well before my time i remember wormald street depot well enough didnt know there was anything before though.!
If my memory serves me right think Harold Woods nephew worked in the garage cant remember his name and there was a lad on the gate think his name was Laurie he had had caustic in his eyes made you think get the goggles on
malcolmjames:
hi
just wondered if any of Harold Wood or Pickfords drivers from the seventies or eighties from widnes depot are members
Hi Malcolmjames - I’m not aware of any Widnes drivers on here, theres a couple from Urmston and Hecky and one from Grays I think, although there’s loads of tanker drivers from other companies that have some good memories of the 70/80s
grumpy old man:
Just a little brain tester:-
Where was Harold Woods very first garage (where did it all start)?
It’s all gone now but the street is still there. No, it wasn’t Heckmondwike.
Answer tomorrow.
Was it Booth Street Cleckheaton 
thanks for that sniffy
i spent most of my time outbased at Shell Stanlow 16 years near enough and 4 years before that in widnes depot used to call in Urmston for fuel when i was working out of Shell Carrington wonder what happened to the lovely Sue out of the lab there. i remember the lad with the bad limp who looked after the fuel pumps at urmston but have forgotten his name.
Stanfield:
grumpy old man:
Just a little brain tester:-
Where was Harold Woods very first garage (where did it all start)?
It’s all gone now but the street is still there. No, it wasn’t Heckmondwike.
Answer tomorrow.Was it Booth Street Cleckheaton
You are correct sir. Not much of a place but that’s where it started. then the neighbours got a bit “restless” with AEC MM’s parked all over so the job went to Wormald Street at Heckmondwike, I was walking past once and panic was the order of the day, I was told that somebody had stuck a cold water hose into a dedicated tank that carried product that MUST NOT come into contact with water. 2 hrs later…fire brigade and one scrap tank barrel.
malcolmjames:
thanks for that sniffy
i spent most of my time outbased at Shell Stanlow 16 years near enough and 4 years before that in widnes depot used to call in Urmston for fuel when i was working out of Shell Carrington wonder what happened to the lovely Sue out of the lab there. i remember the lad with the bad limp who looked after the fuel pumps at urmston but have forgotten his name.
The lad on the fuel pump was Alan (The Bull) used to drive a 4 wheel dodge with a V8 for shell before going onto the Pumps as I remember
George From Widnes
I don’t know if you lads remember but Pickfords had a depot in Ellsmere Port , I worked there about 1963 I was 22 worked on the black oil out of Stanlow drove a Scammell wonderful job, but only seasonal but then worked on AS Jones taking Naptha to the power station around Accrington or maybe Burnley way Barry Barnett who has his own Tanker Fleet worked with me at Pickfords I also worked on PL Transtore loved all the pictures of firms that are no longer with us the 60s/70s/80s where best for Tanker work loved. It, I worked for Ancliff to and many more always a gipsy chopping and changing but a happy varied driving career with some continental work thrown in .i like many others regret not keeping pictures
yesDexterboy
if its nickersons depot next to the ellesmere boat museum i remember it as all our bitumen tankers parked in there in the 70’S harold wood and pickfords Frank Willis was foreman driver thats the only depot over there i remember but the sixties were before my tanker days i worked over at shell chems 6 gate and we had a few A S Jones drivers in there nice bunch of lads one i remember well Seth Lees we were loading Teepol together one friday afternoon at three gate Seth had a serious heart attack whilst loading and didnt last the week end another good lad gone .just a quick question for you i worked with a smashing lad in stanlow he had worked for pickfords all through the sixties Gordon Prescott lost contact with him did you know him and yes your right all those years driving and i never took any photos i have always regretted that !
Frank Willis ended up as the general manager at Shell Bitumen, great Fella but a nasty piece of work if you crossed him, used to loose it if things went against him but much respected in the industry, Died of a heart attack about 15 years ago
Gordon Prescott was another top bloke, Always smart (for work) kept a good motor and looked after the job, if i remember he was on Laportes Perporate powder - would do anything for anyone, he still sings in a Runcorn choir I was told recently
Gordon and Big Jock Trotter in the Urmston canteen
thanks for the picture of Gordon thats just how i remembered him i knew he was very keen on the choir i think he was a tad older than me im 65 not sure how old he will be now great lad with a great sense of humour nothing got him down . YES you are spot on about Frank Willis he was my foreman driver over at stanlow for years never got on his bad side but knew some who did he was big mates with Jock Richie our routing clerk at stanlow and he was the guy who gave out the work
Hi Malcolm James yes I was good mates with Gordon Prescott we played soccer together he also worked on the tunnel police I have not seen him for a while .,the old Pickfords depot was next to Fina instead of turning into Fina you went straight on over canal bridge left into depot ,it was later a private bus firms depot it’s now got storage containers in it the motorway was not there then so depot extended out where motorway is now Mr Honeyball was the boss a bit of a goddy I got the sack from there .i came in finished one afternoon walked in the office and the shop steward had the boss by the throat dragging him out the office any way the boss wanted to sack him but could not without witness (me) I refused not because of of the shop steward but you did not snitch in them days so because I was on seasonal work finished me up.that morning he had told me he was going to keep me on to do the holidays ,the shop steward kept his job and was rewarded by getting some continental work I went round the corner and got a job with AS Jones who does not remember Bob Willis a lunatic I done some work on Gulf one day ended up in a quarry all white clay it was a dump ,when it got back the rear of the trailer had not cleared the gate when he was out screaming about the state of the vehicle ,he was a heart attack waiting to happen which it did. I worked for Jet Stevenson Hardy Eastham Tankers Ancliff Dawson Freight (holland) PLTRANSTORE Pickfords United Transport. Not worked for but hired out to Colas Gulf I also worked on Meat Haulage (James Wharton ) Birkenhead My name is Malcolm Griffiths called Dexterboy because I started work 1957 as a trailer boy it was a very well known firm in Liverpool then.great to hear from you lads it was a good time in the port 1960s70s
hi Dexterboy
i had forgotten Gordon worked on the tunnel police i think if i remember he got into trouble for helping to tow a family out of the tunnel and not booking them or something like that; thats just the guy he is. Yes mr willis didnt like dirty trucks he used to stop outside 6 gate lorry park on a friday night,s to see who had washed off and who hadn:t seen him do it many a night.When you were at AS Jones did you know; not sure if i have spelt the name right( Freddie Curtens) one of the old timers looked the spitting image of the sailor off the old players ciggy packet beard and all . the other Jones driver at shell chems was Billy Gibbons ex Shell driver mad on fishing his mates called him jingles think he had a bob or two
Hi Malcolm James don’t remember many ASJones lads to far back I first knew Gordon about 1960 I worked on the Co-o p milk and he worked on Ashfield and we both worked the lower Heswall rounds became good friends and I joined him playing football for Ashfield in the Liverpool Wednesday league then he went on the tunnell and did indeed get into trouble for doing a good deed for a family I drove for Wirral Wool at 21 and then got onto tankers there I met Gordon again he was onPickfords My brother said he had a drink with him not so long back so he is still lurking do you remember my mates in the port mick Fagan ,clem Dunlop Brian Mullock TaffyTed Ronnie Moore we all used to go into the pub by the boat museum with the Catchpole lads really miss them days
hi Dexterboy
cant say for sure i knew them lads but a couple of the names sound very familiar but i did know several of the catchpole lads on shell i was still there when Hoyer took them over i worked with Ray Morris; Ray Feeke and Tex Taylor. Gordon was there at the same time he had a30000 single pot Hobur barrel fleet no 2864 very nice i was the poor relative with a 30000 LAG single pot fleet no 2865 with lagging like bacofoil it sure felt like it if you dropped the loading gantry on it there was more craters on top of that tank than on the moon
Worked with Ray Feeke he was on spot hire at Gulf with me I trained for a couple of days with him he taught me how to drive a twin splitter is he still about?
I honestly dont know Dexterboy if he is i would imagine he will be in his seventies
Sniffy:
malcolmjames:
thanks for that sniffy
i spent most of my time outbased at Shell Stanlow 16 years near enough and 4 years before that in widnes depot used to call in Urmston for fuel when i was working out of Shell Carrington wonder what happened to the lovely Sue out of the lab there. i remember the lad with the bad limp who looked after the fuel pumps at urmston but have forgotten his name.The lad on the fuel pump was Alan (The Bull) used to drive a 4 wheel dodge with a V8 for shell before going onto the Pumps as I remember
Hi Sniffy, mostly known with Affection as the gimp? bless him, Cheers Chris
George From Widnes0
Sniffy:
Frank Willis ended up as the general manager at Shell Bitumen, great Fella but a nasty piece of work if you crossed him, used to loose it if things went against him but much respected in the industry, Died of a heart attack about 15 years agoGordon Prescott was another top bloke, Always smart (for work) kept a good motor and looked after the job, if i remember he was on Laportes Perporate powder - would do anything for anyone, he still sings in a Runcorn choir I was told recently
Gordon and Big Jock Trotter in the Urmston canteen
0
Big jock ,john trotter was my dad ,i grew up in that yard from abt when i was maybe 7-8 yrs old ,i loved that place and all i wanted was to gain an apprentaship in truck maintainance but never made it ,i still think abt the old boys in the garage especially norman who i could listen to for hours and man did he make me laugh … the other was joe shaw i used to call him butch ,haha coz he reminded me of the cartoon caracter off the cartoons , i first learn’t to drive there and my dad said to me "you drive that before you drive the car " and i did ,a dirty big scania 112 m wow heaven … i hope there are still ppl on here who remember my dad as he was a mans man so to speak ,anyway hello folks im young john and hope to here from you all …