W.H.WILLIAMS (spennymoor)

[harry_gill]

Bewick:

harry_gill:

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.

Hiya,
Dennis only 5 or 6 pints on Friday night, what do you think I am some
sort of lightweight, the same amount of bottles of Broon anall,

[carl_williams]

harry_gill:

Bewick:

harry_gill:

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.

Hiya,
Dennis only 5 or 6 pints on Friday night, what do you think I am some
sort of lightweight, the same amount of bottles of Broon anall,

Hi, Harry & Dennis,
Before I get onto the price, I would have to disappoint you, that they never sold fish.
The chip van was built and painted as seen on the photograph only to find out that due to a bi-law the sale of fish in chip vans was banned in Spennymoor. They were however allowed and did sell Fish cakes but the chips were so good they’d have gone down well on your Friday night’s 5 or 6 pints Harry.

Now down to cost. It was on Spennymoor main street every night 1908-34 and don’t think there must have heard of inflation that day.
My Great Grandfather went out with it on its last day as usual and only my dad about 12-13 years old was at home with his mother as my Grandfather was still working, which in those days was travelling round in his Rover to farms to collect payment from farmers, which I suspect consisted a considerable consumption of whisky as they got into conversation. No breath tests in those days.
A message came by foot that my great grandfather had taken ill in the chip van and could she send someone to take over. My dad said he never had set foot in it but was sent. He passed his Grandfather being brought home on his way.
He told me when he stepped into the van he jumped out as the burners were coke fired and he couldn’t stand the fumes. He managed to put the burners out and got back in when a chap came and asked for a penny’s worth of chips. He said he got a lot of paper and put all the chips that were ready to sell onto it and roughly parcelled them up and handed them over. ‘Hey I only wanted a penny worth’, came the reply.
My grandfather’s horse had been used along with his several Ford Model T’s until it was retired in 1926 so from that time the had to hire a man with a horse to take it down into Spennymoor main Street and back on a night & so my dad sent a message to get it taken home straight away. My Great Grandfather died a few days later & the chip van never went out again & was sold.

So there’s your answer Harry for about a shilling you could have had your 5 to 6 pints & all the chips you could eat

[tyneside]

Hi Carl hope you don’t mind, I found this one on FB - The infamous police box in Durham Market Place

Tyneside

[carl_williams]

tyneside:
Hi Carl hope you don’t mind, I found this one on FB - The infamous police box in Durham Market Place

Tyneside

Hi Tyneside the old police box in Durham Market place which was the first in the world where they used TV cameras to control the traffic.

When I first passed my test I went round there nearly every day as I went over Elvet bridge & turned right onto Claypath & into Adams & Gibbons.

In Durham today its impossible to imagine all traffic going from our way to Sunderland passed through Durham Market Place including two or three bus routes. Here is a photo of one of our little FGs passing from the market place down to Elvet Bridge. In the close up you can see its fairly tight for a little FG & artics had to pass each other on route down there.

One day I had been to Adams & Gibbons with one of our Landrovers and just about where our van is a huge weight of snow came down on the cab roof. I struggled on (Wipers weren’t much good ) but I couldn’t stop or I’d have blocked the road. When I got back to Spennymoor the Landrover cab resembled a scene from Big Foot & the Hendersons. All stoved in with like a ball shape on top where my head had been.

Best wishes & have a good New year
Carl

[tyneside]

Carl Williams:

tyneside:
Hi Carl hope you don’t mind, I found this one on FB - The infamous police box in Durham Market Place

Tyneside

Hi Tyneside the old police box in Durham Market place which was the first in the world where they used TV cameras to control the traffic.

When I first passed my test I went round there nearly every day as I went over Elvet bridge & turned right onto Claypath & into Adams & Gibbons.

In Durham today its impossible to imagine all traffic going from our way to Sunderland passed through Durham Market Place including two or three bus routes. Here is a photo of one of our little FGs passing from the market place down to Elvet Bridge. In the close up you can see its fairly tight for a little FG & artics had to pass each other on route down there.

One day I had been to Adams & Gibbons with one of our Landrovers and just about where our van is a huge weight of snow came down on the cab roof. I struggled on (Wipers weren’t much good ) but I couldn’t stop or I’d have blocked the road. When I got back to Spennymoor the Landrover cab resembled a scene from Big Foot & the Hendersons. All stoved in with like a ball shape on top where my head had been.

Best wishes & have a good New year
Carl

Always interesting to hear your anne dotes Carl

All the best. Tyneside

[old_67]

Tv Traffic Control Aka Durham (1960)

I think this short clip of the traffic control in Durham may be of interest ? ( didn’t spot your FG though !! )
Regards. John.

[carl_williams]

old 67:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KvuFpyXxUQ
I think this short clip of the traffic control in Durham may be of interest ? ( didn’t spot your FG though !! )
Regards. John.

Thanks John. That video brings back so many memories of Durham City, which happens to be my favourite place on earth

[carl_williams]

They say horses for courses, and over the years I’ve read of so many who loved Dodge with Perkins 6.354 engines.

We had a total of 8 Dodges 9 if we count a Commer Commando which was virtually the same as Dodge but just Badge engineering.

The three Dodge rigids (2 with Marsden fibreglass luton bodies) & the Commer Commando (again with Marsden Luton Body) were OK to good All 13ton GVW with nice large bodies & were liked by drivers as they were said to be flying machines, all fitted with Perkins 6.354 engines. however I would point out that compared with our Bedford KG fitted with 466 or 500 cu ft Bedford engines used alongside on similar work they never achieved comparable mileage before needing engine replacement, never equalled the fuel economy and parts were more expensive, and never did I hear a driver complain of the speed they got out of the Bedfords.
In about 1972 Thorn Electrical Industries at Spennymoor decided to get rid of most of their own account fleet as their drivers were paid as staff (Fixed wage no overtime) and booked into 3 or 4 star hotels when they stayed overnight, and the Tricity & Moffatt cookers they carried were almost costing more to transport that they cost to manufacture. It was a tricky job to achieve to avoid potential Trade Union problems, having to find the drivers lucrative other employment within the company, as never could they ever have hoped to find employment as lorry drivers paying a fraction of their earnings.
We had already bought a new Ford D800 tractor unit which was beginning to restore our confidence in Ford commercial vehicles after the disaster we had years earlier with our Thames 4D. We therefore bought 8 Ford D800 tractors with 12 30ft van trailers with tail lifts from Thorn to use for delivery of their cookers, all about 3 years old. Goodness knows why but my dad & I decided on delivery of the first two to replace with two new Dodge 24 ton GTW tractor units YPT630L and YPT631L supplied by North Eastern Motors Lemington Newcastle.
We were influenced to buy Dodge by our old friend Tom Liddle of Stanley together with our favourable success of running the two rigids already in our fleet. We should simply have kept the two Ford D800s they had replaced as we kept the rest and they gave us relatively good service. Within the first 8 months the Dodge tractor units each had two engine replacements. I remember being told they were replacing them with the dot two 6.354 engines that would solve the problems, but it didn’t.
North Eastern Motors were really in the middle, but they had supplied the vehicles and as such it was them we had to threaten to take legal action against. They thought we should sue Dodge but as the supplier they were responsible and it got rather nasty. In the end they took back the two tractor units and we got full repayment, We had threatened to sue for loss of profit but in the end were just pleased to be rid.
Years later we took over a business in Felling Gateshead that had the contract to deliver paint drums manufactured by Drums Ltd a Courtaulds company based in Felling Gateshead. The vehicles 3 Dodge tractor units with three Tautliner trailers. This time, however, deliveries were just local within about 20 mile radius of the factory so with low mileage we had few problems.

[carl_williams]

Its often been said that our vans were seen everywhere & in fact there can be few villages that they never visited, but here is a video promoting transport Co F B Atkins & Sons Derby who also had a fairly large restaurant at their depot and the only Commercial vehicle shown not owned by them is one of our Bedford SBs 1372 UP. I think the shot was included more because of one of our Mercedes Cars which in the photo in 1973 was almost new. To see video click youtube.com/watch?v=finUm2S08Ew
My dad was travelling down to Birmingham and had arranged to meet the driver for a breakfast meeting at Atkins restaurant.
Although the Mercedes was a rare model with few produced for British market & would today had been a collectors item, given the choice I would have rather had today the Bedford.
For the purists 1962 Bedford SB with pantechnicon body by Marsden Warrington (in the photo 11 years old, & repainted in 1965 plus livery. One of first Bedford 330 cu in diesel engines with sleeved block & inline pump, before they introduced bored block & rotary pump

[carl_williams]

Following the last post where I showed a brief photo of 1372UP 1962 Bedford SB Marsden pantechnicon I had a request if I had any other photos of these which were the first cab & luton Fibreglass moulds by Marsden (Before that they had used aluminium which had been beaten into shape

Eddie Worthington who started for us direct from school and served as a porter onto none HGV driver at 17 & HGV driver at 21 kindly gave me these photos of a trip with the newly registered 367MPT in 1963 when the van was weeks old on a trip t Inverness. Eddy described riding round UK as a porter at 16 as a porter as a dream job and in this case the driver was the late Harry Hawkins who was given 367MPT when new & drove it for about 4 years until he got his next new Bedford SB Marsden.

Harry lived in Byers Green and we had earlier employed his brother Tony Hawkins & finally another brother Laurie Hawkins all from Spennymoor area

We ran 367MPT for 14 years and it covered about 700,000 miles.
About half way through its life it had a replacement Bedford Short Motor supplied by Adams And Gibbon fitted in our workshop, and was given a repaint at about 8 years old when it was brought up to date to match the remainder of the fleet at the time with W.H.Williams in the brown rectangle in the front and on the rear shutter. originally the bumber on the front which was an alloy strip was left unpainted on its repaint this was pained cream to match the other vehicles.
I have no recollection of 367MPT ever breaking down.
It was identical to 1372 UP which was about 1 year older.
4479PT which was 2 years older was 4 inches lower in body height and had 300 cu in Bedford diesel engine

If you look closely at the photo of Harry driving you can clearly see the ‘Sound system’ (Harry’s radio wedged behind the driving seat with the speaker near his ear. Air condition was supplied by the sliding cab doors that could be opened at either side on a hot day It did have one luxury which was novel in the 60’s A heater.

As I said Eddie kindly gave these photos and once again I’d like to thank him.
Incidently the photos were taken in black & white & somehow he coloured some. I have no idea how In my eyes Magic

[carl_williams]

Just last night I received the sad news that Geoff Pye died 12 October 2019.
Geoff joined us about 1966 when we bought out Fred Johnsons removal business from Durham City. Geof came along with Eddie Ramsey and another two that Fred employed. A very large 1960 Morris commercial with a luton body that had been built by Eddie Ramsey & had been driven from new by him, A Bedford TK that we had sold Fred & got it back and a BMC J4 Panel van. We got 2 A licences & a B licence with unlimited mileage for Furniture removals which was fitted to the J4.
Although Geoff had an HGV class 3 licence he was soon given a new 3.35 ton GVW Diesel Ford Transit AUPxxxF with a fibreglass Luton body by Marsden (The first of 2 we had built) but when we bought a new TK chassis cab & fitted the body from the TK we got back again FPT780G Geoff was allocated it from new which 90% was used entirely on household removals which Geoff specialised on.
I had the ‘pleasure’ of working with Geoff on several removals and he worked like a horse. Refused, even on quite large removals to stop or pause until the van was fully loaded (and fully loaded as Geoff had learned how to pack being taught by Eddie Ramsey who had worked with Johnsons since about 1930 and was a perfectionist).
Geoff stayed till we finished in 1986 and went on to work for me afterwards until 1997.
I’m sure all who are left of us remember Geoff.

[carl_williams]

A photo of the office and administration staff 1973

From left to right

Ronnie Harris, Sadly no longer with us came to us late 50’s as a driver and had a period in the transport office early seventies returning back into driving. Ronnie worked for us until the end and retiring & living in Shildon until his final days.

Marilyn Mason came from Trimdon, and I remember when she came to Marmaduke Street for interview by Mrs Dennis who then was our office manager. We were short staffed when she arrived and asked her when she could start and she replied that if we could let her ring home she would start stay and start straight away. I believe she had an argument with Mrs Dennis after about a year and left. In my opinion Mrs Dennis was very difficult to work for trying to keep much to herself and not giving staff the opportunity to develop their skills When I took over responsibility for the running of the office I sent for her to come back, which she did.

Linda Turnbull, who kindly provided these photos, lived in Kelloe during her years working for us. Linda was young when she started for us and I hope we trained her well. She was very versatile in her work and willing to take responsibility, with a very mature attitude for her work.

Christine Heale joined us from Tomado ltd the factory opposite our offices. She lives in Spennymoor and I remember was only three days younger than me. Christine had a responsible position at Tomado and was older than we would have usually recruited as we liked to train office staff to work our way. Christine was our wages clerk for quite a long time. A job that often had her take the agro from drivers who thought they had been underpaid. Whilst she worked for us Christine had a baby girl, who will be quite old herself today.

Shirley Cutty unfortunately I cannot remember too much about her at this time as she was a quiet type of girl who got on with her work

John Storey came to us as an apprentice transport manager.

Anne Walton again came to us straight from school. I remember in an article in a newspaper describing her as the cheerful teenager who answered the phone. How times fly. Ann went on to be our removal clerk, dealing with all aspects of our removals division. She went on to marry Ian Askwith who worked as a small van driver and then HGV as he got older. From what I can understand Ann progressed her career onto management with subsequent employers. Anne came to two or three of our reunions & had never changed. Sadly about 3 years ago Anne unexpectedly passed away, taken far too young,

The late Eddy Thornton was service manager of Adams and Gibbon Claypath Durham. He joined us as manager of our vehicle maintenance department, and certainly got all our maintenance records up to date. He joined our transport Office when Alan Henderson joined the company as fleet Engineer. In the transport office he had the special responsibility to leas between transport and maintenance.

If anyone recognises either themselves or anyone in this photograph I really would appreciate if they could get in touch and give me their thoughts and memories.

Finally in the bottom photo which has been torn was my dad and me. I remember we were asked to pose outside the front door of the office holding a plan of the soon to be built warehouse.

[carl_williams]

HTH882 1953 Bedford petrol SB Pantechnicon body built by Spurlings .taken from a video shot about 1962. HTH originally had a cream cab & photo shows it re-painted with a brown cab (Looking much better0 to match the new diesel SB Bedfords that started coming along in 1961

[carl_williams]

They say every photo tells a story & this one quite a long story. For those wanting me to write a book, this would be a good start. Excuse the length but recovering from a heart attack I’ve had plenty of time to think.
At the beginning of January this year looking through Ebay I saw a old Negative photo for sale. I thought it was just another one of our 1937 Bedford 2 tonner, then looking closer this was something different which will be revealed later in the tale. It was titled ‘Bedford EUG702 Trans-Pennine Run 6/8/78’ and was just a negative.
I put a bid in which I won and paid for it 10/1/2020 The next day I had a heart attack & was rushed by Ambulance to James Cook Hospital (Blue light & Siren. Where they carried at emergency ‘Key- hole’ Operation within about 4 hours. Fortunately I am now at home, hopefully recovering and on a visit to the Doctors dropped it into George Teesdale’s Spennymoor & had it developed.
They say you see your life flash before you before you die, and hopefully this was the first episode of a long box sets with lots of new episodes, one a year with many to follow.
I blame it all on my Grandmother, who one day when I was about 17 came back from a day out with my grandfather saying I nearly bought you a car today which turned out to be a veteran but she had not bought it. Also not so many years before I had seen the film Genevieve. In those pre internet days it was much more difficult to locate but I saw a 1934 Morris 8 in Exchange & Mart and went off to Huddersfield to view & possibly buy, but when I got there they had put flashing indicators on the front & rear wings which would have to be removed & repaired and so I made an offer, the chap declined and as I walked back to the station to catch the train home, he never chased after me & so I never bought.
After the disappointment that the chap didn’t accept my offer & I thought to myself. ‘Why would I want to ride round in an old Morris and then I thought,’ What would I like?’
When I was about 10-11 years old walking into my Grandfather’s House 14 Marmaduke Street Spennymoor (Next to the Garage) & was introduced to a Frenchman. (Or more correct a French born man who had probably about 1910-18 emigrated into England, Spennymoor to be specific) & my Grandfather & he were talking about Ford Model T The Frenchman (I cannot remember his name) sounded exactly like Maurice Chevalier with his French accent & until about 1930 had a shop on King Street Spennymoor (For Spennymoor people opposite Bella Dents) I think he probably sold vehicle spares but at the back of the shop he had a workshop where he had conducted his business as a mechanic specialising on repairing Ford model Ts . Which I suppose was quite profitable but had a time limit. He had however repaired my Grandfathers first vehicles. They were talking about that if My Grandfather bought an old Model T 1ton truck he would make it like new as he could make the engines run like a clock. I wish they had but he died a few months later. However talking to my dad about it. He said ‘The two stupid idiots, one couldn’t repair & the other certainly could not drive, referring to my Grandfather’s driving ability.
It reminded me of a story I was told, first hand going back to about 1921.My Grandfather had been travelling in one of his Ford Ts He and a young farmer were travelling from Bishop Auckland back to Spennymoor up Park Head bank and my grandfather was crashing the gearbox to try to change down & above the sound of grating the farmer said, ‘Willie you are supposed to pause before putting it in a lower gear’. ‘Pause, pause’ came back my Grandfather’s reply ‘I haven’t got time to pause’
In any event when young I remember seeing the log book for J9629 1920 Ford T in my dad’s desk drawer. J9629 had been my grandfather’s first Model T 1 ton truck exported from America left hand drive on solid wheels. ‘J’ registration had been the first registered vehicles from Durham County, which in those days took in Darlington to Stockton on Tees right through to Sunderland & Gateshead & had been 9,629th vehicle registered & I presume he had scrapped it & kept the log book. My dad with no nostalgia thoughts, believing the past has gone, lets live for the future had eventually burnt it with other ‘rubbish’, but goodness knows how much would it have been worth today?
So my mind went to could I buy a 1920 Ford model T. Asking my dad what he thought, he told me that he was just about 6 when my Grandfather got rid of his last and that there was nothing to them & certainly no fun in driving. In the pre internet days the only hope of seeing ad advert for one would be in ‘Exchange & Mart’ & each week I bought but never saw one advertised.
Then one day in early 1975 I saw in Exchange and Mart a 1938 Bedford 30cwt van for sale in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire. Now although all of our Bedfords pre war that ran thoughout the war were 2 tonners we did have one 1938 30 cwt which had been bought by my Grandfather to replace a Morris Commercial removal van that had been commandeered by the Army So it was authentic.
I took my Grandfather for a ride out with me and saw it & bought it in a field where it had been left to deteriorate. When I got home in the evening & watched the news I recognised where I had been because I saw the road vey near where it was as it was near the Telephone box where Lesley Whittle’s brother had been meant to leave the ransom money for his sister who had been kidnapped & murdered by ‘The Black Panther’.
In any event we sent our breakdown down & towed it back to Spennymoor the next day. Remarkably although the body & cab needed rebuilding the chassis engine & mechanical bits were in good order.
I had thought it would be repairable in our workshop but we never had time. It would be nice to say I did it all myself, but my mechanical abilities a zero & in fact had I tried to do anything I would have done more damage.
After a couple of years we were fortunate enough to meet someone who offered to rebuild the thirty cwt but it took to about 1980 & I was getting impatient.
Then one Sunday I was passing a garage in Harrogate in about May 1978 & I saw parked up a 1937 Bedford 2 tonner with ‘For sale’ in the windscreen I enquired at the petrol station & the owner came from his nearby home we agreed a price & fortunately I had plenty of cash in my inside pocket so I paid for it, got a receipt, arranged with the garage to leave it there overnight & next day sent our breakdown down t Leeds & brought it home.
EUG702 was checked over & oil changed etc and painted in our paint-shop & lettered by Peter Butler and entered into the 1978 Trans-Pennine rally. I along with my then Girl-friend (Later Fiance, wife, then to be divorced) left to travel down to Belle Vue Manchester which was the starting point of the rally those days. The van had overheating problems so I nursed it down to Manchester and parked up as can be seen in the photograph.
Now we switch on to the year 2020 almost 42 years on & I see the photo on Ebay & hardly recognise it. I paid for the photo & it arrived in the post a day before I as rushed into hospital suffering from a heart attack & its then part of my life rushed through brain again.
I parked the van at Belle-Vue & we went over to the Piccadilly Hotel Manchester where we had booked for the night. In those days a very nice hotel, very modern & in the room there was a plaque that a Saudi Arabian prince had stayed in that room. On the night we had gone out for a meal in a particularly nice French restaurant in Princess Street Manchester. (When coming home from hospital I looked though my old photos and show from anyone remembering the brochure which I have scanned .To celebrate making it successfully to Manchester with a sick then 40 year old Bedford we had a bottle of champagne.& after the meal took a taxi ride over to Belle Vue to see the Bedford was OK. We just got out of the taxi & got to where the van was parked & the heavens opened & we took shelter in the Ghost Train which although closed & deserted offered us shelter till the rain stopped & we were able to get a taxi back to the Piccadilly
Next day was the rally back to Harrogate & by taking it easy we made it & I don’t know how many remember the Character ‘Dolly’ from Emerdale Farm but the actress was walking round and came over for a chat telling me how she often saw our vans whilst out driving. In Emmerdale she looked normal but in real life she was particularly attractive. Then the journey home just 60 mile but by the time we got to Leaming Motel on the A! the sign displaying ‘Water Beds’ an attraction in those days seemed too much to miss so we pulled in got a room & got back to Spennymoor for about 10 o’clock on the Monday Morning.
The cylinder head was removed & sent to Cleasby’s of Durham to be teste & found to be OK. The Block was examined & found to have a hairline crack. We couldn’t locate a 26HP block but remakably got a new 28 HP (The engine Bedford replaced 26hp with in 1938) short motor, which dad said the original cylinder head would fit as all our 26 hp had over the years they were operated had changed. It is hard to imagine but Edmonds Walker Newcastle had a complete gasket set boxed & unopened on the shelves & so the engine was rebuilt & fitted ready for 1979 rally season. It was parked up in a newly built garage on the west side of our warehouse at Green Lane Ind Est and when revered out in Spring 1979 we were shocked to see due to the porous original panels on the body the paintwork had blebbed.We repanelled in Plymax sheeting which might have been a little cheat as I’m not sure plymax had been invented in 1937 and it was decided that we would instead of painting ourselves take it to Peter Butler and Bob Harold who had just gone into partnership in a new Commercial Paint shop. Bob we had known from his days as an apprentice Painter at Antony Carrimore’s factory when he used to come after work to help Peter do our sign writing and was as excellent Brush coach-painter as you ever could find and Peter’s sign writing was a legion
We had originally painted the van in our paint-shop and my dad had tried to remember the sign writing of 1937. In particular the monogram on the cab doors had been done in several colours which Peter, without seeing & by description had tried to re-create but as you can see from photo was not right. My dad had travelled down to Harrogate & was not satisfied & wanted Motor Show finish which Peter & Bob achieved. But this time Peter was given carte blanche over the writing & although not technically accurate to Professor Norton who would have written it in 1937 & who ad designed the monogram in 1925 it was excellent piece of work. Peter & Bob had an encore when they eventually painted 1938 30 cwt when it was finished.
The photo therefore was quite rare because it showed how the van was originally written & even I couldn’t remember what it was like as it only was seen like that for such a short time
I hope you forgive me my excess of writing, but as I said part of my life flashed before my eyes when I was ill & I’ve had time putting this together whilst I convalescence from my heart attack

[carl_williams]

Would you sack your uncle when you’re just 16 years old? I did and it caused a family feud that lasted over 55 years.
Having just suffered a heart attack it reminded me of my dad’s when he must have been about 44. I was 16 & just months before I passed my driving test.
Fortunately it was during my Summer school holidays and I had to run the business whilst my dad was in hospital. Each night I visited him and told him what had happened and I received instructions what to do. The first instruction was ‘Keep your Grandfather’s nose out & don’t let him get involved’.
My Grandfather then must have been about 74 and lived in 14 Marmaduke Street which was between The Garage and no16 which we used as our office. Dad & my grandfather tended not to get on too well when together & the last thing my dad wanted was him being involved in the business.
At the time we ran 8 vans NUP CDJ HTH (Bedford SB petrols ) TPT Thames 4D 4479PT 1372UP 367MPT KMM Bedford CA luton van With drivers Bob Marsden from Spennymoor (My mother’s brother) driving 4479PT Tommy Stoddard from West Cornforth driving 1372UP Harry Hawkins from Byers Green driving 367MPT Roger Owen (Roger the lodger) driving NUP Taffy Collins (from Spennymoor) driving CDJ Jimmy Clements (From Spennymoor My Grandmother’s brother) driving HTH) Tommy Coates from East Howell driving TPT. And my dad filling in the driving inc sharing driving KMM with my Grandfather who did about 3 days a week. Eddie Worthington like me under 17 was a young Porter (Before passing his test & driving) Harry Smith from Spennymoor was a porter & we had two or three more part time porters.
The three petrol Bedford SBs were 27 ft 6 in long which was maximum length when they were new, with NUP in photo being the biggest by a small margin. The new 3 diesels were although still just 7ft 6 in wide which was still max width were 30 ft long and although 4479PT was 3 inches lower in height than the other two it was still 150 cu ft bigger than NUP. (367MPT in photo)
Everything was running fine, and although I say it myself I had managed to get through a lot of work, even though my uncle Bob in particular was unhappy that I was telling him what to do. He had thought my dad should have let him manage things whilst he was off work.
Mid week we had a very large removal which was the old Rectory Byers Green, which is still there & all who know the area will agree it is a very big house.I cannot remember where they were moving to but it was long distance & if we had to use a 2nd van we’d loose money on the job. Dad had carried out the estimate and told me as 367MPT & 1372UP were not able to get back in time I needed to use 4479PT as although NUP would be back in time the night before it was just too small and 4479PT had to be packed using every square inch or it would not go on, and although my Uncle who drove it would moan & groan he had the ability to pack tightly to get the load on.
About lunchtime of the day before the large removal my uncle Bob returned from his journey and I sent him into Smart & Brown’s (Thorn’s factory) for a load of Tricity fridges. At about 4.00PM he came back & I told him NUP would be back within an hour & it had to be transhipped onto it so he and 4479PT were available for the removal the following morning. He didn’t like it as the load he had on was for the South Coast and it would last him the rest of the week. After a longish argument I told him if he didn’t like it he could go. Telling me un-politely what I can do with my job he went shouting back that he would call to collect his cards & P45 on Saturday morning.
Norman Snowball from Spennymoor had joined my grandfather as a 13 year old either during the war or just afterwards when he left school. Working for us was his only ever job & he knew the job backwards. Norman was there when they did removals on platform wagons, no doubt packed very high but squared off & roped & sheeted so no-one would ever believe they were household removals with all the irregular shapes of furniture. Norman went through, for him, a very difficult divorce that played very heavily on his work and after great long spells of sickness because of depression he left us. He was starting to get a little better& accept his situation and coming back in part time, although he wanted to be home every night, and our work was mostly long distance.
With my uncle walking out I immediately sent someone to Norman’s house to ask him to come & see me, and asked him to help me out by doing the old rectory removal with 4479PT. although it meant he had an overnight trip he agreed & next morning he arrived to start loading. I got someone, probably my mother to drive me down to check how they were getting on and Norman probably with Eddy Worthington (My dad never believed in using 3 on a removal as he said it was a 2 man job & the third stood & watched) were using every inch including filling each wardrobe, set of drawers & sideboards so the van would be absolutely full. It went on & all was fine. My dad always was an excellent estimator which is why we always were so competitive with our prices.
On the Saturday morning I was walking between the Garage & the office in no 16 Marmaduke Street when I saw my Uncle Bob approaching & I nipped into the office & got him his pay packet which contained his accrued holiday pay as well as outstanding wages together with his stamped up cards & P45 which Mrs Dennis my dad’s secretary had prepared as instructed. Grabbing them from my hand he turned & punched me on the chin and made off. Eddie Worthington who with one or two others were loading vans in the garage when it happened gave, at a recent reunion a interesting account of what had happened as my grandfather hearing the scuffle had rushed into the garage through the side door which led to the back of his house, pulling up his braces over just his vest shouting what he was going to do with my uncle Bob.
When I had gone the night that he had originally walked out to see my dad in hospital & told him I’d sacked my uncle Bob he said I done an excellent job as he should have sacked him years ago & under no circumstances have him back. I don’t think my mother was too pleased but after she heard he had punched me they were both firmly united on my side & neither ever spoke to him again.

[harry_gill]

Hiya,
What a memory Carl, and what an interesting episode of your life makes
great reading I never get tired of reading your stuff, keep it up.

[carl_williams]

harry_gill:
Hiya,
What a memory Carl, and what an interesting episode of your life makes
great reading I never get tired of reading your stuff, keep it up.

Thanks Harry,
although I never thought it at the time, as in my mind I was just doing my job, it gained me respect.

Most of the drivers had known me from quite an early age and another one of them in particular I had expected problems from, Tommy Stoddard I suppose we all would be the same when not wanting to take instruction as a grown man from a boy you had known from him being about 5 years old, but I had a job to do, and never again did I have a problem with a driver.
However, like my father I always treated them with respect and always asked them, and often asked them as a favour if it was a particularly difficult load.
But up till that time I was having a lot of pressure put on me to go to University and not join the business, particularly from my mother. I never wanted to do anything else and although I was just joining the 6th form at school to take ‘A levels’ & progress to university, once they saw I could handle things there never again was any questions and on leaving school I joined the business.
Life however was not as I expected and as the EU EEC or whatever they called themselves pinched the British Manufactures and one by one all the factories we worked for closed as in particular Italy France & Germany took our jobs I lost my job at the age of 39.
However I have not one regret as the 19 official years and many others where I worked whilst at school I enjoyed every hour, stressful as so many were I spent in the Transport industry which I’m sure, all of us on this site did or we would put it all out of our minds

Best wishes
Carl

[john_west]

Thanks for your memories Carl they make fascinating reading. ‘Family’ firms always contain the potential for feuds. At my dad’s removal firm, which became part of Pickfords on nationalisation, dad finished up employing my uncle (mother’s sister’s husband) who apparently was Dad’s best driver but they fell out over nothing and he walked out. Another relative only had one hand, but insisted he was a good lorry driver. Dad fitted a steering wheel spinner, so he could drive, but he rolled the van over a week later.

John.

[john_west]

Hi Carl. Saw this on Facebook and thought of you. It may of course have been on here before, but looks good.

John.

[carl_williams]

John West:
Hi Carl. Saw this on Facebook and thought of you. It may of course have been on here before, but looks good.

John.
0

Thanks for adding it, John. It was on this thread a year or two ago, but it might not have been and its thanks to people like you bringing photos to my attention that I have accumulated so many

Best wishes

Carl