Dave the Renegade:
Your recollections of your several pints for breakfast Harry, reminded me of when I was lodging in West Wales in 1970. We were staying at a pub at Rhandirmwyn in the Towy valley not far from Llandovery.
We were constructing forestry roads for the Economical Forestry Group,and there was two of us driving tippers hauling from a tracked excavator to a tracked machine making and leveling the road.
At the same time Wimpey Construction were building the Llyn Brianne reservoir just up the valley.
Needless to say, all the pubs in the area were doing a roaring trade with all the blokes working on the Dam.
We used to be sat in the kitchen of the pub eating a cooked breakfast with the bar half full of blokes out of several Landrovers in donkey jackets drinking pints of Guinness at 7am in the morning.
Thee same blokes plus a lot more were back in there every evening. The pubs must of made a fortune.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Anywhere there’s a big long term job like you mention Dave there are usually hordes
of Irish lads involved who are good for small town and village economies, the lodging
houses, cafes and pubs do a roaring trade without having to worry about the tourist
trade which can be fickle, if the weather isn’t good they’ll stay away but on those big
jobs they go on regardless of conditions and are seven day weeks until the job is done
so it’s full beds and bars and full tills until the contract reaches completion and a few
of the locals will get rich.
thanks harry, long retired.
harry_gill:
Dave the Renegade:
Your recollections of your several pints for breakfast Harry, reminded me of when I was lodging in West Wales in 1970. We were staying at a pub at Rhandirmwyn in the Towy valley not far from Llandovery.
We were constructing forestry roads for the Economical Forestry Group,and there was two of us driving tippers hauling from a tracked excavator to a tracked machine making and leveling the road.
At the same time Wimpey Construction were building the Llyn Brianne reservoir just up the valley.
Needless to say, all the pubs in the area were doing a roaring trade with all the blokes working on the Dam.
We used to be sat in the kitchen of the pub eating a cooked breakfast with the bar half full of blokes out of several Landrovers in donkey jackets drinking pints of Guinness at 7am in the morning.
Thee same blokes plus a lot more were back in there every evening. The pubs must of made a fortune.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Anywhere there’s a big long term job like you mention Dave there are usually hordes
of Irish lads involved who are good for small town and village economies, the lodging
houses, cafes and pubs do a roaring trade without having to worry about the tourist
trade which can be fickle, if the weather isn’t good they’ll stay away but on those big
jobs they go on regardless of conditions and are seven day weeks until the job is done
so it’s full beds and bars and full tills until the contract reaches completion and a few
of the locals will get rich.
thanks harry, long retired.
I think that particular Dam took five years to build Harry. It had been on go for four years when we were working near to it. I think it was completed a couple of years ahead of schedule. Those blokes earn big money and spend big as well.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
harry_gill:
Dave the Renegade:
Your recollections of your several pints for breakfast Harry, reminded me of when I was lodging in West Wales in 1970. We were staying at a pub at Rhandirmwyn in the Towy valley not far from Llandovery.
We were constructing forestry roads for the Economical Forestry Group,and there was two of us driving tippers hauling from a tracked excavator to a tracked machine making and leveling the road.
At the same time Wimpey Construction were building the Llyn Brianne reservoir just up the valley.
Needless to say, all the pubs in the area were doing a roaring trade with all the blokes working on the Dam.
We used to be sat in the kitchen of the pub eating a cooked breakfast with the bar half full of blokes out of several Landrovers in donkey jackets drinking pints of Guinness at 7am in the morning.
Thee same blokes plus a lot more were back in there every evening. The pubs must of made a fortune.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Anywhere there’s a big long term job like you mention Dave there are usually hordes
of Irish lads involved who are good for small town and village economies, the lodging
houses, cafes and pubs do a roaring trade without having to worry about the tourist
trade which can be fickle, if the weather isn’t good they’ll stay away but on those big
jobs they go on regardless of conditions and are seven day weeks until the job is done
so it’s full beds and bars and full tills until the contract reaches completion and a few
of the locals will get rich.
thanks harry, long retired.
I think that particular Dam took five years to build Harry. It had been on go for four years when we were working near to it. I think it was completed a couple of years ahead of schedule. Those blokes earn big money and spend big as well.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
My Dad worked as a machine driver on the Hydro Electric job up in North Wales
the one where water is pumped up the hills into a holding reservoir off peak and
released through turbines at peak times, I can’t remember the name it was a
long time ago but we didn’t see the Old Fellah’ for weeks on end but there was a
lot of extra food on the table in those times and when home the Old Man seemed
to spend a lot of time in the pub and no doubt did the same when he was at his
then place of work.
thanks harry, long retired.
Heres one to feast your poor old eyes on Harry
Tinted glasses needed.
Guesty44:
Heres one to feast your poor old eyes on Harry
Tinted glasses needed.
hiya,
I don’t think Smithy ever got those brown overalls washed Fred but he did
only wear when in the yard, I remember John Hemylryk stopping him from
moving his motor because of the boiler suit, and our good mate Stan Hindle
always looked the same on or off duty that’s not my motor next to yours
Fred it looks too clean I never knew where the wash was at Bowkers if I did
I certainly can’t ever remember using it, most of the lads was good to work
with, remember when we used to descend on Harold Newlove on a Sunday
and empty his tin box supposed to be our ex’s for the next week but really
it was our Sunday night beer money if we wasn’t out that day, happy days.
thanks harry, long retired.
Harry My Man , How are you doing on the Malts, Ive just finished a bottle of Glen Moray, I shant open another bottle tonight as Im under servalance from my good lady who seems to think I drink too much, I cant fathom out why she should have such evil thoughts, I like my nips in multiples, But I do take them slowly, So whats her problem Eh, She must love me to bits Eh, Regards Larry.
harry_gill:
Guesty44:
Heres one to feast your poor old eyes on Harry
Tinted glasses needed.
hiya,
I don’t think Smithy ever got those brown overalls washed Fred but he did
only wear when in the yard, I remember John Hemylryk stopping him from
moving his motor because of the boiler suit, and our good mate Stan Hindle
always looked the same on or off duty that’s not my motor next to yours
Fred it looks too clean I never knew where the wash was at Bowkers if I did
I certainly can’t ever remember using it, most of the lads was good to work
with, remember when we used to descend on Harold Newlove on a Sunday
and empty his tin box supposed to be our ex’s for the next week but really
it was our Sunday night beer money if we wasn’t out that day, happy days.
thanks harry, long retired.
Hiya harry Old nobby used to call it the royal salute
if I remember right.Standing to attention at the window
saluting with his fingers parted against his head meaning a £5 sub 
Take care Harry.
Freddie.
Guesty44:
harry_gill:
Guesty44:
Heres one to feast your poor old eyes on Harry
Tinted glasses needed.
hiya,
I don’t think Smithy ever got those brown overalls washed Fred but he did
only wear when in the yard, I remember John Hemylryk stopping him from
moving his motor because of the boiler suit, and our good mate Stan Hindle
always looked the same on or off duty that’s not my motor next to yours
Fred it looks too clean I never knew where the wash was at Bowkers if I did
I certainly can’t ever remember using it, most of the lads was good to work
with, remember when we used to descend on Harold Newlove on a Sunday
and empty his tin box supposed to be our ex’s for the next week but really
it was our Sunday night beer money if we wasn’t out that day, happy days.
thanks harry, long retired.
Hiya harry Old nobby used to call it the royal salute
if I remember right.Standing to attention at the window
saluting with his fingers parted against his head meaning a £5 sub
Take care Harry.
Freddie.
A £5 sub wouldn’t get you far these days. Another driver borrowed a £1 off me a few days before I had my accident. He never sent it back. I could have a big return with interest after 42 years. 
CheersDave.
How true, I would have been a rich man now if I had all the half dollars & ten bobs I lent to drivers , Going back to when I first started driving wagons in the 50s, A good long gone driver told me Larry allways make sure that you have a bit of money in wallet just In case you breakdown & have to get the train home, Happy days Eh, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
How true, I would have been a rich man now if I had all the half dollars & ten bobs I lent to drivers , Going back to when I first started driving wagons in the 50s, A good long gone driver told me Larry allways make sure that you have a bit of money in wallet just In case you breakdown & have to get the train home, Happy days Eh, Regards Larry.
Even when I was in school Larry I always had some money in my pocket from odd jobs and later on a paper round and working on farms etc. I’ve never been rich, but I’ve never been skint either.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Lawrence Dunbar:
How true, I would have been a rich man now if I had all the half dollars & ten bobs I lent to drivers , Going back to when I first started driving wagons in the 50s, A good long gone driver told me Larry allways make sure that you have a bit of money in wallet just In case you breakdown & have to get the train home, Happy days Eh, Regards Larry.
Even when I was in school Larry I always had some money in my pocket from odd jobs and later on a paper round and working on farms etc. I’ve never been rich, but I’ve never been skint either.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
When on for the BRS and you was away from home and it turned out you
was going to be away a second weekend you would obviously be in a BRS
yard so on the Friday afternoon you was going to be away from home yet
again it was normal procedure for the depot you was parked up in to give
you a warrant for a return to your home town, yes use it to get home no
problem yes and paid until you did, but on the Saturday you would have an
arranged trip back from your own depot on the Sunday to where you had
left your motor, so on the Saturday when your return trip was certified it
was a case of pop round to the station and get a refund on the return bit
of your ticket and hey’ presto a pleasant Saturday night out at the BRS’s
expense and a few bob left to buy the driver (usually a mate) a breakfast
for his trouble, the secret was to pick a depot to become “weekended” in
that your own depot could do in a ten hour shift at (double time). I never
once had to use the return portion of the rail ticket and did it a few times,
plus the sweetener of ten hours at double bubble for riding shotgun. Most
of it was legal too you had to be in the host yard for start of business on
the Monday, and even if the train could have got you there in half the time
you was still guaranteed ten hours, “union rules”.
thanks harry, long retired.
Norman Ingram:
Yes Harry, I had many nights out when on BRS, and Camping Gaz used to pay for it, after I went on the contract, I think it was about £30 a week for 40hrs a week, but with overtime it was more like £70.
hiya,
Good old BRS eh’ Norm always paid the rate and every hour worked without question,
I loved the Sundays out and if the destination was out of reach for your ten hours it
was a case run your time out past where your time was supposed to be up and that
made for a nice easy day on Monday I was usually boozed up at an unearthly hour in
the early hours so wouldn’t have fancied driving a couple of hours in that condition
now would I so I was usually on the drop doorstep for when the delivery point opened
having only driven a few yards, happy days. Keep oe’r to the left Norm.
thanks harry, long retired.
harry_gill:
Norman Ingram:
Yes Harry, I had many nights out when on BRS, and Camping Gaz used to pay for it, after I went on the contract, I think it was about £30 a week for 40hrs a week, but with overtime it was more like £70.
hiya,
Good old BRS eh’ Norm always paid the rate and every hour worked without question,
I loved the Sundays out and if the destination was out of reach for your ten hours it
was a case run your time out past where your time was supposed to be up and that
made for a nice easy day on Monday I was usually boozed up at an unearthly hour in
the early hours so wouldn’t have fancied driving a couple of hours in that condition
now would I so I was usually on the drop doorstep for when the delivery point opened
having only driven a few yards, happy days. Keep oe’r to the left Norm.
thanks harry, long retired.
Sounds as if you had all the angles covered Harry. I don’t think any of today’s drivers can pull any of those strokes. They are hampered by a load of legislation.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
harry_gill:
Norman Ingram:
Yes Harry, I had many nights out when on BRS, and Camping Gaz used to pay for it, after I went on the contract, I think it was about £30 a week for 40hrs a week, but with overtime it was more like £70.
hiya,
Good old BRS eh’ Norm always paid the rate and every hour worked without question,
I loved the Sundays out and if the destination was out of reach for your ten hours it
was a case run your time out past where your time was supposed to be up and that
made for a nice easy day on Monday I was usually boozed up at an unearthly hour in
the early hours so wouldn’t have fancied driving a couple of hours in that condition
now would I so I was usually on the drop doorstep for when the delivery point opened
having only driven a few yards, happy days. Keep oe’r to the left Norm.
thanks harry, long retired.
Sounds as if you had all the angles covered Harry. I don’t think any of today’s drivers can pull any of those strokes. They are hampered by a load of legislation.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Yes Dave and there was more commercial vehicles running about in those days
and due to drivers being trained properly (not just taught how to drive) there
was a lot less accidents, true there was a lot less private cars on the road but
I think drivers in most cases “drivers to be” were shown the ropes long before
being allowed to “hit the road” I remember telling my very first “guvnor” that I
would have no problem driving his motor I had zero experience of roping and
sheeting, other than being able to “make a dolly” having been trained by my
Father, the guvnor told me this job only requires you to drive, the trailer boy
has 30 odd years of roping and sheeting experience and he’ll teach you should
the occasion arise, the job in question was night trunk North West to London
which in 1957 took a full shift to do so it was the shunter at the other end’s
job to turn the vehicle round ready for me and the “trailer boy”, an old driver
who unfortunately had been delicenced due to failing eyesight, this old boy
did give me an insight into covering and making a load secure but only by him
telling me as we drove along, the first load I had to “do” did look OK and it
didn’t fall off, and I think I always did a decent job that would pass the Dennis
inspection, and on this occasion I only had a youngster for trailer boy, so a
case of “all my own work” with a bit of help with the lifting.
thanks harry, long retired.
harry_gill:
Dave the Renegade:
harry_gill:
Norman Ingram:
Yes Harry, I had many nights out when on BRS, and Camping Gaz used to pay for it, after I went on the contract, I think it was about £30 a week for 40hrs a week, but with overtime it was more like £70.
hiya,
Good old BRS eh’ Norm always paid the rate and every hour worked without question,
I loved the Sundays out and if the destination was out of reach for your ten hours it
was a case run your time out past where your time was supposed to be up and that
made for a nice easy day on Monday I was usually boozed up at an unearthly hour in
the early hours so wouldn’t have fancied driving a couple of hours in that condition
now would I so I was usually on the drop doorstep for when the delivery point opened
having only driven a few yards, happy days. Keep oe’r to the left Norm.
thanks harry, long retired.
Sounds as if you had all the angles covered Harry. I don’t think any of today’s drivers can pull any of those strokes. They are hampered by a load of legislation.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Yes Dave and there was more commercial vehicles running about in those days
and due to drivers being trained properly (not just taught how to drive) there
was a lot less accidents, true there was a lot less private cars on the road but
I think drivers in most cases “drivers to be” were shown the ropes long before
being allowed to “hit the road” I remember telling my very first “guvnor” that I
would have no problem driving his motor I had zero experience of roping and
sheeting, other than being able to “make a dolly” having been trained by my
Father, the guvnor told me this job only requires you to drive, the trailer boy
has 30 odd years of roping and sheeting experience and he’ll teach you should
the occasion arise, the job in question was night trunk North West to London
which in 1957 took a full shift to do so it was the shunter at the other end’s
job to turn the vehicle round ready for me and the “trailer boy”, an old driver
who unfortunately had been delicenced due to failing eyesight, this old boy
did give me an insight into covering and making a load secure but only by him
telling me as we drove along, the first load I had to “do” did look OK and it
didn’t fall off, and I think I always did a decent job that would pass the Dennis
inspection, and on this occasion I only had a youngster for trailer boy, so a
case of “all my own work” with a bit of help with the lifting.
thanks harry, long retired.
I was a full 10 years behind you Harry,starting lorry driving, bit like you I had a Dad who drove lorries all of his working life, starting at 17 on a small one.The old hands used to put the likes of me right when I started and you listened because those blokes had the experience and you learned a lot off them.
You don’t get much of that these days. Its go and pass your test and still work your way up, but half of the drivers of today don’t want to have a conversation.
Cheers Dave.
You at spot on there Dave, I learned from the best blokes I could have wished for when I first started driving HGVs in the 50s, Sadley they are all long gone , But I will allways remember them, They were the pioneers in the 50s, Of course we were working for firms that were in in the haulage game & bought wagons & Licences back from the BRS Which was rightly theirs in the first place, & Im still driving on Hol. relief from time to time & I will continue to do this until I feel Ive had enough of the modern day rules, Or should I say Bull ■■■■ from a lot of tossers, Who don’t know their arse from their elbow, & Are most likely very high paid for doing sweet F ALL For the haulage men, Regards Larry.
