Hi - just found this forum by chance as my mother passed away last Weds at the age of 82 1/2! her name…Sheila Alberti!
S&B Alberti was my mum & dads business, mum was carlisle born and worked for Thistle transport (her dads business0 before meeting my dad in Mallorca - he’s Spanish, not Italian! - and then marrying him in 1962, before they started up on their own just before I was born in 1962 with an Albion. Primary work was British Gypsum, first from Cocklakes and then Kirkby Thore but as it was general haulage, we did everything and anything you could put on a flat or in a Tautliner.
Dad bought the first Volvo in ■■■■■■■ from Tait’s at Haydon Bridge and became very good friends with Dennis there for the rest of his business life.
The business stayed a family concern, running up to 20+ trucks (mainly Volvo F88’s, F.10 & 12’s with a scattering of the odd Scania 111/112 here and there and even a Merc 2035 once until predominately running FL10 Volvo’s) until 1993, when my brother, (William - who was lining up to take the reins in good time), sadly died after being hit by a bus (is that ironic or what?) in Carlisle and we sold out in 1994 to Ray Keedwell, who still runs it as Alberti Ltd to this day with Michael Ivinson, who used to drive for us, now running it as director.
The Golden Fleece (now Exelby BP Truckstop @ J.42) remains in the family as it is owned by my uncle (mum’s brother and he continued to run Thistle Transport as a traffic office operation for many years before closing it to concentrate on farming and landlording the site to Excelby’s!
I hope this helps someone and thanks for keeping the memories from my childhood alive - as George Watson (aka “Arab”), once told me, “if only roping and sheeting were a recognised art form, boy, I’d be better than bloody Picasso!”
240 Gardner:
Chris Webb:
All good stuff Jim and who knows,could all be true!
In Sheffield “Aberdeen Overdrive” was known as “silent sixth” or “silent seventh” depending on the box you’d got.
Wasn’t there a haulier from Carlisle called Alberti,ran white Volvos in the 80s?Always thought it was an unusual name for a ■■■■■■■■ haulier.
yes there was Chris - S & B Alberti from memory. I used to load them back sometimes - I think it was Sheila Alberti I used to speak to, and she was definitely more ■■■■■■■■■■ than Italy! I think that her husband was actually Italian, although I never spoke to him. I believe they sold out to Keedwell a few years ago.
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the info re ; Eric Briggs. I d not heard of his name before , but by your description of his business , he did not appear to be a good advert for this area ! Now , Bill Barnes , ............ What a charachter he was ! He was the chap who had a removable tatoo of himself on the inside of the windscreen of his wagon . His face was ALWAYS pressed up to the glass when he was driving . Maybe HE reached further forward than his front bumper . I can remember his Scammell Routeman and his A.E.C. 8 wheelers. Nostalga , thats what it`s called .
Cheers , cattle wagon man.
cattle wagon man:
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the info re ; Eric Briggs. I d not heard of his name before , but by your description of his business , he did not appear to be a good advert for this area ! Now , Bill Barnes , ............ What a charachter he was ! He was the chap who had a removable tatoo of himself on the inside of the windscreen of his wagon . His face was ALWAYS pressed up to the glass when he was driving . Maybe HE reached further forward than his front bumper . I can remember his Scammell Routeman and his A.E.C. 8 wheelers. Nostalga , thats what it`s called .
Cheers , cattle wagon man.
Bill traded in his Guy 6 wheeler in IIRC '72 and got a brand new AEC Marshal 6 wheeler off T. Bingley.However within a week or so of getting it he smashed it up on the A6 near the Astra cafe south of Carlisle,and just about killed himself ! the AECwas a write off and he then got his final motor,an ex K.Fell Scammell Routman 8 wheeler which for some reason TK Robinson had bought but not run,Bill ran between Glasgow and Manchester.Beatties Biscuits down and Atlas Express parcels back up.In his last year or so his traffic started to dry up and we used to give him a regular Story Bros. job from Morecambe to RDB Freightlines in Glasgow,he would retire in the late 70’s I think.His main problem was ,of course ,his eyesight he was as blind as a bat which was the reason he smashed his new AEC up ! Cheers Dennis.
M.Alberti:
Hi - just found this forum by chance as my mother passed away last Weds at the age of 82 1/2! her name…Sheila Alberti!
S&B Alberti was my mum & dads business, mum was carlisle born and worked for Thistle transport (her dads business0 before meeting my dad in Mallorca - he’s Spanish, not Italian! - and then marrying him in 1962, before they started up on their own just before I was born in 1962 with an Albion. Primary work was British Gypsum, first from Cocklakes and then Kirkby Thore but as it was general haulage, we did everything and anything you could put on a flat or in a Tautliner.
Dad bought the first Volvo in ■■■■■■■ from Tait’s at Haydon Bridge and became very good friends with Dennis there for the rest of his business life.
The business stayed a family concern, running up to 20+ trucks (mainly Volvo F88’s, F.10 & 12’s with a scattering of the odd Scania 111/112 here and there and even a Merc 2035 once until predominately running FL10 Volvo’s) until 1993, when my brother, (William - who was lining up to take the reins in good time), sadly died after being hit by a bus (is that ironic or what?) in Carlisle and we sold out in 1994 to Ray Keedwell, who still runs it as Alberti Ltd to this day with Michael Ivinson, who used to drive for us, now running it as director.
The Golden Fleece (now Exelby BP Truckstop @ J.42) remains in the family as it is owned by my uncle (mum’s brother and he continued to run Thistle Transport as a traffic office operation for many years before closing it to concentrate on farming and landlording the site to Excelby’s!
I hope this helps someone and thanks for keeping the memories from my childhood alive - as George Watson (aka “Arab”), once told me, “if only roping and sheeting were a recognised art form, boy, I’d be better than bloody Picasso!”
240 Gardner:
Chris Webb:
All good stuff Jim and who knows,could all be true!
In Sheffield “Aberdeen Overdrive” was known as “silent sixth” or “silent seventh” depending on the box you’d got.
Wasn’t there a haulier from Carlisle called Alberti,ran white Volvos in the 80s?Always thought it was an unusual name for a ■■■■■■■■ haulier.
yes there was Chris - S & B Alberti from memory. I used to load them back sometimes - I think it was Sheila Alberti I used to speak to, and she was definitely more ■■■■■■■■■■ than Italy! I think that her husband was actually Italian, although I never spoke to him. I believe they sold out to Keedwell a few years ago.
What a sad but informative thread. I often wondered about the name Alberti up in ■■■■■■■■■■ and even more interesting info about the Golden Fleece.
Hi M Alberti welcome to trucknet and our condolences to you and your family from everyone on here.I know this isn’t the time but we hope you will come back on in the future and tell us some more about the history of S&B Alberti transport and even post some photos.
M.Alberti:
Hi - just found this forum by chance as my mother passed away last Weds at the age of 82 1/2! her name…Sheila Alberti!
S&B Alberti was my mum & dads business, mum was carlisle born and worked for Thistle transport (her dads business0 before meeting my dad in Mallorca - he’s Spanish, not Italian! - and then marrying him in 1962, before they started up on their own just before I was born in 1962 with an Albion. Primary work was British Gypsum, first from Cocklakes and then Kirkby Thore but as it was general haulage, we did everything and anything you could put on a flat or in a Tautliner.
Dad bought the first Volvo in ■■■■■■■ from Tait’s at Haydon Bridge and became very good friends with Dennis there for the rest of his business life.
The business stayed a family concern, running up to 20+ trucks (mainly Volvo F88’s, F.10 & 12’s with a scattering of the odd Scania 111/112 here and there and even a Merc 2035 once until predominately running FL10 Volvo’s) until 1993, when my brother, (William - who was lining up to take the reins in good time), sadly died after being hit by a bus (is that ironic or what?) in Carlisle and we sold out in 1994 to Ray Keedwell, who still runs it as Alberti Ltd to this day with Michael Ivinson, who used to drive for us, now running it as director.
The Golden Fleece (now Exelby BP Truckstop @ J.42) remains in the family as it is owned by my uncle (mum’s brother and he continued to run Thistle Transport as a traffic office operation for many years before closing it to concentrate on farming and landlording the site to Excelby’s!
I hope this helps someone and thanks for keeping the memories from my childhood alive - as George Watson (aka “Arab”), once told me, “if only roping and sheeting were a recognised art form, boy, I’d be better than bloody Picasso!”
240 Gardner:
Chris Webb:
All good stuff Jim and who knows,could all be true!
In Sheffield “Aberdeen Overdrive” was known as “silent sixth” or “silent seventh” depending on the box you’d got.
Wasn’t there a haulier from Carlisle called Alberti,ran white Volvos in the 80s?Always thought it was an unusual name for a ■■■■■■■■ haulier.
yes there was Chris - S & B Alberti from memory. I used to load them back sometimes - I think it was Sheila Alberti I used to speak to, and she was definitely more ■■■■■■■■■■ than Italy! I think that her husband was actually Italian, although I never spoke to him. I believe they sold out to Keedwell a few years ago.
Hi M, sorry to hear about your mother,welcome to the forum,delivering fuel in ■■■■■■ for 30+ years,i met your father often ,your late brother William and also yourself when delivering to Alanbrooke Rd, i also met your uncle was his name Bill ? i took fuel to the Fleece from 78 till i retired in May 2010,when first going there the tanks were all small and under ground i saw all the changes there over the years.As i have said on this thread before i enjoyed working in ■■■■■■■ over the years and meeting the people including your family.P.S one i must mention is Gordon in the garage at Alanbrooke Rd,a true gent.Vic(ex Phillips petrolium-Petro-Plus)
Hello Bewick,
Thanks for the infomation on Walki Converters (not from South ■■■■■■■ as you know).
Regards
■■■■■■■■ Gill
Bewick:
■■■■■■■■ gill:
Hello Bewick
Thanks for that info and photos on those lorries.
But, who where Walki Converters■■?
Regards
■■■■■■■■ Gill
Origionally the site at Garstang was the conversion factory of British Tissues who had a Mill up at Inglewhite on the Pennines,when they closed a firm called Clyde Paper from Glasgow took the Garstang site over and carried out various conversion work on paper and board,a lot of the paper they used was delivered by us from the Henry Cooke mill at Beetham.However,by late '79 Clyde were in severe financial difficulty and the only way that Cookes stood any chance of getting payed what they were owed was to take the firm over,lock stock and barrel,which they did in early '80.The name was changed to Henry Cooke Converters Ltd. and we took over all the transport work.But by chance at that time United Paper Mills of Finland were looking for an opertunity to start up their converting division,Walki Converters,in the UK.So Cookes sold the Garstang plant to UPM and,IIRC,came out of the deal with all their investment plus a handsome profit !! We then carried on as the transport contractor and Walki became one of our valued customers,the Finns were great people to deal with,they appreciated good service and were prepared to always pay very fair rates.Their main activity was putting foil and poly linings on cardboard for the food industry as well as cutting imported board reels to various sized sheets that were then palletised.The same thing that Thames/Iggusund board do.Is that enough info for you CG ? Next question then ! Cheers Bewick.
Stanfield:
Hi M Alberti welcome to trucknet and our condolences to you and your family from everyone on here.I know this isn’t the time but we hope you will come back on in the future and tell us some more about the history of S&B Alberti transport and even post some photos.
Thank-you - I shall in good time but for now, as I’m sure yu all understand, I need to focus on the issue of probate and ensuring the buggaz get nowt more from mother - they got more than their fair share when she was alive!
10-10 for now.
Matt
Hi M, sorry to hear about your mother,welcome to the forum,delivering fuel in ■■■■■■ for 30+ years,i met your father often ,your late brother William and also yourself when delivering to Alanbrooke Rd, i also met your uncle was his name Bill ? i took fuel to the Fleece from 78 till i retired in May 2010,when first going there the tanks were all small and under ground i saw all the changes there over the years.As i have said on this thread before i enjoyed working in ■■■■■■■ over the years and meeting the people including your family.P.S one i must mention is Gordon in the garage at Alanbrooke Rd,a true gent.Vic(ex Phillips petrolium-Petro-Plus)
[/quote]
Hi Vic - thanks for your kind words and nice to know people still remember boyo and the history - I hope you didn’t drink his cups of tea, they were a bit “weird” as derv never did help Tetley!
Phillips tamkers are still seen on occasion down at Rosehill, even today and I’ll always remember the rep, Mr.Huddart - a large man by anyones standards.
Yep, the Fleece has seen many changes but the cafe (Thistle cafe) is still there in the old house on the site and my cousin Margaret runs that now so if you are ever passing, pls call in - the scran is fairly good!
You may be pleased to learn that Gordon (our mechanic forever!) retired last year after his long-put off hip replacement operation - now he’s on the painting for pin money lark, swopping oil and grease for turps and Solvite! He lives in the same village as me and I see him often, as does dad and yes, he is a mild mannered gent with a mine of Volvo and Scania info. just waiting to be tapped for anyone restoring any F88/10/12’s or FL10’s from the 70/80/90’s!
I don’t seem to be able to upload photos at the moment but once I figure it out, I will put some on for nostalgias sake.
Kind regards,
MATT
Hi M. Sorry to hear about you mother passing away by all accounts she was a respected lady. I have tipped and loaded many a time with Alberti drivers in various locations throughout the country, helping each other with ropes and sheets.I worked at the time for F A Hawkins transport from Eaton Bray in bedfordshire, we was doing plenty of work for the British printing corporation working mainly out of Dunstable and Milton Keynes running to all factories within the group. Your boys use to rattle on with those FL 10s and didnt they clock up some miles in a day. Its nice to have you on this thread.
M.Alberti:
Hi - just found this forum by chance as my mother passed away last Weds at the age of 82 1/2! her name…Sheila Alberti!
S&B Alberti was my mum & dads business, mum was carlisle born and worked for Thistle transport (her dads business0 before meeting my dad in Mallorca - he’s Spanish, not Italian! - and then marrying him in 1962, before they started up on their own just before I was born in 1962 with an Albion. Primary work was British Gypsum, first from Cocklakes and then Kirkby Thore but as it was general haulage, we did everything and anything you could put on a flat or in a Tautliner.
Dad bought the first Volvo in ■■■■■■■ from Tait’s at Haydon Bridge and became very good friends with Dennis there for the rest of his business life.
The business stayed a family concern, running up to 20+ trucks (mainly Volvo F88’s, F.10 & 12’s with a scattering of the odd Scania 111/112 here and there and even a Merc 2035 once until predominately running FL10 Volvo’s) until 1993, when my brother, (William - who was lining up to take the reins in good time), sadly died after being hit by a bus (is that ironic or what?) in Carlisle and we sold out in 1994 to Ray Keedwell, who still runs it as Alberti Ltd to this day with Michael Ivinson, who used to drive for us, now running it as director.
The Golden Fleece (now Exelby BP Truckstop @ J.42) remains in the family as it is owned by my uncle (mum’s brother and he continued to run Thistle Transport as a traffic office operation for many years before closing it to concentrate on farming and landlording the site to Excelby’s!
I hope this helps someone and thanks for keeping the memories from my childhood alive - as George Watson (aka “Arab”), once told me, “if only roping and sheeting were a recognised art form, boy, I’d be better than bloody Picasso!”
240 Gardner:
Chris Webb:
All good stuff Jim and who knows,could all be true!
In Sheffield “Aberdeen Overdrive” was known as “silent sixth” or “silent seventh” depending on the box you’d got.
Wasn’t there a haulier from Carlisle called Alberti,ran white Volvos in the 80s?Always thought it was an unusual name for a ■■■■■■■■ haulier.
yes there was Chris - S & B Alberti from memory. I used to load them back sometimes - I think it was Sheila Alberti I used to speak to, and she was definitely more ■■■■■■■■■■ than Italy! I think that her husband was actually Italian, although I never spoke to him. I believe they sold out to Keedwell a few years ago.
Hello M Alberti
I think I can speak on behalf of TruckNet and say how sorry we are to here of the sad news of the death of your mother, and I hope, sometime in the near future, we will see you return to this forum to share some more infomation about your fasinating family history and the history of your haulage business.
Until then, my thoughts are with you and your family
Kindest Regards
■■■■■■■■ Gill
littlerichard:
Hi M. Sorry to hear about you mother passing away by all accounts she was a respected lady. I have tipped and loaded many a time with Alberti drivers in various locations throughout the country, helping each other with ropes and sheets.I worked at the time for F A Hawkins transport from Eaton Bray in bedfordshire, we was doing plenty of work for the British printing corporation working mainly out of Dunstable and Milton Keynes running to all factories within the group. Your boys use to rattle on with those FL 10s and didnt they clock up some miles in a day. Its nice to have you on this thread.
Hi “littlerichard” - thanks for your kind words - we had some good lads, some great lads and yes, they used to rattle them wendy-houses along summat rotten. I remember BPC/Waterlows/Carlisle Web offset etc - they could be good or bad, depending on the day if it had a “y” in it! But I am pleased to say that I was still around in the last days when drivers still helped each other with the ropes and sheets - at the time we didn’t know it but they were halcyon days, despite sods law being that the wind was always blowing strongest just as you rolled the drip out!
Cheers,
Hello M Alberti
I think I can speak on behalf of TruckNet and say how sorry we are to here of the sad news of the death of your mother, and I hope, sometime in the near future, we will see you return to this forum to share some more infomation about your fasinating family history and the history of your haulage business.
Until then, my thoughts are with you and your family
Kindest Regards
■■■■■■■■ Gill
[/quote]
Thanks for your sentiments, ■■■■■■■■ Gill - when I get through all this I’m sure I’ll have some tales to share with you all - and I’m sure a few of our ex-drivers/acquaintances will be on here to embellish/fill in where necessary and recall the tales of the legends, from Hos Barnes and Wes Hetherington to the Jolly brothers and Scamp.
Kindest regards,
MATT
I was chatting with one of our long retired drivers yesterday and by chance he mentioned that the last one of the origional J. B. Hudson of Sandside drivers had passed away a little while ago,his name was George McGowan a Scotsman who had lived in Kendal since the last war. J.B. Hudson ran an HGV repair and recovery operation which took care of A6 breakdowns mainly between Lancaster and Shap fell but up until 1960 on the death of Maggie Bowman ( J B’s daughter) they had also ran 5 motors on “A” licence and as they were also Leyland agents they ran 4 Octopus 8 wheelers and one ERF 4 wheeler,the last Octopus was new in 1960 and eventually ended up with Walter Southworth. Anyway the five drivers at J B’s in 1960 were, Tot Baldwin,Aurthur Physackely,Ted Lowe,George McGawan and Willie Ferguson ( another Scotsman).I believe that in order to meet the substantial death duties due on Maggie’s death her son Raymond sold the haulage side to Athersmiths Bros. of Barrow-in Furness.The motors,however,still could only be based at Sanside even though they ran out of Barrow Steel regularly. As a result of this change of ownership there was only one of the 5 drivers that remained with the new owners,George McGowan withTot Baldwin and Ted Lowe transferring into the workshops with Ted driving an AEC Militant wrecker for many years after,Aurthur started a Driving school and Willie started on an Inter City Carnation contract motor.I knew each one of these “old school” drivers except Aurthur as he had obviously left transport world that I grew up within. Maybe some of the lads on the site will recall Hudsons as they carried on with the HGV repair and recovery business for another 30 odd years after their involvement in road transport.In June 1966 Davy & Co Grange Ltd. bought the haulage firm J.B. Hudson Ltd. from Athersmiths and 10 years later almost to the day Bewick Transport bought out the transport interests of Davy & Co Grange Ltd. and aquired the trading names and assets of K. Fell & Co, J.B.Hudson Ltd and J. L. Ion Ltd. Two of the motors, an ERF 6 wheel flat and a Seddon 32:4 RR tractor unit were lettered J. B. Hudson Ltd. Just a bit of old transport history which some may find interesting,maybe !! Cheers Bewick.
hiya,
Dennis you mentioned an “oldie” who I did a couple of weeks casual for back in the early 1960s namely Walter Southworth not a bad outfit to work for although the motors originally transported the materials to build Noah’s Ark travelled there by my trusty BSA Bantam on the first day but stayed in digs for the duration of the holiday relief a bit of a bad place to commute to from the Darwen area in those days, did love those old Octopus’s of the time just wondering was one of them the one you mentioned in your post, must have have done a decent job was offered a permanent job but like i said a bit of a difficult travel.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Dennis you mentioned an “oldie” who I did a couple of weeks casual for back in the early 1960s namely Walter Southworth not a bad outfit to work for although the motors originally transported the materials to build Noah’s Ark travelled there by my trusty BSA Bantam on the first day but stayed in digs for the duration of the holiday relief a bit of a bad place to commute to from the Darwen area in those days, did love those old Octopus’s of the time just wondering was one of them the one you mentioned in your post, must have have done a decent job was offered a permanent job but like i said a bit of a difficult travel.
thanks harry long retired.
Hiya “H” IIRC on the front cover of one of the two vintage mags there was a shot of a restored Octopus it had a Westmorland reg. no. either GEC or GJM 1960, EC was always used first when the letters changed then they went onto JM.The article went on to say that the Octopus was ex Walter Southworth,which now doubt that had been it’s last owner. But I “clocked” it right away and confirmed that it had indeed been new to J. B. Hudson of Sandside and had been their last new motor just before they sold out to Athersmiths of Barrow.It is safe to assume that Southworths would have bought it from Athersmiths or maybe a dealer that had got it from Athersmiths.Cheers Dennis.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Dennis you mentioned an “oldie” who I did a couple of weeks casual for back in the early 1960s namely Walter Southworth not a bad outfit to work for although the motors originally transported the materials to build Noah’s Ark travelled there by my trusty BSA Bantam on the first day but stayed in digs for the duration of the holiday relief a bit of a bad place to commute to from the Darwen area in those days, did love those old Octopus’s of the time just wondering was one of them the one you mentioned in your post, must have have done a decent job was offered a permanent job but like i said a bit of a difficult travel.
thanks harry long retired.
Hiya “H” IIRC on the front cover of one of the two vintage mags there was a shot of a restored Octopus it had a Westmorland reg. no. either GEC or GJM 1960, EC was always used first when the letters changed then they went onto JM.The article went on to say that the Octopus was ex Walter Southworth,which now doubt that had been it’s last owner. But I “clocked” it right away and confirmed that it had indeed been new to J. B. Hudson of Sandside and had been their last new motor just before they sold out to Athersmiths of Barrow.It is safe to assume that Southworths would have bought it from Athersmiths or maybe a dealer that had got it from Athersmiths.Cheers Dennis.
hiya,
Not very good at remembering No’s Dennis, it was funny how I got the bit of part-time work for Southworth’s but had pulled in his yard (with a BRS wag and drag) bit cheeky eh’ was in need of a can of water don’t know who but an elderly chap came over and asked where the driver was and when I said I’m the driver, he was a bit dubious I was a bit fresh faced and he thought my trailer “boy” was the driver and who had nipped off for a pee he was an old guy who’s lamp oil was diminishing and was blessed with an egg-cup sized bladder, anyway i explained that I was being laid off at the weekend due to a downturn in business i was offered a couple of weeks holiday relief work to start on the Monday and that was it, as I said previously could have had a full-time job, but not the easiest place to get to and a bit of a sod in the wet weather,and me only being poor and just about able to afford the running cost of the afore mentioned BSA Bantam not ideal la mode transportes for an early morning start when the heavens have opened halfway through your journey to work, but Robbie Killingbeck filled the breach until the old “red and rust” got busy again and it was the BRS where I did my last spot of wag and drag driving and became permanently articulated, tell you what Marra they was good days when if you could do the job you got a job and there was no HGV licence so you had to be capable or you didn’t get a start in the transport “industry duck eggs need not apply” was the catchphrase of one guvnor who I worked for,might have been Geoff Catlow of Deans of Darwen a true gent now sadly departed and who I drove his very fist artic a brand new Atki Borderer he bought it because I had a class 1 licence.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Dennis you mentioned an “oldie” who I did a couple of weeks casual for back in the early 1960s namely Walter Southworth not a bad outfit to work for although the motors originally transported the materials to build Noah’s Ark travelled there by my trusty BSA Bantam on the first day but stayed in digs for the duration of the holiday relief a bit of a bad place to commute to from the Darwen area in those days, did love those old Octopus’s of the time just wondering was one of them the one you mentioned in your post, must have have done a decent job was offered a permanent job but like i said a bit of a difficult travel.
thanks harry long retired.
Hiya “H” IIRC on the front cover of one of the two vintage mags there was a shot of a restored Octopus it had a Westmorland reg. no. either GEC or GJM 1960, EC was always used first when the letters changed then they went onto JM.The article went on to say that the Octopus was ex Walter Southworth,which now doubt that had been it’s last owner. But I “clocked” it right away and confirmed that it had indeed been new to J. B. Hudson of Sandside and had been their last new motor just before they sold out to Athersmiths of Barrow.It is safe to assume that Southworths would have bought it from Athersmiths or maybe a dealer that had got it from Athersmiths.Cheers Dennis.
hiya,
Not very good at remembering No’s Dennis, it was funny how I got the bit of part-time work for Southworth’s but had pulled in his yard (with a BRS wag and drag) bit cheeky eh’ was in need of a can of water don’t know who but an elderly chap came over and asked where the driver was and when I said I’m the driver, he was a bit dubious I was a bit fresh faced and he thought my trailer “boy” was the driver and who had nipped off for a pee he was an old guy who’s lamp oil was diminishing and was blessed with an egg-cup sized bladder, anyway i explained that I was being laid off at the weekend due to a downturn in business i was offered a couple of weeks holiday relief work to start on the Monday and that was it, as I said previously could have had a full-time job, but not the easiest place to get to and a bit of a sod in the wet weather,and me only being poor and just about able to afford the running cost of the afore mentioned BSA Bantam not ideal la mode transportes for an early morning start when the heavens have opened halfway through your journey to work, but Robbie Killingbeck filled the breach until the old “red and rust” got busy again and it was the BRS where I did my last spot of wag and drag driving and became permanently articulated, tell you what Marra they was good days when if you could do the job you got a job and there was no HGV licence so you had to be capable or you didn’t get a start in the transport “industry duck eggs need not apply” was the catchphrase of one guvnor who I worked for,might have been Geoff Catlow of Deans of Darwen a true gent now sadly departed and who I drove his very fist artic a brand new Atki Borderer he bought it because I had a class 1 licence.
thanks harry long retired.
