HI ANYBODY,WHO REMEMBERS ROPING & SHEETING THOSE WERE NOT THE DAYS EXCEPT IN SUMMER OF COURSE,I WORKED FOR ONWARD/ACKWORTH,I STARTED WHEN THERE WAS A LOT OF HANDBALLING & ■■■■■■■ BALES OF WASTE PAPER HEAVY SACKS ETC ETC,1971 WHAT A YEAR I HAD JUST LEFT ERIC ATTWOODS OF ACKWORTH WE USED TO RUN OUT OF REDFERNS GLASS BARNSLEY & WE WERE COWBOYS OH BOY,SO I GOT A JOB AT ONWARD IT WAS JUST THE SAME ONLY BETTER MONEY,WE RAN OUT OF LUMBS GLASS WORKS CASTLEFORD (UNITED GLASS ) AND ROCKWARE KNOTTINGLEY 48 PALLETS OF GLASS BOTTLES ON A FLAT TRAILER WHO COULD DO IT TODAY, NO BLOODY GLOVES WE HAD TO FIND OUR OWN,AND THE ROPES WERE LIKE TOWROPES TILL THEY INVENTED PLASTIC ROPES OR POLYPROSOMETHING OR OTHER LOL,UP IN SCOTLAND AT THE WHISKEY PLANTS OVERNIGHT PARKING MEANT WHEN IT SNOWED YOU HAD TO GET THE FORKTRUCK DRIVER TO PULL YOUR SHEETS OFF, HANG ON WHILE I WIPE AWAY THE TEARS,THEN CAME TAUTLINERS THATS IT END OF AN ERA…MY BLOODY HANDS ARE FREEZING CAN ANYBODY HELP ME FOLD MY SHEETS PLEASE,WHAT DID YOU SAY FXXX OFF THANKS MATE BYE BYE ROYHEBB
We already have a thread on this subject,take a look. 
Stanfield:
We already have a thread on this subject,take a look.
Yeah John,but how right he is it was bloody hard in those days long before i went on the tanks.Well said lad
As a lad, I used to help my dad fold his sheets up after he had been tipped. I don’t recall the hardhsips of the ropes etc, thhat was his bureden I’m afraid. But I certainly remember being pulled all over the yard when the wind got under em!! 
I also remember the fork lift lifting dad and his sheets up ont the top of the load, for him to lob them over the sides. I dont think H&S were invented in them days
When he delivered for Sharpies (Duncan Sharp & Sons at Carlton), he used to deliver plaster boarding to the building sites for British Gypsum. These had to be sheeted tighter than a camel’s arse in a sand storm…imagine the result if rain got in to that particular load.
When he delivered for Towmaster Transport (Denaby), he was carrying whisky from The Bells Distilleries North the boarder. His face used to light up when he used to dicover that his load for the day was a tautliner. Equally, the language was also memorable when he had to get out of the cab and start undoing ropes, and lifting sheets just so he coud see the trailer number on the headboard that had been sheeted over by the last driver.
I also remember sitting in the cab with my knees almost up to my ears as my feet were resting on a mound of oily damp stinking ropes too.
Great days 
hilltop4:
As a lad, I used to help my dad fold his sheets up after he had been tipped. I don’t recall the hardhsips of the ropes etc, thhat was his bureden I’m afraid. But I certainly remember being pulled all over the yard when the wind got under em!!I also remember the fork lift lifting dad and his sheets up ont the top of the load, for him to lob them over the sides. I dont think H&S were invented in them days
When he delivered for Sharpies (Duncan Sharp & Sons at Carlton), he used to deliver plaster boarding to the building sites for British Gypsum. These had to be sheeted tighter than a camel’s arse in a sand storm…imagine the result if rain got in to that particular load.
When he delivered for Towmaster Transport (Denaby), he was carrying whisky from The Bells Distilleries North the boarder. His face used to light up when he used to dicover that his load for the day was a tautliner. Equally, the language was also memorable when he had to get out of the cab and start undoing ropes, and lifting sheets just so he coud see the trailer number on the headboard that had been sheeted over by the last driver.
I also remember sitting in the cab with my knees almost up to my ears as my feet were resting on a mound of oily damp stinking ropes too.
Great days
great days indeed,we used to hang our ropes behind the cab,but one day a silly silly driver hung his ropes behind the cab but didnt make a good job of them and one came undone and rapped itself round the propshaft and he jacknifed into a field near boroughbridge on the a1,hence we all got letters in our wage packets no more ropes behind cabs lol.then we got tool boxes, forgot to mention before tautliners we got bottle sheets now they were heavy,50 feet x12 feet plus straps sawn into the plastic sheet with ropes attached to the straps i dont how i used to do it,but i wouldnt change any of it gteat days all gone now its trunk trunk supermarket runs and mr stobart
not many genreral haulage trampers left or is there,royhebb
My dad neve hung ropes of the back of the cab for that very reason.
I used to also love the tautliners though. It was chance for me to get involved. On the sheeted flats, my role was to wind the trailer legs up and put the number plate on (with a thick black rubber band) whilst dad dealt with roping off.
However, with the tautliners, I had an extra job, undoing all the buckles down my side. Oh joy!
I recall many a school holiday, carrying out these little but much treasured tasks in a darkened early morning diesel fume filled yard, whilst all my school mates were fast asleep in their pits.
I remember on one Saturday morning run somewhere in Hull…we had a tautliner, and we ended up coming down a residential street. The bulkhead of the trailer snagged a phone line, and pulled it down. Without further ado, dad opened up the curtain on my side, and sent his faithfull monkey up onto the palleted load with a sweeping brush to reach out and lift any other phone wire which looked like it was going to catch on.
Mam would have a purple fit if she saw me hanging out of the trailer 15 feet up!!!
The residents had already had theirs, and would have been on the phone to report us had they still been connected
Hi RoyHebb i remember them big bottle sheets and the awful yellow colour,then we got the brown one that were like tissue paper.they were light and not as good we hated them up at thames board mill in workington.
little ha ba:
Hi RoyHebb i remember them big bottle sheets and the awful yellow colour,then we got the brown one that were like tissue paper.they were light and not as good we hated them up at thames board mill in workington.
now theres a place i rembember well,we had a contract in there with a couple of shunter lads, we used to bring in pulp from hartlepool,take loads out,great work,their loading bays were a bit akward i remember,i think eddy took all the work off us (onward) & robsons,once again great days, oh an some great nights up there as well,in the town and in the little workingmens club just outside the mill, royhebb
i steve and ray were the shunter,s and i ran the trunk to ackworth each day
little ha ba:
i steve and ray were the shunter,s and i ran the trunk to ackworth each day
yes i remember now steve could do press ups with one hand, and ray could drink like a fish, do you remember paul & willie, i think they used to work for a company with green paint work carrying steel not to sure now the minds gone i know they came to work at onward, i think ray ended up working for eddie stobart,because i went back there years later when i was an owner driver, i picked a load up for madrid and i bumped into ray, good lads all of them,royhebb
yes remember paul and willie been a while since i seen them.ray is at stobarts and your right he could drink for england,not seen steve for a while but they were a good bunch and had some good laugh,s
little ha ba:
yes remember paul and willie been a while since i seen them.ray is at stobarts and your right he could drink for england,not seen steve for a while but they were a good bunch and had some good laugh,s
our paths must have crossed somewhere, i did night trunk for three years,only did a few workingtons tho,i did a change over at berwick upon tweed from ackworth most of the time,are you from the workington area,i dont know if you have been past the ackworth yard lately its nearly all gone and a load of houses have been built,they call themselves onward holdings now,still got most of the depots but they rent them out and they have built loads of warehouses all over the place,nice to here from an old onward driver though,i was there 18 years as a driver and i parked at ackworth for ten years as an owner driver, i never see anybody and there must have been hundreds of drivers working there over the years,
was past there about five year ago,and what a difference.I used sometimes come across the berwick trunk on a saturday morning,as i left workington about one in the morning and would get to ackworth about half four and would have the sheet,s off and sitting in front off the cate waiting for dougie to come in.I can remember a white seddon atkinson on that run and would pass it on my way down.I had one of the three E14-320 day cabbed six wheeler,s its fleet number was 304 will try and put some pic,s up off it
Used to rope an sheet 5 trailors a night then park em up for day lads (heinz wigan) had to pull last one back to hollinwood (jim nuttals).
was good at ropin etc cos i got taught by the “old boys” when i was in early 20@s (im 59 now) .
loved to see a well sheeted/roped load especially when i had done it. 
i do miss that side of our job nowdays,its all taut.bos etc. 
gezt:
Used to rope an sheet 5 trailors a night then park em up for day lads (heinz wigan) had to pull last one back to hollinwood (jim nuttals).
was good at ropin etc cos i got taught by the “old boys” when i was in early 20@s (im 59 now) .
loved to see a well sheeted/roped load especially when i had done it.
i do miss that side of our job nowdays,its all taut.bos etc.
yes i remember those 3 day cab erfs,i can also remember the fleet engineer (ted birchill ) after they had reached a million kilometers he put one in the garage to have the heads removed to see how much wear there was ,and lol no wear at all,he said it was down to the engines never cooling down enough,except for xmas of course,that white seddon you mentioned was from a firm onward bought out ,cant remember who tho,it was something to do with a load of wharehouses at south kirkby, i did night trunk for 3 years from 1986 till 1999,from ackworth to berwick upon tweed, i the bought a wagon off onward and became an owner driver along with 3 other drivers and they gave us the work, untill they gave up transport in about 1992 ish i think then i did allsorts after that timber/cotainers/continetal, you name it i did it,
royhebb:
gezt:
Used to rope an sheet 5 trailors a night then park em up for day lads (heinz wigan) had to pull last one back to hollinwood (jim nuttals).
was good at ropin etc cos i got taught by the “old boys” when i was in early 20@s (im 59 now) .
loved to see a well sheeted/roped load especially when i had done it.
i do miss that side of our job nowdays,its all taut.bos etc.yes i remember those 3 day cab erfs,i can also remember the fleet engineer (ted birchill ) after they had reached a million kilometers he put one in the garage to have the heads removed to see how much wear there was ,and lol no wear at all,he said it was down to the engines never cooling down enough,except for xmas of course,that white seddon you mentioned was from a firm onward bought out ,cant remember who tho,it was something to do with a load of wharehouses at south kirkby, i did night trunk for 3 years from 1986 till 1999,from ackworth to berwick upon tweed, i the bought a wagon off onward and became an owner driver along with 3 other drivers and they gave us the work, untill they gave up transport in about 1992 ish i think then i did allsorts after that timber/cotainers/continetal, you name it i did it,
forgot to mention after the 3 year lease onward had a chance to buy those 3 erfs but they let james irlam have them instead and they ran them for a few mor years shunting, they really did go to the moon and back a few times,
not sure about irlams getting 304 as i had a bad smash in it on the a66,and basically totalled the old girl,knocked the cab back on the near side and bent the chassis,john smith came up to scotch corner to get me.
When I drove for MAT one of the worse jobs was sheeting and roping a load on a stripped down tilt. The sheet was inveriably too big and trying to tuck it under itself was the devils own job. Also there were no rope hooks and you had to use the side board hinge brackets as hooks. No matter how hard you tried the load always looked a bloody mess. You could guarentee that it would be raining when you had to sheet up. We had some propper sheets as well but most of the flats we had were old tilts that had the superstructure removed. If there were hinges or hooks missing you soon mastered the art of doing a double dolly to bridge the gap. But I still think there is nothing looks smarter that a fairly square load sheeted properly and with the ropes spaced out and with the dolleys at the same height.
Cliff
little ha ba:
not sure about irlams getting 304 as i had a bad smash in it on the a66,and basically totalled the old girl,knocked the cab back on the near side and bent the chassis,john smith came up to scotch corner to get me.
i remember joh smith.he was at the castleford depot with me to start with.do u remember melvin hudson i think he did workington for a while.
Carlc:
When I drove for MAT one of the worse jobs was sheeting and roping a load on a stripped down tilt. The sheet was inveriably too big and trying to tuck it under itself was the devils own job. Also there were no rope hooks and you had to use the side board hinge brackets as hooks. No matter how hard you tried the load always looked a bloody mess. You could guarentee that it would be raining when you had to sheet up. We had some propper sheets as well but most of the flats we had were old tilts that had the superstructure removed. If there were hinges or hooks missing you soon mastered the art of doing a double dolly to bridge the gap. But I still think there is nothing looks smarter that a fairly square load sheeted properly and with the ropes spaced out and with the dolleys at the same height.
Cliff
hiya i remember mat transport were they from hull, your right though them old tilts were a nightmare, i bet you dont know who the first british company to do the continent was, or do you ,yep it was ackworth continental road services in 1951, google it if you dont believe me lol.