3300John:
bob-lad:
we had GBF 736N at bowies bought from the sale great motor but got pinched in londonHiya…so was GBF new to plants. ive see her at a few rallies and never knew who’s she was new.
I worked at harrisons of milton we had 5 A series 240’s. tideswells had 2. they was hard to get hold of
gardners wouldn’t/couldn’t turn them out quick enough so ■■■■■■■ got a foot hold.
John
Hi guys GBF 735 and 736 both arrived brand new at Plants. Myself Rob Ikin had 736 and Martin Salt had 735
3300John:
bob-lad:
we had GBF 736N at bowies bought from the sale great motor but got pinched in london
Hiya…so was GBF new to plants. ive see her at a few rallies and never knew who’s she was new.
I worked at harrisons of milton we had 5 A series 240’s. tideswells had 2. they was hard to get hold of
gardners wouldn’t/couldn’t turn them out quick enough so ■■■■■■■ got a foot hold.
John[/quote
Hi guys just to answer your question GBF 735 and 736 both arrived brand new at PLANTS. Myself (Rob Ikin) had 736 and Martin Salt had 735 great trucks at the time…
Hiya …welcome to Trucknet Rob…it must be great to still see your old motor at the rallies after 30 years, still looked after,
ive seen her many times.there a show in Essex she,s always there with a steamer. quick question did you work at CRS only your
name seems to hit a note somewhere in my head.
Cheers John
3300John:
Hiya …welcome to Trucknet Rob…it must be great to still see your old motor at the rallies after 30 years, still looked after,
ive seen her many times.there a show in Essex she,s always there with a steamer. quick question did you work at CRS only your
name seems to hit a note somewhere in my head.
Cheers John
Yes John sure did work for CRS great days i have to admit, hard work but much better than the present day. Just dont know whats happened to the driving job of today…
With regard to G Plant of North Rode Macclesfield, worked there from 1972 until 1980 and have to admit it was a hard but great job. Yes Gordon was a stickler, the job was hard work but it was fun, a word we dont regularly mention with regard to driving today. Can you imaging nowadays pulling into the yard at say 9pm having to fully wash your rig before your wage packet was given to you. Not to mention the fact that Gordon would go round the yard over the weekend and if he found that you hadnt washed off properly you would be docked bonus. Could not wish for a better maintained fleet of trucks. There was mention of the Traffic Manager being known as ‘Doormouse’…his actual name was Tommy Dorman, again a stickler but what a man, he could tell you without looking what was on each lorry. He was assisted in the traffic office by Philip Plant a great guy somewhat undermined by Gordon and when it all came to an end he was treated rather badly. We did carry on for a while under a new name of Wingsong the name basically says it all, as it wasnt that long before that went also. We had some great drivers too many to mention, not only great drivers but also great characters. Plants taught me a lot about the job and a fabulous insight into lorry driving and it was a very sad day when it all came to an end.
ROBBOB:
With regard to G Plant of North Rode Macclesfield, worked there from 1972 until 1980 and have to admit it was a hard but great job. Yes Gordon was a stickler, the job was hard work but it was fun, a word we dont regularly mention with regard to driving today. Can you imaging nowadays pulling into the yard at say 9pm having to fully wash your rig before your wage packet was given to you. Not to mention the fact that Gordon would go round the yard over the weekend and if he found that you hadnt washed off properly you would be docked bonus. Could not wish for a better maintained fleet of trucks. There was mention of the Traffic Manager being known as ‘Doormouse’…his actual name was Tommy Dorman, again a stickler but what a man, he could tell you without looking what was on each lorry. He was assisted in the traffic office by Philip Plant a great guy somewhat undermined by Gordon and when it all came to an end he was treated rather badly. We did carry on for a while under a new name of Wingsong the name basically says it all, as it wasnt that long before that went also. We had some great drivers too many to mention, not only great drivers but also great characters. Plants taught me a lot about the job and a fabulous insight into lorry driving and it was a very sad day when it all came to an end.
Thanks for the “thumb nail” sketch of what it was like to be a driver at Plants “ROBBOB” the firm sure was a credit to the the industry in those,now,far off days.What motors did you drive? during your time there were you a rigid man or an artic driver ? When I was running up and down to London in the late '60’s/early 70’s with my D1000 I recall often getting in “among” those 5 potter Gardner 4 wheelers of Plants on the old A5 especially on a Sunday afternoon,pop pop pop pop !!! 
they were always loaded with all kinds of traffic and all different shaped loads immaculately roped and sheeted as well.Great days for sure,but hard work as you say.Cheers Bewick.
hiya…Rob i worked at S coopers in the early 80,s, half the lads there was ex Plants men thats where i’ll have herd your name.
Charlie robbo Robinson…Stuart Chadwick Johnny Belf a few others who,s full names have slipped away for the moment.
John
Started on Plants with a coachbuilt round cab 80 bhp which would achieve approx 46mph and was then quickly upgraded to a much more powerful 100 bhp. I must have been able to do the job because i was soon upgraded to a coachbuilt round cab 8 wheeler, much more weight with only 2 more feet of body space. What a pig that lorry was, just to get out of Plants yard and onto the main road meant reversing on the main road so as to get round the turn. Gordons legacy was what couldnt fit on the bed of the body just went on top, four sheets and a fly sheet. I did quite well really because i was soon upgraded to SMB 801J a 180 Gardner artic. We would often leave the yard with many drops all under rope and sheets. I remember coming into the yard one saturday with a sky high load on and unbeknown to me i had missed one hook when roping up. Having complimented me on my sheeting he made me take off the fly sheet and re rope it using ALL the hooks…40 ft box vans arrived at Plants to mainly carry margarine and cooking oil from Liverpool meaning life was made a little bit easier. I must admit a great time in my life, learning the ropes and enjoying the job working with a great bunch of guys. Those were the days when if you broke down you would be surrounded by numerous other trucks, drivers who couldnt do enough to help…such a difference from the present day working driver. I used to work in the yard on a saturday and you would be constantly roping and sheeting all day, plus washing some vehicles that were considered not clean enough. Then at about 5.30pm to 6pm the next duty would be to scrub the whole yard and by the time we had finished there wasnt an oil mark or tyre mark to be seen. Sunday afternoon at 2pm is when the Plants convoy of lorries would exit the yard mainly heading for the london area, we would park up in the Rotherhythe area with side light on all night, couldnt even imagine doing that now, batteries just arent that good nowadays. We would all meet in the pub and have a good night whereas nowadays its parking in a motorway services, as soon as you pull up alongside someone he pulls his curtains so as to have no contact…such a change and not for the best…
hi ROBOB i was a fitter at william kirks,tommy doorman was the clerk in the garage office but that was over fifteen years ago now,but he retired before i left,he must have been over 70 then he was a great old guy,i believe he started his work at nuttals of clifton and then went on to work at plants,he had survived 3 heart attacks and a major car crash but lived to tell many tales 9 lives springs to mind
Hiya …called in to see an old work mate on thursday…this was in his yard what a little gem
next question who had her new…shes a 5 potter with a tapered chassis brown box and a eaton two speed axle.
sitting on the chassis is a light weight Jennings Aly body with a wooden floor…the reg is LMA962G…do we say
G Plant North Rode or not.
3300John:
Hiya …called in to see an old work mate on thursday…this was in his yard what a little gem
next question who had her new…shes a 5 potter with a tapered chassis brown box and a eaton two speed axle.
sitting on the chassis is a light weight Jennings Aly body with a wooden floor…the reg is LMA962G…do we say
G Plant North Rode or not.
Hello John , how about Emmersons from Nantwich they had 4 wheeler ERFs like that one .thank you Trevor .
Hiya…they was a good four wheeler…the 5 pot gardener with the tapered chassis and a aly body you
could get ten tons on legally. at Harrisons of Bucknell we had the same model iicr she was GEH…H
Browns transport had quite a few…this one seems in quite good condition that,s why i thought Plants
Gordon always kept his motors in tip top condition i remember browns having fiber glass botch ups
around the front skirt. Firmin Coats also had a few of this model
John
Hiya John,There was a Milnthorpe haulier called J L Ion (Larry) who sold the bulk of his A Licence and Contract motors ( Libbys and Crossbones fert) to Davy & Co (Grange)Ltd (K.Fell) in 1964.But he kept hold of a couple licences one was a Contract licence on a little Trader which he drove himself on day runs.But the other one was a new ERF 4 wheeler “C” reg and this had the tapered chassis and Perkins 6.354 engine and he had a right light ali/wood flat on it and he could get 11ton 5cwt payload on to it.He had it on a right lucrative job which was Libbys into Kent (Highest rated) and then reload at Smedleys Sittingbourne ? back to their Bolton warehouse.This ERF did three round trips a week and it was smashed up once on the MI and rebuilt,the second time it bit the dust was on the A5 south of Hinkley in late '69 when it was completely written off.That was the second driver he had on it and he used to stop that Cafe at Dorden more-or less all week (on with a Bird I think)! Anyhow,another funny thing was after the first driver smashed it up on the M1 (a lad from Kendal called Clem) he jacked and emigrated to Austrailia,and when it was written off finally in '69 that driver (Ernie) finished as well because Larry wasn’t going to replace the motor,but Ernie also emigrated to Austrailia to live with his daughter who had settled there.I know,I know, boring but when you read about a certain spec of motor it can jog the old brain cell about things from the past ! Cheers Dennis.
Just spotted this in the Commercial Motor mag.James Lynch Tankers puts new Volvo fh on the road to celebrate their 60th year in the transport business.
tastrucker:
doby3926:
yes trevor, jones tpt from cockshutt used to load out of lever bros port sunlight too ,i loaded in there and vandenburghs across the road wen i worked for vick wild had a gleave tpt truck first then a foden in north shropshire tpt colors as vick baught them spent many hours waiting to load in shotton steen works after collectong trailers off trung from soton loaded with fruit (jersey growers) 10…12 drops round manchester blackburn & liverpool markets then load for the trunk 20 hours most days the good old daysHello doby , i can remember North Shropshire in Shotton took steel to the ford transit plant in Southampton and return to Shotton with baled scrap . They had ERFS as well , and i nthink they had the odd dodge too . An old mate tells me that Jones of Cockshutt had most of the work from this area out of lever bros , very tidy fleet would be good to see some photos on this thread thank you Trevor .
Sorry no Photo’s of Jones of Cockshutt but they always had smart vehicles. Ran 4/5 artics and a 6 wheeler. When finished running DAF’s but had a tidy fleet of Volvo’s before that. Shame they have gone…but many have
wayne77:
tastrucker:
doby3926:
yes trevor, jones tpt from cockshutt used to load out of lever bros port sunlight too ,i loaded in there and vandenburghs across the road wen i worked for vick wild had a gleave tpt truck first then a foden in north shropshire tpt colors as vick baught them spent many hours waiting to load in shotton steen works after collectong trailers off trung from soton loaded with fruit (jersey growers) 10…12 drops round manchester blackburn & liverpool markets then load for the trunk 20 hours most days the good old daysHello doby , i can remember North Shropshire in Shotton took steel to the ford transit plant in Southampton and return to Shotton with baled scrap . They had ERFS as well , and i nthink they had the odd dodge too . An old mate tells me that Jones of Cockshutt had most of the work from this area out of lever bros , very tidy fleet would be good to see some photos on this thread thank you Trevor .
Sorry no Photo’s of Jones of Cockshutt but they always had smart vehicles. Ran 4/5 artics and a 6 wheeler. When finished running DAF’s but had a tidy fleet of Volvo’s before that. Shame they have gone…but many have
hello wayne , i can remember Jones at cockshutt having some thorneycrofts on timber work out of Ellesmere timber company . Later they ran AECs and Guys on Van den burghs Bromborough , some body must have pictures some where , thank you Trevor
Remember G Plant and Plant Cold Storage, was just wondering if there was a connection to John Plants company of Biddulf, John worked for a number of years for Mick Swain F Swain & Co Poynton another departed Cheshire haulier. John Plant worked in the traffic office and had a couple of motors subbing for Swains, when Swain went belly up John took on a few of Mick’s long time eemployees and a chunk of Swains work.
backload:
Remember G Plant and Plant Cold Storage, was just wondering if there was a connection to John Plants company of Biddulf, John worked for a number of years for Mick Swain F Swain & Co Poynton another departed Cheshire haulier. John Plant worked in the traffic office and had a couple of motors subbing for Swains, when Swain went belly up John took on a few of Mick’s long time eemployees and a chunk of Swains work.
When John Plant worked for Swains spent a lot of time working with him as he spent time running drivers on the Levers contract out of the Warrington factory, always great to work with . What is he doing these days would be nice to find out
Hello Boatchaser, This might help fill in a few gaps, John is still running a few trucks also a local pub in Biddulph. I also worked with him at Swains along with the rest of the lads Budge, Rick, and Rene. I looked after a few of there vehicles and sub-contractors when they were based at our yard in Bristol.
I hope this is of interset to you…happy days. all the best to you.
Stevens
