Hi, Eddie , your spot on iirc Bill had a couple of Traders , a couple of Bmc 702 models , and the rest were Tk s ,Cheers Barry
I found this photograph recently. Taken in 1982, it’s an aerial view of Pritchett’s warehouse. The A58 can be seen crossing the M6 motorway at limited access junction No. 24. There’s a wagon parked on the beach, but it wouldn’t have been one of Pritchett’s as they were long gone by this time.
b.waddy:
HI ,EDDIE , That batch of Pandora Atki s do you remember one with a lift up turntable used as a shunter , i think in Fleetwood ,? we bought that one ,Cheers Barry
Pandoro had quite a number of Atkis converted with lift plates, both Gardner-engined Silver Knights and ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Borderers. Most had manual steering…
Hi, Eddie , i have been t o low bank road today the yard is still the same but set out in small units,could not see any sign of Alan ,Would have liked to have met him after all the years ,Cheers Barry
Hiya Barry, nice to hear from you mate. I haven’t been up to the yard myself for a few months. I don’t know if you’re aware that Alan’s wife passed away a couple of years back. Since then, he’s been spending more time out of the country. If you’d have called at the bungalow across the road, his son Andrew could have informed you of his whereabouts. Also if it was between 1200 and 1400 when you called, he would have probably been at home having his dinner. Was the gate open?, the one between the garage and the car wash? That’s where his office is, in the Portakabin. They don’t use the old gate any more, that one is for the people that rent the units on what used to be the old yard. Next time I go up there I’ll tell him that you called. All the best for now Barry.
Cheers. Eddie.
HI,Eddie , is that the gate where all the vans were for sale ,that one was closed , there was lots going on car wash ,gym ,window s ,car recovery and sales , the pub all painted up ,very busy ,yard ,Cheers Barry
Yeah, that would be the one Barry, it’s at the top end of the yard where we used to park all the trailers. If that gate was closed it would suggest to me that he must be away somewhere. He retained that section of the yard when he rented out the rest of the place. You may recall, where the pub now stands, there used to be an old weighbridge. That’s where we used to cut up the scrappers before we started using Edge Green. Bill sold that off for building sometime in the 70’s. Go steady Barry.
Cheers. Eddie.
I’ve just found this photo at the bottom of a drawer, so I thought I’d better resurrect the old thread and put it on there. It may be of interest to Mr. Wadsworth.
That Foden brings back memories Eddie, looking at the registration, was that one of the units they rented to Pritchetts originally?
John.
Aye John, this is what tha’ owt t’a gett’n thissen lad, a Fodden. I think Racs bought three of these brand new from Warrington Commercials., all three of them ending up at Pritchett’s. I remember hankering after one of these when I first started there, in place of the Big J that I had. Within the space of a fortnight of actually getting one, I wanted the Big J back. It was all that 12 speed splitting nonsense that I couldn’t be doing with. o.k., I know we never bothered with the bottom four, but that still left eight to go at. The straight six David Brown in the Guy was heaven in comparison. Fortunately, they were coming to the end of their lease agreement and were replaced by 1418 Mercs. ( thank you God ). I dare say there’ll be a number of people on here who will disagree, but I’m just speaking as I find. If you’ve never driven a Foden John, and I’ve driven a few, then you haven’t missed out on a great deal, and it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that you may even leave this world with the same knee and hip joints that you came into it with.
All the best mate. Eddie.
You’re right Eddie, I’ve never driven a ‘Fodden’ - and I still have working hips and knees, unlike so many our age!
You may be onto something there - have a word with Rac - where there’s blame there’s a claim…
John
Have a word with Rac ?..claim ?..I’ll probably have more success with my upcoming plan to construct an underground car park in Venice.
Eddie Heaton:
J.W.Ratcliffe & Sons Ltd. Motor dealers and dismantlers. I think this was the official title of the company which also included Trevalan Transport as the haulage arm of the business. I’m not sure of the exact date when the company was formed, I suspect just after WW2 but it could have been earlier. I do know that the company is still trading in 2015 albeit in somewhat different format. Considering the amount of wagons that passed through the gates of the premises in Low Bank Road over the years, there must still be a few people out there that either bought or sold a wagon here. I know Mr Wadsworth was one of these people. Having worked there on more than one occasion, I know that some of the wagons on the yard were absolute sheds, whereas others were diamonds but I suspect they would have been priced accordingly as I knew the Ratcliffes to be fair and honest. (I’ll be round for my bung tomorrow Alan). Also, there must be someone out there that drove for Trevalan, surely I can’t be the sole survivor. Remember the red and green S21 Fodens pulling bananas out of Preston, Barrow and Barry docks? ( Liverpool as well occasionally, providing it wasn’t spitting for rain) By the way Barry, in response to your previous question, You’re quite right, John McKenna does live down by Oulton park. He drives an 8 legger tipper now, or at least he was doing the last time I saw him about 18 months ago when he pulled into Low Bank Road to fuel up. Alan is still running the show at the old premises and as far as I’m aware Trevor is residing in the I o M. If my information is up to date. Anyroad, bacon butty for tea tonight. Back in a bit. Eddie.
Hi Eddie. I wonder if you can help me. Back in the early 70s I bought my first truck from Chepping Motors in High Wycombe who were then DAF AGENTS. The truck was a Mercedes 1418 Bullnose and it came from TREVALAN is there any possibility that you have a picture or are they still trading, as its my 70th birthday this year and the kids are trying to put together an album of all my old trucks I owned over the years. Ive got no idea of the Reg No.
Many Thanks Ben
Hi Ben, was your wagon painted in Trevalan colours? If so then it would have been one of the three, I think it was that they ran in those colours, a photo of one of them is on the Bowker Transport thread, PUV 435F ( thanks to 240 Gardner ) before being repainted. They also ran one painted in the blue GKN livery. This one was involved in a tragic incident when, due to brake failure, a young girl was killed in Warrington town centre. They may possibly have bought and sold on many more, without actually using them. The company still exists, although in a somewhat altered format. It is run by Alan, who can be contacted. I still see him occasionally and when I’m next up there, I’ll ask if he has any photos. I Hope this may prove to be helpful.
Regards. Eddie.
HI, EDDIE, nice to hear from you again ,and Big Bens contributions it makes nice reading and brings back lots of memories , We could all write a book together about a Great family and legend , Keep well all ,Cheers Barry
Hiya Barry, likewise mate, I thought maybe you’d gone living in the Seychelles. I take it you’ve seen the photo of the mobile crane further up the page Barry? I don’t know if you recall the incident or not, probably not, as it occurred in about 1960 or thereabouts, but this was the crane that almost finished Bill off. At the time of the incident, the power lines visible in the photo passed directly over Rac’s yard. I used to pass the yard every day on my way to school and on a rainy day you could hear the things ’ zizzing '. You can probably see what’s coming can’t you? One day, Bill’s brother, Cecil, of Junction Transport fame, was operating the crane on the yard as Bill stood with his arm outstretched, leaning on the cab of the thing. Cecil inadvertently touched the power lines with the jib and 70,000 volts earthed through the nails in the soles of Bill’s boots. Cecil was unharmed due to the heavy rubber tyres on the machine, but Bill spent several months in hospital, and according to Alan, carried the burn marks from the bootnails on the soles of his feet for the rest of his life. Shortly afterwards, largely I suspect as a result of the incident, the pylons were dismantled and the cables buried underground. Maybe you heard your dad speak about it. All the best mate.
Eddie.
Eddie Heaton:
Hi Ben, was your wagon painted in Trevalan colours? If so then it would have been one of the three, I think it was that they ran in those colours, a photo of one of them is on the Bowker Transport thread, PUV 435F ( thanks to 240 Gardner ) before being repainted. They also ran one painted in the blue GKN livery. This one was involved in a tragic incident when, due to brake failure, a young girl was killed in Warrington town centre. They may possibly have bought and sold on many more, without actually using them. The company still exists, although in a somewhat altered format. It is run by Alan, who can be contacted. I still see him occasionally and when I’m next up there, I’ll ask if he has any photos. I Hope this may prove to be helpful.Regards. Eddie.
Hi Eddie. Yes mine was still in Trevalan colours. It was sold to an Owner Driver he then part exchanged at Chepping Motors High Wycombe for a brand new 2800 DAF, then I bought it from them £1475 - 00 I ran it on Euro work for 2 years then she finally gave up on the Stafford junction on the M6. Stan Robinson was an owner driver then he took my trailer ad tipped it and the Merc was towed back to Mercedes at Borehamwood. were it stayed. I then bought an Atky 180 and started pulling for Radclive at Faringdon doing Ero work. Anyway I went on and finished up with 7 Trucks on Heavy haulage and sold the last one in 2004. Now enjoying retirement travelliing around Europe in the motorhome. Anyway if you could get a pic on here I would certainly appreciate it ill download it and print it of or you can post it to me and ill remberse you any out of pocket expences
Best Regards Ben
Hi, EDDIE , 1960 i was about 15 but i remember that crane in the yard do recall my dad saying Bill had been hurt badly and was in Hospital thats all my little grey cels can recall ,Cheers Barry
