not sure if the house in lidsing still belongs to anyone in the family,maybe worth a trip up there and knock one day when get the chance,if they do they may have some photos,another small company my dad worked for was watson+scull-their yard was in second avenue chatham off churchill way,remember going to holland with my dad in a bedford tm,i splept on the parcel shelf+he slept across the seats as the gear stick used to go down to seat level,not been able to find anything on them on the internet yet,cheers mark.
n989 wkp erf ec14 with olympic cab belonging to s & s services of tonbridge originally from tunbridge wells,the company now trades as s & s distribution
Here’s a fine picture from a Leyland Sales brochure for the T45 Range. Does any one know the registration number of this truck? I know fleet number 9 was LKN352W and number 14 was F432HKJ. How many Roadtrains did Les Knight operate in total?
Some pictures from a Mercedes newspaper given away at the '76 motor show. One of RA Becks tippers at Sparshatts, and a couple of articles. What happened to Birdale and C Teers?
Great articles Tyreman, I remember RA Beck used to buy a tipper a year for the Kent Show and then it would end up in the shed down the yard at Chalkwell road for up to a year before be put into service.
tyreman:
Here’s a fine picture from a Leyland Sales brochure for the T45 Range. Does any one know the registration number of this truck? I know fleet number 9 was LKN352W and number 14 was F432HKJ. How many Roadtrains did Les Knight operate in total?
LKN 352W was a Colin Ashby motor, Les Knight must have had it second hand. I think the Roadtrain in the photo was the only ’ High Datum’ cab that Knights had and was driven by Les Knight himself. One of our drivers ( Gordon Watson ) used to drive for Knights at that time so i’ll ask him what the reg number was. It was soon after this that Les passed away and the firm continued with brother Peter in charge.
Love the old R A Beck photo, my old mate Bernie Jordan was on there for years until they packed up. He then had to go and work for Kenny Wilson until he retired.That was a bit of a culture shock after working for Bob Beck for so long…As for Colin Teers, did,nt he keep his lorries in the Mercedes factory blue colour?. Never heard of Birdale though i’m affraid.
Some RA Beck from past Kent Shows. None of these ran with these registrations. G529OKE & H834AKL are both the same truck! I believe “H834AKL” was put into store and never used by RA Beck. It was sold when Bob Holbourne took over after Bob Beck retired.
Nice pictures Tyreman…also looks like one of Alan Hirsts motors creeping into shot on the first one.
As we have been talking about tipper operators, does anyone remember Sittingbourne firm Brown Brothers from Chalkwell Road?. They had a tidy little fleet of rigid tippers of various makes including Fodens, Scammells, and a couple of the early Maggie Deutz eight wheelers.
Seeing the old clippings from Sparshatts reminds me of when my dad used to work for another tipper firm, Hirst & Phelps who parked next to Sparshatts for a while. Heres another photo of one of Alan Hirsts tippers after he split from Robin Phelps.
hi tyreman nice picts of r a becks. good frends with rob jordan whos dad brian drove for bob. he will be so pleased to see picts. cheers mick.
I wonder if he’s related to Bernard Jordan who also worked for Bob Beck?.
Hi Mark i guess its a good chance he is.my mates dad brian jordan is either bobs uncle or cousin. im trying to get hold my mate rob and shall find out and let you know.regards mick
Bernard Jordan is a lovely old chap…he worked for Bob Beck for ages and previously worked with my dad at Martins Transport. Bernie ended up on Kenny Wilsons but has now retired. His son Steve is the manager at Fowler Welch at Teynham and has been for over 20 years.
worked with a few ex fowler boys on griggs andy gregory and some of his clan.
Glad that you are enjoying the pictures. It’s good that they are causing some discussion.
I remember Brown Bros. If I remember correctly Roger Earl was with them and took a Maggie with him when he went on his own.
This is all I have on Hirsts. Seen in a subsequent operators colours.
Yes, your right about Roger Earl, he did start up on his own with an ex Brown Brothers Maggie. It was the last lorry Browns bought and Roger drove it from new. I think it was a ‘C’ reg and was eventually replaced with Rogers first new motor, an ‘E’ reg Iveco 300.25. Roger had three tippers when i worked for him. Two Ivecos & the new ERF E10. The three drivers were myself, Roger & Brian Hadlow.
The Scania T cab in the photo was originaly a 4x2 and was one of two Alan Hirst had. Paul Byfield had it next and it was driven by Gavin Shearing.
They must have had a fair few Mercs over the years.
The Lenhams Storage fleet always look imaculate when i see them,great pics thanks 
