Be nice to hear from any drivers who worked for any of these hauliers, back along in the easy, free-wheeling days of 30 m.p.h. before log books with duplicates, tachographs, cab phones, trackers ,etc; when all a driver needed was a ‘Headlight’ A.B.C. Directory and a night out case!!
Jempson’s Rye, Sid Willingham Bexhill, S.B.Cary Bexhill, Weston & Huxford Battle, Frank Griffen Plant, ■■■■■ Fleet Ashford, Levetts, Waters & Cooper, Turks, all from Hawkhurst/ Benenden area.
traction man:
Be nice to hear from any drivers who worked for any of these hauliers, back along in the easy, free-wheeling days of 30 m.p.h. before log books with duplicates, tachographs, cab phones, trackers ,etc; when all a driver needed was a ‘Headlight’ A.B.C. Directory and a night out case!!
Jempson’s Rye, Sid Willingham Bexhill, S.B.Cary Bexhill, Weston & Huxford Battle, Frank Griffen Plant, ■■■■■ Fleet Ashford, Levetts, Waters & Cooper, Turks, all from Hawkhurst/ Benenden area.
Hi Traction Man,
I’m afraid I missed those times, I started driving lorries in 1969, carting timber for my uncle, who had driven since the forties, so he told me all the tales from earlier days.
I had hundreds of headlight magazines from an old Athersmith’s driver - Tony Kenyon. I’m not sure they helped really, they mostly seemed to consist of descriptions of accidents and drivers who had been prosecuted for offences! It seemed to be that lorry drivers were an easy ‘pull’ for any copper who needed to up his prosecution rate. Considering what you had to drive and in what conditions, it’s amazing how few accidents there were.
I delivered to Rye once in about 1974 and was talking to a Jempsons driver. He was in his late 50’s. He asked me how old I was and I replied 26. He sighed and said ‘You lucky man, I wish I was 26 again - you’ve got the world at your feet’.
So here I am 41 years later. Still, it’s been fun and hopefully more to come!
John
Hello John, I am retired now having been on the road neally all my working life, first repairing them for 5 years then from age 20 to 65 driving on them.
I am a self-taught back street mechanic and since 2000 I have designed and built a Ford engined trike, built a Mini based kit car and done a nut and bolt re-build on a 1968 MG Midget which I still own, and has taken me on seven trouble free European road trips since retiring.
Dougal.
Hello Traction Man,
I’m sorry but I don’t quite make the period either, but I did start on a puddle jumper with Alan Firmin using the duplicate logbook in which you had to record the place name of each delivery and the driving time taken from the last one. Later with Henleys of Spelmonden, I took a suitcase and used the little red ABC book with telephone numbers of digs and used Headlight for Silver Roadways and others’ return load number . You should find the Kent Transport and Henley Transport threads mention some of the companies from not too far out of the area. Working mainly on fruit market deliveries I didn’t have any regular contact with drivers from those firms, but we used to take hops to the hop board in Ledbury where we would meet Jempsons drivers in the high street pub digs. Apart from that it would be the odd meeting with Turk’s or Woodcock’s men at Scratchwood, around 4am at the tea stall on Chelsea Bridge, or in Charcon’s drivers’ room at Hulland Ward while waiting for a load of flags back to the south east.
Greetings Cav551,you sure jogged a few memories with your reply, thanks!
I was involved with hop transport with Jempson’s for whom I worked for many years, doing loads from Kent and Tottenham cold stores. Some jolly good nights were spent at the Seven Stars In Ledbury, remember old Jinks the landlord who used to dab his glass on the cognac optic every time he passed by? wonder the place made a profit.
Your mention of Silver Roadways took me back to '68 when I first went onto traction with their sub-Company called Unit Loads, running out of the then tiny Felixtow docks, delvering and collecting all over the country. staying out sometimes for two weeks at a time, the worst load being green hides collected from slaughter houses, ok in winter, but very stinky in summer. The ‘gravey’ that dripped through the trailer floor onto the rear of the unit made a smell that was impossible to wash off. The princley sum of 1pound per load was paid as dirty money.
I also ran sugar , pulling their trailers out of Silvertown to Liverpool and Glasgow with a return load to Brighton to the 7up factory.
Regards, Dougal.
Looks like hops…
Now, THAT is how to sling pockets! what a cracking load, no names , nice even slings and essencial to a good load, firm pockets!
traction man:
Now, THAT is how to sling pockets! what a cracking load, no names , nice even slings and essencial to a good load, firm pockets!
So what sort of weight would have been on that motor ? Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
traction man:
Now, THAT is how to sling pockets! what a cracking load, no names , nice even slings and essencial to a good load, firm pockets!So what sort of weight would have been on that motor ? Cheers Bewick.
I was just thinking the same thing it looks very heavy on the front end , i bet it was a little bit heavy on the steering 
A hop pocket weighs about 1 and 1/4 cwt so there’s about 4 and a half tons on the lorry. 6 high would be the normal maximum height, but what that was I can’t remember.
Edit: that was from memory of what I was told a long time ago, but looking up my Wightman’s Aritmetical Tables price 8d, it quotes a pocket as 1 1/2 to 2 cwt. So the load could be anything up to about 7 tons. You can get more on if the bed is wide enough by loading gunner and roll and if feeling brave slinging every layer where possible. It would not be going very far without being sheeted.
I think that’s about right. Hops were a high-volume / low-weight load but it certainly looks impressive on that old Thornycroft! Robert
Something i remember being told ,must have been late 1960s =that[ them old thorny-croft could reverse them- selfs] i never did get to find out what he meant any ideas?
peggydeckboy:
Something i remember being told ,must have been late 1960s =that[ them old thorny-croft could reverse them- selfs] i never did get to find out what he meant any ideas?
Some diesels of that era were prone to run backwards in certain conditions so maybe this was one of them. Robert
Hi, I started as a trailer mate at 16 in 1948 for Mack’s Hauliers of Silvertown London and we had depots at Southampton and Manchester. After being taken over by BRS, I had to take a break for the Conscription in the R E’s and thence to the Middle East. Back on the BRS in1953 I was om night trunk with changeover at Marlborough, then Southwark depot and finally to Tufnell Park doing night trunk to Sheffield with the occasional fish and fruit to Stockton or Darlington and that ended in 56 when I married. From then on it was meat transport.