I “got the driving bug” through going with the old chap in the Fifties and Sixties when he drove for Thermalite in Reading, Booty’s of Oxford and finally Laws Transport in Reading, by gum I did some miles! Became an HGV fitter upon leaving school, and finally got to drive at the quarry for Tilcon in Derbyshire (much to Dad’s dissaproval). Did it for twenty years, and then packed it in to look after the missus, still miss it after eight years and would return tomorrow if I could though in my heart I reckon that I have driven my last truck.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Would have preffered to be the haulage contractor they hit their bed every night and always had a better car than me oh and stayed dry.
thanks harry long retired.
hiya,
just to let you know that my mind is still running on the same lines, but i did really want to be an engine driver, but the headlights was’nt good enough without glasses.
thanks harry long retired.
lived, dreamed and worked with trucks since being about 9 years old, so some of it was bound to rub off. My dad threatened to thrash me if I went driving. I did and he didn’t
It has stood me in good stead and when I stop learning I will try something else!!!
hiya,
My old fellah was a driver lorries and buses my mother drove a six wheeler and drawbar for the Ministry of Supply all through the war years so it was inevitable i got into the game but just pleased none of my family has ever bothered to be a driver in fact one member of my family in his late 40s has never even wanted to learn how to drive he says there’s enough idiots on the road without him adding to them, but he always accepted his pocket money which was hard earned by my efforts.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
My old fellah was a driver lorries and buses my mother drove a six wheeler and drawbar for the Ministry of Supply all through the war years so it was inevitable i got into the game but just pleased none of my family has ever bothered to be a driver in fact one member of my family in his late 40s has never even wanted to learn how to drive he says there’s enough idiots on the road without him adding to them, but he always accepted his pocket money which was hard earned by my efforts.
thanks harry long retired.
jonmea:
Hi Dave I wanted to be a lorry driver from a very young age. Every school holiday i was with dad
photo of me in the drivers seat of the dodge aged 6
this photo of me in the volvo i was age 8
Same here Merfyn.I was the same,brought up with lorries,my dad was lorry driving long before I was born.I never thought of doing anything else,as far back as I can remember.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
About twenty years ago when l iived in a different part of Durham i used to get a lift with a company called Salkelds who ran a fleet of solely Fodens never worked there but knew most of the drivers they had to pass the top of my street when outgoing loaded always good for a lift, most of the motors was the two stroke jobs they would fly on the level but the minute they hit the the least bit hill i’ve never seen anything die quite so fast as those things and the drivers whizzing that gearstick around like a whirling dervish was something else but the drivers loved them, and i’ve got to admit they did sound well, was a bit predjudiced though i was usually en-route to pick up an F88 which was a bit nice after riding in those things.
thanks harry long retired.
PS this should have been on the Foden thread but i don’t know how to shift it, (sorry).
harry_gill:
hiya,
About twenty years ago when l iived in a different part of Durham i used to get a lift with a company called Salkelds who ran a fleet of solely Fodens never worked there but knew most of the drivers they had to pass the top of my street when outgoing loaded always good for a lift, most of the motors was the two stroke jobs they would fly on the level but the minute they hit the the least bit hill i’ve never seen anything die quite so fast as those things and the drivers whizzing that gearstick around like a whirling dervish was something else but the drivers loved them, and i’ve got to admit they did sound well, was a bit predjudiced though i was usually en-route to pick up an F88 which was a bit nice after riding in those things.
thanks harry long retired.
PS this should have been on the Foden thread but i don’t know how to shift it, (sorry).
Hi harry did you ever get a lift of one called nic name aka bilk,the stories of him in the morning at catchgate doing about 6gear changes from one end of the street to the other in his 2stroke foden,now that would be better alam clock than most you think .ps no long streets where aka lived. bob
harry_gill:
hiya,
About twenty years ago when l iived in a different part of Durham i used to get a lift with a company called Salkelds who ran a fleet of solely Fodens never worked there but knew most of the drivers they had to pass the top of my street when outgoing loaded always good for a lift, most of the motors was the two stroke jobs they would fly on the level but the minute they hit the the least bit hill i’ve never seen anything die quite so fast as those things and the drivers whizzing that gearstick around like a whirling dervish was something else but the drivers loved them, and i’ve got to admit they did sound well, was a bit predjudiced though i was usually en-route to pick up an F88 which was a bit nice after riding in those things.
thanks harry long retired.
PS this should have been on the Foden thread but i don’t know how to shift it, (sorry).
Hi harry did you ever get a lift of one called nic name aka bilk,the stories of him in the morning at catchgate doing about 6gear changes from one end of the street to the other in his 2stroke foden,now that would be better alam clock than most you think .ps no long streets where aka lived. bob
hiya,
Funny i did’nt know many of the lads by name but a little fellah who used to work at Cookies BRS and lived in that area fitted the bill, I think his name was Micky, knew Ralph Didsbury one of their few artic drivers he became the steward of the Castleside club he used to do a bit of subbying for the BRS on the steel out of Consett works a very nice chap.
thanks harry long retired.
Dave the Renegade:
Who wanted to be a lorry driver,and how many of you ended up as lorry drivers as a second choice.
Myself I wanted to be a lorry driver from a young age.How many of you hand on heart can say,thats what I wanted to do.
Never wanted to do anything else. My dad was a driver always with him during school holidays, passed my test at 21 still driving 28 years later to old to change now.
harry_gill:
hiya,
My old fellah was a driver lorries and buses my mother drove a six wheeler and drawbar for the Ministry of Supply all through the war years so it was inevitable i got into the game but just pleased none of my family has ever bothered to be a driver in fact one member of my family in his late 40s has never even wanted to learn how to drive he says there’s enough idiots on the road without him adding to them, but he always accepted his pocket money which was hard earned by my efforts.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
Did Mother have a knotted rope ■■
Hope you are well
Regards
Richard
ps still waiting for Norman’s cruise !!
I was out in my Dad’s wagon from as soon as I could walk I think - certainly at 2, I was sat in the passenger seat - I have pictures to prove it.
That all stopped when my Dad moved to Allied Mills - no chance of getting regular trips out with him there as they were banned from having any passengers. Didn’t stop me having a few rides on a Friday night when the odd load was needed for an early Saturday bake at West Brom & Lyham though
After that, when school started getting ‘serious’ - this was 82-3 when a life on the dole or a YOP scheme loomed large, I got a very sharp pointer from my parents. I was basically given a choice - either shape myself and get some skills in a sector that gave me a chance of a job, or my room would be up for rent; there was no way I was going to be a wagon driver. At that time I was still wagon daft and had aspirations to be a mechanic. I was certainly able to do the job as I was able to strip/repair/assemble most things and I had (still have) excellent manual dexterity. Sadly, my aversion to the finer points of Physics ended that idea when I went looking round colleges during my last year at school. At home, we had a neighbour who was an owner driver and I was often to be seen around there mucking about in his garage. Soon after, I was shuffling his F12 and his B Series around his yard, not long after that I was taking them for minor excursions up the road and back. I was fettling trailers, sheeting loads, servicing - all was good. Until I went home and WW III had a dry-run in the kitchen when my parents realised where I’d been.
Anyway, when school finished I went to college for two years, got an IT qualification and the rest is history. I’ve worked as an engineer & I’ve taught kids and adults how to build, fix & maintain PCs. I’ve designed, built & administered networks (including scrabbling about in roof spaces installing all the cables) and I’ve managed projects to install IT infrastructures in many new builds for people like Royal Mail Group and certain organisations I’m unable to name due to the OSA. I’ve ended up as a project leader - copping everyone else’s stress because ‘that’s what I do’. Essentially, I’ve hated every bit of it. There hasn’t been a single, solitary day that has gone by since I left school when I haven’t seen a wagon go past and thought “I can actually drive that thing, but I’ll never be able to”
My dad’s stance when I was 15 has basically caused an unspoken & unresolved rift between us which lasts to this day & will probably remain unresolved until one of us pegs it. We get on - in short bursts, but we’re not & never will be close. Not as close as we were when I was 2 or 3 and riding in the passenger seat of his AEC. Maybe my good memory has been my downfall - if I couldn’t remember what might’ve been, maybe it wouldn’t have bugged me all these years.
marky:
I was out in my Dad’s wagon from as soon as I could walk I think - certainly at 2, I was sat in the passenger seat - I have pictures to prove it.
That all stopped when my Dad moved to Allied Mills - no chance of getting regular trips out with him there as they were banned from having any passengers. Didn’t stop me having a few rides on a Friday night when the odd load was needed for an early Saturday bake at West Brom & Lyham though
After that, when school started getting ‘serious’ - this was 82-3 when a life on the dole or a YOP scheme loomed large, I got a very sharp pointer from my parents. I was basically given a choice - either shape myself and get some skills in a sector that gave me a chance of a job, or my room would be up for rent; there was no way I was going to be a wagon driver. At that time I was still wagon daft and had aspirations to be a mechanic. I was certainly able to do the job as I was able to strip/repair/assemble most things and I had (still have) excellent manual dexterity. Sadly, my aversion to the finer points of Physics ended that idea when I went looking round colleges during my last year at school. At home, we had a neighbour who was an owner driver and I was often to be seen around there mucking about in his garage. Soon after, I was shuffling his F12 and his B Series around his yard, not long after that I was taking them for minor excursions up the road and back. I was fettling trailers, sheeting loads, servicing - all was good. Until I went home and WW III had a dry-run in the kitchen when my parents realised where I’d been.
Anyway, when school finished I went to college for two years, got an IT qualification and the rest is history. I’ve worked as an engineer & I’ve taught kids and adults how to build, fix & maintain PCs. I’ve designed, built & administered networks (including scrabbling about in roof spaces installing all the cables) and I’ve managed projects to install IT infrastructures in many new builds for people like Royal Mail Group and certain organisations I’m unable to name due to the OSA. I’ve ended up as a project leader - copping everyone else’s stress because ‘that’s what I do’. Essentially, I’ve hated every bit of it. There hasn’t been a single, solitary day that has gone by since I left school when I haven’t seen a wagon go past and thought “I can actually drive that thing, but I’ll never be able to”
My dad’s stance when I was 15 has basically caused an unspoken & unresolved rift between us which lasts to this day & will probably remain unresolved until one of us pegs it. We get on - in short bursts, but we’re not & never will be close. Not as close as we were when I was 2 or 3 and riding in the passenger seat of his AEC. Maybe my good memory has been my downfall - if I couldn’t remember what might’ve been, maybe it wouldn’t have bugged me all these years.
Marky, your story rang some bells with me, I was in a lorry at the same young age and my dad had the same views and so I served my time on the spanners. I soon learned that the guys driving the motors I was fixing were earning more money and so I went on to driving much to the dismay of the old man. However in his later years before he passed away he was always at a loose end and so he used to travel in the passenger seat of my lorry ! I was glad we shared those last years together putting the world to rights.
harry_gill:
hiya,
My old fellah was a driver lorries and buses my mother drove a six wheeler and drawbar for the Ministry of Supply all through the war years so it was inevitable i got into the game but just pleased none of my family has ever bothered to be a driver in fact one member of my family in his late 40s has never even wanted to learn how to drive he says there’s enough idiots on the road without him adding to them, but he always accepted his pocket money which was hard earned by my efforts.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry,
Did Mother have a knotted rope ■■
Hope you are well
Regards
Richard
ps still waiting for Norman’s cruise !!
hiya,
Mother had a large leather belt which was used on me for practice, i can remember her trailer boy was an elderly chap i used to see him every night the motor was worked from outside our house, Mother did five night trunks Lancaster to Carlisle loaded both ways the motor was tipped and loaded while she and the trailer mate had a break, all the stuff carried was for the war effort i believe, my Mother used to say if some of the loads had went up it would have cleanrd Lancashire off the map.
thanks harry long retired.
