Anyone got any info on Scotts Plant & Tippers?
I worked for a firm in the vale IDS great firm good bunch of lads and the bosses ian and des were spot on , anyone else know of them , anyway i have just brought a book Produce of assum ( evesham) The author of the book Robin Masters , i have just started reading it and its very intresting , its a mixture of the history of transort from the area and Robins own tales. I recomend this book to all intrested in transport from the evesham area .
Spiers and Hartwell run some nice trucks,they run stuff out of a fruit growers near Badsey-I’ve delivered stone there from Broadway pit when they’ve built new greenhouses.I’ve been on jobs with Neatfords aswell, Smiths used to use them a lot for work in Evesham area. Don’t see them about much anymore. Gary, did you ever work with “Dirty Bob”? Ran (might still do) a Volvo 8 wheeler that he kept in it’s previous owners colours so any complaints went to them! 
He got stopped by Vosa in Gill Mill once for not showing in operators disc. When asked where it was, he blamed his dog for eating it!!
double post
No nathan didnt work with a Dirty Bob , sounds a intresting bloke , worked with a dirty Allan thou 
. I seen allan last week in Micky wood services last week he said to say hello,
Was that a Baxter Haulage reunion? 
Another Worcestershire firm I can think of is Rick Whites of Pershore. Produce carriers I think. A little out of the way as they’re based at Armscote near Stratford but Webbs of Armscote get around Evesham way. Run 3x4 wheelers and a 6 wheeler, all old Merc SKs. They’re all immaculate and range in age from L to R reg.
I drove for FerryFast in the early 90’s.
I started on a Merc 814 collecting from farms then passed my class1 and drove between Cornwall and Evesham.
You did alternate weeks - nights and days on this job.
Days was drive from Cornwall to Evesham with produce,swap trailers and drive back to Exeter,then drive a pick up home.
Nights was drive pick up to Exeter,takeover lorry and deliver fruit and veg on way home,usually around 10 drops - Exeter,Torquay,Plymouth,St Austell,Newquay,Falmouth,Penzance.
I remember they used to hire units in regularly from a nearby company,(F-fast used to be based in Honeybourne Airfield) and i was taken to collect a hire unit one evening.
My eyes lit up when i saw an ex Aitchinson Topeka (or could have been Spiers and Hartwell) Scania 143 - 450 (i was 21 at the time and was used to FL10’s and Merc 1729’s) until i was told by the mechanic that it was actually a 113 - 360 as were all of A.T’s units which were rebadged to make them look good.
Don’t know if this is the truth or not.
I really enjoyed working for IDS it was nights on the markets, there was 4 or 5 runs had a go at most of them, There was spitlefields tip reaload fruit near dartford, weston market then into covent garden then reload at heathrow , the south coast run was a killer usually christchurch, southampton , shorham , brighton , hastings, and tunbridge, the easy run was bristol , newport, cardiff then swansea, my regular run was the lancashire run , manchester, bolton preston, wigan , liverpool, stoke and sometimes wolverhampton, we used to get to the markets pay a porter a few quid for forklift and drop goods outside the pitches/stores it was suprising how much we could get done in a night , hard work thou money was good and like i said great lads , we used to swap drops with other firms mostley from the vale ie . if spiers and hartwell were runing up to preston we would swap and i would take there liverpool, that worked well some firms outside the vale would ask us to do the same we would charge 5 quid a pallet . I had to give it up thou as i couldnt adapt to nights come 3am i would be like a zombie.
I remember IDS i think,white wagons with green writing IIRC,as were Townleys from the same area.
Used to see them in Plymco most nights.
Also running between Cornwall and Evesham on the same sort of working pattern as FerryFast were PDS (Parris Distribution Services) and Eccles’ (light blue Merc 4wheelers).
Marshalls were from Evesham weren’t they and another one was R.Sinclair,both ran into Sheffield market and used AECs IIRC.Spiers and Hartwell were regulars into the Scottish markets,Scanias mostly.
The book mentioned marshalls, sinclairs, and spiers and hartwell, the author Robin Masters worked for marshalls, he has a ex BRS bristol and has written the boook as if bhe was driving around the vale stoping where the yards and farms where the trucks ran from. I have finished the book and it was a great read, some funny and intresting storys.
truckeygar:
The book mentioned marshalls, sinclairs, and spiers and hartwell, the author Robin Masters worked for marshalls, he has a ex BRS bristol and has written the boook as if bhe was driving around the vale stoping where the yards and farms where the trucks ran from. I have finished the book and it was a great read, some funny and intresting storys.
Are you going to write on the exploits of DMBH then Gary?
I could do nathan It starts like this , A normal driver going by the name of mr b started a adventure as a owner driver, things went well, brought another wagon things still going good, brought a 3rd took on another driver , 3 trucks 3 drivers . Over night mr b thought he had become the Cheltenham version of eddie stobart and started living the good life playing on the x box , going to the gym and ringing his drivers as we passed the air balloon on pub saying just having lunch seen you go pass, what you earnt so far 
. The problem was the mobile network wasnt good in the air balloon so mhe couldnt ring round for work that payed good rates . The end 
Now it’ll be Toby Carvery at the bottom of the hill!
I used to work for Keltruck at West Bromwich and i helped prep the first 3 3 series trucks Spiers and Hartwell had and if i remember right,2 of them were 143’s and the third one was a 113,i could be wrong though.
Got a few pics of them and some of the others i prepared,i’ll have to find them out.
Always thought Spiers and Hartwell were some of the smartest looking trucks on the road.
Robin’s book is excellent! He has the ability to paint pictures with word’s.
As an very experienced lorry driver, Robin knows his way around the Vale and takes the reader on an imaginary drive in one of his restored BRS Bristol 8 wheelers, calling at many of the yards in the area and tells the story of the local firm’s.
He calls upon his own experiences on the road and tell’s us of his journeys with his Vale employers which took him all over the UK.
The book costs £10 and £2 p&p. Profits go to Marie Curie.
When was the last time you got a very good transport read and wonderful photos for a tenner!
The photo’s in the book are worth the price alone! Asum, by the way, is the name that the locals in the surrounding area call Evesham.
Available only from:-
Robin Masters
15 Lime St
Evesham
Worcestershire
WR11 3AW
Alex
IDS have white DAF arctics with blue writing and Spiers & Hartwell are all Scania’s now and look very smart
What about Nigel Deacon and Caragen?
Evesham based, had a couple of MANs, and fridge trailers IIRC
Ed
edtheshark:
What about Nigel Deacon and Caragen?Evesham based, had a couple of MANs, and fridge trailers IIRC
Ed
Are you talking about owner drivers or C.B.G Transport? 
