Sorry wrong photo heres the correct one, I must be getting short of lamp oil 
Regards Larry.
aye larry, that brings back memories,we used to service their truck,s at adams and gibbon, dunn street,when i was serving my apprenticeship in the bedford shop in the late 1950,s, in the 1960,s they had J type bedfords with specially shaped open back bodies,we used to call them the “speedboats” cos thats what they looked like, i wonder where they went,at that time we would service,lots of truck,s ,be-ro flour, rimers oil, proctor and gamble, shell bp tanker tractor units with balloon tyres,they had twin fuel tanks, and were S type bedfords and they all had 36hp petrol engines in , wd and ho wills three wheeler scammels, would come in for servicing, and loads of bedford ca vans, foyles handbooks,full of saucy magazines,we had a good look at them, armstrong,s coaches westerhope,you could hide under them and the foreman could,nt find you.more later,big al.
Hi bigal20, I used to go to A&Gs for spares when I worked for Jonny Baxter, Up the old wooden stairs take a number out of the box on the wall, Sit down on the wooden seat & wait in turn, The P&G vans was on hire from old Baxter, Can you remember Billy Raffles he worked there when he left school in the 50s, Also would I be correct in saying the head salesman was a Mr Thwaites.? Also Horace Adams in St Thomas St. In the toon, Baxter went off Bedford when he had 3 TK Artics with the Scammell couplings, He said they nearly scint him with all the bother he got, Engines Transmission Hand Brakes & gear boxes Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
0thechink1968:
Found on a thread “past present in between pictures”Hi “thechink`1968”, Heres some more, Great stuff Eh, Regards Larry.
Cheers Larry much appreciated
Regards Davie
horace adams was, i think the coach and bodyshop.at st thomas street, we never went there you are correct,up the stairs from skinnerburn road, that was a&g stores,ronnie scott was the stores boss, with les reay, and ernie tiffin, i have lots of pics but they are stored jpeg, and will not send,big al.
bigal20:
horace adams was, i think the coach and bodyshop.at st thomas street, we never went there you are correct,up the stairs from skinnerburn road, that was a&g stores,ronnie scott was the stores boss, with les reay, and ernie tiffin, i have lots of pics but they are stored jpeg, and will not send,big al.
Ronnie is still about see him most days but spends a lot of time at his daughters in Dubai did a lad called nevil laws also work in stores as he lives beside me and said he did he is really getting on a bit
sorry, no neville laws when i was there,john tilley was there, and sid ?upstairs,
the heed:
bigal20:
horace adams was, i think the coach and bodyshop.at st thomas street, we never went there you are correct,up the stairs from skinnerburn road, that was a&g stores,ronnie scott was the stores boss, with les reay, and ernie tiffin, i have lots of pics but they are stored jpeg, and will not send,big al.Ronnie is still about see him most days but spends a lot of time at his daughters in Dubai did a lad called nevil laws also work in stores as he lives beside me and said he did he is really getting on a bit
During school hols I was a regular visitor to Dunn St for spares with my Dad. Ronnie and Les were great lads and always had a bit of banter with me despite I was only about 8 or 9 year old. The salesman I remember was George Dodsworth (think he lived at Boldon ) IIRC he was at A&G for most of the sixties and was also at Felling when they moved. Like a lot of other hauliers of the time Bedfords, in their various models, were a big part of the fleet.
Econofreight
bigal20:
0 guess again,big al
A&Gs Skinnerburn Rd, IIRC,Regards Larry.
all knocked down and developed now 6 a&g depots,i took these pic,s and many more about five years ago,in the fifties and sixties, both sides of dunn street were filled with customers vans/trucks,and the fitters cars,maybe 25 vauxhall car fitters, around 25 commercial fitters,with all their apprentices,maybe 10men in the radiator shop, 10 to 15 in the electrical shop, and around 20 men in the engine shop,this was no small concern, but now all gone and all those skills binned, and this has happened, all over the north east and the rest of the country, bedford truck,s are no longer getting made,but they have lasted, lots of them driven into the ground, and left to rust away,myself,crowbar, and lots of dedicated people refuse to see this make and many other makes die, keep restoring .big al.
bigal20:
all knocked down and developed now 6 a&g depots,i took these pic,s and many more about five years ago,in the fifties and sixties, both sides of dunn street were filled with customers vans/trucks,and the fitters cars,maybe 25 vauxhall car fitters, around 25 commercial fitters,with all their apprentices,maybe 10men in the radiator shop, 10 to 15 in the electrical shop, and around 20 men in the engine shop,this was no small concern, but now all gone and all those skills binned, and this has happened, all over the north east and the rest of the country, bedford truck,s are no longer getting made,but they have lasted, lots of them driven into the ground, and left to rust away,myself,crowbar, and lots of dedicated people refuse to see this make and many other makes die, keep restoring .big al.
Hi Big Al,
The Pics you put up of the Vauxhall dealer I dropped a Rollo skip there for the Asbestos strippers this would be late 2010, I remember it well as that door way was a bit low!! Cheer’s Pete
bigal20:
all knocked down and developed now 6 a&g depots,i took these pic,s and many more about five years ago,in the fifties and sixties, both sides of dunn street were filled with customers vans/trucks,and the fitters cars,maybe 25 vauxhall car fitters, around 25 commercial fitters,with all their apprentices,maybe 10men in the radiator shop, 10 to 15 in the electrical shop, and around 20 men in the engine shop,this was no small concern, but now all gone and all those skills binned, and this has happened, all over the north east and the rest of the country, bedford truck,s are no longer getting made,but they have lasted, lots of them driven into the ground, and left to rust away,myself,crowbar, and lots of dedicated people refuse to see this make and many other makes die, keep restoring .big al.
In their day Adams & Gibbons were probably the largest vehicle dealers in North East. In my lifetime we dealt with Durham branch with Dereck Rennie as their parts manager but I have collected parts from Dunn Street, Sunderland (near Empire Theatre0 and their new branch in Felling, from time to time,as well as Wallace Arnold Leeds. They also had South Shields, Morpeth and Huddesfield. Despite being a large business they still were a family business with Adams (I cannot remember his first name) as Managing Director, and he came to see us from time to time.
Before Durham opened we used Dunn Street & Sherwoods Darlngton. Dad told me that they had after the war 2 1938 two tonners have recon engines, 1 by A & G at Dunn Street which sounded like a bag of hammers and oil leaks. The other by Sherwoods at a workshop they had at Hurworth which sounded like a clock & was perfect. A & G also had their own coachbuilders which was a bit slip shod as well. Raymar dresses at Crook had them build a pantechnicon body about 1956 on a SB Coach chassis that always rained in and they had to try to cover their loads of dresses. Whereas Sherwoods had Sherwood & Wynn originally based in Hurworth which was run by a Mr Noble who was an excellent coachbuilder although very expensive, Sherwood & Wynn moved to Aycliffe Ind Est in the seventies and are now sadly no more
Carl Williams:
bigal20:
all knocked down and developed now 6 a&g depots,i took these pic,s and many more about five years ago,in the fifties and sixties, both sides of dunn street were filled with customers vans/trucks,and the fitters cars,maybe 25 vauxhall car fitters, around 25 commercial fitters,with all their apprentices,maybe 10men in the radiator shop, 10 to 15 in the electrical shop, and around 20 men in the engine shop,this was no small concern, but now all gone and all those skills binned, and this has happened, all over the north east and the rest of the country, bedford truck,s are no longer getting made,but they have lasted, lots of them driven into the ground, and left to rust away,myself,crowbar, and lots of dedicated people refuse to see this make and many other makes die, keep restoring .big al.In their day Adams & Gibbons were probably the largest vehicle dealers in North East. In my lifetime we dealt with Durham branch with Dereck Rennie as their parts manager but I have collected parts from Dunn Street, Sunderland (near Empire Theatre0 and their new branch in Felling, from time to time,as well as Wallace Arnold Leeds. They also had South Shields, Morpeth and Huddesfield. Despite being a large business they still were a family business with Adams (I cannot remember his first name) as Managing Director, and he came to see us from time to time.
Before Durham opened we used Dunn Street & Sherwoods Darlngton. Dad told me that they had after the war 2 1938 two tonners have recon engines, 1 by A & G at Dunn Street which sounded like a bag of hammers and oil leaks. The other by Sherwoods at a workshop they had at Hurworth which sounded like a clock & was perfect. A & G also had their own coachbuilders which was a bit slip shod as well. Raymar dresses at Crook had them build a pantechnicon body about 1956 on a SB Coach chassis that always rained in and they had to try to cover their loads of dresses. Whereas Sherwoods had Sherwood & Wynn originally based in Hurworth which was run by a Mr Noble who was an excellent coachbuilder although very expensive, Sherwood & Wynn moved to Aycliffe Ind Est in the seventies and are now sadly no more
Hi Carl, IIRC They had a depot at Hexham, Which now a Country Farmers Supply Outfit, Regards Larry.
i have one the very same larry,tried to post pic,but cannot, due to an extension, or something,big al.
i would doubt the story of the engines carl,a&g had a reputation to uphold,and i personally have seen rows and rows of reconditioned engines, all painted bright orange,i think they may have fitted 10 or fifteen engines per week,morris and jones, silkburn coal etc,and many more hauliers,truck,s would come in at teatime after their days work, the nightshift would have the ,engine out,all recon units fitted,new engine back in, and truck road tested,ready for drivers to take away early morning,mostly O model tippers,big al.