.
Bents Brewery Leyland Comet, Reg No. NKF 278 in Liverpool. My first full time driving job was in the
summer of 1965, with Jarvis Robinson Transport in Bootle, aged 21. My regular lorry was a Leyland
Comet 90, Reg. No. NKF 176, just like this one, and very often, my work would be to load at Guinness
Export Bottlers near the South Docks, and deliver bottled and canned Guinness to the cargo ships on
both sides of the River Mersey. My deliveries were “Ships Stores”, for consumption by the ships crew
whilst at sea. Because my load was not “Cargo”, I did not have to join the lengthy queues at many of
the docks, I just drove straight to the ship, parked beside it, and went on board to find the Chief Steward.
The Chief would then send 4 or 5 crewmen down to handball the cartons of Guinness onto a pallet, and
once loaded, the pallet would be hoisted aboard the vessel with the onboard crane. If one of the drops
was to the “China Boats” of the “Blue Funnel” line in Birkenhead Docks, and if it was about 1pm, the Chief
always ensured that you sat down to a 3 course meal in the crew mess. Happy Days, Ray Smyth.
Buzzer:
Not a lorry but a local brewery to us Strong & Co of Romsey, remember there big roadside signs " Your in Strong Country now " cheers Buzzer.
Beat me to it Buzzer ! 
Click on pages twice.
DEANB:
Buzzer:
Not a lorry but a local brewery to us Strong & Co of Romsey, remember there big roadside signs " Your in Strong Country now " cheers Buzzer.Beat me to it Buzzer !
Click on pages twice.
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Thanks for the Strongs pictures. I bet Richard Evans of Romsey has supped many a pint of Strongs over the years. 
Ray.
cav551:
I am struggling to recall whether the S&N Freighter D655 ESF was one of the several Leyland 420 powered vehicles in the Aylesford fleet or if it was the sole DAF 620 powered one. I expect someone will know when Leyland first started fitting DAF engines in Freighters.In spite of the vehicles being treble manned there was an awful lot of manoeuvring damage, particularly to n/s/f wings and steps.
I don’t have any pictures of the Bedford TL fleet sadly, but I do recall one which was due for MOT and was breathing very heavily, which wasn’t unusual for the Bedford 500 engine, so a hose was led from the breather pipe and poked into the air filter trunking. An early attempt at a primitive EGR valve?
Hi CAV,
I had a D reg Freighter and that definitely had the Leyland 420 in it, I think the swop over to the DAF engine was E reg onwards and coincided with the change in the hub reduction unit from the Albion pattern to the bigger drive with the single nut to adjust the half shaft float! Cheer’s Pete
Samuel Webster’s Brewery Halifax,one of the brewery itself and the other of the dray fleet(amazingly an all British fleet).Both found on the web.
I’m sure most of the lads from the North East recognise this brewery (and no doubt had a pint or two from it’s product)
Built on the main road which of course became the A19, wish i had a quid for every time i passed it.
Became a Whitbread brewery in the early 60’s, closed in 2002.
Personally i loved the “Trophy” beer.They brewed Mackeson Stout here too.
paulycats:
12I’m sure most of the lads from the North East recognise this brewery (and no doubt had a pint or two from it’s product)
Built on the main road which of course became the A19, wish i had a quid for every time i passed it.Became a Whitbread brewery in the early 60’s, closed in 2002.
Personally i loved the “Trophy” beer.They brewed Mackeson Stout here too.
More of a technical query this: So there is a recipe for brewing a particular beer which is clearly closely followed by any brewery making another’s product, but what about the water? The taste of water varies slightly throughout the country according to whatever minerals are in it, so how do they overcome that?
Belgian left-■■■■■■ on for Whitbread. Robert
It is only 6 days since I started this “Brewery Lorries” thread, and it is on page 2 already.
I am grateful for all of the pictures and comments. I imagine that this Ford D Series tanker had
only a driver, and no second man, unlike the usual flatbed dray lorries. Bents was one of several
large breweries in Liverpool.
Ray Smyth.
A very tidy looking Leyland Clydesdale of Higsons Brewery, Liverpool.
The Higsons lorry at the rear looks like a Leyland Freighter.
The forklift truck looks like a Lansing Bagnall FOER 5,2S, with the
usual plastic sheeting on the top for when working outside in the rain.
Ray Smyth.
cav551:
paulycats:
12I’m sure most of the lads from the North East recognise this brewery (and no doubt had a pint or two from it’s product)
Built on the main road which of course became the A19, wish i had a quid for every time i passed it.Became a Whitbread brewery in the early 60’s, closed in 2002.
Personally i loved the “Trophy” beer.They brewed Mackeson Stout here too.More of a technical query this: So there is a recipe for brewing a particular beer which is clearly closely followed by any brewery making another’s product, but what about the water? The taste of water varies slightly throughout the country according to whatever minerals are in it, so how do they overcome that?
It was because of the local water quality that Burton on Trent became famous for its breweries, some of which were, and are, national brands. Magee Marshall brewery, which was in Bolton, and became part of the Greenall Whitley group, used water drawn from a well in Burton on Trent. Railcar tanks were used for transporting the water from Burton to Bolton and the brewery had its own rail siding. Search any publication about railway private ownership wagons and you will find a photo of one of Magee’s water tanks. Incidentally Magee’s had a large number of pubs in Blackpool and in the summer season several of Magee’s Leyland Comets and trailers ran between Bolton and Blackpool daily.
Here is a Pic of a Jeffreys Brewery Distribution Lorry.
History Link:
archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/a … a3044d269b
Here is another Pic of Wm Younger Lorry before merging with McEwan’s to form Scottish Brewers.
gingerfold:
cav551:
paulycats:
12I’m sure most of the lads from the North East recognise this brewery (and no doubt had a pint or two from it’s product)
Built on the main road which of course became the A19, wish i had a quid for every time i passed it.Became a Whitbread brewery in the early 60’s, closed in 2002.
Personally i loved the “Trophy” beer.They brewed Mackeson Stout here too.More of a technical query this: So there is a recipe for brewing a particular beer which is clearly closely followed by any brewery making another’s product, but what about the water? The taste of water varies slightly throughout the country according to whatever minerals are in it, so how do they overcome that?
It was because of the local water quality that Burton on Trent became famous for its breweries, some of which were, and are, national brands. Magee Marshall brewery, which was in Bolton, and became part of the Greenall Whitley group, used water drawn from a well in Burton on Trent. Railcar tanks were used for transporting the water from Burton to Bolton and the brewery had its own rail siding. Search any publication about railway private ownership wagons and you will find a photo of one of Magee’s water tanks. Incidentally Magee’s had a large number of pubs in Blackpool and in the summer season several of Magee’s Leyland Comets and trailers ran between Bolton and Blackpool daily.
Modern practice for breweries is to add a mixture of minerals, etc to their ‘base’ water to make it into the standard required for whatever they are brewing. This is sometimes known as “Burton-ising” the water. The important thing for brewers is consistency in their ingredients, recipe and brewing method - they are looking for the same results every time.
paulycats:
12I’m sure most of the lads from the North East recognise this brewery (and no doubt had a pint or two from it’s product)
Built on the main road which of course became the A19, wish i had a quid for every time i passed it.Became a Whitbread brewery in the early 60’s, closed in 2002.
Personally i loved the “Trophy” beer.They brewed Mackeson Stout here too.
Camerons started brewing the Trophy beer when Castle Eden closed its available in cask and keg. Also, Castle Eden Brewery reopened a few years ago at Spectrum business park in Seaham they do a lot of contract bottling and make their own obviously like Castle Eden Ale.
cav551:
More of a technical query this: So there is a recipe for brewing a particular beer which is clearly closely followed by any brewery making another’s product, but what about the water? The taste of water varies slightly throughout the country according to whatever minerals are in it, so how do they overcome that?
They add/subtract the relevant minerals to make the water the same- so they say. This will be backed up by “double blind” tastings, which prove that the beers are similar, totally ignoring the fact that the subtleties are acquired taste, which might take weeks to become apparent to the seasoned drinker. They do all sorts to hoodwink us, even to the extent of removing some of the ingredients, so that the ABV figure on the bottle is lower, in full view of the buyer- without any sort of announcement.
My favouite bottled beer has recently become available at a considerable discount. I have a suspicion that they have swapped some of the malt for refined sugar, to keep it profitable at the lower price. They do not have to declare this. Without proper laws, such as they have in Germany, GB remains Rip-Off Britain, regarding beer.
Bass Volvo F7
