robert1952:
0
Thats better. At least my Crusader is hooked up to the correct trailer. I would think the picture was taken early on as I did a little bit of damage to the top front of the Tautliner after hitting an overhead gantry on a farm and its not showing here.
Personal question Iâm afraid. Does your user name Sandway indicate perhaps that you maybe once had fair (blond) hair? I recall one of the Mitchell and Robertson Crusader drivers I used to see on market work was as they say: âbuilt like a second row forwardâ and had blond hair. Or was that tâother one?
cav551:
Personal question Iâm afraid. Does your user name Sandway indicate perhaps that you maybe once had fair (blond) hair? I recall one of the Mitchell and Robertson Crusader drivers I used to see on market work was as they say: âbuilt like a second row forwardâ and had blond hair. Or was that tâother one?
That was tâother one. According to my wife I am still skinny as I was then. However, tâother one and I used to load out of Western Docks, Dover together quite often. Always 20 ton handball loads and not many times did he finish ahead of me.
I see that on the Tyne thread you have said what a long slog it was up to Gateshead with apples for market. Do you remember one-eyed Charlie who used to drive for GJ Duncanson and whose regular trip that was? He even used to do it there and back sometimes.
cav551:
Personal question Iâm afraid. Does your user name Sandway indicate perhaps that you maybe once had fair (blond) hair? I recall one of the Mitchell and Robertson Crusader drivers I used to see on market work was as they say: âbuilt like a second row forwardâ and had blond hair. Or was that tâother one?
Sounds like Mr Norman Horsford he has fair hair and very well built and strong as an ox.
Had the pleasure of both Norman and John Spicer as shunters for me on Henley Transport both ex Mitchell and Robertsons and both bloody good loaders who regularly loaded multidrop trunks for change overs with the Rochdale depot, these two men were very good at their job and we very rarely had any damages on their loads.
Seeing mention of Henleys reminds me that Charlie Creasey, who is one of my wifeâs cousins, used to go to Gateshead regularly on nights for Henleys. The mention of shunting recalls Curly Smith, who after leaving Firmins took the short trip to Branden Farm as a shunter for Mitchell and Robertson and later Staplehuest Transits.
cav551:
I see that on the Tyne thread you have said what a long slog it was up to Gateshead with apples for market. Do you remember one-eyed Charlie who used to drive for GJ Duncanson and whose regular trip that was? He even used to do it there and back sometimes.
I donât remember one-eyed Charlie but do remember finding it difficult to keep two eyes open let alone one!
I remember Charlie who worked for Duncansons was a happy old boy would be over Sheerness doing store for Woods or Portways. when not doing hay cart for Duncansons or there market work. Barrio used to be in Gateshead most nights when he got the F12s in the early years (80s)and reload out of Brighouse with a few drops on the way home ,drivers. would do three or four a week up and back.
flocko:
I remember Charlie who worked for Duncansons was a happy old boy would be over Sheerness doing store for Woods or Portways. when not doing hay cart for Duncansons or there market work. Barrio used to be in Gateshead most nights when he got the F12s in the early years (80s)and reload out of Brighouse with a few drops on the way home ,drivers. would do three or four a week up and back.
Ah yes Brighouse! Was that the Marshalls of Southaram work. Concrete bricks and slabs. Always a good return load but what was the name of the Clearing House we got the loads through?
For 17 years I lived about 100 yards from GJ Duncansonâs Pympes Court Farm. We always knew when Charlie was on his way home because he had muffled air horns on the lorry and he needed to use them since the road was so narrow and was used as a rat run into town. I canât recall the the reg of the earlier lorries but the last one was B 906 VKL, like its immediate predecessor a 2421 Merc 6x4 tautliner. I serviced the lorry for the last 18 months of its life, but by 1999/2000 it was a very tired lorry indeed, I took it to Bristol Market several times in this period when Charlie was off sick ( I think he broke his ankle) and that was far enough for me let alone the North East. It had covered quite a considerable mileage for a six wheeler by then, IIRC Charlie reckoned it had done something like 500,000 miles by the time it was retired.
Follow up to my post on 1st Sept.
I had joined Mitchell & Robertson because I wanted to travel and as a lorry driver I did see a fair bit of the UK. By 1973/4 I was on artics doing the fruit and veg markets as well as other fruit related work. However, I had never done Glasgow market. One day whilst hanging around the yard in a quiet period John Mitchell came to me to say they had been offered a 20 tons load of onions to Glasgow. This had to be there by a certain time. Canât remember what the timing was but I had to say to John I couldnât do it in my time. I think he knew what I would say and was about to walk away when I said the only way it could be done was with 2 drivers. John hurried off to talk to Norman Horsford, one of our other artic drivers. Norman agreed. We both went home to rest and grab our gear. The trailer was loaded for us and later we set off in my Crusader because it had a sleeper cab. Canât remember how we ran but of course we shared the driving and we got the load there on time. We couldnât get a return load and so ran back empty. The company certainly lost money on that job.
I have remembered the names of 2 other drivers who were on at that time. There was Jerry the German. Ex POW who married and stayed on in the UK. Nice guy. I used to listen intently as he related details of his trips back to Germany. I knew thats where I wanted to be doing my driving. The other driver was Victor. A Spanish Basque from North West Spain. He and I tried to get jobs on Olliquigi (spelling) Transport Co from Spain without success.
In 1976 John Mitchell managed to get hold of 2 x 1924? ex demo Mercedes tractor units. I had one, GUG 913N and Norman had the other. If I remember rightly we both kept our own Tautliner trailers. Peter Capon took over my Scammell Crusader with a hired-in flatbed trailer and Normanâs Crusader was, I think, disposed of. The difference in comfort compared to our Scammells was unbelievable. I worked from home a lot and the Halfway Cafe at Harrietsham was where I parked the lorry. Derek the owner was very good about about it as long as I spent some money in his cafe every so often. It was here I met drivers going off abroad. One guy I met was off to Baghdad with a Denis fire engine. After I fired off a series of questions to him he admitted he had never been abroad before. This had me thinking, if he can do it so can I. I also met drivers working for Promotor. They would often be returning from Poland, Hungary or further afield. I knew that this was the company for me. But I could see that it would help my cause immensely if I had some experience of driving abroad before I applied for a job with them. Unfortunately this meant starting at the bottom of the ladder again and thats what I did. Before then though both Malcolm Robertson and John Mitchell must have realised where my ambition lay. Malcolm started to sound out companies about continental work and on one occasion he and I visited one of them. He confided in me that the company would have major problems with death duties when old Mr Mitchell died. This didnât happen when I was there but assume thats why they sold up later.
Donât remember how I found out about my next job but I applied and was taken on by Invicta Transport from Maidstone running initially to Belgium and Holland. But thats another story.
I went to Beltring Truckfest, but I do find that the Truckfest organisation appears to be all about celebrity-culture and entertainment. I was bored after 35 minutes and went home. I should have learned my lesson at Peterborough! They could learn a lot from the Retro Show at Gaydon!
However, it was nice to see my old employer Harrier Express represented there. The long-serving driver I spoke to gave a good account of the success of the company and was clearly a good ambassador for them. I only took one pic, but here it is! Robert
Some good old Kent lorries on this one-page thread from 2009. Hereâs the link:
Robert
Two Kent transport companies I have not seen mentioned on this forum before are Invicta Transport and Butchers Removals both of whom operated out of a yard on the right at the end of Hart Street in Maidstone. They were cousins of the boss of Bosmans Transport out at Fairleigh. I think the yard and storage may have been redeveloped as when I looked at a google map it looks as if there are new buildings up there. I had worked for Mitchell & Robertson of Staplehurst for over 6 years doing Fruit market work in the UK but wanted to do continental work so I got a job with Invicta Transport running to Belgium and Holland in, I think, the latter part of 1976.
This was very much starting afresh on the bottom rung of the ladder but it did give me experience of working abroad. Invicta was owned by Alan Butcher and Paul Butcher owned Butchers Removals. Paul, I see, is still in business with 4 offices around Kent. He has a storage facility in Staplehurst and when I knew him he also lived in Staplehurst. I read online recently he has been involved in local politics for over 30 years. I can well believe this. He had one of the most infectious smiles I have ever seen. He got on so well with everyone. A really nice guy. Alan was the exact opposite. A very difficult person to work for. But I needed continental experience and he was able to provide it. He only had one lorry. A Volvo F89 which by the look of it had done a fair bit of middle east work. He also did a bit of haulage on the concert scene for Burt Weedon and ACDC as well as a few others. This he handled himself except for one memorable occasion when I did a gig for ACDC at the Mecca Ballroom in the Bullring, Birmingham. I went to the concert in the evening thinking this is great. 3 hours later my head was spinning. It was nothing but mad, bad, loud frenzy music. The crowd that night was about 600 strong. Almost all lads with a sprinkling of girls to add a bit of colour. Half the blokes were spaced out writhing on the floor. Iâm glad I only did the one gig.
However, well before then I did my first trip abroad to Lokeren. Alan was pulling for, I think, Eurotrans who were part of the Wim Voss company. They had 8 new flat trailers two of which were coil carriers for loading out of Shotton in North Wales. We always shipped to Ostende. Our base in Belgium was the Tankwash at Lokeren. Very handy as it had a good truckstop attached. Canât remember any of the other hauliers pulling these trailers accept Brinor Freight from Swindon way. I seemed to work day and night on this job. Alan was, I believe, only paid whilst I was running loaded on a milage basis. He may have been paid a small retainer.
Then to cap it it all my F89 was taken off me so Alan could swan off round Europe on an ACDC concert tour. To keep the Eurotrans business going he bought or maybe he found it in a scrapyard a very old, very ugly, very past its prime, the worst lorry I had ever set my eyes on. I canât even remember what make it was. I do remember it was an ex Locks of Headcorn vehicle, once many years before, to which somebody had added (badly) a small sleeper pod. It had a small underpowered Gardner engine and was very prone to breaking down. I was in the yard when it first arrived and I remember Paul saying to Alan âyouâre not sending him abroad in that are youâ. He was and off I went. As I said this lorry had a propensity for breaking down. On one occasion it broke down on the ferry coming home. I dropped the trailer and a tug pulled me onto terra firma with the brakes locked on. By this time I was getting really cheesed off but consoled myself by thinking of the experience I was getting!
After a couple of months I got the F89 back and Alan dropped the Eurotrans work and signed up with Wilgo Freight in Essex who were running a small groupage service to Rouen and Paris reloading mainly full loads from the Rouen area. It was traction only pulling a Wilgo tilt trailer which was in good condition. We were then shipping over to Boulogne from Folkestone on P & O Lion or Tiger ferries. I was doing mainly one trip a week and it was almost civilised. But the time was coming when I could approach the company I really wanted to work for, Promotor (Europe) Ltd at Dunton Green, Sevenoaks.
If one of you knowledgeable contributors recognise or have photos of the old ex Lock unit I drove I would love to hear from you or see the photos.
sandway:
Two Kent transport companies I have not seen mentioned on this forum before are Invicta Transport and Butchers Removals both of whom operated out of a yard on the right at the end of Hart Street in Maidstone. They were cousins of the boss of Bosmans Transport out at Fairleigh. I think the yard and storage may have been redeveloped as when I looked at a google map it looks as if there are new buildings up there. I had worked for Mitchell & Robertson of Staplehurst for over 6 years doing Fruit market work in the UK but wanted to do continental work so I got a job with Invicta Transport running to Belgium and Holland in, I think, the latter part of 1976.
This was very much starting afresh on the bottom rung of the ladder but it did give me experience of working abroad. Invicta was owned by Alan Butcher and Paul Butcher owned Butchers Removals. Paul, I see, is still in business with 4 offices around Kent. He has a storage facility in Staplehurst and when I knew him he also lived in Staplehurst. I read online recently he has been involved in local politics for over 30 years. I can well believe this. He had one of the most infectious smiles I have ever seen. He got on so well with everyone. A really nice guy. Alan was the exact opposite. A very difficult person to work for. But I needed continental experience and he was able to provide it. He only had one lorry. A Volvo F89 which by the look of it had done a fair bit of middle east work. He also did a bit of haulage on the concert scene for Burt Weedon and ACDC as well as a few others. This he handled himself except for one memorable occasion when I did a gig for ACDC at the Mecca Ballroom in the Bullring, Birmingham. I went to the concert in the evening thinking this is great. 3 hours later my head was spinning. It was nothing but mad, bad, loud frenzy music. The crowd that night was about 600 strong. Almost all lads with a sprinkling of girls to add a bit of colour. Half the blokes were spaced out writhing on the floor. Iâm glad I only did the one gig.
However, well before then I did my first trip abroad to Lokeren. Alan was pulling for, I think, Eurotrans who were part of the Wim Voss company. They had 8 new flat trailers two of which were coil carriers for loading out of Shotton in North Wales. We always shipped to Ostende. Our base in Belgium was the Tankwash at Lokeren. Very handy as it had a good truckstop attached. Canât remember any of the other hauliers pulling these trailers accept Brinor Freight from Swindon way. I seemed to work day and night on this job. Alan was, I believe, only paid whilst I was running loaded on a milage basis. He may have been paid a small retainer.
Then to cap it it all my F89 was taken off me so Alan could swan off round Europe on an ACDC concert tour. To keep the Eurotrans business going he bought or maybe he found it in a scrapyard a very old, very ugly, very past its prime, the worst lorry I had ever set my eyes on. I canât even remember what make it was. I do remember it was an ex Locks of Headcorn vehicle, once many years before, to which somebody had added (badly) a small sleeper pod. It had a small underpowered Gardner engine and was very prone to breaking down. I was in the yard when it first arrived and I remember Paul saying to Alan âyouâre not sending him abroad in that are youâ. He was and off I went. As I said this lorry had a propensity for breaking down. On one occasion it broke down on the ferry coming home. I dropped the trailer and a tug pulled me onto terra firma with the brakes locked on. By this time I was getting really cheesed off but consoled myself by thinking of the experience I was getting!
After a couple of months I got the F89 back and Alan dropped the Eurotrans work and signed up with Wilgo Freight in Essex who were running a small groupage service to Rouen and Paris reloading mainly full loads from the Rouen area. It was traction only pulling a Wilgo tilt trailer which was in good condition. We were then shipping over to Boulogne from Folkestone on P & O Lion or Tiger ferries. I was doing mainly one trip a week and it was almost civilised. But the time was coming when I could approach the company I really wanted to work for, Promotor (Europe) Ltd at Dunton Green, Sevenoaks.If one of you knowledgeable contributors recognise or have photos of the old ex Lock unit I drove I would love to hear from you or see the photos.
The Butcher brothers were cousins to the Bosman brothers of Maidstone then Ditton (where I was the transport manager).
Sadly a few days ago Paul Butcher passed away.
Thank you lawrence2765 for letting us know that Paul Butcher has recently passed away. I am glad I mentioned him and his company in my last post. As I said in that post I found Paul to be a friendly and honest guy and at a guess I would have said he was still quite young. RIP Paul.
Just been reading some posts from yesteryear when I noticed the late Archie Paice had asked if anyone had any news or knew of Pat Riley from Staplehurst in Kent. All I can add is that when I was working for Alan Butcher of Invicta Transport from Maidstone in the mid 70âs Pat was often in the yard. I always thought he had worked for Alan at some time before I arrived as both Alan and his brother Paul (Butchers Removals) spoke warmly of him. I think Archie said Pat drank at the Stylebridge Inn, just up the road from Mitchell & Robertsonâs depot, the company I had worked for prior to Invicta.
eddiet:
Seen in Frenaros Cyprus 11/09/2016
Wow thatâs cool, wonder if any other Coulling Bros gear ended up other there?..
I was working for Mitchell and Robertson in the early 70âs and was driving a Scammell Crusader sleeper cab with Rolls 220 engine. We were based at Branden Farm, Staplehurst. Roundabout 74/75 two more Crusaders with sleeper cabs turned up in the area. They were painted green, pulled flatbed trailers and seemed to only deliver fruit up north. They had Rolls 280 engines and went like stink. I think they were based on a farm a couple of miles from Branden Farm in Chart Hill Road on the way up to Chart Sutton. They were like ships in the night. Never did find out who they were.
