On the removal’s thread I recently posted this photo of one of our AEC Mercuries coupled to one of our York drop frame trailers in NESS furniture livery saying how much they paid for the design of their livery and it reminded me to an incident one day.
They had booked one of our small vans to go to Newcastle. We always employed young teenage drivers, who started with us as porters, then passed their driving test drove small vans until they reached 21 and then we put them through HGV test.
It was a young lad about 19 who went down to the NESS factory at Croxdale Durham. On arrival he was told he had to take a new chair through to Newcastle to photographic studio wait for it to be photographed & then return with it to the factory at Croxdale.
Arriving at Newcastle he carried the chair into a small room and put it in the exact position where he was told & then instructed to keep in the background so he was not seen in the photo. In come a young beautiful female model dressed in a robe which she slips off & is totally ■■■■, sits on the chair, has several photos taken from different angles, puts back on her robe and he is told he can then take the chair back onto his van.
You cannot imagine the smile on his face when he comes back into our drivers rest room & recalls his day’s exploits
Carl Williams:
On the removal’s thread I recently posted this photo of one of our AEC Mercuries coupled to one of our York drop frame trailers in NESS furniture livery saying how much they paid for the design of their livery and it reminded me to an incident one day.
They had booked one of our small vans to go to Newcastle. We always employed young teenage drivers, who started with us as porters, then passed their driving test drove small vans until they reached 21 and then we put them through HGV test.
It was a young lad about 19 who went down to the NESS factory at Croxdale Durham. On arrival he was told he had to take a new chair through to Newcastle to photographic studio wait for it to be photographed & then return with it to the factory at Croxdale.
Arriving at Newcastle he carried the chair into a small room and put it in the exact position where he was told & then instructed to keep in the background so he was not seen in the photo. In come a young beautiful female model dressed in a robe which she slips off & is totally ■■■■, sits on the chair, has several photos taken from different angles, puts back on her robe and he is told he can then take the chair back onto his van.
You cannot imagine the smile on his face when he comes back into our drivers rest room & recalls his day’s exploits
Do you have any photos of the chair you can share with us…
Carl Williams:
On the removal’s thread I recently posted this photo of one of our AEC Mercuries coupled to one of our York drop frame trailers in NESS furniture livery saying how much they paid for the design of their livery and it reminded me to an incident one day.
They had booked one of our small vans to go to Newcastle. We always employed young teenage drivers, who started with us as porters, then passed their driving test drove small vans until they reached 21 and then we put them through HGV test.
It was a young lad about 19 who went down to the NESS factory at Croxdale Durham. On arrival he was told he had to take a new chair through to Newcastle to photographic studio wait for it to be photographed & then return with it to the factory at Croxdale.
Arriving at Newcastle he carried the chair into a small room and put it in the exact position where he was told & then instructed to keep in the background so he was not seen in the photo. In come a young beautiful female model dressed in a robe which she slips off & is totally ■■■■, sits on the chair, has several photos taken from different angles, puts back on her robe and he is told he can then take the chair back onto his van.
You cannot imagine the smile on his face when he comes back into our drivers rest room & recalls his day’s exploits
Do you have any photos of the chair you can share with us…
Sadly not, but had I known how that day & trip to Newcastle had unfolded, I’d have been able to give you a first hand account with second by second memories
John West:
Great memories Carl. I always enjoy your exploits!
Regards, John.
Thanks John
I have Frontal lobe dementia, which means I’m managing ok & only have problems when several things occur together. hence they taking my driving licence away about 5 years ago.
But its so strange I can remember events that happened years ago just like yesterday. My memory goes around about 1980 So 50’s 60’s fine then great blanks.
Strange how I got used to not driving , but you adapt & cope with things, so I apologise for waffling on at times but when I remember things from so many years ago I remember second to second.
John West:
Great memories Carl. I always enjoy your exploits!
Regards, John.
Thanks John
I have Frontal lobe dementia, which means I’m managing ok & only have problems when several things occur together. hence they taking my driving licence away about 5 years ago.
But its so strange I can remember events that happened years ago just like yesterday. My memory goes around about 1980 So 50’s 60’s fine then great blanks.
Hi Carl,
I’m sorry to hear of your front lobe dementia. …but I love reading your past experiences running WH Williams …its experience you cannot buy Carl…keep it coming.
Regards Mark
Strange how I got used to not driving , but you adapt & cope with things, so I apologise for waffling on at times but when I remember things from so many years ago I remember second to second.
John West:
Great memories Carl. I always enjoy your exploits!
Regards, John.
Thanks John
I have Frontal lobe dementia, which means I’m managing ok & only have problems when several things occur together. hence they taking my driving licence away about 5 years ago.
But its so strange I can remember events that happened years ago just like yesterday. My memory goes around about 1980 So 50’s 60’s fine then great blanks.
Hi Carl,
I’m sorry to hear of your front lobe dementia. …but I love reading your past experiences running WH Williams …its experience you cannot buy Carl…keep it coming.
Regards Mark
Strange how I got used to not driving , but you adapt & cope with things, so I apologise for waffling on at times but when I remember things from so many years ago I remember second to second.
hope you’re keeping well
regards
carl
Thanks Mark,
Dementia takes many forms and mine I was told is not life threatening but life reducing, but I am fighting it and the internet is one way to keep my mind active. I’m on Twitter and strangely I have now approaching 7,000 followers, including some MP’s MEPs and political correspondents who are often on TV. I never thought anyone would be interested in my political views but it seems they are and with the help of Google I have a vast access to knowledge much better than the memory in my brain ever would. Twitter keeps me very busy & my mind active. But Trucknet also helps because I read something that triggers my memory from the past. Few things happen today that haven’t happened before and with my knowledge & information in Removals that I have been told of since 1919, many things that come up today, have happened before, and even in a different time the way it was handed then can give a lot of knowledge into how things can be dealt with today
Hope you’re keeping well & look forward to reading your weekly imput.
PS I never realised Pickfords had taken over Griff Fender so long ago. The world would have been a better place had Pickfords have disappeared in the 1950s/
John West:
Great memories Carl. I always enjoy your exploits!
Regards, John.
Thanks John
I have Frontal lobe dementia, which means I’m managing ok & only have problems when several things occur together. hence they taking my driving licence away about 5 years ago.
But its so strange I can remember events that happened years ago just like yesterday. My memory goes around about 1980 So 50’s 60’s fine then great blanks.
Hi Carl,
I’m sorry to hear of your front lobe dementia. …but I love reading your past experiences running WH Williams …its experience you cannot buy Carl…keep it coming.
Regards Mark
Strange how I got used to not driving , but you adapt & cope with things, so I apologise for waffling on at times but when I remember things from so many years ago I remember second to second.
hope you’re keeping well
regards
carl
Thanks Mark,
Dementia takes many forms and mine I was told is not life threatening but life reducing, but I am fighting it and the internet is one way to keep my mind active. I’m on Twitter and strangely I have now approaching 7,000 followers, including some MP’s MEPs and political correspondents who are often on TV. I never thought anyone would be interested in my political views but it seems they are and with the help of Google I have a vast access to knowledge much better than the memory in my brain ever would. Twitter keeps me very busy & my mind active. But Trucknet also helps because I read something that triggers my memory from the past. Few things happen today that haven’t happened before and with my knowledge & information in Removals that I have been told of since 1919, many things that come up today, have happened before, and even in a different time the way it was handed then can give a lot of knowledge into how things can be dealt with today
Hope you’re keeping well & look forward to reading your weekly imput.
PS I never realised Pickfords had taken over Griff Fender so long ago. The world would have been a better place had Pickfords have disappeared in the 1950s/
The internet is wonderful thing in this day and age Carl…brings the past to life…your right with your comment on Pickfords…bought up lots of good family run companies and Snuffed out the real competition to themselves …I’m not on Twitter but like you say you have to keep your mind active…7000 followers that’s quite a following Carl.
Keep you experiences coming Carl I love hearing them.
Carl Williams:
Just been given the sad news that Gordon Ball passed away yesterday morning.
Gordon’s Funeral Durham Crematorium Chapel on Wednesday August 21 at 2.30pm
I was just reckoning up I’ve known Gordon over 45 years since he started driving for us. I mostly remember him driving BUP312F which he drove till he was given a New Bedford Marsden KG integral TPT19V (I am almost sure I got the number right)
Gordon’s first wife , Christine worked in our office along with Susan my Ex wife. We both met them whist working, and with them knowing each other I remember us going as two couples down to London on a British Rail, mini break seeing 'The King and I at The London palladium staring Yule Brinner & Virginia McKenna. We stayed at The Royal Lancaster hotel on Bayswater Road & Stella Parton, dolly’s sister was sitting at the next table when we had breakfast I remember.
Again we were due to go to A historic Commercial ralley near Ellemere Port with one of our old Bedfords (Near the Vauxhall Bedford factory) and my ex-wife’s cousin was getting married so Gordon & Christine took the van & we drove down on the night after the wedding & joined them sleeping in a bungalow tent.
I have often met up with Gordon & kept in touch since then & its such a shock.
The photo shows Gordon with myself & Terry Fullard
A photo taking us back to the 1950s showing my Grandfather William Henry Williams in our Garage in Marmaduke Street Spennymoor. These were the days when you parked overnight in a garage and Marmaduke street could accommodate (at a pinch) 9 vans.
The car is my Grandfathers Rover 60 bought new from Fred Dinsdale and son , Rover distributors of Yarm Lane Stockton in 1955, who we had a history going back to 1930s. My grandfather had this car and all subsequent & no doubt previous Rovers washed and polished (Not by him) after each journey, no matter how short.
The van (At least the one that is clearly visible) HTH882 was the youngest of our 3 Petrol Bedford SBs registered in 1953 with bodywork by Spurlings of Edgware a company we had known since 1948 when they exhibited a Bedford O model 5 tonner they had built for us at The 1948 Commercial Motor Show in Earls Court.
Our second had been built by Marsden of Warrington, which was as always an excellent body, but in fairness the Spurling was the Rolls Royce of van bodys built like a battleship and quite well styled. Very modern for its day.
The Garage built 1946 had been built on the huge garden of 14 Marmaduke Street replacing a much
Carl Williams:
Me driving our 1937 Bedford 2 Tonner through Stanhope Ford about 1980. Sadly its now closed to traffic
Hiya,
Carl what a cracking front cover picture this would be for the company
calendar back in the day Eh’.
Hi Harry,
I’m afraid to admit, it was sent to us about a week after it was taken & put in a drawer.
It’s only now in retirement when I looked closely at it, and I think it is a fantastic photo illustrating the water splashing about.
More appropriate because now Stanhope Ford is closed to traffic, so I suppose its a bit of history. Many months of the year the river Tees was too high to cross the Ford, and now because of the number of boy racers who tried to cross at speed and their cars got stuck & in some cases washed down stream, its been considered as dangerous.
Anyway changing the subject I hope you are keeping well & looking forward to enjoying a merry Christmas
Carl Williams:
Me driving our 1937 Bedford 2 Tonner through Stanhope Ford about 1980. Sadly its now closed to traffic
Hiya,
Carl what a cracking front cover picture this would be for the company
calendar back in the day Eh’.
Hi Harry,
I’m afraid to admit, it was sent to us about a week after it was taken & put in a drawer.
It’s only now in retirement when I looked closely at it, and I think it is a fantastic photo illustrating the water splashing about.
More appropriate because now Stanhope Ford is closed to traffic, so I suppose its a bit of history. Many months of the year the river Tees was too high to cross the Ford, and now because of the number of boy racers who tried to cross at speed and their cars got stuck & in some cases washed down stream, its been considered as dangerous.
Anyway changing the subject I hope you are keeping well & looking forward to enjoying a merry Christmas
Hi Carl,
Its the River Wear at Stanhope!
Hope you are well and wish you a very Merry Christmas from me and the family.
Carl Williams:
Me driving our 1937 Bedford 2 Tonner through Stanhope Ford about 1980. Sadly its now closed to traffic
Hiya,
Carl what a cracking front cover picture this would be for the company
calendar back in the day Eh’.
Hi Harry,
I’m afraid to admit, it was sent to us about a week after it was taken & put in a drawer.
It’s only now in retirement when I looked closely at it, and I think it is a fantastic photo illustrating the water splashing about.
More appropriate because now Stanhope Ford is closed to traffic, so I suppose its a bit of history. Many months of the year the river Tees was too high to cross the Ford, and now because of the number of boy racers who tried to cross at speed and their cars got stuck & in some cases washed down stream, its been considered as dangerous.
Anyway changing the subject I hope you are keeping well & looking forward to enjoying a merry Christmas
Hi Carl,
Its the River Wear at Stanhope!
Hope you are well and wish you a very Merry Christmas from me and the family.
Regards, Mark
Carl
How are you keeping, Mark. A very good Christmas to you and your family.
I got that one wrong there. The Wear, but you live close to there, where as I have a little bit of excuse, but the Tees & the Wear are not far apart, but I should have known from High force The Tees is so much deeper, would never be able to drive through it.
This I suppose was our very first van
A photo of my from 112 years ago of my Grandfather William Henry Williams (1889-1974) in his father’s chip van in 1908. My great grandfather, James Williams had Herbert Raine founder of H. Raine & Sons build this chip van for him in 1908 Mr Raine must have been a very talented Gentleman as he himself painted and signwrote the van. The chip van had 2 burners which apparently made it superior to all others at the time in Spennymoor. My great grandfather was manager of the Rock pit and also Page bank (At the same time) which presumably must have had the same owners in the late 1880s. He also was a semi-profesional photographer in his spare time. So it was he who took this photo of the van with his son (My Grandfather).
The Chip van was parked up every night except Sundays outside the Commercial until 1934, when my Great Grandfather died aged 82. So he must have bought the van for something to do during his retirement. He worked in it every night except Saturday when my Grandfather took over apart 1914-18 when he was in the army during World War
Carl Williams:
This I suppose was our very first van
A photo of my from 112 years ago of my Grandfather William Henry Williams (1889-1974) in his father’s chip van in 1908. My great grandfather, James Williams had Herbert Raine founder of H. Raine & Sons build this chip van for him in 1908 Mr Raine must have been a very talented Gentleman as he himself painted and signwrote the van. The chip van had 2 burners which apparently made it superior to all others at the time in Spennymoor. My great grandfather was manager of the Rock pit and also Page bank (At the same time) which presumably must have had the same owners in the late 1880s. He also was a semi-profesional photographer in his spare time. So it was he who took this photo of the van with his son (My Grandfather).
The Chip van was parked up every night except Sundays outside the Commercial until 1934, when my Great Grandfather died aged 82. So he must have bought the van for something to do during his retirement. He worked in it every night except Saturday when my Grandfather took over apart 1914-18 when he was in the army during World War
Hiya,
Wonder what the cost of fish and chips would have been in those days
no doubt the outer wrapping would have been newspaper which did
add to the flavour on your walk home after your Friday night couple
of pints, Oh’ happy days Eh’ Carl.
Carl Williams:
This I suppose was our very first van
A photo of my from 112 years ago of my Grandfather William Henry Williams (1889-1974) in his father’s chip van in 1908. My great grandfather, James Williams had Herbert Raine founder of H. Raine & Sons build this chip van for him in 1908 Mr Raine must have been a very talented Gentleman as he himself painted and signwrote the van. The chip van had 2 burners which apparently made it superior to all others at the time in Spennymoor. My great grandfather was manager of the Rock pit and also Page bank (At the same time) which presumably must have had the same owners in the late 1880s. He also was a semi-profesional photographer in his spare time. So it was he who took this photo of the van with his son (My Grandfather).
The Chip van was parked up every night except Sundays outside the Commercial until 1934, when my Great Grandfather died aged 82. So he must have bought the van for something to do during his retirement. He worked in it every night except Saturday when my Grandfather took over apart 1914-18 when he was in the army during World War
Hiya,
Wonder what the cost of fish and chips would have been in those days
no doubt the outer wrapping would have been newspaper which did
add to the flavour on your walk home after your Friday night couple
of pints, Oh’ happy days Eh’ Carl.
Now then “H” I wonder if they had a bottle of HP on the counter or maybe there was HP in sachets for sale !! But I wouldn’t fancy your chances of opening one of those sachet thingys on the trip home with 5 or 6 pints of “Dog” on board !!! Cheers Dennis.
