Hi all. Just came across this forum by chance; what a great nostalgia trip to hear many of the names now sadly gone. I was in the lorry sheet trade from '77 through till '88 and we made mainsheets, flysheets, tipper sheets etc. for a lot of the hauliers through Kent & Sussex and supplied rope and ratchet straps etc. The tarpaulins shown in the pictures of Hammonds, Woodcocks, A&RJ Wood, Firmins, Swains, Francis Davis & Coombe Valley are almost certainly ones that we manufactured. We used to have a van on the road delivering the new sheets & collecting sheets for repair and in my early days I used to drive round to all the yards on a weekly basis. Happy days…Other hauliers that have come to mind that I haven’t seen mentioned (apologies if I’ve missed any) are:
Louis Reece - Horsmonden
Turks Transport - Benenden
Underwood Haulage - Lenham (sold out to Yeardsley?)
AA McNaughton - East Malling (What was the name of the other haulier in E Malling just under the bridge next to the station?)
Towmaster - Sheerness
J&L Smith - Larkfield
Dover Stevedoring (I seem to recall these were something to do with George Hammond)
A Wood & Sons - Detling
Home Counties Dairies - Headcorn (became Unigate)
C Foreman & Son - Headcorn
South Eastern District Growers (somewhere in East Kent- maybe someone remembers)
More will come to mind I’m sure. Anyone have any memories of these companies and what happened to them? (Maybe some are still operating).
for jonathan the company in east malling you are trying to remember was f.anscombe & son who ran blue lorries when they finished up they were running erfs & mans,and sadly the yard another housing estate.
one kent company you didnt mention was henley transport co ltd of spelmonden nr goudhurst and padoock wood
Oh yes I remember Henleys. Was it Jack Henley? So long ago I’m not sure. And yes Fred Anscombe. Do you remember the sons name who ran it when Fred took a back seat?
In an earlier post Merrydown in Horam was mentioned. Does anybody recall the name of the haulage firm located virtually at the front entrance?
Another one that comes to mind from long ago…Portway anyone?
I rememeber Portways they used to have ERF A series and MANS i used to do 4 containers a day there from Barking when I just started out also fisher farms and another company cant think of the name at a place called Molash
Any pics of the other Clarkes over your side allways had a very clean fleet red 8 wheel tippers had ERF and Atki defenders
yes it was jack henley who owned and ran henley transport.
bob anscombe was the son of fred anscombe from east malling.
do you remember goldwells also of east malling,and some other locals colin ashby of boughton monchelsea,g g tomkinson of marden,mumfords of marden and also g bosman transport of maidstone?
BIll Clarkes are stii about see them in the port all the time got a nice HIno
And we used to do 3 favershams not 4 shuu lol
Remember Bosmans bought a Renaullt off him that yard cant still be there
Heres a few more from my home town Sittingbourne…William Elvy, Hammonds, Butler & Coleman, Brown Bros, RA Beck, KN Wilson, Measdays, Barrio, plus dozens of owner drivers. All of which have now packed up ( except EH Nicholls ) who still operate from the same yard as they did almost 40 years ago!.
Francis Davis from Faversham had a tidy fleet. This poor qulity photo shows one of their Scammell Crusaders. They later went over to Mercedes with one or two Volvos.
Hi Chris, ive got several photos like that and that was the best of the lot im affraid. I think that Crusader started off in their original green colour but was resprayed blue later. To be honest it looks like it was painted in the yard with a broom!.
Some great reading in this thread-I’ve lived in Kent since 1969 and have had a lifelong interest in trucks stemming from trips out with my Uncle when we visited him on holiday (he worked for Hills of Cardiff from their Wigan depot).
I don’t have much experience in the business-my career took a different path but I did spend about 6 months (around 1983) working for Inter City Trucks in Lympne under the old YTS scheme as I lived in the village of Sellindge about 1/2 mile away. I was in the workshop and remember it being pretty daunting for a wet-behind-the-ears 16-year old but had an enjoyable time nevertheless.
I remember a few names from my time there, Colin ‘Nobby’ Clark-foreman fitter (who I subsequently worked with again at another firm),Nicky Dean-another fitter who was black & built like a brick outhouse, and driver Brian Dray who took me out to Germany on a trip in a DAF 3300 (can’t remember if it was in ICT livery or not though).
I believe one of the directors was a Mr.Johnson & the company was sadly wound up in 2005.
Has suffered a brain tumour and is extremely ill. If there is anyone reading who remembers him, I am sure that he would like to read any messages or recollections, which I can pass on.
Vic is now a retired fitter who originally came from Boughton Monchelsea nr Maidstone and worked for W.H Gatward, H.E. Woodcock, and a mobile HGV repair company called Direct Auto Service who were based in Edenbridge. He then went to Transfleet eventually transferring to their Bristol workshop, which is where he now lives.
Anyone who worked for any of the above companies or: BRS on Sutton Road Maidstone, Booker at Edenbridge, ITT at Paddock Wood, Security Express at Aylesford, Underwoods at Aylesford, Bosmans at Ditton to name a few may well have come across him.
