Come on! Where are you lot from from Intercity Transport? Or even when TDG took us over. Surely you cant be all pushing up daisies from a multitude of depots from Harpenden, Norton Canes, Lowton & ■■■■■■■■■■■ which I visited on a weekly basis. I know I was relatively younger than most of the drivers back in the early to mid 1970’s. 
A long forgotten sight is the blue & white lorries of intercity transport before they disappeared into TDG obscurity . If i remember rightly they had depots at Leigh & ■■■■■■■■■■■ . They used to be a familier sight at Ford’s parts distribution centre at Daventry in the 70s as i believe they held the contract for the north western parts deliveries . They also had several F86s painted in ‘carnation milk’ red & white colours as i presume this was another customer of theirs . The last vehicles i remember them using were Daf 3200s which they replaced the Daf 95s with 
Did anyone work for them & has anyone any pics 
tonyhogi:
A long forgotten sight is the blue & white lorries of intercity transport before they disappeared into TDG obscurity . If i remember rightly they had depots at Leigh & ■■■■■■■■■■■ . They used to be a familier sight at Ford’s parts distribution centre at Daventry in the 70s as i believe they held the contract for the north western parts deliveries . They also had several F86s painted in ‘carnation milk’ red & white colours as i presume this was another customer of theirs . The last vehicles i remember them using were Daf 3200s which they replaced the Daf 95s with
In the 60s there was an Inter City driver lived in Milnthorpe and he had a Carnation liveried ERF he was based at the Leigh depot but parked up at the paper Mill at Beetham his name was Willie Ferguson (Scotsman) and he had previously drove an ERF 4 wheeler for J.B.Hudsons when they ran a haulage fleet.But when they sold out to Athersmith Bros.of Barrow he started with Inter City.Unfortunatley Willie passed away and left a young family.In 1972 I bought the old R.O.Hodgson depot in the middle of Milnthorpe and the young lass that worked in the office for the Cockney I was buying the depot off was making her redundant so I took her on to work for Bewick Transport and guess what she was the late Willie’s eldest daughter! As I had known her Dad I was pleased to employ her and she got an immediate improvment in both her conditions of work as well as wage rise.Bewick.
Bewick:
tonyhogi:
A long forgotten sight is the blue & white lorries of intercity transport before they disappeared into TDG obscurity . If i remember rightly they had depots at Leigh & ■■■■■■■■■■■ . They used to be a familier sight at Ford’s parts distribution centre at Daventry in the 70s as i believe they held the contract for the north western parts deliveries . They also had several F86s painted in ‘carnation milk’ red & white colours as i presume this was another customer of theirs . The last vehicles i remember them using were Daf 3200s which they replaced the Daf 95s withIn the 60s there was an Inter City driver lived in Milnthorpe and he had a Carnation liveried ERF he was based at the Leigh depot but parked up at the paper Mill at Beetham his name was Willie Ferguson (Scotsman) and he had previously drove an ERF 4 wheeler for J.B.Hudsons when they ran a haulage fleet.But when they sold out to Athersmith Bros.of Barrow he started with Inter City.Unfortunatley Willie passed away and left a young family.In 1972 I bought the old R.O.Hodgson depot in the middle of Milnthorpe and the young lass that worked in the office for the Cockney I was buying the depot off was making her redundant so I took her on to work for Bewick Transport and guess what she was the late Willie’s eldest daughter! As I had known her Dad I was pleased to employ her and she got an immediate improvment in both her conditions of work as well as wage rise.Bewick.
Dennis do you remember Charles Alexander drivers swapping at Kendal.
georgeking:
Bewick:
tonyhogi:
A long forgotten sight is the blue & white lorries of intercity transport before they disappeared into TDG obscurity . If i remember rightly they had depots at Leigh & ■■■■■■■■■■■ . They used to be a familier sight at Ford’s parts distribution centre at Daventry in the 70s as i believe they held the contract for the north western parts deliveries . They also had several F86s painted in ‘carnation milk’ red & white colours as i presume this was another customer of theirs . The last vehicles i remember them using were Daf 3200s which they replaced the Daf 95s withIn the 60s there was an Inter City driver lived in Milnthorpe and he had a Carnation liveried ERF he was based at the Leigh depot but parked up at the paper Mill at Beetham his name was Willie Ferguson (Scotsman) and he had previously drove an ERF 4 wheeler for J.B.Hudsons when they ran a haulage fleet.But when they sold out to Athersmith Bros.of Barrow he started with Inter City.Unfortunatley Willie passed away and left a young family.In 1972 I bought the old R.O.Hodgson depot in the middle of Milnthorpe and the young lass that worked in the office for the Cockney I was buying the depot off was making her redundant so I took her on to work for Bewick Transport and guess what she was the late Willie’s eldest daughter! As I had known her Dad I was pleased to employ her and she got an immediate improvment in both her conditions of work as well as wage rise.Bewick.
Dennis do you remember Charles Alexander drivers swapping at Kendal.
Hiya “George” yea I remember Charlies changing over in Kendal.A couple of them did work for Bewick Transport but to be honest apart from the two I’ve mentioned they weren’t of the quality that we looked for at Bewick’s.Have you been keeping your head down lately or have had difficulty getting onto the site? Dennis.
Hi, my first job after leaving school in 1958 was with Inter-City Transport & Trading Co. Ltd. (the full company name) of ■■■■■■■■■■■ at their London Depot which was at Castle Garage opposite Holloway Womens Prison. The fleet in those days was mainly Leyland 8 Wheelers and Albion medium lorries but included AEC’s and Atkinsons of various vintage and they ran 2 Leyland Steers (Chinese Six) and Trailers. At this time they would run 4 to 6 night trunks from ■■■■■■■■■■■ to London, also to Dudley, Birmingham and Bolton the rest of the fleet would be Trampers on days and could go anywhere. The Fleet colours in those days was a two tone blue with light blue above dark blue, red chassis and gold leaf sign writing but most of the fleet it must be said were in a pretty poor state as in those days nobody had the time to clean wagons and Inter-City’s maintenance left something to be desired. Inter-City had the Ford Spared Distribution Contract which included Tractors for all of Scotland and in those days Fords had a policy of only awarding one area Distribution Contract to a Company and the main spares depot was at Averly, Essex. Main traffic from ■■■■■■■■■■■ included Whisky under Bond, Gin, Carnation Milk ex. Dumfries (Two Leyland 8 wheelers in Carnations Red and White but used on general haulage), Steel, and Tyres…Tony.
Suttons Tony:
Hi, my first job after leaving school in 1958 was with Inter-City Transport & Trading Co. Ltd. (the full company name) of ■■■■■■■■■■■ at their London Depot which was at Castle Garage opposite Holloway Womens Prison. The fleet in those days was mainly Leyland 8 Wheelers and Albion medium lorries but included AEC’s and Atkinsons of various vintage and they ran 2 Leyland Steers (Chinese Six) and Trailers. At this time they would run 4 to 6 night trunks from ■■■■■■■■■■■ to London, also to Dudley, Birmingham and Bolton the rest of the fleet would be Trampers on days and could go anywhere. The Fleet colours in those days was a two tone blue with light blue above dark blue, red chassis and gold leaf sign writing but most of the fleet it must be said were in a pretty poor state as in those days nobody had the time to clean wagons and Inter-City’s maintenance left something to be desired. Inter-City had the Ford Spared Distribution Contract which included Tractors for all of Scotland and in those days Fords had a policy of only awarding one area Distribution Contract to a Company and the main spares depot was at Averly, Essex. Main traffic from ■■■■■■■■■■■ included Whisky under Bond, Gin, Carnation Milk ex. Dumfries (Two Leyland 8 wheelers in Carnations Red and White but used on general haulage), Steel, and Tyres…Tony.
Hiya ,
thank for sharing that with us Tony 
Loads of interesting stuff on a company i knew very little about 
Don’t know if you ever read classic & vintage commercials mag 
but there was a black & white pic of a tatty old Mk3 AEC mammoth major taken in 1966 in the May edition .At least i know what the colour scheme is now 
Didn’t know Fords parts depot was at Aveley , if it’s the same depot- it was the warranty/parts recall centre in the 70s & the tractor parts was at Thurrock , I know of this from my dad- who worked for Swifts,who at that time did the Ford work in the midlands/east anglia areas .
On the carnation Leylands i’m sure i’ve seen a restored one on the rally scene somewhere I only just remember the carnation F86s
I served my apprenticeship with a Ford main dealer in Stow Midlothian In the mid to late fifties. The monthly stock order of parts was delivered by Inter City Transport . In the latter fifties they had a fleet of Thames Trader 6D’s which even then looked very well used. Although their depot was in ■■■■■■■■■■■ i think that trucks loaded at Fords and delivered direct to the dealers. I can remember them delivering wooden crates of reconditioned engines that we fitted to cars on a regular bassis as they were cheaper than over hauling the originals. The loads were all on flats, sheeted and roped.
Regards Jamie.
A Scot Lost in the Valley’s.
I worked for Inter City Transport & Trading at the very end of the 1960’s – ■■■■■■■■■■■ Depot !
Depot Manager then was “Sanny” Dixon – foreman was “Jock” Crawford – I’m afraid I can no longer recall most of the drivers names but a few were – Duncan Valentine, Willie MacFarlane, Willie Tate, John White (who lost an eye in an accident when loading Ford’s crated spares),
Contacts I recall included – Ford spare parts (mainly to Alexanders {Ford agent in Scotland}), Carnation Milk, Camp coffee out of Clyde St. Glasgow, Whisky (various distileries) – also the distribution of Belling Electrical goods as there was two dedicated vehicles in Belling colours.
The Inter City Depot was at Old Inns on what was then the main Glasgow Rd. – I lived in Carbrain ■■■■■■■■■■■ New Town.
All the Ford spares traffic would be loaded at Averly on 8 wheelers mainly Leylands but also AEC Mk 3’s (my particular favorites), Albion HD’s (Ground nut scheme type) or Atkinsons, the big crates with body parts on the outside and small parts including car radio’s in the middle this would result in a high but not too heavy load that would require 3 sheets to cover it, this roping and sheeting was done in full view of the security guard at the gates, you would then have to go and wait for a lot of consignment notes, triplicate for each part loaded, and then when pulling out on occasions the Security Guard would ask you to unrope and unsheet so they could check the load, which would take hours! Also on the Ford spares the Trunker would have to make a very early morning delivery to the main Ford distributor in Carlisle. The Thames Trader 6D’s were only used for distribution from ■■■■■■■■■■■ through out Scotland and also a lot of Albion Chieftens etc were used, talking of 6D’s we had a load of 4D’s in London. The restored Leyland in Carnation colours is a Leyland Beaver4 wheeler and is an ex. Road Services Caledonian Vehicle I believe, Inter-City had 2 Leyland Octopus 8 wheelers in Carnation colours later replaced with 2 Leyland Beaver Artics, all these rarely carried Carnation Milk. Inter-City in the late 50’s early 60’s did get the Camp Coffee contract ( Pattersons, Glasgow) they also, although I forgot to mention it earlier, had a Depot in Derby that had a contract with Petfoods of Melton Mowbray. The Manager at London was Jack Head and I believe the overall boss in ■■■■■■■■■■■ was name Carrol. When I was at Inter-City that carried at that time was the longest load in the UK, this was Driven by Hughie Dunbar using an old Leyland Octopus with the W22 Cab and low geared diffs with a turn table fitted over the rear bogie and a home built dolly made from I believe an Atkinson rear bogie (diffs removed) with an extra lump of chassis laid on top of the original Atkinison chassis. When I left Inter-City to work at Suttons London Depot i found that we would load new bottles from Key Glass, Harlow on 8 wheeler and Trailers for Pattersons, Glasgow ( Camp Coffee) and I have been the trailer mate on a Suttons Waggon and Trailer loaded ex Inter-City Whisky and Aluminium traffic…Tony.
Suttons Tony:
All the Ford spares traffic would be loaded at Averly on 8 wheelers mainly Leylands but also AEC Mk 3’s (my particular favorites), Albion HD’s (Ground nut scheme type) or Atkinsons, the big crates with body parts on the outside and small parts including car radio’s in the middle this would result in a high but not too heavy load that would require 3 sheets to cover it, this roping and sheeting was done in full view of the security guard at the gates, you would then have to go and wait for a lot of consignment notes, triplicate for each part loaded, and then when pulling out on occasions the Security Guard would ask you to unrope and unsheet so they could check the load, which would take hours! Also on the Ford spares the Trunker would have to make a very early morning delivery to the main Ford distributor in Carlisle. The Thames Trader 6D’s were only used for distribution from ■■■■■■■■■■■ through out Scotland and also a lot of Albion Chieftens etc were used, talking of 6D’s we had a load of 4D’s in London. The restored Leyland in Carnation colours is a Leyland Beaver4 wheeler and is an ex. Road Services Caledonian Vehicle I believe, Inter-City had 2 Leyland Octopus 8 wheelers in Carnation colours later replaced with 2 Leyland Beaver Artics, all these rarely carried Carnation Milk. Inter-City in the late 50’s early 60’s did get the Camp Coffee contract ( Pattersons, Glasgow) they also, although I forgot to mention it earlier, had a Depot in Derby that had a contract with Petfoods of Melton Mowbray. The Manager at London was Jack Head and I believe the overall boss in ■■■■■■■■■■■ was name Carrol. When I was at Inter-City that carried at that time was the longest load in the UK, this was Driven by Hughie Dunbar using an old Leyland Octopus with the W22 Cab and low geared diffs with a turn table fitted over the rear bogie and a home built dolly made from I believe an Atkinson rear bogie (diffs removed) with an extra lump of chassis laid on top of the original Atkinison chassis. When I left Inter-City to work at Suttons London Depot i found that we would load new bottles from Key Glass, Harlow on 8 wheeler and Trailers for Pattersons, Glasgow ( Camp Coffee) and I have been the trailer mate on a Suttons Waggon and Trailer loaded ex Inter-City Whisky and Aluminium traffic…Tony.
My memory isn’t what it was and I cannot recall an overall boss at ■■■■■■■■■■■ called Carroll that’s not to say there wasn’t one of course !!
I recall a “Law” – was it possibly Jimmy Law (?) – I have a feeling he was a boss – perhaps I’m wrong !!
Hi, Big Leggy, it was indeed a long time ago, and yes it was Jimmy Law, but the big boss above Jimmy Law was I believe Alex Carrol, but I most certainly could be wrong at this distance in time. At the risk of boring everybody I will mention a couple of stories, although it was a couple of years before I left school in 1956 during the Suez crisis when there was a shortage of fuel the trunk motors used to come down one towing and one on the bar with the engine running on tick over for brake pressure and the waggon on tow would also give a helping hand on some of the climbs which used to make a fully loaded 8 wheeler buck up and down. I remember on one occasion being sent with a Driver to Jack Heads house in Hoddeston taking Batteries and we got an old Albion Breakdown Waggon that was parked in a field going and brought it back to the Depot, this probably did its work with Monty’s Desert Army, it was a 4WD with balloon tyres and a wooden cab which was in a good condition for its age after clearing the cobwebs away, this never left the Depot to tow anything that I can remember. ■■■■■■■■■■■ had an old ex Army Scammel breakdown with a 6 LW with its mighty 112 bhp and on one occasion this machine had lifted a fully loaded 8 wheeled Leyland loaded with whisky which would have grossed over 24 ton out of a ravine it had fallen into, using its winch and running the cable back and forth between trees using winch blocks to reduce the gearing, this was quite a feat…Tony.
Suttons Tony
Not often I’m right and once again I’m wrong !!
Alex Carroll – Carrolls or Carrolls transport were in ■■■■■■■■■■■ (Village before the New Town was thought of) and they were at Smithy End I believe… The garage there never had room to expand so Carrolls was moved to Old Inns and morphed into Inter City Transport & Trading.
Jimmy Law lived in ■■■■■■■■■■■ Village and worked for Carrolls – so I assume he worked his way up the promotional ladder within the company from that start. I my part I found Jimmy Law to be a gentleman to work with/for !
Another great driver from that era – Geordie Rutherford – he left Inter City in the early 1970’s to go to Hoggs on tanker work. He was killed at Beatock by another truck whilst waiting at a junction to join main road !!
mazz:
Another one of the elusive ‘JAR’ reg Transcons
M&C Jamie:
I served my apprenticeship with a Ford main dealer in Stow Midlothian In the mid to late fifties.
Regards Jamie.
A Scot Lost in the Valley’s.
Hi Jamie,I`ve just noticed this.You must have worked at Fairgrieves of Stow.I lived in Fountainhall and served my time in Gala but most of my mates and my young brother went to Faigrieves although in the sixties.Were you still there then?
Hi Gridley51, I did indeed work for Thos Fairgieve at Cockholm works Stow. I left there in the summer of 61 and went to work with United Creameries at Tarff near Twynholm Kirkcudbrightshire. My foremam at Stow was John ■■■■ from Fountainhall and also the two Anderson brothers Rob and Archie also worked there. I was a drummer in the Stow pipe band for a few years, under the leadership of the village bobby Pipe Major Bob Milne. Regards Jamie.
A Scot Lost in the Valley’s.
Hi Jamie.A small world indeed.John Dicks wife ran the post office in Fountainhall,she died suddenly.
I can`t remember the Anderson brothers,but remember the village bobby.Stow still has one.
I think you may have been a bit early for my mates.Dave Kellet,Dennis Macdonald,Peter McGrath,Jim Raeburn app sparkie,Jock somebody from Fountainhall,was always writing of vans,think he was a sparkie too.
Fairgrieves was a big company in these days.Now no longer part of Sherriff of Haddington and a John Deere dealer.No car garage or sparkies,just agricultural,must be thirty years since I was in there.
Mark.
I remember Intercity well, I used to go to the ■■■■■■■■■■■ depot quite regularly. The goods in chappie had the nickname of “Fagin” - well earnt… I seem to remember them having a depot by The Hollies cafe in Cannock ? Take care now !