Bloody awful things, terrible to drive, steering was always vague at the best and they were a nightmare to work on. I always felt sorry for the poor sods that had to drive them.
My encounter with one was when someone had parked one in the yard and it rolled away down a slope (the poxy transmission handbrake gave way ), I was standing by a tractor with my back to it, never heard a thing and was crushed against a wall.
Since that day I developed a hatred for the things !
I’ve got a lot of good memories of Bedfords from spending every school holiday with my dad as a kid
Trev_H:
Bloody awful things, terrible to drive, steering was always vague at the best and they were a nightmare to work on. I always felt sorry for the poor sods that had to drive them.
My encounter with one was when someone had parked one in the yard and it rolled away down a slope (the poxy transmission handbrake gave way ), I was standing by a tractor with my back to it, never heard a thing and was crushed against a wall.
Since that day I developed a hatred for the things !
I wouldn’t say I hated them myself Trev,but I agree the amount of drifting with a short wheelbase tipper running at 14 ton gross.You had to wrestle the things on B road to keep it on the right side of the road.The KM was a much better proper 16 tonner which pulled well and held the road well.
I could never understand why they never altered the cabs to tilt.
Cheers Dave.
I had one when i first started working for a proper transport company Hiltons Transport in Eltham, i was a green horn then, but when i went for the interview, they asked a few questions, and then asked me my age so i told them 19 he closed the window after saying, you should be 21 so i stood there a while, and was just about to walk away when the window opened again, What age did you say you were took a while to sink in, and nearly said i just told you 19 , then it sank in and i said 21, ok start tomorrowThe fleet was Thames Traders, and Bedford Tk, and i hoped i would get a Bedford, for the ride was better, and the noise quieter from the engine So there i was in the customary blue overalls ( not the bib and brace sort though) as a lot of the oldies then wore,and with my Thames Trader i was onship to shore, out of Rainham ( essex ) was shown what to do, except roping, and dollies, but soon learnt when my load fell off, into the small canal that ran alongside the lane we were working out of. As in those days, a bonus was to be had, for the amount of load you could shift, for the quicker the ship got turned around, everyone was happy, so we had to learn not only the hard way, but the quickest way, and not a word got back to the boss, so that was the beginning of my road into general haulage. Eventually, the firm said they were moving, and would i work the weekend to help, i loved driving, and told them of course i would, but it was ashock when i pulled out of the yard, and headed to Charlton, into the old UGB works ( united glass ) living in charltonat the time, i knew where they were, for i had worked there as a carton stitcher when i was 16, however the biggest shock was when i found someone in the yard, and asked them which part of the yard was Hiltons, was told, all of it, and of course that was the start of W.B.S. They were buying all the small local companies up, and incorporating them into the Hilton brand, and where i first got to drive my first artic, only through bragging. Well it wasnt so much of a brag, more of a i dont want to be left out. As drivers do, we were talking a load of usual rubbish that drivers do, when an office ( planner ) joined the conversation, then drivers were asking each other, whether they could drive an artic, i felt a bit uncomfortable, as i didnt want them to ask me, but they did, and of course i said Yes, but the office bod was listening, and even commented, but a few weeks later, when one of the drivers on the Cotrali tank contracts , went sick, the office bod said ,Hey chalky, you can drive artics cant ya` well i couldnt deny it, so said yes, and that was where it all began.
Going back to the Bedford post, a few years down the line, i was on European recovery with a company called C.T.S. who did all the european recovery for the R.A.C.direct, we had an Artic for local dock recovery ( which i drove, but was on the euro work most of the time, which was in 1972, till i had an accident, where the top deck collapsed whilst i was underneath it, putting me in hospital for 6 months, and ending my career there, ( thats another story ) but i managed to sleep on the parcel shelf of that dear old TK, bit of a squeeze, but some of the best adventures i have encountered.
There were two local ‘conversions’ of the parcel shelf to sleeper that I came across when driving TK’s.
One lad one the firm really wanted a bit more room, so before he went on holiday for a week he asked the fitters to stretch the parcel shelf by removing the square side window at one end, and adding a pre-fabricated mild steel box to it, this he had made for him to all the right dimensions. This he reasoned would allow him to stretch out a little more.
The fitters had their own idea though, they did take out the little window, but replaced it with a piece of sheet steel that had two ovals cut into it. To these ovals they pop riveted a pair of wellingtons to 
The face of Albie when he came back from holiday was a picture.
Another way of making a little room for short arses like me was to fix a hinged board suspended by straps from the roof. With the passenger seat back removed, the flap would lay flush with the shelf and give a bit more width so you could lay in a sort of semi foetal state, albeit in the freezing cold unheated uninsulated cab!
My first ever truck at 19 as a o/d slept across those seats three times a week had a soft spot for a TK 330 6 pot and a 5 speed turner overdrive box great little trucks
my first driving job at 18 was at a local builders merchant, we had a Y reg TK 7.5 tonner dropside with a small Hiab mounted halfway along the offside, also an A reg TL 7.5 tonner with a tipping body.
Also drove several TK horseboxes many a decent TK seen its days out ferrying nags about, Muckles may not care to admit, but he did too 
My first (part time) job having gained HGV 1 back in 1975 was for Richard Freeth at the bottom of Blunsdon Hill near Cricklade. Used to do trailer swaps around Swindon collecting waste cardboard from supermarkets in 30’ boxes with the old scammel type coupling. His TK’s were immaculate finished in light and dark green.Later worked for Kennedys Garden Centre at Stratton who used TK 7.5 Luton bodies (BJT 605T & BJT 606T) Used to have nightly run from Swindon - Coventry - Leicester - Birmingham on some nights and Swindon - Langport - Torquay - Bristol on other days with wholesale houseplants and flowers. No radio or power steering in those days but full head of hair, was I happy? You bet your boots I was!
the first one i drove was NUK385E(bedford 300 / 4 speed g-box), i used to drive it on the restricted class 2 up to 10tonnes gvw licence. My dad used to run it regularly to the south of france.When my F86 died i had to drive a drawbar,CRC429J (leyland engine/4 speep g-box)to Frejus. We had loads of TK’s, rigids/artics and drawbars from around 1966 through to about 1980, the best ones we had were leyland engined with a 5 speed box and 2 speed axle.
when i was based in cananda every wednesday we would take a 4 tonner from CFB Wainwright down to BATUS for stores, a round trip of 10 hours. managed to do it for 2 months before the boss found out i didnt have a hgv licence :
bloody noisy, tiring and boring roads, but at least on my CV i can say ive drove lorries in canada 
nick2008:
Bedford RL split screen was me 1st lorry
Mine too 1974
A 35 year old TK took me on my first truck trip over the water in 2007. West Wales to Limoge via Portsmouth to pick up two horses for Mrs F. Alternator died outbound, spare battery got me home. When I got back the transport manager (aka Mrs F!) had me take another pony to Oswestry the following day. If I remember right it was almost 2000 miles in 6 days. No tacho, heating was stuck on, no radio and I slept in the back. Got pulled and fined for going too slowly on the autoroute. What an adventure, and yes, I would do it again.
Drive safe.
Paul
nightmail:
My first (part time) job having gained HGV 1 back in 1975 was for Richard Freeth at the bottom of Blunsdon Hill near Cricklade. Used to do trailer swaps around Swindon collecting waste cardboard from supermarkets in 30’ boxes with the old scammel type coupling. His TK’s were immaculate finished in light and dark green.Later worked for Kennedys Garden Centre at Stratton who used TK 7.5 Luton bodies (BJT 605T & BJT 606T) Used to have nightly run from Swindon - Coventry - Leicester - Birmingham on some nights and Swindon - Langport - Torquay - Bristol on other days with wholesale houseplants and flowers. No radio or power steering in those days but full head of hair, was I happy? You bet your boots I was!
Can remember those Freeths box trailers. . ex National carriers wasnt they?
Why oh why has nobody who has posted about the TK not mentioned that the windscreen was about six inches too low for anyone with a reasonable body length to drive without feeling like Quasimodo and having to stoop when driving them because of the top rail being too low and restricting long distance forwards vision. I am not tall, but have a long body and short legs. I used to hate having to drive our firms rigid TK box vans when my Mastiff artic unit (yes, I know, not exactly the bees’s knees, but all they ran!) was in for service, plating, or 18 monthy engine rebuild (Perkins V8s!!!- good pullers but not good reliability and crap fuel consumption). Also, because they were max length rigids the turning circle was bigger than a cruise liner’s, with about 10 turns lock to lock. Such a shame that a good truck was spoilt from being produced by lack of proper design.
Some great pics…brought back loads of memories! Thanks. 
My old chap was awarded the first TK on the firm. I wasn’t jealous as I reckoned my old S-type was a “proper” lorry, not like the namby-pamby TK with it’s engine behind the driver’s seat.
Suedehead:
nightmail:
My first (part time) job having gained HGV 1 back in 1975 was for Richard Freeth at the bottom of Blunsdon Hill near Cricklade. Used to do trailer swaps around Swindon collecting waste cardboard from supermarkets in 30’ boxes with the old scammel type coupling. His TK’s were immaculate finished in light and dark green.Later worked for Kennedys Garden Centre at Stratton who used TK 7.5 Luton bodies (BJT 605T & BJT 606T) Used to have nightly run from Swindon - Coventry - Leicester - Birmingham on some nights and Swindon - Langport - Torquay - Bristol on other days with wholesale houseplants and flowers. No radio or power steering in those days but full head of hair, was I happy? You bet your boots I was!Can remember those Freeths box trailers. . ex National carriers wasnt they?
Hi, Suedehead,
Yes, they were mostly ex - NCL, with a few ex British Rail one’s also.
I was travelling back to their yard one day, and on arrival found both full size barn doors missing on one of these, with TM red faced after fending off furious phone call from Haydon Wick resident wanting one of these doors removed from his destroyed herbacious border. They never found the other one.
With regards Goodenough’s I think I can remember many years ago firm being based in Drove Road in the old BRS depot?
These days I regularly see one of their blue MAN boxes around Pompey on the M27. Regards, NM
Bearing the name of R.B. Jackson , from Papcastle , near Cockermouth, this Bedford T K rests at Kirkby Stephen Auction Mart yard during this years Easter Weekend Rally. The 7.5 tonne T K. looks the job` , - not overly-restored , - and appears ready for its next load.
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
nightmail:
Suedehead:
nightmail:
My first (part time) job having gained HGV 1 back in 1975 was for Richard Freeth at the bottom of Blunsdon Hill near Cricklade. Used to do trailer swaps around Swindon collecting waste cardboard from supermarkets in 30’ boxes with the old scammel type coupling. His TK’s were immaculate finished in light and dark green.Later worked for Kennedys Garden Centre at Stratton who used TK 7.5 Luton bodies (BJT 605T & BJT 606T) Used to have nightly run from Swindon - Coventry - Leicester - Birmingham on some nights and Swindon - Langport - Torquay - Bristol on other days with wholesale houseplants and flowers. No radio or power steering in those days but full head of hair, was I happy? You bet your boots I was!Can remember those Freeths box trailers. . ex National carriers wasnt they?
Hi, Suedehead,
Yes, they were mostly ex - NCL, with a few ex British Rail one’s also.
I was travelling back to their yard one day, and on arrival found both full size barn doors missing on one of these, with TM red faced after fending off furious phone call from Haydon Wick resident wanting one of these doors removed from his destroyed herbacious border. They never found the other one.
With regards Goodenough’s I think I can remember many years ago firm being based in Drove Road in the old BRS depot?
These days I regularly see one of their blue MAN boxes around Pompey on the M27. Regards, NM
Hello NM.
Driving through Haydon Wick,when it was a vlilage on the edge of town - on the way back to the yard up Tadpole lane ,round the back of the dog track to Blunsdon.
You wouldnt recognize the place now mate.
Re Goodenoughs.
Their offices were in Cricklade st opp the old Brs depot but to my knowledge,they didnt park any vans there and the blue Mans are Dave Goodenoughs,who started his own bussiness in the early 80s.
Sorry for the ramblings
Regards Suedehead