newmercman:
I had an ex Oliver 143-470, small wonder i he got shot of it as it was an absolute dog of a lorry, not that he hadn’t looked after it, it was in good nick, but very u reliable. IIRC it was G123 SKN.
I’ve got quite a few photos of Vernon’s motors but none of that particular truck. We used to share a yard with him for a while.
I’m assuming it was one of his, same colours, Kent registration, topline Scania. Got it in 94 and it was at least thirdhand by then.
Mark R:
EH Nicholls…once 100% ERF now mainly Ivecos with a few Renaults.
I worked for Nicholls for a few months back in 2000 between more lucrative contracts. Richard Nicholls was a reasonable bloke to work under I thought, although I understand the old man Ernie was a bit of a taskmaster. He’d retired by the time I was there, but his ghost haunted the place!
I don’t think I’ve any pictures of the trucks there, my first few weeks were spent doing holiday relief and I drove the “W” reg Olympic cab EC11 ERF pictured earlier in this thread I’m sure. It was brand new at the time and lovely inside, if I remember rightly there were four of them on consecutive plates.
Funnily enough, even though I’ve driven all manner of wagons, one of my all time favourites was the one Nicholls gave me, a left-■■■■■■ E14 410, with an Eaton twin-split. Pretty tight in the cab, and not the nicest of environments to have to live in, but by god could that thing work. I hammered that the length and breadth of the country and I’ve not driven a wagon I’ve bonded with better before or since. 
I’ve got some pics of the Merc and Iveco I drove for EVR (out of the old BRS yard next to Dover Priory station), and one of the Iveco transporter I drove for DeRooy out of Dartford docks that I’ll scan in and post up when I’ve got a minute.
All the best, Glen.
GlenAnderson:
Mark R:
EH Nicholls…once 100% ERF now mainly Ivecos with a few Renaults.I worked for Nicholls for a few months back in 2000 between more lucrative contracts. Richard Nicholls was a reasonable bloke to work under I thought, although I understand the old man Ernie was a bit of a taskmaster. He’d retired by the time I was there, but his ghost haunted the place!
I don’t think I’ve any pictures of the trucks there, my first few weeks were spent doing holiday relief and I drove the “W” reg Olympic cab EC11 ERF pictured earlier in this thread I’m sure. It was brand new at the time and lovely inside, if I remember rightly there were four of them on consecutive plates.
Funnily enough, even though I’ve driven all manner of wagons, one of my all time favourites was the one Nicholls gave me, a left-■■■■■■ E14 410, with an Eaton twin-split. Pretty tight in the cab, and not the nicest of environments to have to live in, but by god could that thing work. I hammered that the length and breadth of the country and I’ve not driven a wagon I’ve bonded with better before or since.
I’ve got some pics of the Merc and Iveco I drove for EVR (out of the old BRS yard next to Dover Priory station), and one of the Iveco transporter I drove for DeRooy out of Dartford docks that I’ll scan in and post up when I’ve got a minute.
All the best, Glen.
Is this your LHD E14 in this picture here? I’ve put some stuff about these on the ‘Left-Hand-Drive E-series ERFs’ thread. Robert 
Hi Robert.
No, mine must have been the other one (I knew there were two, and that Richard struggled to get anyone to drive them as he considered them a bit long in the tooth to leave the UK). It had “NICHOLLS” across the front, I’m sure, and no EU flag on the door.
I know stickers are easily swapped, and whilst that’s exactly the model, the reg rings no bells.
Thanks for posting the pic though, I’ll put it in my file.
That’s an interesting photo. I’d like to know more about that myself.
lawrence2765:
0Anyone know anything of this company with a Maidstone and Staplehurst phone number Phillips Motors Ltd
According to the Reg No its a 1932 Motor, Regards Larry.
robert1952:
One of Micky White’s motors adrift on the Middle-East run (found on a German website). Robert
Blimey I new some Micky White Truck Drivers in the 70/80’s when I was on Ridham Freight Sittingbourne a bloke called Tony Love was his Traffic Manager (or Something) he came to work for Ridham then it changed to Routier Freight & he bought a lot of Whites old Trucks (Dafs & Mercs) Heres a Picture of the Daf ■■■■ Matthew
Mercedes NG 1626
The old 12-speed ZF (6-speed box with splitters) has come up on several threads recently, and that got me thinking about the Mercs I drove in the early ‘80s in the Faversham area. The Merc NG 1625s had the straight forward 16-speed slap-across Eco-split ‘box, but the older NG 1626s had that 12-speed ZF.
Looking at my old records, I remember that Francis Davies’s OKK -638W and A&RJ Woods’s WUM-690S had the right-to-left (back-to-front) gear shift and were constant-mesh. However, I drove about 10 of these 1626s for local hauliers and I’ve a sneaking feeling that not all of them were constant-mesh but they deffo all had 12-speeders because I recorded them as such — you could opt for the synchro version when ordering them, I understand.
Does anyone remember if they were all constant-mesh or whether there were some synchromesh ones thrown in. Here are the 1626s I drove:
OKK-638W - Francis Davies
WUM-690S - A&RJ Wood
EKR-107V - A&RJ Wood
NBE-781R - LASH
GKO-992V - LASH
AKO-179T - LASH
BKR-807T - LASH
GKJ-839V - LASH
NKM-302W — EKE
Cheers! Robert
Got to say, jealous of your ‘records’ Robert.
All of mine are in my head! Wish
A) I’d kept a diary - it was just life and seemed so, well fun, but ordinary, at the time
B) I’d taken more photos - or even if I could locate the ones I did take!
When I was in my twenties I was never going to be old!
John
Eric Collins (RIP) and myself both had Saviems in Saudi with the ZF splitter box. Eric was a master with his. The change was on the steering column, with lots of linkage. Precision was imperative.
I really didn’t have a problem with it, but tended to be nervous if Eric or his brother Geoff was in the cab, inevitably not exactly matching revs and mesh.
If 5 or 6 of us were going to a restaurant in Dammam, I was always voted to be driver. I could have driven all day and never missed a gear, but with 5 critics in the cab, sharp intakes of breath would follow any slight mismatch!
Geoff lives in Middlesbrough and I visit every year on my Honda 600. He still delights in remembering those missed gear changes!
John.
John West:
Got to say, jealous of your ‘records’ Robert.All of mine are in my head! Wish
A) I’d kept a diary - it was just life and seemed so, well fun, but ordinary, at the time
B) I’d taken more photos - or even if I could locate the ones I did take!
When I was in my twenties I was never going to be old!
John
I just kept a simple log from day one! It showed the vehicle details, load, mileage and destination. And it bailed me out on few occasions too, when it came to challenging complaints etc. In addition, I took plenty of snaps. Robert
No photos sorry 
He, like Eric on the Saviem, could play tunes on the gearbox. I could drive it, it would have pulled you up the face of the Eiger, and never overheated, so important at the time, but I couldn’t handle it with his panache!
The cab was about the width of an Austin Seven, leather seats and nowhere to sleep! I definitely preferred the Saviem!
John
John West:
0Geoff had a old fiat. When it expired he bought an Autocar, normal control. Don’t remember the details but was probably ■■■■■■■ 335 & Fuller?No photos sorry
He, like Eric on the Saviem, could play tunes on the gearbox. I could drive it, it would have pulled you up the face of the Eiger, and never overheated, so important at the time, but I couldn’t handle it with his panache!
The cab was about the width of an Austin Seven, leather seats and nowhere to sleep! I definitely preferred the Saviem!
John
Grew up with a 1934 Austin Seven. I had no trouble sleeping across the seats at 5-years-old! Robert
big jer:
has any one got pics of t.k.bonner/euro bulk of denton wharf,gravesend or swanley transport ( the clark family ) of west kingsdown ?
My dad worked for Terry Bonner on tippers for a long time, i went with him a lot,
Terry was a real nice man, blue red and white livery with gold leaf scrolls, fond memories indeed.
gunnerheskey:
Came across this pic of a Kent haulier, maybe someone remembers them.
big jer:
has any one got pics of t.k.bonner/euro bulk of denton wharf,gravesend or swanley transport ( the clark family ) of west kingsdown ?
My dad drove an old atki for this firm, beer from Belgum
Kool pic
I remember this one in the 1960s. It was kept at the Whitbread Fremlins brewery in Faversham and that appears to be the self-same brewery in the background before it was turned into Tesco. Robert
Cabdaddy:
big jer:
has any one got pics of t.k.bonner/euro bulk of denton wharf,gravesend or swanley transport ( the clark family ) of west kingsdown ?My dad worked for Terry Bonner on tippers for a long time, i went with him a lot,
Terry was a real nice man, blue red and white livery with gold leaf scrolls, fond memories indeed.
That’d be the old man Terry, not the son Terry, he wasn’t a chip off the old block at all.
