In 1982 TDG decided to close down Entress Transport of Swansea so Tom Riding dashed down and bought five superb two year old Seddon Atkinson 400 Series 4x2 tractor units Reg No’s DWN 481 482 483 and 484 selling the other one to Buckley’s of Warrington on the way home.
Pictured above is Reg No DWN 481V Fleet No 39 ‘Lord President’ which was driven by Billy Lambert, a driver with Riding’s for over 40 years.
Originally registered new to Entress Transport on the 14th of May 1980 at a cost of £21,750 it was purchased by Riding’s on the 1st of March 1982, when two years old, at a cost of £13,000.
After seven years service with Riding’s it was sold on in November 1989 to Translitre of Burton on Trent for £2,250.
I know it’s a long shot but the reason i have resurrected this old thread is that i was wondering if anyone out there has, by any chance, a picture of either DWN 481 482 483 or 484 in the original livery of Entress Transport.
taylors cafe was a good stop when tipping in llanwern . last time i was in there was in the late 90s and mr and mrs taylor were still running it . they had run the cafe for 50 years but were thinking of retiring . mrs taylor was in the kitchen as she couldn’t get about very well , but they must both have been about 80 then .
Chris Webb:
W.G.Davies were in that area as well H,in Morriston or was it Llandore? I used to fill up there as well.They ran a lot of Crusaders and always looked immaculate. Another one I remember was George Beer,he was from Swansea wasn’t he?And then there was Prosser or was it Rosser from (my Welsh is not rayt clever ) Pontilw,they ran some real old tackle including AEC MK3s 8-leggers and chinese sixs,usually with a big rough coil on the back plodding along the A48.
Aye,TIR a bit embarrassing when that sort of thing happens,especially on the A13 near Barking,plenty of witnesses I’d imagine.
Hey Chris,W.G Davies(Landore)but based in Morriston I remember the Crusaders(just),but mainly the Marathons,they’re an ERF/MAN service agent now Georgie Beer finished around 12years ago,they were just around the corner from WG’s,his motors always looked knackered And finally the icing on the cake.old Tommy Rosser of Pontlliw what I would have give to have bought one of those MK3 AEC’s,alas it wasn’t meant to be. I was about 12/13 when they called it a day Pulling steel out of Bryngwyn,Trostre and Felindre(now just a piece of derelict land) took their toll. Thank you for making my weekend.Diolch(thanks in Welsh).
corgi toys are bringing a entress model in april check there site for details
regards jeh
When I was a trailer mate at Bradys in the 60’s we used to stay at Walfords Cafe in Llansamlet which was just up the road from Entress’s depot,I always used to think Entress’s was quite a desolate looking place,they always seemed to have a load of scrappers parked up in their yard, and the motors they ran on the road didn’t look much better at times either.That was only my perception,I knew nothing whatsoever about the firm itself,and we never re-loaded back north from them either,that great old firm Gwynne Bowen provided us with back traffic,or occaisionally Trevor G. Phillips sorted us out with 20ton of tin plate Cheers Bewick.
Aye Bewick their gear was nowt to look at, But I drove for Smiles for Miles in those days & I loaded back off Entress a couple of times, But just up to Birmingham mind , But of course in those days there was plenty of return traffic about, & getting a return load from Brum was easy, Regards Larry.
QV posts 8,9,10,11,12,etc, on page 169 in the South Wales Hauliers In The Sixties and Seventies and Onwards thread:- viewtopic.php?f=35&t=40567&start=5040
Hi all,
As a truck mad kid in the 1970’s I remember the battered and bruised motors of entress transport very well.bill entress was I am told a very good businessman and highly respected member of the transport association.he built up a large and at one time successful transport company and was I think a victim of the early 80’s recession.south Wales’ steel industry still hadn’t recovered from the 1979 strike when several major plant closures were announced.a big customer for entress was “gowerton iron and steel” and when they closed,it was all over.curiousley,their former yard at birchgrove is still to this day empty,though very overgrown.it was always such a hive of activity in days gone by.entress was a very forward thinking man and after getting increasingly frustrated by uk manufacturers they started buying some of those “foreign motors” from Germany and Sweden.whatever they ran and over the years that was many,they certainly worked their motors hard.
Regards andrew.
A lot of these Dafs came from Entress who Roberts Transport had a working relationship with,except for the two Daf 95’s which Roberts bought new and were his final new lorries.
At one time all the badges and decals were removed from their motors. One driver told me that the boss didn’t believe in advertising other peoples products. There must have been a mountain of badges scrapped and would be worth a fortune now.
entress fell out with Volvos, entress ask volvo rep if they could have their Volvos in blue,save respraying them, Volvo said no.so entress left it like that.when the Volvos came into the yard, they were sprayed up and sign written, and out, no badges to be put back on. Volvo rep went back to entress and ask why you not put the badges back on,there was argument, and entress picked up the phone and ordered new DAFs, that was the last of the Volvos,
Hiya Dai bach,I’ve heard that tale years ago about the Volvo badges and Entress,but it sounded a bit futile to me as the motors were quite clearly F86’s,but obviously old Entress was “■■■■■■ off” so he voted with his feet ! Cheers Dennis.
Hiya Dai bach,I’ve heard that tale years ago about the Volvo badges and Entress,but it sounded a bit futile to me as the motors were quite clearly F86’s,but obviously old Entress was “■■■■■■ off” so he voted with his feet ! Cheers Dennis.
hi dennis I drove for entress for 10years he was good boss did not see much of him. john hayes transport manager very rare to run m/t he new how to keep us loaded .in the summer ran Weymouth to brum market. bill entrees being Swedish had the fleet sprayed the
colour of Swedish flag ref to badges they came wrapped up under passenger seat i screwed mine to the inside of the cab. when I worked for him he had about 45 trucks based all over me being in Hereford
) Pontilw,they ran some real old tackle including AEC MK3s 8-leggers and chinese sixs,usually with a big rough coil on the back plodding along the A48.
Georgie Beer finished around 12years ago,they were just around the corner from WG’s,his motors always looked knackered 
And finally the icing on the cake.old Tommy Rosser of Pontlliw 
what I would have give to have bought one of those MK3 AEC’s,alas it wasn’t meant to be. I was about 12/13 when they called it a day 
Cheers Bewick.
