hi, just joined the forum yesterday, Frederick Ray were part of the Burnholme & Forder Group which
also included Crows of Gateshead, Taylors of Manchester and the firm i am most interested in J. Tubby Ltd
of Lowestoft who at the time of there take offer were one of the largest haulage firms of its kind in
East Anglia, Jack Tubby sold out to Burnholme & Forder in march 1965 and they ran the firm to August 1969
then closed it down, after the take over a lot of the fleet were replaced with Bedfords i believe this was
because of the close ties between the group and Vauxhall Motors, one of these Bedford KM’ s came in the
livery of Frederick Ray and was never repainted just sign written, also i remember one of Rays lorries
if my memory surve’s me right i was only 12 at the time a Atkinson 6 wheeler on loan to Tubbys for a
couple of months while one of Tubbys Guy Big J’ s was being repaired with axel problems at Lieghton
Buzzard they had to wait a long time for the parts to arrive, when the firm closed some of the lorries and
trailers were scrapped some sold and according to Mick Harrod a driver for Tubbys the rest distributed
with in the group.
I believe Burnholme & Forder Group finished in about 1977, i hope this little bit information will be of some interest to you all.
hi haddy, thank you for the photo this was one of the four Scammells of this type Tubbys operated they
also had an older type which was permently coupled to one of there lowloaders,these all were traded in
for the Bedfords i know one ended up with Bent Marshall Plant Hire, i have got quite a lot of photos of
old Lowestoft haulage firms i will start a new thread when i learn how, many thanks
Dinkyboy56
Hi Leighton Lad,I worked for Fredk.Ray Ltd from 1978 to 1983.They were not involved in any way with
Dawsons,they were part of a group which included John Darbyshire of Warrington(Appleton Thorn),
William Forder of Cullingworth and Export & General of Dunstable.I was a good friend of Barry Golby
who was Sid Golbys son,(nothing like his old man I might add!!) Its great to see these pictures,especially as I used to drive the Unipart truck on Oxford shunt for about 18 months,CBW used to be Dennis Murphys
truck,(thats him in the white shirt talking to Keith Tidborough I think),CFC used be driven by Steve Jaggs, and the 4 wheeler was driven by Arthur Smith.OBH was Ro Smiths truck,but Dennis Murphy had it in the end. Theres alittle story for ya!!
HI Leighton lad .We bought an ex Rays FODEN S40 cab 240 Gardener REG T M J /// K do you remember it .Yours Barry Waddy
Hello. I`ve only just found Truck Net after googleing Frederick Rays just out of interest. I worked in the garage as an apprentice from July 1997 until 1982 and remember many of the lorries, drivers and staff mentioned on the forum.
It has brought back many happy and funny memories, the company certainly had its fair share of comediens and charactors form punk rocker yard staff to ex military gate men!
I still see some of the people I worked with and intend to pass the forum details onto them so they can add there bit and also add some of my own memories as time permits. 
badgerboy51:
Hi Leighton Lad,I worked for Fredk.Ray Ltd from 1978 to 1983.They were not involved in any way with
Dawsons,they were part of a group which included John Darbyshire of Warrington(Appleton Thorn),
William Forder of Cullingworth and Export & General of Dunstable.I was a good friend of Barry Golby
who was Sid Golbys son,(nothing like his old man I might add!!) Its great to see these pictures,especially as I used to drive the Unipart truck on Oxford shunt for about 18 months,CBW used to be Dennis Murphys
truck,(thats him in the white shirt talking to Keith Tidborough I think),CFC used be driven by Steve Jaggs, and the 4 wheeler was driven by Arthur Smith.OBH was Ro Smiths truck,but Dennis Murphy had it in the end. Theres alittle story for ya!!
Hya badgerboy. If my grey matter serves me right, John Darbyshire’s (who I worked next door to in the mid 80’s and they ran the bull nosed Mercs) were part of the TWF group (Transport and Warehousing Facilities) but I’m not sure if that was after the time you mention. There were quite a few firms in that group, a number around the midlands I think (poss Kingswinford or Stourbridge areas)
stravaiger:
An oldie and one from Bubbs.Who else?blimey ,that brings back memories, i remember biking about10 miles to look at a new guy invincible 8 wheeler, it was parked up at sherrington near newport pagnell, it turned out to be frederick rays, i think it was a tipper though, must have been one of the very first invincibles as it was around 57/58
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=35749&hilit=scrapbook+memories&start=4080
Love the pics etc. I grew up living in the flats on the Green Rd roundabout in Oxford in the 60s/70s where all traffic to/through Oxford converged, & only a mile up the road from British Leyland, Cowley, this was a 24/7 lorry spotters delight, & Fredk Ray was 1 of the fleets that regularly ran in & out of B.L. Isn’t nostalgia great
Hi all, just joined this site, I started as an apprentice at Dawsons in Billington Road in 1972, left after a bit and went back in 1985 for 15 years. Regarding Fredk Ray, I don’t think there was a connection late 60’s/ early 70’s, if I remember correctly, Rays of Bedford along with Alfred Hudson of Bicester and Bramwells of Stony Stratford were wholly owned by Dawsons and were painted in the same colours, My Dad, Jim Muir used to drive for Dawsons, anybody remember him?. I can remember going with my dad when I was a nipper and seeing them, they had mostly Fodens then, my Dads last one was GTM 822F I think, he used to be on general and petrol tanks, plain aluminium, he also went to Italy in it, the long way via Brenner pass, who would go in one of them nowadays?? He left and went on for Tony Mongiardi for a time before he went as an o/driver for Readymix.
Andy.
adr:
Love the pics etc. I grew up living in the flats on the Green Rd roundabout in Oxford in the 60s/70s where all traffic to/through Oxford converged, & only a mile up the road from British Leyland, Cowley, this was a 24/7 lorry spotters delight, & Fredk Ray was 1 of the fleets that regularly ran in & out of B.L. Isn’t nostalgia great
I used to drive for Rays in the 60s,one of our runs was Cowley to Newhaven with containers.Only a bit of motorway driving then,still got back to the yard in Grovebury Rd leighton same day!(Guy Invincible 32tn unit with â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–
I’ve just joined Truck Net Uk as I was googling Frederick Ray last night and found this forum… I just had to make some comments in reply to some of the previous memoirs… Someone previously mentioned a Guy Invinsible being parked at Sheringon Nr Newport Pagnell… Due to the dates this could either of been Ro Smith, or My old Dad, rest his soul, Roy Freegard… But I reckon it was the late 60s early 70s when he was with Freddie Rays… I remember going into the yard at Grovebury Rd on Saturday mornings with the old chap to wash his truck etc… His first truck was an old Commer Carrier, but soon went on to an Atkinson… I was only in my early teens, but remember loads of the drivers that may bring back memories to some of you… There was Mack, the mechanic… Ro Smith, Graham Absolem, Benny Wiggett, Roger Roff, Alec Braun and Tommy Ringrose, (whose family I still know - sadly Tom passed away only a couple of weeks age) I still recall the phone number as Leighton Buzzard 2241… My old dad when on to drive for Pentus Brown and used to chauffeur one of the governers around ( J.A.C Bain ) who was a director of Luton Town football club… Hope this is interesting to someone - John
Frederick Ray was bought out by Charringtons the coal people they changed the name and colour scheme and then after Bedford Trucks closed they lost all the CKD work to the docks so just faded away. ECE were from Jockey Farm on the A5 near Markyate and were white and blue, Able carriers were at the spinney pool until they merged with ECE who in turn sold out to a bigger fish.
Freddy Ray had the bulk of the work for Vauxhall and Bedford, running night trunks to Elesmere port and day time large amounts of cargo to the docks all over the UK.
Hi Cuddlywomble,
Remember your Dad when I first started Rays as a rookie.We had a union meeting and your Dad stood up to Colin Cursley the shop steward told him what he thought ,tore up his union card and walked out.Being young I admired him for that and glad he got another job.Worked with all the drivers you mentioned.Specifically remember a time when loading ckd at Vauxhall/Bedford Dunstable your Dad driving in after delivering engines to Unipart at Coventry and discovering an engine on his diesel tank!!Drove all the way back from Coventry with it still in situ!! Good old days.
I worked for Rays from 1967-1970,during which time it changed names to Bain Garages then back to Rays when it became part of the Burnholme &Forder group.
This brought about trunking/shunting for Burnholmes & Nuttals from Leighton together with the Bingley/Ellesmere runs.
Vehicles ranged from TK Bedfords,Guy Invicibles & BigJs,to S20 Fodens cut down from 8 leggers.
Also I remember a few AEC Mandators inherited from Tubbys which we bought back from Lowestoft solo!!
Whilst I was there Rays also acquired AW Kempsters of Tilsworth & GT Transport of Leighton together with some ERFs & Guys.
A few names I can recall were Arthur Denham,Tommy Ringrose,Amos Burke,Benny Wigget,George Pettifer & Ro Smith.
Hi Mic,
Worked with all the drivers you mentioned.Arthur and Tommy Ringrose got caught big time with their hands in the till so to speak,flogging parts off of the backs of the trailers at night.
Benny W was in the traffic office also doubled as a driver trainer.George P was a Manager in charge of the Unipart
contract.Amos was a yard man as I remember and Ro Smith was top driver.This all being in 1978.
Sorry to pipe up on an extremely old thread but George Pettifer is my Grandad
When I worked for Rowley’s from Sale we used to backload off Frederick Ray,s usually with cement out of Sundon works ,this would be late 50 S early 60s the manager at Leighton Buzzard was a real gent a Mr Green
Hey guys does anyone remember Allen Fawcett he worked at Cullingworth in the past and sadly he passed away Friday morning and we are all devastated, he came from ashworths and chris metcalfes to drive
Thank you
Steve
badgerboy51:
Hi Mic,
Worked with all the drivers you mentioned.Arthur and Tommy Ringrose got caught big time with their hands in the till so to speak,flogging parts off of the backs of the trailers at night.
Benny W was in the traffic office also doubled as a driver trainer.George P was a Manager in charge of the Unipart
contract.Amos was a yard man as I remember and Ro Smith was top driver.This all being in 1978.
I remember the Moss cafe at Carlisle being a den of iniquity,all sorts being sold at night at the rear part of the truck park,Unipart for car parts,meat from the Irish guys,it’s like mail order!
David