Great pics BD - I remember 'em well 
Chris Webb:
Great pics BD - I remember 'em well
Glad to see the pics are working tonight ! 
Fancy any more mate ? Barlow and Hodgkinson maybe ? 
Any Darlton Quarries mate,Stoney M’ton.then went to Wimpey asphalt I think.
B And H would be good as well pal. 
Right,I’m on it ! 
I forgot to ask BD - any pics of Alan S.Dennif (same colour as Owens),they were from Kiveton Park and ran a lot of Fodens in the 60’s/70’s.
nice pictures mate will show my dad them when i get home, he worked for philmac in the 60’s had a scammell highwayman, then worked for castrol out of stanlow so still knew a few of the philmac lads. takes me back to seeing them and the castrol seddon atkinsons parked up at the pops and the bug hut…
Wirralpete,which cafe was the “bug hut” and was it on the old A57 between Warrington and Eccles?Fried spam sandwich?
I think we have spoken about this before,mate
Castrol drivers from Hyde on dodgy nights out t’Sheffield side of Woodhead ring any bells? 
I’ve given one or two Castrol men lifts back over Woodhead in a morning running home on nights.
thats the one chris an american called ■■■■ owned it. cafe is still there (cant remember what its called). ahh the castrol dodgy nights out… manys a time a day out with my dad would start with us hitching a lift from birkenhead to either the pops or waverton (outside chester). think the hyde drivers had the monopoly on using the bug hut for nights out… done some remenising today going through belgium, seen a fl6 unit pulling a single axle box and it reminded me of the van leer dodges with the single axle box bodies and fitted out with a sleeper cab…poor blokes was quite happy being in b+b’s then kiping in them things…
Chris, I think that the cafe on the A57 between Warrington and Eccles was the Wooden Hut at Rixton. Spent a few nights in the early 1970s stood outside with log book in hand trying to get back to Middleton on a dodgy.
regards , mushroomman
That’s the one Wirralpete and Mushroomman,on the left running back towards Cadishead and Irlam.I’ve fiddled back to Sheffield from there many a time - booked off at E.Port,L’pool even North Wales .Daren’t take wagon any further east (Hyde was best place).Bags of traffic on that road then so no problems with a log book in hand.
Rayt good fried spam sandwich in that Wooden Hut and I do remember the American called ■■■■ who owned it.I presume he was ex Burtonwood as that was an American base in the war.
I’ll tell you a tale about one of Hyde based Castrol drivers later Wirral - I got him out of the crap,bless him.
look foward to that chris
wirralpete:
look foward to that chris
Aye,Castrol Hyde drivers were always having dodgy nights out on the Dog and Partridge pub car park,about 2 miles west of the turn-off for Sheffield at Flouch.I picked this one up at the bottom of Mottram hill one Sat morning running back to Maltby off nights.It was end of March and daylight when I dropped him off for his wagon.
I decided to finish me flask whilst I was stopped and he got his motor started eventually in a cloud of blue smoke .I should point out that Castrol drivers used to park facing away from the road facing the moors and take their number plates off trailers or hang a bit of rag over the rear plate of a rigid,the reason being that a ministry man lived at Penistone and was a bugger for snooping round wagons but he daren’t go on the Dog car park 'cos the landlord threatened to turn his dog out on him - “Leave bloody lorry drivers alone” was what he told him.
I was just ready to get on me way when yer Castrol man gave me a shout,so I walked over to see what was up.I think it was an ERF ‘A’ series artic and he couldn’t get reverse for love nor money,just wouldn’t go in and he couldn’t go forwards as he was nosed up to the fence .
I had a Ford Transcontinental drawbar then so I went in the trailer and got some of the oldest belts I could find and we tied 'em together and wrapped 'em round the rear axle of the trailer and onto the pin on front of the Transconti.Now those belts were ok for securing cages but not designed for pulling ERF artics bakkards so with fingers crossed I took the slack and it pulled it out like a dream.When he got enough room to turn in one go we wrapped everything up and sure enough it was ok going forwards- plenty of gears for that but not a chance of reverse.
Anyroad away he went and a few weeks later my mate on the other drawbar picked him up one morning and told him about the incident which of course my mate knew about.The gearbox was taken out and sent away for repair apparantly,so all’s well that ends well.
He was sh------ himself until he got mobile 'cos he was booked off somewhere else and daren’t ring his depot.
Happened to me once or twice but there was always somebody to give you a helping hand in t’olden days.
Wonderful story Chris !
As much pleasure I derive from posting pics and reading the replies I get,I also love to read these kind of lorry srories from back in’t day !
Keep 'em coming,and I’ll keep the pics coming ! Deal,mate ?
No problem serry (or is it youth)