Hi John.
MAGIC. Worked for a chap in Ashbourne,had a brand new Foden 6x4 tractor unit ,part of the number was “666”. mrs said,don’t drive that thing,but off i go. Couple of months in,the gearbox blew,pumped the oil into the tipper box or something,back it went to a dealer ship and he hired me a DAF 3300 from a crowd near middlewich??.Couple of days later he rang to see how i was getting on.me,“Forget that F******* Foden,sell that and buy this,i am not coming home till you do!”. He did not,and i left in the end,not because of the lorry,at the end of the world,that Foden would have emerged from a nuclear bomb hole,shook its self down and carried on trucking,awesome traction and power,but the DAF had the edge.
Ted
toshboy:
Retired Old ■■■■:
toshboy:
Hi all ,this nostalgic thread got me thinking about my tramping days with BRS in the 50s when nightly digs could be found anywhere near a bit of waste ground.
One that stands out for me was in Liverpool ,though it was the last town i wanted to find myself for the night .it was a hostel type -cant remember much about it now but a massive building i think with towers each end and a very large frontage and parking area on a main road near the docks rd ,the name Lewis comes to mind --can someone verify this or give a bit of local history, thanks toshboyThe David Lewis “Hotel”! Number one doss house in Liverpool. Luxury single bedrooms through-out, separated by a three-quarter height wooden partition. Opposite was an area of abandoned land which looked like it had been a wartime bombsite in better days. Within seconds of parking, along came the usual half dozen young scallies asking for half a crown to “mind yer motor, mister”? It was a cheap alternative to explaining to your depot manager why you hadn’t spent the night at the local depot and subsequently returned to base with smashed headlights and missing bulbs & lenses.
Luckily I’ve never had trouble sleeping as I gather the coughs, snores and moans of the regular residents kept a good many others awake most of the night.
Of about the same quality, though somewhat cleaner, was the Sally Arms at St. Helens. Beds were arranged in rows in large dormitories with about three feet between them and it was just as well to sleep with one hand clamped around the handle of your suitcase!Hi ROF. Well thanks for that,it brings back memories although do not remember details of the sleeping arrangements
a lovely old building though Yes there was certainly some poor digs around but we soon found the best ones as experience was gained , but we had some good times with blokes that we never met before -was it called camaradi or something that is missing today,
Totally agree with you about the David Lewis- it must have been a fabulous place in i8t’s day. I guess that must have been before WW2?
Rose Bank Gretna Green.
Pub handy,big tv room with armchairs,watching tv one night,two lads chopsin away,a voice came from the dark “WHY DON@T YOUS TWO GET F********* Married”.
We then were able to watch in peace. Its a Motel now i think.
Ted
It’s so long ago I can’t remember much about the place but Mrs Rileys in Berwick on Tweed was the absolute best digs ever. Just like home from home, always decent Clean hard working lads there and Mrs Riley was our mother. Early 60’s.
Hi Grumpy.
Grey matter still searching,another one,a,“Home from Home” The Sugar Loaves/loaf ?" Sible Heddingham,down near Braintree way. Magic !
Ted.
Anybody remember staying at Mrs Francis,s Spring Street Hull very good Digs.
Ben.
Heres one for the BRS drivers.I used to occasionally load petfood out of BRS wisbech late 70s early 80s on flatbed trls.At the time it was loaded outside and if it rained loading stopped resulting in having to o/nite there.The place itself was great,you left your keys on a board along with your notes and if it stopped raining they loaded you and draped your sheets over.Now they used to take us in a van into wisbech to one of the best digs I ever stayed at but cant remember the name of it,the dining room was small,2 sittings the food great and massive portions,the washing facilities and beds fantastic.On top of this she put sandwichs on at 9.30pm and a gut busting full English before the van picked you up at 7.00am.All this for 25 bob,anyone help.The lady who ran the digs her hubby was a n/trunker for the BRS.
regards dave.
There were some in King’s Lynn. I worked for A E Evans then and you parked on the lorry park outside the town centre and they picked you up in a van and took you to the digs.Can’t remember the name of 'em but two of us stayed there one Friday night in January 1970 and it was so cold int rooms we slept in our overalls,along with four BRS drivers from Worksop who were attired the same. I got up at about 0130 frozen to death,put me boots on and walked or rather trudged through the snow to my MK5 AEC which fired up instantly,cleared the snow off and away to Scunthorpe.I picked a driver up at Sutton Bridge,must have been around 0300,just picked him out int swirling snow,he was going to Lincoln to pick a wagon up so he dropped on a good lift. First café I found open was in Kirton Lindsey,side of the RAF camp (where I was once stationed).Was a real welcome breakfast that Saturday morning. 
As a schoolboy I filled in as trailer boy for Fridged Freight of Diss . The first digs I stayed in was Tooley St. near Tower Bridge on the South Bank. How the Luftwaffe missed that place - Hitler got his revenge by sparing it. Jack’s Hill at Baldock - We found the petrol out of both fridges had been syphoned there. There was one in Oldham where a driver started spreading his bread with lard - I’d never seen that before - thought it must be disgusting - Wrong! The Durose Transport Motel - No comment - The motor was stuck in Lex Tillotsons for two days and I was stuck there. And my father and I were stuck in the school in Brough for three days and that was better than any of the afore-mentioned. We used one at the back of the Bridewell in Dublin near Mollie Malone’s and that was the best you could ask for although you could ( I wasn’t a schoolboy by then ) spend the night with one of the girls out of the Metropole for less. Happy days? Jim
As regards wagons and drags, and reversing them. My dad used to bet the guys on the bank at Lowestoft and Gt. Yarmouth Birds Eye half a crown that his thirteen year old lad could back the trailer on a Mk 111 AEC 8 wheeler onto the plate . He always won.
To give you a different view, well with BRS at least, in the early '70s, I worked as a clerk straight out of school, and one job we had in the traffic office was arranging digs for “foreign drivers”.
At Darlington we had a huge list sorted by popularity, but all were in 2 streets - North Lodge Terrace or Corporation Road.
It was not uncommon to receive a call from a Scottish driver on Monday requesting we book his favourite digs on Tuesday (southbound) and Thursday (northbound).
Generally we would get a queue of drivers at about five o clock at the traffic office window, looking for digs, and we would try and get them all in the same one (to save on the phone calls).
Only 40 years ago but a different age!
Hi mk13
Did a spell at BRS Hull,happy days,and thanks to chaps like you,we were put onto the best digs around,but you are right about ringing early 
. A lot of our traffic from Hull was across to Liverpool,or south,so we could then ring ourselves,the digs your lads had provided in the first instance,CHEERS !
hulltramper.
Two more,Jacks Hill Towcester,and one in "High Y Combi ",when you went to bed,the wall leant so far over the bed that it if ever collapsed,you were a gonna!
Jeffrey I think you are right about Arden House being a Sally Anne hostel. I stayed there a few times in the early 60s but I never got too much sleep as I was much too worried about my truck and its load. Thankfully the little sods never touched mine thanks to the half a crown I used to give the brats.
jeffrey ellener:
I remember Arden House Liverpool , Used to stay there when i went with my dad in the school hols . A.One Transport. I think it was a Sally army hostel?
Hi, Berwick. as a point of interest did you ever stop at Arden house in Liverpool ?. Itwas a used a lot in the 50s, when I was a trailer mate. My driver in them times became my father in law later and 22mph was as fast as he would travel and dodgie nights out were not on the menu. Regards, Bill. S.
A few I can remember were "Kitties " Ross on Wye. The Globe Newport, The Royal Stockton on Tees, The Gainsborough Gateshead, Albion Penrith and one of the cheapest was Mrs Vanns in Stamford it was seven and six evening meal bed and breakfast and enough left for a couple of pints and the night out money was ten and six when I first started and soon went up to twelve and six I will probably recall some more when I have posted as usual
cheers Johnnie