Chris Webb:
That’s a shame,I did many a load of crude benzole 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 contamination of the sites foundations etc? I believe the Avenue has only recently finished its clean up job after all thease 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 its self. Yes Chris it is a shame, less work for all concerned.
Aye,Bitmac were big tar and benzole refiners in their day,although I preferred the Scunthorpe site rather than Llanwern,not as fussy. I once loaded benzole at Monckton one morning in early 1970 for Llanwern on a MK3 AEC Mammoth Major. I got all the way there and found they couldn’t take the product due to a fault somewhere,had to take it to Scunthorpe,so I turned round and away back to Derby for a dodgy night out. In those days they couldn’t contact you,no cab phones,Band 3,good old days for that. Avenue has only just cleaned up according to my lad who lives in Wingerworth so Monckton will be a long job.I suppose only Redcar,App Frod Scunthorpe and South Wales area are only places that produce tar and associated products now.
Chris Webb:
Aye,Bitmac were big tar and benzole refiners in their day,although I preferred the Scunthorpe site rather than Llanwern,not as fussy. I once loaded benzole at Monckton one morning in early 1970 for Llanwern on a MK3 AEC Mammoth Major. I got all the way there and found they couldn’t take the product due to a fault somewhere,had to take it to Scunthorpe,so I turned round and away back to Derby for a dodgy night out. In those days they couldn’t contact you,no cab phones,Band 3,good old days for that. Avenue has only just cleaned up according to my lad who lives in Wingerworth so Monckton will be a long job.I suppose only Redcar,App Frod Scunthorpe and South Wales area are only places that produce tar and associated products now.
I agree with the Scuny and Llanwern sites. Llanwern being bigger, when it was, seemed to be unfriendly. I think all the big sites tended to be, obviously due to the guys who worked at them did not seem to care as much. As you know a lot of the operators at the smaller sites once they got to know us and provided we did your job well tended to be ok with us 9 out of 10 times. Saying all that nothing was set in stone as you know. I bet the old Mk3’s were fun on distance work, I used to go out with my Dad and Uncle when I was a kid in the old uns but the old Leyland’s etc were on the way out just before I got my licence. I guess I was lucky in the early days having passed my test in and then driving Volvos and the like for a living. I never got chance to drive the old AEC’s etc on the roads. Now I look back and wish I had done a few trips in the really old stuff just for the experience of it. Guess I could always go out and buy myself an old Albion or similar and join the clubs. I would love too but like most I don’t have the place time or cash to do anything like that. Yes the good old days when driving was just that without the interference we have today with in cab phones sat tracking devices, monitoring devices and digital tacho cards etc. The most modern devices we had in the old days was a CB and the dreaded tacho chart.
Hi
Great to see the pics from coopers yard My late father George Wassell worked at coopers, with Roland Banks around late 60’s early 70’s before going to coalite at Bolsover.
Thanks
There’s some great coalite lorry photos on flickr ,user paulio developed them from negatives he found ,now that place has to be the most polluted of them all .
bensons897:
Hi
Great to see the pics from coopers yard My late father George Wassell worked at coopers, with Roland Banks around late 60’s early 70’s before going to coalite at Bolsover.
Thanks
Hi Bensons879
Good to see you like this thread. I remember Georgey Wass driving the blue uns for Coalite when I was driving at Coopers. Coopers used to do some work out of Grimey and Bolsover etc. Really down to earth sort of guy your dad was, if I remember right. Sorry to hear he is no longer with us.
Please feel free to post any pictures you may find of your dad, with or without trucks. You could always recognise the Coalite tanks with the big gold cross on the back. I also remember a Coalite driver who wore a smart shirt and tie all the time, can’t remember his name though.
Thanks for posting.
Punchy Dan:
There’s some great coalite lorry photos on flickr ,user paulio developed them from negatives he found ,now that place has to be the most polluted of them all .
Thanks for that Punchy Dan, I will go and have a scan at them.
Punchy Dan:
I just tried paulio ,there’s others too .cheers just clicked your link they are taken from flickr they don’t belong to Bonkey Dollocks
Yes, I kept looking around the net and it kept pointing back to TruckNet . Sad to see the old Works photos, wherever the works may/may have been. But life and time moves on.
The coking side is all gone flattend ,the chemical side is only part demolished mainly for the scrap ,the worst bits are still there now iam not sure but they seam to be avoiding touching it but it must be bad it’s gaurded by up to 3 blokes 24/7 .
If my memory serves me right I think the last load I took out of Bolsover was some type of tar stuff to Briggs of Dundee in the early 80’s. It’s funny what we can remember .
bensons897:
Hi
Great to see the pics from coopers yard My late father George Wassell worked at coopers, with Roland Banks around late 60’s early 70’s before going to coalite at Bolsover.
Thanks
Hi Bensons879
Good to see you like this thread. I remember Georgey Wass driving the blue uns for Coalite when I was driving at Coopers. Coopers used to do some work out of Grimey and Bolsover etc. Really down to earth sort of guy your dad was, if I remember right. Sorry to hear he is no longer with us.
Please feel free to post any pictures you may find of your dad, with or without trucks. You could always recognise the Coalite tanks with the big gold cross on the back. I also remember a Coalite driver who wore a smart shirt and tie all the time, can’t remember his name though.
Thanks for posting.
The Lorry is 1962 ERF 4lk, I did my apprenticeship at grimethorpe coalite and the driver you remember wearing the shirt and tie had a nickname called paramedic he was qualified in this field, ran the New York and London marathons 6years in a row and to my complete envy owned 2 mark 2 ■■■■■■ mexios which he bought new.
Hi Bensons897
Thanks for the photo of your dad,s old ERF. I never knew he had it, but then we never get enough time to find out about things do we. It’s good to see you still have it, if I see it sometime at a show I now know who it belongs to now. It is a pity we never took more photo’s years ago but we never thought we would be looking back like we are today. If you find anymore more more the merrier .
Paramedic dun’t ring a bell with me I don’t think, can’t say I had a lot to do with the gent but I am going back to the early 80’s. Anyway we both know who we are on about. Is he still we us or has he gone to drive for our maker in the sky? RIP if he has. Never knew he had 2 Mexico’s, lucky guy, they are worth a fortune now as you will know.
Catch yer soon bud.
bensons897:
The Lorry is 1962 ERF 4lk, I did my apprenticeship at grimethorpe coalition and the driver you remember wearing the shirt and tie had a nickname called paramedic he was qualified in this field, ran the New York and London marathons 6years in a row and to my complete envy owned 2 mark 2 ■■■■■■ mexios which he bought new.
that is one cracking lorry . just as it should be , it looks as if you could fire it up in the morning and do a day’s work . i drove one similar in the 60s and have fond memories of it , dave
bensons897:
The Lorry is 1962 ERF 4lk, I did my apprenticeship at grimethorpe coalition and the driver you remember wearing the shirt and tie had a nickname called paramedic he was qualified in this field, ran the New York and London marathons 6years in a row and to my complete envy owned 2 mark 2 ■■■■■■ mexios which he bought new.
that is one cracking lorry . just as it should be , it looks as if you could fire it up in the morning and do a day’s work . i drove one similar in the 60s and have fond memories of it , dave
yeh, makes you feel you just want an old un, but if you are like me you will have nowhere to put it or as in my case can’t afford one anyway. We still have the internet though so we can dream. I spend hours looking at old stuff, guess we all do.
The lorry is only at carlton near the scrapyards on shaw lane and will fire up on the button when the battery goes back on in march next year, if you want to look at her, just message me on here and we can arrange to meet up…
Incidentally my dad worked for the following, these are what I can remember him talking about.
R HANSONS, CUTTS & FLETCHERS, DUNCAN SHARP,CORONA POP (I THINK),COOPERS, COALITE, FEARNS.WINCATON, MY DAD ALSO WORKED FOR THE FIRST HAULAGE CONTRACTOR ON REDFEARNS GLASS, A SMALL FIRM FROM WORSBOROUGH RUN BY A WOMAN, CANNOT REMEMBER THE NAME.
Your dad had certainly been about a bit benson, variety being the spice of life as they say.
But those were the days were they not when you could walk into one job, see another the next day that pays more, walk out the job you just went into and go to the next. As a lad at Coopers I remember drivers coming and going, and even one or two coming back again.
In todays world we have cabotage and foreign drivers to compete with unfortunately.
Thanks for the offer of looking at your truck down carlton. What I will do is look out for it and yourself at a show sometime. Are you planning any to go to this next year?
Hope to go to some, but I work 4 on 4 off and weekends off are rare, and normally spent with family, but I do hope to get to one or two.
Thanks
benson897
. 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 its self. Yes Chris it is a shame, less work for all concerned.
Avenue has only just cleaned up according to my lad who lives in Wingerworth so Monckton will be a long job.I suppose only Redcar,App Frod Scunthorpe and South Wales area are only places that produce tar and associated products now.
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