Dennis, I have heard about T. Brady,s Octupus and Trailer being a flying machine on the Motorway and speeds of over 70 mph have been mentioned, if this is true then I don;t believe the Macks would have topped this as their best would have been in the 60’s…Tony.
Suttons Tony:
Dennis, I have heard about T. Brady,s Octupus and Trailer being a flying machine on the Motorway and speeds of over 70 mph have been mentioned, if this is true then I don;t believe the Macks would have topped this as their best would have been in the 60’s…Tony.
Spot on Tony, there was two LAD Octopus at Brady’s the first one only pulled a trailer for a short while and was driven by a lunatic ! the second one (which I was on) pulled a trailer for more-or-less all its 8 years on the fleet with the finest waggon and trailer driver in the UK at the wheel. Now speaking of Suttons Tone,we used to come across their waggons and trailers on the Hollies at breakfast time ( I had to sit with their mates 
) and the craic was great ! Used to tell them to keep well to the left on the A5 as we couldn’t ■■■■ about with them Suttons 150LX’s getting under our feet as we usually had closing dock in London !! 
Cheers Dennis.
cattle wagon man:
A typical winters scene on the A 6 over Shap Fell , as a Leyland Octopus "fuel" :smiley: tanker passes by theLeyland Clock on the
descent towards Kendal.Cheers , cattle wagon man.
Not a Fuel Tanker Youngers Beer Tanker Edinburgh.
Aye, that’ll be fuel for the boys, scotnat!
I can just about remember first and only time going over shap with my dad. He was on night trunks for Arthur Sanderson,s from Yorkshire on his usual run to Newport in Wales. It was summer holidays so was one of my treats, being a wagon daft kid. So a normal trunk sleep in digs in Newport then to the yard at teatime and back home, only load is not for North East but Hamilton in Scotland, so can you just go and tip it? It was a friday night so weekend coming up so dad says why not. Off we set in the ubiquitous Atkinson 150 Gardner (E reg) fully loaded with coiled steel out of Llanwern. This would be late 60,s so we made our way north IIRC up the M5 through Wolverhampton onto M6 and A6. Can,t remember where we stopped for a cuppa, but do remember my dad saying about this bloody steep climb called Shap, which he had also never driven over. It just seemed to go on for ever and do remember finally having to drop into 1st gear and in the years that have rolled by seemed to last forever before wagon slowly rolled on up and over. Beattock summit was a stroll after that ran into Hamilton and tipped, then my dad looked at map and we sneaked over less populated roads and home. Totally over his hours although his logbook didn,t show that!!
As i said years have passed by but that memory hasn,t faded.
Sorry to ■■■■ in over P&S jack but to be pedantic to a point the cafe was called White House Cafe on the old A49 just past the Bowling Green Inn my watering hole at the time I think they trucked them down overnight from Scotland then shunted them as and where the loads were needed a few local lads worked for them and another local lad David duxbury had a few Macks on Middle East I new one of the drivers Bob Baker he took one over and said they were donkeys to drive compared to the Volvos David ran
Working for Smith of Maddiston, Southampton, and going to Scotland every week, I use to think Shap was steep, till I started going to France through the Pyrenees and Alps on- route to Italy, Switzerland, and Spain, then it put Shap into perspective…
Not right about the demise of p&s,from the horses mouth. George the son was working with his lawyer and while he was on holiday and there was a slump - the tragic closing of ACC Rutherglen and ETNA, Motherwell). He was making out his father and mother who were the other side of partnership could not run the firm and was going to take over the firm solely by himself. The old man got wind of the plot and told the HP lot to come and take the wagons away. We arrived back to the yard on Saturday morning and were told by the old man we were finished. I can’t explain how we felt - Alec Robertson had just bought a new car on HP, I was getting a new Mack on Tuesday (Jerry’s wagon with a new cab that he had parked in a house in Carlisle). We came back Tuesday to take the wagons to Carmyle Avenue, Glasgow, to park them up. They were later picked up by Prentice Brown. Young George had come back from holiday and called us to come and then told us what I have just said,he then placed four bank books on the table and said does anybody care to have a look at them, money is not a problem, I can get the vehicles back but he has also given away the traffic to Stamper. I cannot start from scratch, so you have my old man to blame. It was a hard job but we were well paid and never a penny short , Joepipe
I don’t know whether any of you saw the TV programme last night about the 1947 winter, but I thought they missed a trick not including those fabulous newsreel footages of lorries struggling with Shap at that time - perhaps it was a copyright issue, or they didn’t do their flippin’ homework! Meanwhile, I’ve just found this:
hey guys this is for the veterans,has anyone got any stories about the challenging roads that you have experienced like shap before the motorway was built or the “rest and be thankful” up here in scotland.I would like to hear all your stories about your experiences on the road ,im now in my 40s and went to coach driving instead of lorry driving but still go to my dads just to listen to his experiences on the road and driving the old classics like the atki borderer,scania 110,a series ERF e.t.c .
My Dad reversed up it in a Morris Cowley pickup, he said it wouldnt go up forward, a bit overloaded! [one of those famous fireside stories he would tell when we where kids]
Had an uncle…George Jones from Liverppol, who went over top, he was alright after a month in hospital, think it was a wagon and trailer, cant remember the firm right now,was in about 1950.
The Stone tribute on top of the A6 Shap summit.
Although I went over Shap and Standage many times with my old man I haven’t any real tales to tell apart from the time an Ergo cabbed lunatic came hurtling the other way just as we reached the top of our climb, his single axle trailer wheels left the ground he was going that fast and shot past us, almost scared the life out of me but Dad never flinched just muttered ‘Stupid sod’, for all we know the other guy might have lost his brakes but he was gone just as quick as he came. One tale told many times was when my older Brother was with Dad on a really snowy day on Shap, Dads wipers packed up so my Bro got out and stood on the bumper of the Seddon wiping the snow away as the 150 Gardner done its bit and up they went, other wagons were stranded along the way having given up the ghost and the drivers of these cheered them on, Dad had to use the other side of the road but they done it, he swore that tractor would go anywhere as long as it had a bit weight on. My Brother was blue by the time he got back in the cab but loved it, the H&S lot would have had kittens watching some of the exploits carried out on these famous old roads but it was just the way things were then. Franky.
hi Dave, i think that memorial says it all,it just shows how much respect there was for all the lorry drivers back then,its just a pity you lorry drivers dont get as much respect as you should.as a coach driver when on the road i still give you guys as much respect as possible and hope you all get as much respect of my fellow coach drivers. hi franky, great stories i think the one about your brother sums up the kind of lorries that they drove back then cant wait to go to see my dad to tell him about your brothers snowy trip i know he will appreciate it.
I can remember going north over shap in an old atki borderer in the early 70s with a 20ton load crawling my way up past the leyland clock[well known landmark]now been renovated i believe.Depending on the time of day i would sometimes be passed by a fridge firm from aberdeen area[clabens]i think,they used to go like bats out of hell.There was a cafe called the jungle which i rarely used i found it a bit pricey.I used to stop at one at the summit in a laybye[forgot the name].If i was in a hurry i used to make for the rosebank cafe at gretna.To give you some idea in todays times i could just make the rosebank in four and half hrs from manchester.Happy days.
regards dave.
dafdave:
I used to stop at one at the summit in a laybye[forgot the name].
First. and re:- The Leyland Clock. Here is a picture of it, along with Leonora , the lady who used to wind it up. She still lives – about 400 yards North of the Old Jungle Cafe–just around the corner from where it was sited., on the left hand side of the road about another 600 yards past her house. I always give her a toot as I go past. 
i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii19 … n069-3.jpg
As for the Bus stop cafe at the summit.It was called “the eagles nest” Dave. It was run by the Mrs.Huguez (dec.) with her Daughter Dorothy, on left in pic.(now in her late 70.s) and her young assistant Ann, on the right. (now a Great Gran.).
Click on these links for a bit of instant nostalgia from the mid 60,s pre M6 days. They are all different pics.
transportcafe.co.uk/jungle_s … t_shap.jpg
transportcafe.co.uk/jungle_s … inside.jpg
transportcafe.co.uk/jungle_s … 24_752.jpg
With acknowledgements to transportcafe.co.uk for their use on this thread.
For further pics etc. Check out the “■■■■■■■ Companies” thread on the " Old time Lorries, Companies, and Drivers (interactive) thread lower down this Main Page. Start at Page 4, I posted a few pics of Shapfell on that, and later pages. There are a lot of good pics. and links to other Shap pictures on those pages from other posters.
Enjoy wallowing in Deep Nostalgia fellers.
I just added the image tags for you, hope you don’t mind
Buycrider:
dafdave:
I used to stop at one at the summit in a laybye[forgot the name].First. and re:- The Leyland Clock. Here is a picture of it, along with Leonora , the lady who used to wind it up. She still lives – about 400 yards North of the Old Jungle Cafe–just around the corner from where it was sited., on the left hand side of the road about another 600 yards past her house. I always give her a toot as I go past.
As for the Bus stop cafe at the summit.It was called “the eagles nest” Dave. It was run by the Mrs.Huguez (dec.) with her Daughter Dorothy, on left in pic.(now in her late 70.s) and her young assistant Ann, on the right. (now a Great Gran.).
Click on these links for a bit of instant nostalgia from the mid 60,s pre M6 days.
With acknowledgements to http://www.transportcafe.co.uk for their use on this thread.
For further pics etc. Check out the “■■■■■■■ Companies” thread on the " Old time Lorries, Companies, and Drivers (interactive) thread lower down this Main Page. Start at Page 4, I posted a few pics of Shapfell on that, and later pages. There are a lot of good pics. and links to other Shap pictures on those pages from other posters.
Enjoy wallowing in Deep Nostalgia fellers.
Thanks Malc. It looks better with the pics in situ. I do me best
The OP will be able to show them to his Dad now
Buycrider:
Thanks Malc. It looks better with the pics in situ. I do me bestThe OP will be able to show them to his Dad now
Thanks to you both for the pics and info,brings back many good memorys.
regards dave.
Being a night trunker for Smith of Maddiston,Manchester Depot,when the temperature dropped down to a serious level,some drivers[me included] had to set a small fire under the fuel tank to dewax the diesel in order that we could get home,no insulated fuel tanks in those days!,but we generally made it home,some of the Scotsmen didnt though,used to keep Millars @ Beattock busy!
Take it easy,
Rgds to all,
David