The digs were very near to the picture house which was at the top of Union Street.
They were the only digs that i knew in Aberdeen, Went there for the first time with Roly.He always knew where the best digs were.
He used to stay there sometimes after he got the first sleeper cab if any of the other lads were up there.
Old Bill
Ken, what was the legal weight that could be carried on the old eight leggers, I know JH always said that he was restricted on width and length, but upwards was his, I know most of the time we were probably well over weight.
beano111:
Ken, what was the legal weight that could be carried on the old eight leggers, I know JH always said that he was restricted on width and length, but upwards was his, I know most of the time we were probably well over weight.
Hi Ronnie, the 8wheelers were 24t gross giving them about 16t load, but i think the first two new atkis he bought UUP 762 and VPT340 were 22t gross at the time.UUP’s first load was 15t of Armstrong cork toped off whith 10t of carpets, not bad for 112bhp 6lw.
One saturday i went down to the Hilltop cafe to tow Tony Crooks home,his g/box had gone on 499GPT it had about 20t of petfoods on i had 915EPT with about 18t on. Coming down Brabham Cross tony didn’t try to hold it back so my motor was over rideing so i had to knock the stick out,i was on the edge of the seat shi…ing myself the speedo was on its way up the other way 6wheel brakes were not any good. But it came over Ferryhill cut with a gear to spare,but i had two hands on the gear ready ,not bad for a 150 with over 50 up.
Rgards Ken
Hi Lads
Wishing all ex Dents Drivers, fitters and staff a very Happy Christmas and hope 2013 brings all you wish for. John (Mac) McNally
thank you john and a merry xmas from me also 
for anyone who is interested the annual DENTS get together is this coming saturday in the BLACK HORSE
tudhoe, starting around 1.30pm, anyone and everyone is invited, just come along and reminice or
we can all put the world to right 
alan
ps come on kenny johnson, we would all like to see you there
I’ll be there, can’t wait.
Old Bill
I think all of Dents men must have broken index fingers, so i’ll try to give them a kick start.
In the early 60’s the goverment built a factory at Thinford for Perkins engines and a street of houses at Tudhoe, for the key workers, but on account of the pay difference the key workers would not come from Peterbro. Black & Decker took the factory over. Dents got the contract runing between Spennymoor and Maidenhead (government subsidised).
In the bad winter of 63 Gordon Davis loaded 685MPT at Maidehead on friday as usual and came home on saturday. Insead of dropping the trailer off in B &D’s yard on account of the snow, he left the outfit in Dents yard. When he went to tip on monday morning as usual they would not let him through the gates until a helecopter had landed. The local news t/v was filming it. In the interview they said that they had to airlift parts in on account of the snow, a lorry had left Maidenhead on friday and never been heard of since. They did’n t say it was outside the gates waiting to tip on monday morning as usual
Ken
kennyjohnson:
I think all of Dents men must have broken index fingers, so i’ll try to give them a kick start.In the early 60’s the goverment built a factory at Thinford for Perkins engines and a street of houses at Tudhoe, for the key workers, but on account of the pay difference the key workers would not come from Peterbro. Black & Decker took the factory over. Dents got the contract runing between Spennymoor and Maidenhead (government subsidised).
In the bad winter of 63 Gordon Davis loaded 685MPT at Maidehead on friday as usual and came home on saturday. Insead of dropping the trailer off in B &D’s yard on account of the snow, he left the outfit in Dents yard. When he went to tip on monday morning as usual they would not let him through the gates until a helecopter had landed. The local news t/v was filming it. In the interview they said that they had to airlift parts in on account of the snow, a lorry had left Maidenhead on friday and never been heard of since. They did’n t say it was outside the gates waiting to tip on monday morning as usual
Ken
Hi Kenny, you certainly have a good memory for things that happened at Dent’s over the years. I think in this story 1963 should be 1965. B & D Maidenhead opened in 1962 and Spennymoor three years later in 1965. My father started work for them in late 65 shortly after the factory opened, just months after I started for Dent’s working(?) alongside you. Hope you’ve rekindled this thread as I’m sure there are lots of stories to tell. Regards Ronnie.
well i havent broken my index finger, but !!
a farm tractor came down our road with a hedge cutter on a pulled down the BT phone line, this was 25 days ago,
we are still waiting for the repair, in the meantime i have no landline or internet connection, i have bought a dongle
to get me on line but it is very poor, i cannot send emails and i receive very few, BT are blameing the weather and
excessive water for the delay but what has that got to do with an overhead line.
alan
Did many turn up for the reunion Alan, Ive been on fitting new kitchen & went out shopping for bits that day but intended to gatecrash & have a couple of pints but it took me longer than I thought.
hi kenny
there was only 9 i think, this year, not as well attended as other years but there was drivers out at work so that
will have made a difference, still, a good chinwag, solved loads of world problems, and a drop of beer drank
alan
Here’s a thought. How did we manage with trucks that had no keys. I had three Atkinson Vehichles and never had a set of keys for any of them. It would not have made any difference to lock them anyway as all you had to do was take the two screws out of the door handle, which were on the outside of the door, and take the handle off.
Once inside, all you had to do was flick a switch, press the starter button and off you went. I can remember leaving my wagon fully loaded in the roughest parts of Glasgow, Liverpool,Birmingham, and London.Nothing was ever touched! I can’t ever remember an Atkinson being stolen, Hovever, Kenny Johnston might contradict me on that subject.
These days, trucks with sophisticated alarm systems and Satellite tracking are being stolen. How times have changed.
Old Bill
old bill:
Here’s a thought. How did we manage with trucks that had no keys. I had three Atkinson Vehichles and never had a set of keys for any of them. It would not have made any difference to lock them anyway as all you had to do was take the two screws out of the door handle, which were on the outside of the door, and take the handle off.
Once inside, all you had to do was flick a switch, press the starter button and off you went. I can remember leaving my wagon fully loaded in the roughest parts of Glasgow, Liverpool,Birmingham, and London.Nothing was ever touched! I can’t ever remember an Atkinson being stolen, Hovever, Kenny Johnston might contradict me on that subject.
These days, trucks with sophisticated alarm systems and Satellite tracking are being stolen. How times have changed.
Old Bill
Hi bill
One night 907CUP was stolen from Mansell St.loaded with cookers, later found empty in Epping Forest. BUP587B was highjacked at the Bloody Oaks cafe,later found empty,sheets folded and roped on the trailer. 617BPT went missing ■■? one weekend from the Red House carpark,found at the Hilltop cafe park still loaded with 10ton of tinted toilet tissue paper for Tadcaster.
Regards Ken.
Hi All,
What about the time Roly’s Ford was stolen from the yard one Saturday night with a load of Alcan on the back. It was seen by someone who knew that it was strange for one of Dents wagons to be on the road at that time of week and alerted the police. From what I remember the bobby’s eventually stopped it at the roundabout on the A66/M6 junction near the cop shop and it was all returned unharmed. Apparently it was en-route to Ireland to be weighed in.
Darren.
I was just about to go home one dark night, when jim came downstairs 2 at a time and told me to grab a big van and get down to Metal Bridge quick. Someone had hit the bridge with a load if cigarette components on.When i got there you would think there had been a snowstorm with 5foot drifts,all the top row of paletts were off and most of the bottom row.The police were squeeling for us to get the road open, and we gradually got more men there. People were picking them up and puting them in their pockets thinking they were ■■■■.I carn’t remember who the driver was but he had dropped his empty trailer at Bowburn and went to the yard and picked his loaded one up.He rememberd he had left his no. plate at Bowburn and thought he would go back for it on his way home.A few pints in the pub, another late night.
Years before Arthur Spence hit the bridge with a 8wheeler loaded with tea while giving 2 drivers a lift home. They still don’t buy tea at Metal Bridge.
Ken
I went to see my father in Dryburn hospital this week,i was looking at the list of patints names on the ward and saw George Gittins name there,i asked the nurse if he was from spennymoor and his age, these talied up so i went in to see him. I had never seen George for 40 years,hardly recognised him whithout his beard.We had a bit crack and i told him about this site, so we might get some posts off him.
Ken
Sorry to hear about George, I hope he soon gets better.
Bill
Just had a week in Hospital myself ended up packing the Hamlets in ,wonder if George has done the same 
Hi to all Denty`s drivers. Just enjoyed a bit read of the posts.
Colin Caygill…(muppet)!!
Hi Colin Last time I saw you was at a service area somewhere, you were driving for Tesco hardware I believe in Milton Keynes, that was way back in the early eighties I think. Anyway, how you doing these days, hope you’re in good health and enjoying life. John (Mac) McNally