That’s a tasty looking Foden Eddie.
Getting back to Pritchett’s momentarily, here’s a rather poor shot of the Saviem demonstrator that Racs ran for a while. It appears to be parked outside my mother’s house. I must have been on a 45 at the time.
Eddie.
Typical scene in Rac’s yard in the mid to late 70s. John McKenna taking the O/S wheels off a Suttons tank trailer, while Tommy Austin loosens the wheel nuts on the nearside. Eddie.
![DSC_2928-vi[1].jpg](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/business20/uploads/trucknetuk/original/3X/5/a/5a2b7fe8486d0e1c8ce9841e97f60d2b9f85d21e.jpeg)
Well impressed with that Viking. Is it 1:24 scale?
I don’t know Eddie. I shall find out for you.
Eddie! its 1:24 scale which makes it about 2 feet long.
I’d be well proud to have that on my sideboard mate. It’s a piece of history. In fact, I could do with contacting Steve Bridge to see if he would consider doing one for me. I did 6+ years for Steetley on the brick job. I’ve got loads of model trucks, but I’ve never seen one in Steetley livery. Maybe you could pm me his contact details. Cheers. Eddie.
Some Ashton wagons
Where did you get those from mate? Did you drive for McKenna?
That’s the F10 with the stack up the back Eddie.
They all look as though they were taken at Kelbit’s at Edge Green to me Viking. Did you ever load out of there?
Eddie Heaton:
Where did you get those from mate? Did you drive for McKenna?
No, I think I met the man but I had my own tipper in the ARC plant behind Kelbits. I took the pictures myself.
I knew a lad called Jimmy, I forget his last name, he used to sheet the trailers at Reed’s. He and his father went on to run Tarmac out of somewhere on that site with a couple of tippers. Maybe you knew them.
Eddie.
This must have been your motor then Viking, although I can’t see an upright stack in this photo and there’s no spoiler on the roof either. Must have been an earlier photo. Cheers. Eddie.
Eddie Heaton:
They all look as though they were taken at Kelbit’s at Edge Green to me Viking. Did you ever load out of there?
I don’t remember mate. I did mostly GD, a few loads of bottles from the CWS, & steelworks from the Wirral.
Eddie Heaton:
I knew a lad called Jimmy, I forget his last name, he used to sheet the trailers at Reed’s. He and his father went on to run Tarmac out of somewhere on that site with a couple of tippers. Maybe you knew them.
Eddie.
Knew them well. Their name was Wadsworth. The father was James, this was the wagon he had when I packed the haulage in.
Hi Eddie,
I am happy that you like the NWF model but unfortunately I don’t build commission jobs as I tend to concentrate on producing the kits for other modellers to build. I built this model as an advertisement for the kit and to show what can be achieved with it. Anyway I do know people who will build commission models so if your interested I can point them in your direction?
This thread has been an interesting read and I had forgotten all about Pennington’s, didn’t they have a small yard at the bottom of Wigan road somewhere? I don’t suppose you ever found the photo of Vikings ERF after restoration?
Cheers Steve
Hi to Eddie Heaton and anyone else who worked at Penningtons in the 70’s, do any of you remember them putting a second hand Foden S80 on the road sometime in 78 ? Reg no; WHN 330M 4x2 with a ■■■■■■■ 220 and Foden 9 speed box. I remember seeing it painted up in their livery in the Wigan/Leigh area around 78/79 and was surprised as Pennington is my surname and I had driven it for a couple of years before it was sold. Be really interesting to find out what happened to the first class 1 truck I ever drove 
Regards
Dave Penn;
Jimmy Wadsworth, that’s the man. Thanks for that mate. When we used to load out of Reed’s, Jimmy used to sheet and rope the trailers on the bank.
As I recall, he used to always wear clogs, as did a few of us back then. A vastly underrated item of footwear, they cost about a quid a pair from the blind shop in Darlington St. In the late 60’s. Then when the blind shop closed, they could be purchased from Walter Hurst’s shop in Hindley, but they were a bit more expensive. They took a bit of getting used to, but they were warm in winter and cool in summer and with a bit of car tyre screwed to the soles, they would outlast three pairs of boots.
I think the Wadsworth’s were farmers originally. Their land was adjacent to J25 of the M6, and when it was outcropped in about 1980, Jimmy got a job driving one of the Euclid dump trucks.
The last time I saw him was about 20 years ago when he was on the tarmac job. I suspect he’ll be retired now.
The yicker, now that’s what I call a user name. I take it you’re from Haydock mate?. I come from Garswood originally, so we’re practically neighbours.
Yes, I’d like to commission a model of a Steetley ergo Octopus, with the Atlas crane in the middle. If you can put me in touch with someone who would be prepared to take the job on, that would be great. I don’t think I have the necessary skills to tackle it myself.
Pennington’s yard was in Adamson St. off Old rd. in Ashton, adjacent to the now defunct police station. I have an old aerial photograph of the place which I’ll be posting on here soon. Due mainly to pressure from the residents, I believe, they relocated to A49 / M6 J25 about 15 years ago.
davepenn54, I drove an S80 for Pennington’s a couple of times in the 80’s I think it was. Not my favourite motor if I’m being honest. It may not have been the same one you’re thinking of as I think this one had a Gardner in it. The regular driver’s name was Frank Wheeler. That’s him pictured standing next to ■■■■ Pennington in one of my earlier posts. I couldn’t remember his name at the time.
This particular motor would have struggled to pull you out of bed quite frankly.
I’ll make a few enquiries about WHN 330M while I’m trying to find the photo of Viking’s old motor, and if I come up with anything, I’ll post it on here.
Cheers. Eddie.