As this was one of the best threads in The Old Timers section then it’s worth bumping up just in case L.B.76, Bill has found anymore classic old photos. 
Quite right Mushroom man . Fascinating photos…
My regards to Queensland… I spent a lot of time there on a round Oz trip in an old Mitzi van in 2007/8 .
Loved it!
Cheers now.
Baldrick.
mushroomman:
As this was one of the best threads in The Old Timers section then it’s worth bumping up just in case L.B.76, Bill has found anymore classic old photos.
+1. Well done for reviving this piece of transport history. If Lb76 (Bill Robins) ever finished his book on the subject I would like to buy a couple of copies. I was a stand in trailer mate at FF from the early sixties and worked there for just over a year in the seventies. Not as a driver but as a “Gofer” though we all bent the rules to get the job done. The driver who nobody seems to remember was John Leeder who had 2700VF from new.
This wagon moved our family from the North of Scotland to Norfolk in 1963 - yes that awfull winter. Father had driven for them for a couple of years by then and liked the job so much we all moved to the Diss area. Wyatts used to advertise for drivers in the Northern Scot newspaper and that is why so many Scots worked there. Jimmy Macdonald - Elgin, Jimmy campbell - Inverbervie, Jimmy Peebles etc. Father became assistant to Albert Moore in 1965, then TM about 1969/70 when Albert left to start MRCT. Jimmy McCluskey Jnr.
Jimmy, do you know what caused the demise of FF…Regards Tony
The demise of Fridged Freight is an excellent question and will no doubt raise more questions than answers, because it is my belief which may well be a million miles off the mark, that there was a catalogue of reasons which culminated in what appeared to be a very ‘snap’ decision by John Wyatt in 1974. Over the Years I have come across many ex employees and customers of FF, and the common theme has always been a high degree of respect for the Company and its owner John Wyatt, however the question you have raised was quite often the theme of these conversations, and over the Years I have come to the conclusion that it was a case of no succession plan for the Company and its long term future. John Wyatt was a man disabled by Polio and stood no taller than around 5ft 5 with calipers on, he weighed no more than 8 - 9 stone at best, however none of this held him back in the slightest. He was a well documented innovator in the haulage industry for more than 40 years, also through other family members, he was a founding father of the Snetterton race circuit, race horse owner and farmer. To say he was a ‘driven’ man given his disability would be an underestimate and its easily overlooked over the time since his death in the mid eighties to assume he was just another casualty of the times. He could make grown men stand there and cry like babies, he had a rod of steel running through him, which was legendary at best and down right cruel at his worst. Simply this man was not a quitter. He was into his 70’s and I believe he had just had enough of the hassle of running a transport company, Our Father Jim McCluskey snr had become a director of J Wyatt Jnr Ireland Limited in the later years of the Company and for many Years after the closure in 1974, we would receive the administrators reports for the winding up process, and I can assure you it was not a financial collapse…very far from it. The reasons for the closure are complex and could be discussed indefinitely from all the different angles, however It is my strong belief that he had simply had enough…Now after over 30 years in this industry myself, If that was the case, I could completely understand why he did it and would totally concur that given the demands he had to endure, I would probably do the same if I was in his position. The one thing that has become apparent and in some ways the most significant and suitable compliment to John Wyatt, is that the legacy of this man is now written in UK haulage history and is a testimony to what type of character he was.
Gilbert. Many thanks for the reply, i can now understand why…Tony. Very good explanation.
Living under the same roof as the TM could be exciting when extra hands were needed. A group of us travelled down to Hungerford (Pre M4) where Geoff Sutcliffe had lost his trailer. The Joss coupling had torn out of the cross-member on the ridgid and the trailer lay on its side loaded with Irish beef. Kenny Clarke followed us down with a Scania 110 day cab and we tran-shipped the load onto him and got the Wyatt built “Thumper” fridge going. By this time the van ( Ford Thames 15cwt ) had cleared off so 4 of us piled into the Scania with Kenny for the trip back to Diss in the early hours of the morning. Now Kenny was an ex London bus driver and decided to cut straight through the Capital to the A12 and show us the sights.
The Albert Hall, Hyde Park (The Mall was closed at Admiralty Arch and he darent risk spinning round on Horseguard parade, so we missed Buckingham Palace )but New Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, Downing street - The look on the Bobbies face at the gate as we rumbled past trailing black smoke was priceless - Nelson’s Column, the Embankment, Tower bridge and the Tower, we saw them all. The only other traffic at that hour were the Bedford newspaper vans so we made good time. I doubt that one is possible now, even with dawn breaking. Jim.
Mk 5 AEC Mandator coming off a Townsend Thorensen Ferry.
I’m not sure if this has been seen before? its one of my favourite pictures showing a Mk5 over in Italy mid sixties. Seems to sum up nicely how ‘different’ FF were in their time.
gilbert4649:
I’m not sure if this has been seen before? its one of my favourite pictures showing a Mk5 over in Italy mid sixties. Seems to sum up nicely how ‘different’ FF were in their time.
Brilliant pic! It does indeed sum up the unique-ness of FF and at the same time captures the spirit of the period. Robert
gilbert4649:
I’m not sure if this has been seen before? its one of my favourite pictures showing a Mk5 over in Italy mid sixties. Seems to sum up nicely how ‘different’ FF were in their time.
When one of those sleeper boxes had been newly fitted to the trailer and was still empty I got up the wee ladder and into it. I think a ferret or maybe a rabbit could have turned round in it but for me you went in headfirst and crawled out backwards. The windows were at chest and crotch level and it was too coffin-like for my taste, but I was only 14 at the time. Finding the ladder with your toes was difficult too. I think Dad used his as a store cos it was boiling hot most of the trip. Jim.
Hello All. The pic of EVG249 That is on here, and I have posted on the Nostalgia thread brought back a not-to-good memory.
During my school holidays I was mate in this lorry with Aubrey Daniels, pulling raw peas out of Coltishall down to SPD in Oulton Broad. ( the lorry had had her day and coming to the end of her life at FF). Coming back from Gt Yarmouth on the Acle straight on a Saturday evening we broke down.
Aubrey hitched a lift back to Yarmouth and phoned in, then hitched back in the dark, bringing back some crisps and a couple of bottled drinks to see us through. I had just opened my bottle when the 8 wheeler and drag lurched forward. We had been hit by a Commer Cob van which had busted through the back bar and was wrapped around the back axle of the draw-bar trailer. Within 15 minutes the police were alerted by a passing driver, then a couple of fire appliances arrived to cut the driver out. I had climbed into the van by the back doors and almost passed out by the state of the driver and the stink of a smashed bottle of wine he must have been carrying with him. A policeman told me to take a sign up the road towards Norwich to warn traffic queuing into Yarmouth that an accident was blocking the road, but every time I put the sign down it was blocked by the volume of cars trying to get to through. Eventually, and only a few hundred yard from that pub near the turn-off to Reedham I put the sign down (it was steel framed, enamel coated with “STOP POLICE ACCIDENT” on it and weighed a ton ) and turned to head back to our lorry. As I looked to cross the road and trot back, a big Mercedes Benz pulled up, followed by a Morris 1100, followed by a Cortina Estate pulling a caravan. A Mk 2 consul travelling at warp factor 9 drove straight into the caravan, pushing the whole lot as far as the Merc which was big enough to stop any further carnage.
As I advised the family in the Cortina to get out cos the draw-bar on the caravan had pierced the petrol tank - it was pitch black by this time - the road was cleared towards Norwich and the first motor through was a Mini pick-up which immediately had a double puncture on the glass and debris from the wrecked caravan blocking the road again.Two of Norwich’s finest then turned up and to clear the road they decided to heave the Mini into the ditch. Just as they went to do this, and much to the protests of the young lady who was driving her farmer father’s pick-up, a huge Alsation dog burst out of the pick-ups canvas back and attacked the coppers, a bit like those films you see of grizzly bears eating Salmon. I left at this point.
I met Aubrey and the wagon trundling towards Norwich a half mile later and by that time the road to Norwich was clear(ish).
A few days later Geoff Hubbard who came out and sorted the lorry described the scene as " Looked like Vietnam".
Jim.
jmc jnr:
Hello All. The pic of EVG249 That is on here, and I have posted on the Nostalgia thread brought back a not-to-good memory.
During my school holidays I was mate in this lorry with Aubrey Daniels, pulling raw peas out of Coltishall down to SPD in Oulton Broad. ( the lorry had had her day and coming to the end of her life at FF). Coming back from Gt Yarmouth on the Acle straight on a Saturday evening we broke down.
Aubrey hitched a lift back to Yarmouth and phoned in, then hitched back in the dark, bringing back some crisps and a couple of bottled drinks to see us through. I had just opened my bottle when the 8 wheeler and drag lurched forward. We had been hit by a Commer Cob van which had busted through the back bar and was wrapped around the back axle of the draw-bar trailer. Within 15 minutes the police were alerted by a passing driver, then a couple of fire appliances arrived to cut the driver out. I had climbed into the van by the back doors and almost passed out by the state of the driver and the stink of a smashed bottle of wine he must have been carrying with him. A policeman told me to take a sign up the road towards Norwich to warn traffic queuing into Yarmouth that an accident was blocking the road, but every time I put the sign down it was blocked by the volume of cars trying to get to through. Eventually, and only a few hundred yard from that pub near the turn-off to Reedham I put the sign down (it was steel framed, enamel coated with “STOP POLICE ACCIDENT” on it and weighed a ton ) and turned to head back to our lorry. As I looked to cross the road and trot back, a big Mercedes Benz pulled up, followed by a Morris 1100, followed by a Cortina Estate pulling a caravan. A Mk 2 consul travelling at warp factor 9 drove straight into the caravan, pushing the whole lot as far as the Merc which was big enough to stop any further carnage.
As I advised the family in the Cortina to get out cos the draw-bar on the caravan had pierced the petrol tank - it was pitch black by this time - the road was cleared towards Norwich and the first motor through was a Mini pick-up which immediately had a double puncture on the glass and debris from the wrecked caravan blocking the road again.Two of Norwich’s finest then turned up and to clear the road they decided to heave the Mini into the ditch. Just as they went to do this, and much to the protests of the young lady who was driving her farmer father’s pick-up, a huge Alsation dog burst out of the pick-ups canvas back and attacked the coppers, a bit like those films you see of grizzly bears eating Salmon. I left at this point.
I met Aubrey and the wagon trundling towards Norwich a half mile later and by that time the road to Norwich was clear(ish).
A few days later Geoff Hubbard who came out and sorted the lorry described the scene as " Looked like Vietnam".
Jim.
What a tell you couldn’t make that up could you, I presume the cob van driver was a gonner ?
To be honest Rob, I never found out, but when I was with George Betts and we ran into a really nasty one on the A11 near Bishops Stortford an Ambulanceman told me that it was surprising how bad a person could look yet survive. I hope he did. Jim.
stoney03:
ramone:
These pics are brilliant have you any tails of climbing the Blanc wagon and drag with 140bhp??can anyone remember a trailer mate named jesse sneddon worked at fridged frieght in the late sixties
Hello Stoney, apologies for such a late answer, but just leafed through the thread and found your request!
Jimmy (Jesse or as we new him Jake) was trailer mate with Davy Bloomfield when I first met him. Then he came to Ben Wyatt Plant as trailer mate on the low-loader with Tom Collins where he might have passed his HGV test. The last time I met him, he was on for Burroughes driving a Marathon and drag and happy as a pig in ■■■. If you met him - best be prepared to talk lorries. I should think he is retired now cos we were a similar age and I am 66. I also knew both his brothers, Sandy (RIP) and , briefly his older brother whose name escapes me who was a welder at SNP in Lowestoft and trained up my successor at Shelbourne Reynolds Engineering Stanton.
No idea where Jake Sneddon is now - probably still driving, but certainly not for Burroughes - they finished in the early 90’s.
Happy New Year to all of you out there. Jim.
LB76:
hi jamie, the unladen weight of that lorry was 24 tons (with trailer) not bad when you consider that it was only 32 tons max in UK at the time.i have the build sheet for the lorry somewhere i will dig it out and post it for you , it was a 760 in that one and originally had been fitted with an exhaust brake which wasnt a success, the fitters at Wyatts were far and away the best i have ever come across and they made those AEC’s sing!
jmc jnr:
To be honest Rob, I never found out, but when I was with George Betts and we ran into a really nasty one on the A11 near Bishops Stortford an Ambulanceman told me that it was surprising how bad a person could look yet survive. I hope he did. Jim.
I remember George Betts when I drove for Wyatts also Dinger Bell
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Have a picture of George in his F88 will have to try and post it from my computer
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Dallan:
jmc jnr:
To be honest Rob, I never found out, but when I was with George Betts and we ran into a really nasty one on the A11 near Bishops Stortford an Ambulanceman told me that it was surprising how bad a person could look yet survive. I hope he did. Jim.I remember George Betts when I drove for Wyatts also Dinger Bell
Hello Dallan. Here are a few names to whet your memory bank:-
Kenny Bell, Jimmy Macdonald, Jimmy Campbell, George Betts, Pat Pearce, Geoff Sutcliffe, ■■■■ Doddington, Alex Drysdale, Tony Valori,Bill Knapfel,Jack Healey,Kenny White, Kenny Clarke, Roy ? (Sooty), Bill Robins, Bobby Martin, Geoff Hubbard, Alan Harris, Susan Klausner, John Garnham and Jimmy McCluskey. The turn round was so frequent that drivers probably came and went without ever meeting, but at any one time there were 22 lorries on the road - they were so distinctive that people were surprised the fleet was as small as it was and they covered a lot of countries, running up to the Northern Baltic and down to Southern Italy. Jim McCluskey (jnr)Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
