Hello
thought I would add a few more pictures I only went to Hamshall once but it was a day out got to have a look around etc see how the other half lived… I also managed to get to B/ham Twice but anyway back to Swindon now for some reason some drivers seemed to have a problem with trees when they were in the Hampshire region which did result in a few mishaps… This trailer 642 found one such tree whilst doing the IOW deliveries not by us but through a third party So on with the pics we have Trl 642,Hamshall depot, a trl that was parked up in B/Ham for a long long time and one of Swindons front yard before it was re done
Hiya all. I worked nights out of Enfield for a few years, but left shortly before it went down the toilet. There were some characters working there, not just at Enfield, but Leggetts in general. The money wasn’t great, but the craic was excellent! Most nights, I was heading to Manchester,(Reddish) depot to swap trailers with the Scottish lads running down from Hamilton(Bothwell). Previously, the change over was done at Lymm truckstop, and prior to that it was done at Appleton Thorne Estate. One night, I was heading to Appleton Thorne. It was a filthy night, weatherwise. The wind was unbelievably strong, and the rain was coming down like stair rods. The good news was, I was only taking a 13 foot box trailer up, as opposed to a 16 foot, curtain sided quad decker! The bad news was it was EMPTY. The M1 part of the journey wasn’t a big deal, but once I peeled off left onto the M6, that’s when the fun started. I was fighting with the steering wheel all the way, but especially on the more exposed sections,e.g. the elevated section past Brum. It was one hell of a run, and I pulled up at Appleton Thorne feeling absolutely drained. The Scottish lad who I was swapping with was already there, box trailer (always like for like), dropped off,and he was feeding his face from his sandwich box, already into his 45. I dropped mine, and hooked up to my return trailer, getting blown to smithereens, and soaked to the skin in the process. I walked over to Jimmy Byers, (my changeover man). Hiya Jim, what a lovely night. “Aye, it’s worse up the road. I hope that’s well freighted, is it?” Actually, it’s m/t mate, I said. His eyes went as big as dinner plates, and for a moment, I thought he was gonna kill me! “Yer kidding me. That one I bought here for you is m/t, what’s going on?” Once I got back down to Enfield, miraculously in one piece, I went to that temple of immense wisdom, which every yard has, namely the office, and asked why Glasgow had risked life & limb, & truck/trailer combo, plus burned a whole lot of diesel, and Enfield, the same, to changeover 2 empty trailers? The answer from the professor on duty at the time? “Because it’s on the system to go, so it goes”. Well I just nodded and smiled!
Right, let’s throw a few names into the arena, and see how we get on. Maybe we’ll get some feedback as to how they are and what they’re up to. Starting @ Enfield, Tony Brown, Albert Archer, Johnny Holland, Meatloaf Simon, Dominic Green, Paddy John, (all drivers). Big Tony, Mark Barrett, Austen, (warehouse). Next up,Manchester, Barry Dawson,(aka Digger), Josie, (drivers). Also, the aforementioned Jimmy Byers from Glasgow. I am in regular contact with Colin Black, another ex Bothwell night trunk driver. He’s well, and still trunking nightly down to Lancashire, but these days for Nobby Dressingtable.
Well, unfortunately the old grey matter has let me down. I can’t think of any more names, so I’m gonna need your help to put some more names on here so that we can hopefully catch up on all the goss. By the way, old Bill Horsey, the night security guard at Enfield is still fine, and enjoying retirement. Alas, John Green, who was Bills colleague in security, died of a longstanding heart condition, 4 years ago.
One reason for the M/T trailer swap could have been down to the fact that one of the trailers may have been needed for its MOT We used to do a few here in Swindon When Swindon shut Mark was at the time working on the Robert Dyas side Mr Boff was the usual driver to visit Swindon on the Reddish trunk he drove one of the “S” reg
Alan Carpenter went to work for Howard Tenens, Tim(Graham) Jackson went to work for Pickerings, Roger Fawcett left to be a prison warden, Tony Barker works for a haulage company that collects leachate, Alan Ballagh works for B&Q, I believe I saw Herby riding his racing bike looked like he had a moustache 
I also have this proudly on my wall.
back in march 2005 the decision was made to put up racking in the warehouse so everything had to be moved out into the sheds at the back The first three pics I took at 6AM on the 7th of march and the last one was taken on the 10th of march at 14:00
Now someone mentioned Mr C well here is the chap in question Swindon also stored good for Hanson (used to come over in container from china) and in turn was shipped out to various retail stores I though I would include one such pic of one of the collection vehicles happy days !
herbington:
thought this link might prove of interest to some people
As a matter of interest, was anyone else prosecuted for that?
And I think I already mentioned, Chris G works where I do now. And I saw Alan approx March 2006 Turning up at B&Q to drive on agency for them.
What happened to Les Regan?
I’ve just thought of a few more names.
Starting at Reddish, (night shift), Brian & Deano, both worked in the office. Colin Horsefield, warehouse supervisor or something like that, although he spent most of every night skiving in the warmth of the office!
Next up, Birmingham, I remember a rather large chap in the office by the name of Martin.
Back to Enfield, Younis from the office. Last time I saw him, he was working in B&Q, Enfield. I bumped into him there shortly after he went from Leggetts. Also, Jason, (night yard shunter). I know he left to go to Excel Tradeteam, just along the road in Brimsdown. Is he still there? Also, Iain who worked evenings in the office, where’s he now? Last but not least, Kenny Rule. He must be getting on now. Is he still with us? IIRC, he lived Chingford way.
I sometimes did a changeover with Peterlee at Grantham. The drivers name was Alvin. Anyone know how he’s doing?
Finally, Steve, the Bridgend driver who did Reddish pretty much every night. His surname was Lasser, or something very similar. The last that I heard, he went to work for Owens of Llanelli. Is he still there, I wonder?
Over the whole of Leggetts, there were a few 18 carat a-holes, as you would expect with a company with so many employees, but these were definitely in the minority. The Linneys had a hell of alot of good people working for them. It’s just a shame they didn’t appreciate that fact, and treat them with some respect. A classic case of ‘Lions led by Donkeys’? 
Come on now, get yer thinking caps on, and let’s see what feedback we can come up with! 
herbington:
two other drivers were prosecuted as well both found not guilty As for les see page four
That surprises me. The ‘Superior’ often approached me to do similar things. I refused though. And I know he often approached Alan.
2010vagabond:
Over the whole of Leggetts, there were a few 18 carat a-holes, as you would expect with a company with so many employees, but these were definitely in the minority. The Linneys had a hell of alot of good people working for them. It’s just a shame they didn’t appreciate that fact, and treat them with some respect. A classic case of ‘Lions led by Donkeys’?
Come on now, get yer thinking caps on, and let’s see what feedback we can come up with!
To be honest, I had no issues with anyone I worked with, nor do I believe they had issues with me. (Apart from Steve that drove the other 7.5t wagon. He had the hump with me almost every day.
Firstly because I did the Swindon run in 2 hours when he made it last till early afternoon. (it was his baby)
Secondly because I started there on a pound per hour more than he was on.
Thirdly because driving his motor one day, I found the cut in the wire leading to the satellite tracker and fixed it. Apparently he got a call while he ‘popped’ to his house one day which I since learned was a daily occurrence when he was on Swindon run.
What happened to Jerry? And Stephen (Don’t call me Steve) Browning-Seath?
SBS was driving for dyas when Swindon shut Enfield bought the loaded wagon down at night and swapped with the M/T one if you look at page two and the photo called last day at Swindon you will see a blue cabbed Iveco that was the dyas truck If you mean Gerry hanrahan he left a fair while before it closed.
Now bridgend drivers you had Tony howells as mentioned Steve Lasser and another driver who used to drive X981 MKM Martin I forget his second name prior to that martin did drive P991 GKK that ended up being the shunter in Birmingham Now in case your wondering if one of these pics is a bit grainy it is actually snow it was throwing it down but deliveries had to be done!
I worked for Leggetts for 13 years and loved every second of it, I would have stayed there until I retired, fantastic company, if you were a wan ker they treated you like one, but if you worked hard you were rewarded. The Linneys were always good to me.
I’d go back there in an instant.
I too thought I would be there until I retired but alas it was not to be as you say it was a good place to be the legend was that there were people queuing to get in at the start but at the end people were queuing to get out I remember well the time when they were over at the old Shrivenham rail station not far from the queen vic pub there was a bell on the gate and the two guard dogs kept in the old rail van The weekends were the worst as the farmers used to be out hunting rabbits and on more than one occasion shotgun pellets would hit the outside wall and roof but yes as you say they were good times Now who remembers this little incident
That’s a hard one, I’d say it was when the diesel tank leaked, but it’s possible it was the fire you started, how we never got shut down I’ll never know, arriving for work involved losing a layer of skin and singed hair, and that was before you got to the gate. I swear you could see the glow from space.
Diesel spill probably.
my fires were not that bad and it was not my fault that the skip welded to the floor Yep that pic was when the fuel tank ruptured not long after it had been refilled Remember it well coming into work in the early hours to find everyone at the gatehouse and tankers and the fire stoppers in the yard now how about this one
That fuel tank rupture was discovered by me.
I saw that the bund was swollen, climbed the gantry and looked in to find it full of diesel. I phoned Tony who said to tell the chap who worked in the office. (mark?) we went outside and it was suggested we phone the fire brigade as it had started leaking. They arrived, and me and Mike Poynter were shunting the trunks and motors around the back while we could. I was there till 9pm that night. Tony came back in at 8pm after being called by Les who showed up not long after I phoned the fire brigade. I don’t remember Neil coming back that night.
Next day environmental services were there with a road sweeper sucking up the yard.
when me and simon rolled into work Neil Les and Tony were all sat in the gatehouse there was a tanker parked next to the fuel tank pumping out what was left the fire brigade has put booms and bags across the drains to stop it seeping into them
I believe that picture is a wasps nest in the trailor because it had sat around for so long because of makro I think.