Picture taken at Hellingly about 1978.
The AEC Matador breakdown that went all over the country to recover disabled vehicles and usually driven by Lofty (Brian Gibson). God knows how, but Lofty at 6ft 6in (atleast) managed to curl up on the bonnet and go to sleep while someone else drove it to give him a break on the rare occasions he got one if a second driver had been sent up with a relief wagon.
This was known to have dragged artics back from Liverpool and the West Country after taking them on to their tip. It looked a bit of overkill when it was sent out to get a smashed up workshop minivan from Mereworth.
It was not a nice vehicle to drive until the square front tyres wwere replaced
f470 ekl (fleet no 47) erf e14 powered by â â â â â â â 320 and eaton twin splitter gearbox,when originally brand new it was painted in the white livery of mack multiples (formerly mack & edwards) with henley transport co ltd on the cab doors,and would have pulled its own insuliner trailer and used on supermarket work ie sainsburys and tescos rdc.
later on it was repainted in the normal henley transport colours,jack henley was quite often ribbed about the colour,but his response was always the same at least you wont forget us!which of course was true as it was always a talking point.
after its repaint it was then allocated to the rochdale depot and would have been double shifted on change overs with paddock wood vehicles,it was not uncommon for a unit like this to do 12 change overs in a week (6 at night and another 6 during the day)
the company operated around about 30 of these units ranging from d reg through to j reg the latter being fitted with the 365 â â â â â â â and some would have been fitted with the eaton samt gearbox.
Apart from the earlier AECâs and the 2 Leyland Roadtrains,was the fleet just MAN,Seddon Atkinson and ERF in later years?
Tim C:
Apart from the earlier AECâs and the 2 Leyland Roadtrains,was the fleet just MAN,Seddon Atkinson and ERF in later years?
the last seddon atkinson was c640 ekn a 6 wheeled rigid tautliner,the company then stuck with erf and man.
a couple of second hand (about 3 years old) leyland freighters rigid fridge vans were bought (only because they were needed quickly to work on the soft fruit job for kentish garden /afi)
there was also about 4 ford cargo 7.5 tonners one was on contract to norman collet of paddock wood and the others were in the main henley transport fleet used for collecting fruit from farms and packhouses to come back to our customers premesis or direct into us for onward distribution.
lawrence2765:
Tim C:
Apart from the earlier AECâs and the 2 Leyland Roadtrains,was the fleet just MAN,Seddon Atkinson and ERF in later years?the last seddon atkinson was c640 ekn a 6 wheeled rigid tautliner,the company then stuck with erf and man.
a couple of second hand (about 3 years old) leyland freighters rigid fridge vans were bought (only because they were needed quickly to work on the soft fruit job for kentish garden /afi)
there was also about 4 ford cargo 7.5 tonners one was on contract to norman collet of paddock wood and the others were in the main henley transport fleet used for collecting fruit from farms and packhouses to come back to our customers premesis or direct into us for onward distribution.
Thanks Chris-I think I remember seeing a DAF 6 wheel tautliner-old style Daf cab 1900/2300-in Henleyâs colours but not signwritten-was this connected with the company?
Tim C:
lawrence2765:
Tim C:
Apart from the earlier AECâs and the 2 Leyland Roadtrains,was the fleet just MAN,Seddon Atkinson and ERF in later years?the last seddon atkinson was c640 ekn a 6 wheeled rigid tautliner,the company then stuck with erf and man.
a couple of second hand (about 3 years old) leyland freighters rigid fridge vans were bought (only because they were needed quickly to work on the soft fruit job for kentish garden /afi)
there was also about 4 ford cargo 7.5 tonners one was on contract to norman collet of paddock wood and the others were in the main henley transport fleet used for collecting fruit from farms and packhouses to come back to our customers premesis or direct into us for onward distribution.Thanks Chris-I think I remember seeing a DAF 6 wheel tautliner-old style Daf cab 1900/2300-in Henleyâs colours but not signwritten-was this connected with the company?
that vehicle was owned by a local subby who had 4 vehicles working for us,his name was brian stephens trading as ejs haulage,if i remember it had an underslung fridge motor under the vehicle,and i know it was also one of those vehicles that was photographed and used in commercial motor and motor transport when they just choose a randon picture to go with an article.
almost certain the reg h931 ***
240 Gardner:
lawrence2765:
does anyone have any photos of hkr 260d a 6 wheeler mark one which was purchased direct from atkinsons by jack henley off the 1966 earls court motor show stand with a red cab,this was driven by my father from new for 4 years or so?(fingers crossed)Recently advertised for sale by Lockâs I think? Found this pic on the net, but no idea where from - apologies to the photographer!
lookâs like a stevenâs of macc tank next to the atki.
Wasânt there also a Renault, F810 DKN?.
While delivering to a farm near Paddock Wood recently, i saw this old girl ârestingâ in the corner. Could it be an old Henley motor?. It looks very much like Henleys spec and also had a local reg number. It would make a lovely restoration project for somebody as it was in reasonably good nick.
I have read this topic with interest, as I have been interested in Henleys trucks since spending time in Paddock Wood in the early 80âs. I have never worked for them, but I thought they were above the usual haulier because they booked reg numbers to match the fleet numbers. Some exceptions were YKM287S, AKK122T, BKN778T and GKL255V. Does any one know what the fleet numbers for those were?
I recall going to Michelinâs sales office and they had a picture of an MAN line up. K190PKP was closest to the camera so that must have been the newest at the time.
Henleys had 3 V8 Mandators according to Graham Edges book. OKK160F new in 1968, another 1968, but no reg number is listed, and CGF420H from 1969.
The EJS Haulage Daf appeared at the 1990 Kent show on the Channel Commercials stand. It is H931AKL and is a FAS2300HT with Kurtrans bodywork. I have also seen the Renault, F810DKN, that was a G170 model, I thought with that reg number it must belong to Henleys.
Keep the posts coming as this is becoming an enjoyable read.
Mark R:
While delivering to a farm near Paddock Wood recently, i saw this old girl ârestingâ in the corner. Could it be an old Henley motor?. It looks very much like Henleys spec and also had a local reg number. It would make a lovely restoration project for somebody as it was in reasonably good nick.
that 6 wheeler belonged to a good farming friend of jacks,the man in question is adrian scripps who farmed at moat farm five oak green in kent,honoton farm brenchley in kent and also a farm in the canterbury area i think called wenderton farm.
adrian scripps was also involved business wise with the henley family,the formed a company called hop sales ltd,i also think william wakely of rainham in kent may have been involved
tyreman:
I have read this topic with interest, as I have been interested in Henleys trucks since spending time in Paddock Wood in the early 80âs. I have never worked for them, but I thought they were above the usual haulier because they booked reg numbers to match the fleet numbers. Some exceptions were YKM287S, AKK122T, BKN778T and GKL255V. Does any one know what the fleet numbers for those were?I recall going to Michelinâs sales office and they had a picture of an MAN line up. K190PKP was closest to the camera so that must have been the newest at the time.
Henleys had 3 V8 Mandators according to Graham Edges book. OKK160F new in 1968, another 1968, but no reg number is listed, and CGF420H from 1969.
The EJS Haulage Daf appeared at the 1990 Kent show on the Channel Commercials stand. It is H931AKL and is a FAS2300HT with Kurtrans bodywork. I have also seen the Renault, F810DKN, that was a G170 model, I thought with that reg number it must belong to Henleys.
Keep the posts coming as this is becoming an enjoyable read.
erf b series fleet nos ykm 287s no 45,bkn 778t no 14,gkl 255v no 60 but sorry cant remember akk 122t at the moment.
the renault f801 was another ejs haulage owned by ester & brian stephens formerly of warrington road paddock wood
Regâding William Wakely. In the mid 70s, Jack Henley took over the Wakeley transport operation,thats how the only Fodens came into the fleet, although i believe only one of them was painted in Henleys livery. GKJ 118L & OKO 510M.
has any one got a picture of ex henley erf e14 f410ckr which iam restoring jack had it new and is looking but nothing yet after jack it was used by ram transport from east london
Accompanying the two V8 Mandators were two Magirus Deutz Saturns although I know virtually nothing about them, other than that the fitters referred to them as Humbolts, after the name on the manufacturers plate - Klockner Humboldt Deutz.
Interesting reading about Henley Transport,a firm I remember well. They came into Glass Glover Distributionâs depot at Maltby every afternoon with fruit for Littlewoods and then away to Tossco at Doncaster.Iâm sure some of the trailers advertised Mack and I seem to remember only three axled MANs or ERFs.
Hi Dan Punchard. F410 CKR was in Mack Multiples livery, here is a photo you might like to see. Maybe Chris Lawrence will know who the original driver was?..
cav551:
Hello Tim C,I should have added that there was another source of work that kept two vehicles busy for a lot of the year. The late Roy Pilbeam drove one of the â â â â â â â L reg ERFs (620?) and CKO 250K a Gardner LV ERF was driven by someone whose name escapes me. These two vehicles ran everyday with bulk tipping trailers carrying Cider apples to Shepton Mallet and back to reload for the next morning. These vehicles had to be serviced at the weekends. CKO was written off in an accident on the M27 eventually.
RKJ 160M was taken over new by Roy Podd if I am right. He had been used to the AEC Mercury 4 wheelers and wasnât much impressed by the performance of its Gardner 6LW20. Some time later John Heady arranged for a Gardner field service engineer to come out and give it a few tweaks. RKJ 160 M still exists on the preservation scene.
160 had a sister vehicle which was I think 180M . This was based at Nickle Farm Chartham and driven by Dennis Mills ( now a semi-retired shunter at Gomez for Coolchain). This had a Gardner 180 and pulled a drawbar trailer (a proper one not one of these modern toys). He went every night to the London Markets, leaving the trailer at one, once it was empty and returning after tipping the rest on the lorry. It became known that other companiesâ drivers were making enquiries as to what engine it had, because it was so quick solo.
Hello cav551, I was interested to read this post as my father was also involved in hauling cider apples to Showerings at Shepton Mallet. We brought apples up from East Devon, the bulk being from the Whiteways farms around Whimple, during the Autumn months up until Christmas. He ran AEC & Leyland six wheel tippers, & for a couple of years he owned a Tamplin tandem axle tipping trailer & hired-in a tractor unit.
We were also involved in delivering wood peelings for a company called Melcourt Industries. We used to move the smaller amounts, but the large deliveries were made by a company form Kent using âwalking floorâ artic trailers. I have it in the back of my mind that the company was Henleys, but I might be getting confused with the cider apples. Could you shed any light on this?
Andrew Stone.
Mark R:
Hi Dan Punchard. F410 CKR was in Mack Multiples livery, here is a photo you might like to see. Maybe Chris Lawrence will know who the original driver was?..
f410 ckr came home together with f40 ckr (both same colours and same spec)
as for drivers i am almost certain that mark eden drove f410 ckr from new and f40 ckr was driven from new by richard nyren
Hello Lawrence, I am new to this site and was intrigued to find all these comments on Henley Transport. However finding this photo of RLJ 160M is a bonus for me. In February 2005 a couple of months after retiring from tranport busines I saw the ERF advertised in the Historic Commercial Vehicle magazine. As my boiler suit had become redundant since retiring I contacted the vendor who turned out to be Brian Henley at the Spelmondham Estates farm, arranged a viewing, drove down from â â â â â â â and after a test drive did a deal. I had the vehicle collected by my fellow haulage contractor and friend A.D. Boyes and brought up to â â â â â â â where I spent the next 10 months restoring the wagon to replicate an ERF 66GX six wheeler that I operated in the early 1970s maintaining that the ERF was the best wagon I had ever operated. Only a small amount of mechanical work was required, cosmetic work required on the cab both inside and out plus a lot of work on the drivers door pillar and door which according to Brian had been caused when the ERF decided to move off of its own accord when standing ticking over unattended when the air built up as someone had left the handbrake off. Apparently the wagon rolled down the yard and brushed or collided with a building. I was very proud of this motor and had not been in the cab of a a quality wagon ERF or Foden since 1980, it was good to be back. I attended various rallys in the north of England and Scottish Borders until July 2011 when I sold it to a gentleman on Royal Deeside who is keeping it in my livery for a while anyway. A great lorry very sorry to part with it but time marches on and I am not getting any younger.
I would be interested to know more about RKJs history if you have any. I did send Brian a photograph when the wagon was completed which he said he would show Jack.
Cheers. Leyland 600.