of 12 , wrapped in hessian and stacked on the deck . their shunters were good blokes though and showed me how to stack them so they wouldn’t shift , cheers , dave
This was late 60s, I think I came back from Oz in '69, oh hang on, I had a year working for Andrews in Nottingham on a Trafford Park trunk before a job came up at Midlands Storage, so perhaps '70ish.
Perhaps the policy had changed or perhaps Marshall’s had a different contract. The bikes were flat packed in cartons with the handlebars and tyres removed but inside the box. We loaded them handballed onto large pallettes which stuck out 9" each side of the trailer - a wide load , couldn’t see easily down the sides which made it difficult reversing inside the warehouses at Liverpool docks.
Later they were containerised at Storage, usually into 2x20 footers back to back. The trailers were Pitts with no headboard and were loaded at both ends with the wagon jacknifed at right angles. I have a picture somewhere but whether I can dig it out or not I don’t know. It isn’t on the computer, probably in the shed.
There was a smashing pub in Ledbury that Kent and Sussex drivers used to aim for if going to the Hop Board. I think we parked on the cattle market.
Also used to aim for forgotten digs in Honiton, Exeter, Derby town centre, Morecambe, Sally-an in Warrington or Sheffield and a Cafe on the A6 at Mountsorrel.
Hull was another place you needed a couple of bob in your pocket to keep the scallywags happy. I think they must have all grown up into wheel clampers and MSA owners. At least in them days you paid up and were fairly certain all would be well when you returned. Now you can pay £25 and still get your curtains slashed.
There is of course the story of the bloke who wouldn’t pay up as he left his dog in the truck overnight and it would stop anyone trying to get in. The kids response: “How good is he with a fire extinguisher mister?”
Lawrence Dunbar:
I remember staying at Mabels in Bootle close to Gladstone Dock , very good digs clean & good grub, The problem was when you parked up on the dock Road, the young Scousers asked If you wanted your wagon looked after while it was parked overnight, well you were oblidged to give them 2 Bob rather than a kick up the arse, I f you failed to pay them they would sabotage the wagon, Ive seen wagons with flat tyres, wipers missing, Etc. Regards Larry
I remember that, and a bloke telling these young thugs that he had bought a dog to look after his lorry.
Bewick:
I have always acknowledged that as a teenager I was very fortunate to start as a mate with one of the finest,probably the best,8 wheeler and trailer drivers in the UK.His name is Eric Postlethwaite “Possy” and the motor,a Power Plus Octopus,was the last of this combination that T.Brady & Sons Ltd. operated,Athersmith Bros. of Barrow-in Furness carried on running 2 or 3 until the legislation altered.
I was not similarly fortunate and the first drawbar I drove was in the days of power steering. So tell me Bewick, how did you reverse the trailer? Backwards or nosing it in?
I will put myself against anybody even now in a reversing competition with a drag but I know full well that the secret is ‘little and often’ on the wheel. When I was a TM with a fleet of them I forbad my drivers from nosing and insisted on the ‘proper way’ mainly because you could see down both sides with the mirrors whereas nosing left you blind. On the other hand without the power that is a different kettle of fish but then, if you had a competant trailer boy to direct you…
Liverpool. On Midlands Storage we used to deliver Raleigh bikes in cartons roped and sheeted on flats. If parked overnight we always gave the kids a couple of bob to ‘guard the wagon’. One driver who didn’t found several bikes lying around with buckled wheels in the morning, they were transported without tyres fitted you see.
Glasgow. Ilkeston Haulage had an office on Corunna St. and, after loading whisky in Dumbarton bond we would ■■■■■■ a bit of kip there on the sofas provided before setting off down the road. Again, all roped and sheeted loads and we always made sure that one of us sat in the window watching the wagons across the road on the waste ground, looking for little legs on the far side under the trailer slitting and nicking the odd bottles.
Hiya Spardo,the trailer we pulled with the Octopus was a “turntable” Crane and there was only one delivery point where we were forced to “nose” it in and that was a bay in the Abbey Steel works.Otherwise Eric could reverse the trailer in, and did, anywhere !! Are the trailers your talking about the close coupled/fixed drawbar modern type ? If they are it’s a completley different ,and easier,method(same as an artic) than reversing a “turntable” trailer.I used to have a go to reverse with the Octopus now and again,and your quite right,a little and often but you are turnining the wheel the same way as you want the trailer to go.It was a skill to behold watching a “maestro” like Possy,he could ,literally,reverse the waggon and trailer just about as fast an artic could be reversed and I’m not kidding you either !! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
Are the trailers your talking about the close coupled/fixed drawbar modern type ?
How very dare you sir
Of course I mean a proper drawbar, not a caravan or short arsed artic.
As you say, a completely different skill, which is why I am unashamedly proud of it. I even reversed 2 in Oz behind a semi, admittedly not very far though any precision and we broke them up first and did them one by one.
I do admire a brother ‘drag artist’ who could do it without power steering though.
The loneliness of the long-distance driver of the past - park-up and off to the digs with the battered suitcase.
As photographed by Roger Kenney - copyright Roundoak Publishing (sorry about the grain - fast b/w film)
Hi all, couldn’t believe it when I saw this photo. Love to know where and when it was taken as that was my old motor in the early 60’s and it could well have been me in the photo. I remember parking in Backchurch Lane,East End, London one night on the way back from Stanford-le Hope for a night out (cab hotel). Got back from the pub and lorry gone. Went to Leman St. police station to report it stolen only to find out that they had it up at Salmon St. police compound for obstruction. Cost me a bloody fiver to get it back. The old girl sported a Perkins 354, Davey Brown 5 speed with Eaton 2speed axle.
Similar thing happened to me TIR. But in Chiswick. I parked my Leyland Beaver artic, a semi auto of Bunny Hill Motors and went to the digs, which was a big house rented by a bunch of Australian friends.
We all went to the pub and on the way back - there was a great big space where my wagon had been. Repoted it stolen but found it at the local pound. It cost me to get it back too, but worse than that had to reverse it blind side round 4 corners of the pound in between all the other vehicles.
And I had spent the evening with a bunch of Aussies in the pub, remember.
Bewick:
Are the trailers your talking about the close coupled/fixed drawbar modern type ?
How very dare you sir
Of course I mean a proper drawbar, not a caravan or short arsed artic.
As you say, a completely different skill, which is why I am unashamedly proud of it. I even reversed 2 in Oz behind a semi, admittedly not very far though any precision and we broke them up first and did them one by one.
I do admire a brother ‘drag artist’ who could do it without power steering though.
Bewick:
Are the trailers your talking about the close coupled/fixed drawbar modern type ?
How very dare you sir
Of course I mean a proper drawbar, not a caravan or short arsed artic.
As you say, a completely different skill, which is why I am unashamedly proud of it. I even reversed 2 in Oz behind a semi, admittedly not very far though any precision and we broke them up first and did them one by one.
I do admire a brother ‘drag artist’ who could do it without power steering though.
Fair enough “Spardo” I didn’t think there were any “turntable” drawbars still in use !! Doh! By the way,the Brady Power Plus Octopus’s had very light power assisted steering and were very nice to drive,at the time. Cheers Bewick.
The loneliness of the long-distance driver of the past - park-up and off to the digs with the battered suitcase.
As photographed by Roger Kenney - copyright Roundoak Publishing (sorry about the grain - fast b/w film)
Hi all, couldn’t believe it when I saw this photo. Love to know where and when it was taken as that was my old motor in the early 60’s and it could well have been me in the photo. I remember parking in Backchurch Lane,East End, London one night on the way back from Stanford-le Hope for a night out (cab hotel). Got back from the pub and lorry gone. Went to Leman St. police station to report it stolen only to find out that they had it up at Salmon St. police compound for obstruction. Cost me a bloody fiver to get it back. The old girl sported a Perkins 354, Davey Brown 5 speed with Eaton 2speed axle.
So pleased to be able to reunite a driver with his old lorry. I created this topic just for this wonderfully evocative picture of times past and it is great that it has turned into such a talking point Many thanks to Roger for being there at the time.
Bewick:
Fair enough “Spardo” I didn’t think there were any “turntable” drawbars still in use !! Doh! By the way,the Brady Power Plus Octopus’s had very light power assisted steering and were very nice to drive,at the time. Cheers Bewick.
I had no idea there was power steering in the era of which I thought you spoke. I had a Leyland Octopus, without drag, in the mid 60s and that definitely did not have power. It was a nightmare to heave round which is why I thought reversing a drag would be such a nightmare.
The wagons and drags I bought for Toray were in the late 80s, early 90s. They were still there when I left in '99 though I think they got rid of them later. The first were Fodens, then a couple of Mercs before settling on FHs.
When I left them to work out here my new boss was very impressed that I, as a foreigner, could handle them and in fact called on me to shunt them in the yard if I happened to be there and no other ‘camion et remorque’ drivers were in. They even had me shunting in my ‘casual clothes’ one Saturday morning when I called in for next week’s float because all the blokes in that day were artic drivers . Sadly all they have nowadays are artics and ‘caravans’.
Bewick:
I have always acknowledged that as a teenager I was very fortunate to start as a mate with one of the finest,probably the best,8 wheeler and trailer drivers in the UK.His name is Eric Postlethwaite “Possy” and the motor,a Power Plus Octopus,was the last of this combination that T.Brady & Sons Ltd. operated,Athersmith Bros. of Barrow-in Furness carried on running 2 or 3 until the legislation altered.However,to get back on track regarding Digs,I didn’t have to learn the “hard way” as I was introduced to only first class establishments by “The Boss” !! We did however operate on regular routes “so to speak”,South Wales at the start of the week saw us at Walfords in Llansamlet (Mrs. Phillips),treat me like a son she did !! Then we used the Sunset at Penkridge a bit (very modern at that time in the 60’s), The Hollies,occaisionally and Durose in Newcastle,Stoke.We also used The Kelmscott in Chorley if we’d been tipping at W. Houghton.Can’t just re-call the digs in Glasgow we sometimes used occaisionally as Glasgow was usually a tip ( tarry coil to Paisley or sometime a lump into one of the Yards from Vickers Barrow) and straight back M/T for reloading during the night in Barrow Steel,usually for London and a another load of Coil for one of the cable manufactures (Blackheath I think).In London we used Silvertown Motel,again a very modern type of digs in the 60’s, and we did stay in Aldgate a few times if we had a load of Cellophane for a wharf.When we started loading Parent tissue reels for the new Bowater Scott mill in Barrow ex their mill in Northfleet we sometimes stayed in a dig in Gravesend but I forget the name !!! We were sent down to British Cellophane in Bridgewater occaisionally (usually to lift anything up to 28 tons) if traffic was busy and the Beavers and Comets couldn’t cope,I don’t think we were ever within the 32 ton limit the times we loaded from Bridgewater! anyway when we were down there we stayed at Woods Cafe North Petherton. Oh! and we sometimes stayed at The Shutonger,Tewkesbury now and again.Eric was well known throughout all these digs and I can never re-call not been able to stay at any of them,because they were full !! But he was always very decent and booked early,but if on the odd occaision we had to cancel,he did it ASAP so as not to deprive the Dig of a late booking ! A true gentleman if ever there was one,oh! and he,literally,had a photographic memory for telephone numbers,he had a mind like a modern day computer,just walk into a phone box and start ringing,no referring to his little book!!Those were the day’s,these youngsters haven’t got a clue how the job used to be done properly. Cheers Bewick
Stayed regularly at silvertown motel whilst at northern ireland trailers in the early 70s , bunk beds in some rooms, think the nearest pub was the bridge?not much sleep if you got a fridge trailer under your window. n.i.t. had a depot in canning town.
, couldn’t see easily down the sides which made it difficult reversing inside the warehouses at Liverpool docks.
