mickthebrush:
Hi hayday,thxs for your input.Yep I remember ATWS…Airport Transport and Warehousing Services…I think thats what the initials stood for.they were based in pump lane Hayes Middx.In my time working out of pump lane,there were loads of transport firms based on that trading estate…I worked at Roy Bowles Transport,I had a mate who worked for ATWS,he also worked at Maywood Haulage also in pump lane…
Other outfits i remember from pump lane…J.H.Moore,Annis,Tarmac,Walls sausages…sure there are more…there was a good ole cafe,we all used to use,between Bowles and Maywoods…had many a good crack in there!!!Maywoods became part of Dodds…
Stay Lucky Mick
Cheers Mick for that. The 2 great lads who were outbased up this end were a Lemmy lookalike called Roy (I think he was a native Australian, well he always wore an Aussie baseball cap anyway - and he lived Manchester Airport way I think) and a Benny from Abba lookalike (beard and all) called Otto who was German and he lived on a farm right next to the M62 not far from where Dodds were on Woolston Grange (I hear that he went back to Germany to look after his dads farm.) Otto drove one of the wagon and drags and Roy a Daf (3300 I think) Maybe ATWS had a policy that you had to look like an aging popstar to work for them eh?
Hi all,heres one for you.Who was the black night fitter at the Arches,think he did nights.He always had a ghetto blaster going all night.He also drove old wrecks of cars but fitted expensive sound systems in them and they were always getting nicked.I was at the arches one night,the truck was in for a service.This guy comes in raging that somebody has had his latest system away.He says to me…Mick you were in Ireland do you know where i can get some explosives…I said,what do you need explosives for.He replies,I,m going to wire the car up and the next ■■■■■■■ that tries to have my system away,is in for the shock of there lives!!!
Dont know whether he did or not…
Stay lucky Mick
Hi Mick, Remember the bloke, but not his name, sorry.
What about H-harry in the workshop that stuttered a bit. He seemed to come in to work dirtier than he went home. Nice lad though.
Arthur Stroud and John Creech were the two main men in there though.
Arthur once serviced CLD 932H and just reached up and put the oil filler gun in the Air filter intake by mistake. He set it for the right amount, fixed it in the “On” postion and left it pumping away, while he went off elsewhere. Oh! Dear! What a mess. I was more than a little late that day.
John’s stock answer when you told him something was wrong with your motor was “Yeah!!” He’d have a look after he’d finished his cup of tea. One time I phoned in from the M4 by Slough. “A hydraulic pipe has bust and the tail-lift has gone down and dragging on the road John” “Yeah!” came the answer, “What do you want me to do?” Hey! Ho! He came out with a crow-bar, some blocks, a jack and some rope. Levered the tail-lift up, put blocks under. A bit more, more blocks then tied it up with the rope. “That’ll be ok” says John. “Never mind about the lights, I’ll stick behind you back to the yard.”
More fun times at Dodds.
Cliff
Hi Cliffy,yep your spot on with John Creech and his tea…Anytime I came in the garage to ask about some job or other that needed doing,got the same stock answer…my solution,shall i put the kettle on then,John…usually worked.Good bloke though,i got on OK with him.
Hi Cliffy,Do you recall the incident,when a tanker load of diesel was discharged into the full tank instead of the empty one…It spilt out and covered the rear of the workshops but more disasterous was it flooded out the basements of the houses that backed on to the rear of the yard!!!bet that was an insurance nightmare.
Stay Lucky Mick
sammyopisite:
When I worked for them around 89 Eddie Buchanan was at Sheffield depot and mostly ran down to Whitham Essex as I used his DAF when it was in on night trunk down to Greenford or Macfarlane Road and picked a trailer up from Quakers or Hayes.If the Daf was not in it was a roadtrain as most of the other wagons were roadtrains at that time.
cheers Johnnie
As Mark said back on Page 4, Eddie Buchanan was a nice enough bloke, but a bit of a “Gob On A Stick”. When Eddie spoke EVERYBODY heard. I can remember him coming into MacFarlane Road yard on night trunk quite afew times when I was there on a night out. He also stayed there on nights out when he was on day work. Do you remember Jeff May who did all sorts on Dodds, but did a couple of years on Milupa with me. He had a trailer with Teddy Bears on it. He drove in The Bush yard one night with a latex Old Man Mask on. Jimmy Dodd flew out the office saying "Who the F*** is that in Jeffs motor. What about “Brookie” (RIP) who was a Sheffield bloke but was always in The Bush. He couldn’t walk by ANY female without chatting to her. Nearly got into trouble a few times especially when he rang a door bell in Wood Lane. There was always a Red light in an upstairs flat window, and Brookie traced a wire from there to the door bells below. He rang it, the window shot open and this Irish woman shouted “What the F*** do you want?” Brookie called back “Are you on the game?” The rest of us literally ran off with Brookie calling out “Where’s me back-up Gang?” Then there was the time we “shrink wrapped” him in his cab, or the coloured girl from the laundrette he chatted up. Got his washing done for free and a lot more besides. Happy Days!! I could go on again, but I won’t.
Good Luck All, Cliff
Hi Cliff I am sure Jeff was on nights when I was there he had one of the Stratos and Vic who I think had the Black roadtrain went shunting in Quakers on nights there was a a Milupa 4 wheeler at Sheffield driven by a lad called Peter and little Eddie, Neal, rock on Ron and Les were other drivers I can recall.
cheers Johnnie
P S sorry it as taken so long to reply but I was out of this wet weather for a few days R & R
Hi all,I am sure I visited the Sheffield depot,2 or 3 times but for the life of me I cannot recall why.must have been for fuel or something!I never ventured up that way with Dodds,done mostly east anglia but of course did all the usuals.Dixons,Currys,Argos ect.
The only occasion that I went up that part of the country,with Hitachi was when we took all the returned white goods to Huddersfield…That was a good load on the ole wag/drag,loaded to the roof with fridges,washing machines and them big freezers.
Stay Lucky Mick
Hi All, We’ve not disappeared, just not had a lot of time. Mark has found some old Dodds Calendars and other pix, but I can’t seem to get them on to my computer.
I have taken a photo on my phone of the 1988 Calendar which (as you will see if it comes out) has squashed everybody. If my memory is ok they are, from left to right:- (1) I forget. (2) Jane Dodd. (3) Bill Deville, Sheffield. (4) Can’t remember. (5) Alan Hough. (6) Ian King. (7) Jim Dodd.
What a line up, and all in Whistle & Flutes. Wonder what they changed into at midnight? Image Creation I suppose.
Back when we have more, Cliff
Hi Cliff,Mark…I too have been busy on the campsite,peak season and all that.Fab pic of the calander…
Sure looks like the Diddymen…Ken Dodd (no relation)LOL.
Any idea about Ian King,Cliff,his whereabouts?I seem to recall his Dad and Mum worked at Dodds??Was his Dad Kenny?drove a transit?did he not have a bad chest or something like that…Mum worked in the office at the arches? Remember Jane Dodd.Bill Deville(another name I forgot).
I have some other pics myself,but no time to look but must find time.
Stay Lucky Mick
Hi Mick,
Roy Dodd’s brother’s name WAS Ken Dodd, another bloody great bloke. He got killed in a bad road accident up St.Helens way I believe it was, sometime in the 70’s. I didn’t go, but I was told you couldn’t get near the (?cemetry/crem?) for Dodds lorries. Drivers just packed up work and went there.
The girl in the pic I couldn’t recall is Ken Dodd’s daughter, but I still can’t think of her name.
The nameless bloke MIGHT be Arthur Stroud’s son, but why would he be on the calendar?
Kenny King was indeed Ian King’s Dad, and subbed work from Dodds. He had a 16 tonner and sometimes did Quaker work, but finished up with something smaller I think. Ken did Indeed have chest trouble, and sadly passed away some time ago. Mum did work for Dodds too in the office I remember.
Ian and Jimmy Dodd were mates at school. When Dodds got the paper work in Kent, they had 2 depots for a while at Strood and Sittingbourne. Ian was in charge at Strood, and moved down to Kent. He transfered to Sittingbourne when Strood closed, then when Dodds finished, he was redundant. He’s know working in the transport office at Lenham Storage where I finished up.
Ref your previous post, I also did that Halifax job with the drag. The stuff went into an old chapel didn’t it? The only other time I pulled the drag was to a Currys at Reading?? My memory is crap.
Hi Cliff,yep the Halifax job was delivered into an old chapel.I think I took about 6 loads up there.Does not say much for the Hitachi white goods product,as everything they ever sold eventually ended up in that old chapel.Think the company took the good bits or modified them and scrapped the rest.As I recall the washing machines were not a reliable product at all.Some of the w/m,s were made at Servis.I remember going there to pick up a load of them with the drag on.The factory was an old place,cant recall were it was(someone will tell me)There loading area was so confined and cramped,fine for horse and carts!!!but a wag/drag…OHH no way…I spend ages shunting,droping boxes,pushing and shoving trailers!!!sweating my arse off!!!terrible gaff and the yard was all different levels.
Me and Tony Clark home delivered some of those w/m,s and it usually meant 3 trips with different machines,with us having to deal with lovely irate customers!!!and us two…not the most tactfull LOL.
If you see Ian King at Lenhams.Give him my best regards.He took me on at Dodds and i was grateful for the start and I always got on great with him.
Stay Lucky Mick.
Hi Bubbs,thanks for the pic.This is a shot of the Arches yard in London.On the right as you look at photo,is the BBC TV Centre.Access to the yard was through an arch,the London Underground went over this arch.You needed to get this correct or oops another corner of a trailer knocked out.
To the left of the photo was the service garage.Bit tight in the yard but we managed.Not many vehicles were parked up there,most outbased and parked on customer premises ect.
Stay lucky Mick.
I’m sure you have the Arches layout wrong! I only went there half a dozen times, but Cliff may help us out! Looking at that pic, I would say the BBC centre is behind whoever took the pic. That would mean the workshop was on thier right, and the offices thier left.
You are correct tony. I’m not sure now what that building was. Think it was electric or gas board. The wash was between that building and workshop.
Happy days. Did you ever get an email from me or did I not send it properly. Hope you are ok.
Hi Tony,CORRECT again…now looking closly…Old ■■■■ mode again…At least i,m getting you all involved■■?
Cos if my assumption was correct…where are the diesel pumps??Close study does reveal the layout you describe…I can see it now.
Hi Mark how ya doin, matey.We had a few laughs,and beers.great to have you all on T/net.Especially the ole chap…Cliffy!! I never met PCB(Paul) but his input has been great too,where he finds the info!!!
As you say Happy Days.I loved the job with Dodds,A proper old school haulier!!!I spent the best part of my life around lorries and transport in general.Now that i,ve packed up the driving,I do still miss it,but not the hassle you encounter these days!! In Spain I live on the Campsite and right outside is the longest road in Spain,the A7,which runs from Cadiz to Barcelona,almost up to France,It runs right along the coast.
I sometimes look at that road,with all the motors running up and down,however…
Stay Lucky Mick
Hi Tony, Mick & All, Sorry, I’ve had other things on my mind just lately.
Sorry Mick, Tony and Mark are right. The big building in the picture was something to do with London Electricity Board, with the workshop to the right of the camera. The wash was between these two. To the left of the camera were the office and toilet. Behind the camera was a wall with bloody great coils of barbed wire on which was “security” to stop kids/girls climbing over to meet their heroes on Top-Of-The-Pops nights. The fuel pump was against this wall.
You’re right about how tight that arch was Mick. I never was an artic driver, but I used to wonder how they got in sometimes with the cars parked out in Macfarlane road too.
Another silly Dodds tale :- There had been a lorry drivers strike that very few Dodds drivers wanted to join. We had had a morning meeting about going back to work in the afternoon, and some of us walked down The Arches alleyway/road to get some food. In one of the Arches on the way, they were filming an episode of “Minder” with Arthur Daley using the Arch as his “Warehouse”. As we walked by Arthur said to the police “I’d gladly let you look round officer, but it’s in a bit of a mess in there”.
One of our blokes (Stan someone??) then said out loud “You want a mess mate, go up to Dodds yard. You ain’t seen nothing 'til you’ve been in there”.
This was followed by shouts of “CUT” and “Why did you have to say that?” Well, that’s what it meant really. We all kept walking, but the film blokes weren’t best pleased.
Catch you all later, Cliff
P.S. PCB, My Paul, tells me his computer has “broke”, and I know he doesn’t get the best signal in Southern Ireland anyway
Nice to know you are all well. As you know I was never a driver, but I stil enjoyed my time at Dodds. Think can add some names to your list, so here goes. Bill King, artic driver on nights. Cyril Delainey, Bill Kennedy, Chris Smith, ■■■■ Masters, Roy Brooks, Mick Weldon, Mick evans, Bob Ayres. And a couple of the Welsh boys, Alan Denton and Steve Allison.
So many drivers came and went during my stint at Hayes its a job to remember them all.
I do have some stories to share but I’ll leave it for another time,
Take care gents its good to hear from you.
Hello tony found this site so i thought i would say hello.I remember you well when in hayes you yoused to stack them tvs 4 high i could just about manage 2 high.By the way i can still do the rubic cube .But old age stops the legs from going behind the neck lol some more welsh drivers names for you John jones John wilson William hutchings Nyron burrows Clive aspinauld and his brother Paul I remember cliff boulton well spudd jeff may they were really good old days for me best job i ever had loved it on Hitachi easier than genral haulage do you remember when i bent the lampost outside the entrance to hitachi you and a few otheres will bye for now all best to you all
