Thanks I will remember that 
Hi Coopersyardlad, I have added a link to this thread in Ex Fearns Tankers on Facebook I had already sent a PM to Ian Banks with the link whom I’m sure will show Rowland Cheers CCK PS I hope the thread lives long & never forgotten.
coca cola kid:
Hi Coopersyardlad, I have added a link to this thread in Ex Fearns Tankers on Facebook I had already sent a PM to Ian Banks with the link whom I’m sure will show Rowland Cheers CCK PS I hope the thread lives long & never forgotten.
Your a star CCK, thanks a mill for that. I had a quick look last wk at the Fearns f,book pages.
We had two guys at Sykes who came from Coopers they were Ronnie Hutchinson and Ralph ? they were there when I started at Sykes in 75 so I do not know when they left Coopers
cheers Johnnie
sammyopisite:
We had two guys at Sykes who came from Coopers they were Ronnie Hutchinson and Ralph ? they were there when I started at Sykes in 75 so I do not know when they left Coopers
cheers Johnnie
Ronnie Hutch rings a bell. Think I may have heard something about Ronnie in old conversations back then between drivers etc? I can’t remember meeting him. The two guys may have left b4 I started 
AS FAR BACK AS 1954 
I have been doing a little bit of googaling 
. I found some info about a commer a leyland and also a bedford from the pages of the 19th Feb 1954 commercial motor, archives. There’s a little bit more info about the firm on a couple of other archive pages but nothing worth mentioning.
Hi,
My Gran Marjorie Brearley worked for some time in the Offices at G Coopers & Sons, and then got my Dad Ged Brearley Snr a start with the Company around 1976 ish.
I spent every School Holiday for years travelling the road with Dad whilst at Coopers and enjoyed every minute of that immensely, spent quite some time around the Yard also earning the nickname “Tar Baby”.
I have just the one Picture which I’ll upload shortly showing my Gran stood alongside one of the F86,s, but would love to see more of the same, though even better some of the F88,s would be grand to see.
Ged Brearley Jnr
gbrearle:
Hi,My Gran Marjorie Brearley worked for some time in the Offices at G Coopers & Sons, and then got my Dad Ged Brearley Snr a start with the Company around 1976 ish.
I spent every School Holiday for years travelling the road with Dad whilst at Coopers and enjoyed every minute of that immensely, spent quite some time around the Yard also earning the nickname “Tar Baby”.
I have just the one Picture which I’ll upload shortly showing my Gran stood alongside one of the F86,s, but would love to see more of the same, though even better some of the F88,s would be grand to see.Ged Brearley Jnr
Hi ‘‘Young’’ Ged, I remember you and your dad very well. What fun days eh? I always remember your dad singing to the song ‘‘My Sherona’’ and altering the words to ‘my Coroda’ when he was doing loads out of Croda. Your dad was always happy go lucky if I remember rightly.
It’s good to have you on board on this thread about G Coopers, lets hope more join in as we go although thankfully we have quite a number of members on it already. Still it would be good to get more folk involved especially what is left of us old drivers and offspring like yourself. How is your dad is he still driving? I remember Madge in the office, she was so nice to us all and always helped us with any problems with wages etc.
Hi, ye Dads still very much the same, he,s a star, and still Driving at 73 too, though only a 10 Tonne Flatbed now mind for a Friend of the Family but it keeps him totally switched on and focused. I,m lookin forward to seeing more Pic,s, as for the one I have, I,m struggling to upload it on the iPad, I,lol fathom it and have it on here soon.
I pressed Submit too soon then!!!.. I,ll be seeing Dad this Weekend and will show him the Forum, he,ll likely want to join and share his memories and experiences too… I recall, in no particular order, the likes of Derek Dennison, young Kevin, Garth Cooper, Carl Cooper, Graham Cooper, Les Cooper, Roland Banks, Malcolm Crick, Billy Wilde, and a lad called Martin who was a similar age to me then and who,s Mum was Angela I think( they lived in the House just down from the Office) but to name just a few… Shall I mention your name to Dad?, if so what is it I,m unable to see your actual name on here…
Regards Ged Jnr.
gbrearle:
I pressed Submit too soon then!!!.. I,ll be seeing Dad this Weekend and will show him the Forum, he,ll likely want to join and share his memories and experiences too… I recall, in no particular order, the likes of Derek Dennison, young Kevin, Garth Cooper, Carl Cooper, Graham Cooper, Les Cooper, Roland Banks, Malcolm Crick, Billy Wilde, and a lad called Martin who was a similar age to me then and who,s Mum was Angela I think( they lived in the House just down from the Office) but to name just a few… Shall I mention your name to Dad?, if so what is it I,m unable to see your actual name on here…
Regards Ged Jnr.
Hi Tar Baby. good to see you back and good to here your dads still doing a bit, be nice to see him on here and chat about the old days etc. I remember your dad always looked young. Yes your spot on with the drivers names and your right about the big house. My names ‘young John out of the garage’ is what your dad will probably remember me from. I later got my class one with Coopers and went driving for them for about 4/5 yrs. in my opinion it is something that every truck mechanic should be forced to do at some stage, it gives us experience of what the drivers have to put up with. I used to drive Derrek’s old f86 for a long while as no one else wanted it cos it was too slow, but I always managed to make it go somehow 
. I think the reg was K646CBT, I always remember it as it was my first truck I drove for a living. Also the reg had CB in it which went down well as most of us had rigs in our cabs back then. It is strange what we can remember sometimes, and yet I have all on remembering what I did last week .
I once sold your dad a car if my memory serves me right, I think it was an old audi 100, an orange one that I got off Roland that needed a lump in it, can you remember it? We were all wheeler dealers in one way or the other in them days.
Ahhh I do remember you I think, you’re John Copley aren’t you?, if so I recall you havingShoulder ish length curly hair and glasses… Didn’t you and Kevin go through for your class one,s, not sure if Kevin worked in the Garage mind, but do remember an incident he had in an F88 near in Scotland, on the A9 at Dunbar I think, where he left the road and hit a tree stump, needless to say that was the end of the F88… I recall Derek Cook and someone called Parrot too… It is quite a buzz going over some of the early day stuff, with there being just me and Dad living together from a very early age I spent all my time with or around him and his work… Take it easy fella, an I,ll certainly have the crack wi Dad an get him on here…
Totally agree about Mechanics doing the Driving bit too, it makes total sense to see and experience things from the other side of the fence so to speak… I do remember the Audi ye, it was one of a couple we ended up having over time, along with a raft of other motors too… I always wondered but never knew who to ask, why did Coopers fold and when?, did they just not move with the times?
gbrearle:
Ahhh I do remember you I think, you’re John Copley aren’t you?, if so I recall you havingShoulder ish length curly hair and glasses… Didn’t you and Kevin go through for your class one,s, not sure if Kevin worked in the Garage mind, but do remember an incident he had in an F88 near in Scotland, on the A9 at Dunbar I think, where he left the road and hit a tree stump, needless to say that was the end of the F88… I recall Derek Cook and someone called Parrot too… It is quite a buzz going over some of the early day stuff, with there being just me and Dad living together from a very early age I spent all my time with or around him and his work… Take it easy fella, an I,ll certainly have the crack wi Dad an get him on here…
Yeh I did have curly hair and specs, the hair was always getting tar in it so I used to chop lumps of it out. I needed the specs to pass me test, never realised me eyes were so bad until I failed a couple of me tests! Kev used to do a bit in the garage b4 I started there. Be good if Kev came on here, we go back a fair way. The accident at Dunbar area was the fault of a car driver. Bill Parrot and I used to run together a lot as we would just go out run our times out and just keep going all week. At one stage in the bad winter times we were the only ones out of the yard as we never went back to it all week 
. We kept to the main roads and as you know the little 86 cabs were not the best to kip in especially in winter.
gbrearle:
Totally agree about Mechanics doing the Driving bit too, it makes total sense to see and experience things from the other side of the fence so to speak… I do remember the Audi ye, it was one of a couple we ended up having over time, along with a raft of other motors too… I always wondered but never knew who to ask, why did Coopers fold and when?, did they just not move with the times?
Hi again . G Coopers, like sum other specialist haulage firms, went around 83 ish mainly due to lack of work. Lots of plants etc were shutting down and competition got very fierce. Also new modern companies with large financial backing sprung up but sooner or later most went to the wall as well. The BIG recession had set in and we all know we never have really recovered from it. And that’s not to mention owt about that woman called thatcher 
. But we know all about that dun’t we.
Take care.
Ahhh, thought it were you…an ye Coopers were certainly keen not to let good talent go and patient in stickin wi ya til you eventually passed, have to say that sorta company consideration likely died off when the like of Coopers did… Dad did say the incident at Dunbar was entirely unavoidable and could quite easily have been far worse, did think summat came at you both on the wrong side a the road mind, clearly not, memory haze, Kevin went to Hendersons dint he?..certainly were some good folk, did you actually see George Cooper then?, I never ever recall seeing him, I thought he,d died afore I were around there?..use to stay wi Billy Wilde an Norma while Dad were away some times, an Gran too a course… a were thinkin abart the Winter crack an all, they seemed so HARSH in comparison, Diesel an Air Tanks freezing up an stuff, an gettin arts Shafton wi Dog Hill, well that were an art in itself!!!, as for sleepin in the F86,s then ya not kiddin, it were a good job me an the old fella were only two foot an a tab end high or we,d have NEVER managed… Dads actually zipped down to see me Sister in London this weekend, he never mentioned it til Fri just afire he were off, proper globe trotter lad still ya see…,hope there’s some 88 Pic,s around somewhere, I,ll persevere wi uploading the 2 I have…tek it easy fella.
gbrearle:
Ahhh, thought it were you…an ye Coopers were certainly keen not to let good talent go and patient in stickin wi ya til you eventually passed, have to say that sorta company consideration likely died off when the like of Coopers did… Dad did say the incident at Dunbar was entirely unavoidable and could quite easily have been far worse, did think summat came at you both on the wrong side a the road mind, clearly not, memory haze, Kevin went to Hendersons dint he?..certainly were some good folk, did you actually see George Cooper then?, I never ever recall seeing him, I thought he,d died afore I were around there?..use to stay wi Billy Wilde an Norma while Dad were away some times, an Gran too a course… a were thinkin abart the Winter crack an all, they seemed so HARSH in comparison, Diesel an Air Tanks freezing up an stuff, an gettin arts Shafton wi Dog Hill, well that were an art in itself!!!, as for sleepin in the F86,s then ya not kiddin, it were a good job me an the old fella were only two foot an a tab end high or we,d have NEVER managed… Dads actually zipped down to see me Sister in London this weekend, he never mentioned it til Fri just afire he were off, proper globe trotter lad still ya see…,hope there’s some 88 Pic,s around somewhere, I,ll persevere wi uploading the 2 I have…tek it easy fella.
Hi young Ged. Thanks about kind words about me being talented , I only wish . The dunbar job was as you say unavoidable, I think Kev went to work for Hendy’s for a while at some stage, be good if he could tell us some stuff on here sometime. I had a good relationship as far as boss and worker goes with old George, he was a hard man to work for minds, he was no walkover. His sons were ok. The ‘old man’ as George was called had passed away by the time you and your dad came, I think. Billy Wild was a lively guy back then, never a dull moment with a lot of the drivers, is he still around? When it did snow bad the trucks that were in the yard could not get out of shafton due to as you say Dog hill and the other end due to the slight hill after coopers bend. That is why we hardly came back when it was so bad. Not very often though. Kipping in the 86’s was an art in its sen, How we never gassed ourselves with the fumes off the silly little gas camping stoves is a miracle and no wonder we used to wake up with an headache .
Like you say mate it would be brill to see more photos, and more chat. Take care bud, catch yer soon 
Hi guys, ant been on here for a while. Just a bit of news about Monckton coke ovens at Royston Barnsley. The plant was recently shut down after 140 years. As they say another one bites the dust. Here is a link to a website with some of the latest news and photos etc for anyone interested, 2 pages. Personally I feel sorry for the guys who worked there. 
.
28dayslater.co.uk/monckton-c … 015.t93608
coopersyardlad:
Hi guys, ant been on here for a while. Just a bit of news about Monckton coke ovens at Royston Barnsley. The plant was recently shut down after 140 years. As they say another one bites the dust. Here is a link to a website with some of the latest news and photos etc for anyone interested, 2 pages. Personally I feel sorry for the guys who worked there.
28dayslater.co.uk/monckton-c … 015.t93608
That’s a shame,I did many a load of crude benzole out of Monckton Coke and Chemical early 70s,usually to Bitmac Llanwern.
Chris Webb:
That’s a shame,I did many a load of crude benzol out of Monckton Coke and Chemical early 70s,usually to Bitmac Llanwern.
Hi Chris good to hear from you. Yes I did many a load of Tar to Scuny Bitmac mainly from monckton. I think I recall it paying £18 a trip back then, the same as a Manvers or Smithy wood to Avenue did. Imperial Tankers naturally ended up doing Monckton right up to the end. I used to see them daily going through the local villages with their white Mercs. Now it looks like a clean up and clear site job for a few month. Wonder if it will take a lot longer though due to any contamination of the sites foundations etc? I believe the Avenue has only recently finished its clean up job after all these years, according to a website about it. But then again we are not that fussy in Barnsley, a little bit of pit ash will sort it out . Some good photos on that link I put on. That newish power plant that used to run of the gas out of the ovens is only about 12 yrs old. Bet it has only just paid for itself. Yes Chris it is a shame, less work for all concerned.