shap

came across this :arrow_right: shapcumbria.co.uk/shap-fell.html

some pics of lorries making there way over shap.

I’ve got the video of Shap which is very good, hearing the lady that wound the Leyland clock etc.
Cheers Dave.

here,s one for you dave,

hi dave, I went to Kendal a couple years ago to see this clock, I got to see it before it was going in for refurbishment.its at town in Kendal now so ive been told.also went over the shapfell passing the jungle café, now Kendal caravans.when I used to go to James croppers mill burnside. Bewick would know this one. :smiley:

daibootsy:
hi dave, I went to Kendal a couple years ago to see this clock, I got to see it before it was going in for refurbishment.its at town in Kendal now so ive been told.also went over the shapfell passing the jungle café, now Kendal caravans.when I used to go to James croppers mill burnside. Bewick would know this one. :smiley:

The Leyland clock was donated to the Brewery Arts centre in Kendal and was re-erected in the car park at the centre.That old shot of the young lady is a member of the family from the farm just below where the clock was situated and who had the job of winding the clock up,weekly IIRC.Her name was Leonora Knowles and she used to be a regular on the local radio station with the weather forcast for The Fell,long after the clock had been removed.Cheers Dennis.

Following years of neglect by the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, the Leyland Clock was removed and
underwent extensive repairs to the stanchion , name panels , and both clock faces.
Well-known signwriter Jim Ashcroft spent many, many hours removing the glass studs before the panels could be cleared of rust.
He demonstrated his meticulous progress in the Craft Marquee at the ■■■■■■■ Steam Gathering , where he was to be seen hand-painting the complicated crest above the Leyland name.

This photograph shows the glass studs removed during the painting stages.

The Leyland Clock was eventually repositioned at the Brewery Arts Centre in the autumn of 2011, when a large gathering of transport enthusiasts gathered for the occasion.
Unfortunately,…the Clock still awaits the workings to be finished, and therefore it only tells the correct time
TWICE each day. :unamused:

Cheers, cattle wagon man.

Jim Ashcroft , busy painting the crest at the ■■■■■■■ Steam Gathering.

Cheers, cattle wagon man.

Bit - by - bit, but the Clock`s panels are now looking better.

Cheers, cattle wagon man.

And so the Leyland Clock chapter goes full circle with a more-recent photograph of Lenore Knowles.
She proudly wound the Clock each week , and I think that her father did the same job previously.

Photographed at the Brewery Arts Centre , autumn 2011, following the reinstating ceremony .

The ex-Hudsons of Sandside A.E,C. ; Glen Harleys Leyland Super Comet, and the former Bamber Bridge
double decker bus shown in the background , were some of the vehicles which took part in the Road Run from Shap Fell summit to Kendal earlier that day.

Cheers, cattle wagon man.

Hi Dennis, I couldn’t remember the name Brewerys art centre. here,s a welsh dragon coming up. :smiley:

Evening Gentlemen, as a young man I traversed “Shap” many times, both in my Foden 4cyl Gardner, then S20 LW, and finaly S21 LW. Never any problems,( and I was always “well on” my weight)! was I just young, for my friends I carried my weight, (and above), Gentlemen, did I miss something■■?/

Compared to the "back roads " into South Wales from “Gods” Shropshire, and later, Mt Cenis, The Simplon, Le Petite Grande St Bernard, Shap was a mere “pimple”! Why this mythical status■■? Did you never experience “real” hills, real gradients, real weather, real loose surfaces■■?

Regularly taking 400 Ewes up the Long Mynd, via Rattlinghope as a measure against Shap mes Braves,(bound to be some computer link so you can see the route for you electronic fanatics)

Shap…grow up…its a pimple, exagerated by our poor Scottish friends as a mountain who wish to think that they have some natural barrier from the "civilised " world,!!!

Cheerio for now.

Saviem:
Evening Gentlemen, as a young man I traversed “Shap” many times, both in my Foden 4cyl Gardner, then S20 LW, and finaly S21 LW. Never any problems,( and I was always “well on” my weight)! was I just young, for my friends I carried my weight, (and above), Gentlemen, did I miss something■■?/

Compared to the "back roads " into South Wales from “Gods” Shropshire, and later, Mt Cenis, The Simplon, Le Petite Grande St Bernard, Shap was a mere “pimple”! Why this mythical status■■? Did you never experience “real” hills, real gradients, real weather, real loose surfaces■■?

Regularly taking 400 Ewes up the Long Mynd, via Rattlinghope as a measure against Shap mes Braves,(bound to be some computer link so you can see the route for you electronic fanatics)

Shap…grow up…its a pimple, exagerated by our poor Scottish friends as a mountain who wish to think that they have some natural barrier from the "civilised " world,!!!
How long did it take you to think that one up :question: :question:
Cheerio for now.

It’s good to see the old clock being restored, at least it was done with paint and not vinyl, and I’m sure it brings back many memories for a lot of people.

You’re rattling the cage there Saviem, but like you I always wondered what the fuss was about.

I started driving in the early 80 when Shap was negotiated by the M6 and even fully loaded it was only a minor glitch with at best 2 down shifts. One day when I had a bit of time to kill I went over Shap running north on the old A 6 and was at the cement works thinking I must have missed it, before I realized it was over and couldn’t see what the fuss was about. Perhaps back in the 50’s and 60’s driving an under powered British lorry it may have been a bit more daunting. At that time I did a lot of work running in the Highlands of Scotland, as well as rural Wales where there were still some good geographic anomalies to negotiate. One of the other “frightening roads” at the time was the Goat Trail A 65 to Skipton
( why ? ) and if locals were to be believed the road from Hawick to Langhome was the most desolate lonely stretch of high way ever.
Later on in life I frequently crossed the Rockies in my Aerodyne, as well as many trips to Italy, Greece, and Turkey, in various European makes doing climbs and descents that seemed to go on for ever.
When I was driving British registered trucks I used to think Italy was big as we were only allowed to do 80k’s, later on when driving an Italian truck up around 95k’s I found it to be very much smaller, and was able to get of the boat at Bari and drive to the yard in Udine in one shift
Perhaps it was the same kind of thing for Shap.

If you’re looking for frightening roads try up round the Himalayas or the Andies, not ■■■■■■■■

Jeff …

Put’s head down and waits for the flack…

Jelliot:
It’s good to see the old clock being restored, at least it was done with paint and not vinyl, and I’m sure it brings back many memories for a lot of people.

You’re rattling the cage there Saviem, but like you I always wondered what the fuss was about.

I started driving in the early 80 when Shap was negotiated by the M6 and even fully loaded it was only a minor glitch with at best 2 down shifts. One day when I had a bit of time to kill I went over Shap running north on the old A 6 and was at the cement works thinking I must have missed it, before I realized it was over and couldn’t see what the fuss was about. Perhaps back in the 50’s and 60’s driving an under powered British lorry it may have been a bit more daunting. At that time I did a lot of work running in the Highlands of Scotland, as well as rural Wales where there were still some good geographic anomalies to negotiate. One of the other “frightening roads” at the time was the Goat Trail A 65 to Skipton
( why ? ) and if locals were to be believed the road from Hawick to Langhome was the most desolate lonely stretch of high way ever.
Later on in life I frequently crossed the Rockies in my Aerodyne, as well as many trips to Italy, Greece, and Turkey, in various European makes doing climbs and descents that seemed to go on for ever.
When I was driving British registered trucks I used to think Italy was big as we were only allowed to do 80k’s, later on when driving an Italian truck up around 95k’s I found it to be very much smaller, and was able to get of the boat at Bari and drive to the yard in Udine in one shift
Perhaps it was the same kind of thing for Shap.

If you’re looking for frightening roads try up round the Himalayas or the Andies, not ■■■■■■■■

Jeff …

Put’s head down and waits for the flack…

Wouldnt want to be in your boots or Saviems after reading that ,but like yourself i only went over the M6 and to be fair didnt realise i had been over Shap.But go back to the `50s in thick snow with a slow cold overloaded motor and like you said i think it would be much different .If thats not sitting on the fence i dont know what is :wink:

Can I offer a sensible,non partizan,reply ? Cheers Dennis.

I agree with Saviem and others, there are steeper roads around than Shap. But the A6 over Shap was a main arterial route into Scotland, used before the M6 was built by underpowered lorries with poor braking systems, usually overloaded which were much harder to drive than the modern motors. I have only driven cars and vans over Shap, but I can imagine driving a lorry many years ago over that stretch of road would be hard going.
Cheers Dave.

Yes Mr Bewick any opinion is fine by me, I’m just a guy with my own opinion, and wouldn’t consider it any better or worse than any one else.
Jeff…

on another forum somebody mentioned the double bus, is this it?

transportcafe.co.uk/jungle_s … t_shap.jpg

and the famous one.
transportcafe.co.uk/jungle_s … _big_2.jpg

Yes there are much steeper nastier roads than the A6 over Shap Fell but it was the fact that as a main North/ South trunk route it was a lot busier than other routes within the UK and as its elevation put it up within the “snowline” it was vulnerable to sudden blizzards due to the prevailing south west winds having to rise to get over the Fell and there bye dropping either rain in much of the year but snow in winter.This unpredictable weather would catch out both the users and the Westmorland C.C. regularly and very quickly the road would become blocked either by drifts or stranded vehicles.I recall as a lad growing up Kendal when the A6 got blocked the town would quickly fill up with Northbound vehicles and would virtually come to a stanstill almost for often many hours at a time,but the streets would empty just as fast once the “all clear” was given.Also as Dave says,the motors of yesteryear were quite happy plodding about the rest of the old A road system without a lot of difficulty,but when they were subjected to the sudden demands placed upon their engines and drive trains on the Shap gradients their weaknesess were found out PDQ.Hudsons of Sandside made the bulk of their profits in those years attending constant breakdowns on the A6 north of Kendal,day and night,roadside repairs or for more serious problems requiring a tow into their workshop at Sandside at the not inconsiderable cost of a reputed £1 per mile(each way!) in the 50’s and early 60’s.I believe Davidsons of Penrith attended to the breakdowns on the northern side of the Fell although the gradient wasn’t as steep or sharp on that side.Cheers Bewick.