I’m pinching somebody’s material here but here goes.
Jim McKelvie was travelling north in his car homeward bound on A74 one night when a Sam Anderson artic passed him. Next day he rang Sam at Newhouse and said “One of your wagons passed me ont 74 last night and I was in me car”. Sam said “Aye right,I’ll speak to driver when I see him”. Jim Mc. says “Aye,well if you sack him send him to me I could do with drivers like that”.
Plant pot:
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Used to see them a lot on the A 74 when I was with Ilkeston Haulage, went into their depot many times for diesel. Both them and Strathclyde were Transport Developement companies along with Midland Storage when I was there too.
It was a McKelvie driver who had waited behind an Ilkeston wagon for 2 changes of the lights in Penrith who got out of his cab to wake the Ilkeston driver up. He had fallen asleep at the wheel. Better then than when rolling though. 
Plant pot:
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Hi Plant pot,
You mentioned your Dad worked for McKelvie,was that in Scotland or North Street Manchester where they had a depot?
David
Hi David it was Manchester,his name was alan Williamson
Plant pot:
Hi David it was Manchester,his name was alan Williamson
Hi PP,
I only asked as Smith of Maddiston bought the Manchester MCKelvie depot to give them a presence in the North West,I spent many great years based there,happy days under the management of Harold Gilmore.
David
No probs David ,be good if anybody on here says they were there when my dad was
No connection with Mckelvies per se , but since the S20 Foden would appear to feature prominently within their fleet , I feel inclined to disclose that aside from the steel cabbed S40 , which incidentally ( in my biased opinion at any rate ) was the finest truck ever to emerge from Sandbach ,… ( sad to say I never had the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of an NGC) … , then following close behind the S40 , the runner up would surely have to have been the coach built cabbed S20 .
I’m speaking from the point of view of an employed driver here by way ; not that of an owner operator or mechanic , just that of a humble 7s/6d an hour driver ( or thereabouts ) .
Could I just point out that over the decades , I’ve been fortunate ( or unfortunate ) enough to have had the opportunity of piloting an eclectic variety of Fodens.… S34 , S36 , S39s … and effin’ S21s until they were coming out of my bleedin’ ears for Christ’s sake… to name but a few , plus a solitary S 50 half cab for a spell on the M62 Contract near Rixton in the early 70s .
And if I could venture a personal opinion here , The S 80s were an absolute abortion in my view . clumsy great bas-tard things they were , as were their derivatives whose designated model numbers I’ve thankfully long forgotten .
That’s assuming of course that I considered them worthy of memorising in the first instance .
I accept that everyone has a different view and I fully expect that many will disagree with mine … So please feel free .
is that Berrhead and Motherwell on the door ?
Plant pot:
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Hi Plant Pot.
Thank you for posting the McKelvie photos. My Dad worked at McKelvie Manchester Depot probably at the same time as your Dad by the look of the vehicles in the photos. His name was Dennis Walling. He was on the night trunk to Paisley, trunking a Leyland 8 legger, MHS 56. Also LHS 208 Foden S20 8 legger. He came off the night trunk to work on days. Sadly my Dad passed a few years ago so I can not ask him if he knew your Dad.
If you have any more McKelvie pictures please post them for everyone to view.
Regards,
GBW
Well all I can say when I was Shunting the Dundee Preston Trunk for a while with Allisons Transport Dundee … Mc kelvies had one of the best dance formation teams at the Mecca in Preston on on a Monday night …one of thebest dance halls ,in the district ,except "Bolton Palais " !!!
This is McKelvie’s old yard in Paisley nowadays from the most up to date Google maps. Now occupied by Kerry Logistics. Hopefully someone a lot smarter than me can turn it into a real pic instead of a link.
