i`m not exactly sure but they moved to langport and romford holdings took control and they sold out towards the end of last year to an irish company.The drivers i think some went to central road at crewkerne we packed in the livestock in 1990 the old site is now full of houses.The chap your thinking of i know the face but cann t think of his name but we re getting back a bit now hope thats some help. 
I just hope that someday someone will post a picture of that Cobden’s lorry , may be it’s worth a trawl through thw local AEC dealer, do you know who they were in somerset?
Ah! 40 years ago! '71/'72/'73 well it sure was an interesting/exciting time for me and Bewick Transport. Episode 1) I was in my mid 20’s and by '71 was running a couple of Mastiff artics,4 assorted trailers and 4 x 4 wheelers,carriers licencing had just been abolished in favour of O/licencing and over the previous 3 years I had established our credability as a reliable small haulier with our then two main customers,Henry Cooke the papermaker at Beetham and Libby Mcneill and Libby the food manufacturer,both customers based in the vicinity of our small depot in Milnthorpe which I had purchased in 1970 adjacent to the A6 trunk road.I had focussed our operation on running to and from the South east,London and Kent.At this time our main return traffic from Kent was from Robinson Sacks,Rochester, back to Lancs and Yorks.But in later 71 and early 72 I bought the first quality motors namely a couple of Atkinson Borderers together with another 4 trailers ( all 40ft York SL’s) this was as a result of our growing traffic flows from Henry Cooke as well as “getting in” with Wilf Robinson the buyer at the Mill.Paper mill work is made up of 50/50 in and out tonnage so if 40,000 tpy goes into a Mill, 40,000 tpy approx comes out! At that time the main of Cookes pulp started to come in through 44 berth (Scandanavian) and 46 berth (American) Tilbury.So Wilf started by giving us 100 to 200 lots of pulp ex Tilbury and the most economic way to shift it was with the 20 tonners which the Mastiffs definitely were not,well the 28 tonner nearly was!! But you needed to shift the pulp in 20 ton loads.I added a couple more Atkis plus an ERF “A” series during '73 but by this time it was a struggle to cope with all the traffic that we were generating so something had to be done to ease the pressure!!! I was determined to have my eggs in more than one basket so while Cookes were piling on the work I still kept my hand in at Libby’s by doing at least one load a day during this time and then in early '73 Bowater Scott had a disasterous fire at their Barrow warehouse and needed to load their production straight onto “wheels” I was asked to help so I said fine but we would only be able to run to their West Thurrock RDC,Jim Lamb their distribution manager said no probs I’ll put you down for 2 a day,Gulp!,but as long as we could manage to keep to two a day we had plenty of pulp ex Tilbury to re-load the motors for home each day.The only problem was we were going to have one almighty struggle to keep all our other traffic flows going and I couldnd’t afford to just keep buying motors so the SOLUTION—put some double shift trunks on which resulted in us establishing a two vehicle operation at Daventry in '73,our first driver employed there was a lad called Lloyd Jennings who had worked for S.T.Challis.What a grand lad Lloyd proved to be,but he eventually had to give up driving because of back trouble.The Daventry trunk did take the pressure off for a while but the growth of Bewick Transport at this time was relentless so my next move was to start a base at the Southern end of our operation which I did in early '73 when I started the Great Len Valsler and we sent an Akti and a couple of trailers to Gravesend.All the tonnage we hauled at this time was for rates as good as anywhere in the industry at the time and I could negotiate fair increases as and when they were needed,our service and reliability were first and fourmost price was secondary.I couldn’t have grown the operation at the rate I did in those early years without good rates and ,of course,prompt payment.All my customers at that time were “blue chip” so my bankers Nat West and Bowmaker Finance Ltd were happy to support me 100%,I never looked back!!!Here endeth episode 1 I think and if my “speil” proves of interest I will do my best to continue with episode 2 from '73/'74.The '70’s up to say '77 were probably the most enjoyable(not to say hectic!!)in my memory as I was still in and out of my “boiler suit” and still very much “hands on the wheel” literally.More motors,more trailers,move to a bigger depot,never a dull moment believe me!!! Cheers Bewick.
Im here racking my brain I keep coming up with lex tillitson but I could be wrong wincanton was where we use to get spares but I dont think they did sales.
very interesting bewick but i soon gotta get to bed still starting 4am so ten to nod off about now.
Thats what John Wyatt always said , “Quality of service will win over cheap cut price joe’s”
LB76:
Thats what John Wyatt always said , “Quality of service will win over cheap cut price joe’s”
Thats one thing I never was “LB76”,a rate cutter,but manys the time some of my customers used to tell me they’ed been canvassed by other hauliers to the effect that “whatever Bewicks are charging we could definitley do the work cheaper” I can’t ever recall losing a job as a result of that approach.I was ,of course,often told by a customer that while they knew they could get a cheaper quote the service would deteriate and this was something they couldn’t risk happening as their haulage costs pailed into insignifgance when the value of the product they manufactured and sold was added into the equation !! Bewick.
Great post Dennis and thanks , I am really looking forward to episode two.
Regards Steve.
I quite agree Dennis and i wasn’t suggesting for a minute you were cutting rates , i have been around to long to know that! It always seems to be though that the people who try to do the job right always get targeted by the wannabees, who then go on to turn what was a profitable job into a job that takes a bit of doing because some clever johnnie has come along with false promises and procured a job that was being done for a number of years sensibly and profitably and turned it into one which no-one really wants anymore as it is a loser. But i fear i might be preaching to the converted!
40 years ago when we like alot of local hauliers operated a livestock and general haulage there wasnt much you didnt do or go majority was handball .Hay and straw ,roots,beet pulp out of railway trucks,cider apples,grain in sacks,animal feed,seed corn, sectional buildings as far as europe and the challenging movement of marquees all around the country.The livestock walked on and off most of the time but then you had to wash out and then just for a change we use to haul furniture.Rate cutting didnt really exist back then if you were too busy youd get help in from another haulier.Then the men in suits turned up and the buggers aint gone funny oll game en it.
hi all ,JC55 AGREE there was no rate cutting every body knew and trusted hauliers. like the bit about furniture, we used to take calfs to helston and furniture from plymouth back to shrewsbury. one of my mates has just changed his job he was fetching cattle last sun from your area for GORES.
JC55:
40 years ago when we like alot of local hauliers operated a livestock and general haulage there wasnt much you didnt do or go majority was handball .Hay and straw ,roots,beet pulp out of railway trucks,cider apples,grain in sacks,animal feed,seed corn, sectional buildings as far as europe and the challenging movement of marquees all around the country.The livestock walked on and off most of the time but then you had to wash out and then just for a change we use to haul furniture.Rate cutting didnt really exist back then if you were too busy youd get help in from another haulier.Then the men in suits turned up and the buggers aint gone funny oll game en it.
I was on the cattle in the Territory of course, but your mention of loading out of railway trucks reminded me of another job I had around that time, very short lived I might say.
It was for Resch’s Brewery in Sydney. They gave me a 4 wheel Austin and loaded me with palleted beer for Darling Harbour Goods Yard, about 500 yards down the hill. That was the good bit. I then had to find a railway truck loaded with empty pallets - and handball all the beer crates across onto them. Then find another wagon with crates of empty bottles in - and handball that lot back onto my pallets. 
Totally knackered in the blistering sun I drove back up the hill and into the brewery. There a fork truck driver gave me a chit for the bar where I was given a free pint of beer which I downed almost as quick as it was in my hand. Back to the warehouse where a fresh load of beer was waiting to be roped and driven back down the hill. After a couple of trips like that I foolishly took a lunch break and downed a pint of milk.
The combination of beer, milk, heat and backbreaking toil left me a quivering wreck at the end of the day.
I did not return to work the following day.
Youve just jogged my memory one little job that wasnt to pleasant pig hair we use to pick up from slaughterhouses in little plastic bags and then take it to Harris brush company Stoke Priors Nr Bromsgrove.All handball on and off throw the load off into a bulk tipping trailer that sat in a lower level then matey boy use to take it to North Wales and it would be dried out on the side of a mountain and eventually brought back.They make shaving brushs and paint brushs but I doubt it is manufactured the same way now.The downside to this job was the smell of blood we allways washed down with a fire hose on hand but it use to hangon a bit and then when you put the cattle container on it was a struggle to get anything in the back.Not to much rate cutting on that not to many volunteers either job for bosses son allways get the cream don`t they?
LB76:
I just hope that someday someone will post a picture of that Cobden’s lorry , may be it’s worth a trawl through thw local AEC dealer, do you know who they were in somerset?
Wouldn’t most of the AECs of those days have gone through Arlingtons in Bristol? I well remember Cobdens lorries loading Barreners out of Chippeham. They always seemed a dull Grey to me then but I’d love to be seeing them again now instead of the houses which now stand where Chippenham market used to be.
BB
JC55:
sorry chaps for not getting back before i haven t got a photo of the thames at moment but heres a couple of older moters i played with before i could drive on the road usually in the markets.
Lovely photos there JC55, thanks for posting them. I hope you have many more to share.
BB
The Cobdens i recall were bright red. Shipped out with the V8 AEC to Boulogne one Friday to tip Paris that night.
I was was probably spending my time on Fletcher’s Fun Fair at Silloth.
aec probably was supplied by arlington cobens were red cabs the livestock trailer was grey,I don`t think the V8 was very reliable soon got replaced with 140 scania.I saw a V8 aec at a rally couple of years ago did sound nice though. 
40 years ago i would have been loading a load wool off liverpool docks to take to bradford
40 years ago I was halfway through a drink driving ban. Got my license back decided to be a trucker. Traffic comissioners wouldn’t give me a provisional HGV. Had to go along and get a telling off. Just like being back at school. Few months later got my license at Bradford Hauliers Training and off I went.