At least Lowe’s were not alone with these 6 wheelers.
oxo3:
0Erf LV Sleeper 1965 Then re regisered
tyreman:
At least Lowe’s were not alone with these 6 wheelers.
Indeed not - Sutton’s ran several as well
I worked for Turners when they bought out Lowes and we used Lowes’ depot for a few months then had to move out. Very, very little work came with the buyout, the NAAFI contract was virtually finished and the buyout was basically to give Turners a presence in Kent. Lowes’ equipment was also somewhat peculiar and not main stream, for example 6x4 ERF tractor units with 16 litre Gardner engines and the trailers were narrow and heavy holding 21 or 22 pallets when 26 pallet trailers had become the industry standard. Some of the ERFs we acquired were sold to Eric Vick and one of the 6x4s was retained for special duties at British Sugar Wissington when Turners still had that contract. Turners admitted that the Lowes acquisition was not one of their better decisions and the owner of Lowes was not the easiest person to deal with. Re the East Peckham based vehicles, if memory serves we had four based there initially for daily collections from the Kent packhouses, then they came up to Newmarket for load consolidation.
Very interesting insight Gingerfold.
Looks like the Lowe family got the better part of the deal by far.I did not realize at the time of the sale, but as you say it was for the transport ( goodwill ? ) only.Lowe I see still own the huge yard with all the cold stores etc
The fleet was also ageing, I think the loss of the NAAFI work was much to do with that none replacement.
Yes Turners were certainly sold something that was not…maybe they should have gone further down the road and tried to purchase Henley, but guess Mr Henley would have been seeking an even better deal than Lowe !? 
Yes, not too many people have got the better of Turners where takeovers were concerned, but Lowes certainly did. I think Paul Day then had hopes that he would get Lowes cold stores and depot in time, but he didn’t. Henleys would have been a very good acquisition for Turners and I do believe that tentative discussions did take place.
gingerfold:
Yes, not too many people have got the better of Turners where takeovers were concerned, but Lowes certainly did. I think Paul Day then had hopes that he would get Lowes cold stores and depot in time, but he didn’t. Henleys would have been a very good acquisition for Turners and I do believe that tentative discussions did take place.
it would have been far better for henley transport to have been taken over by the likes of turners.
i worked for many years for jack and i am still in contact with him it was a shame that a bloody good company like henley transport co ltd was ruined by wrm,the only problem is hindsight is a wonderful thing!
WRM spoilt Bewick too !
Thanks for the inside story. The cold store still has Lowe’s name on it to this day, and a google search shows they are still connected to it. There were generally 2 fridges parked at East Peckham with trailers drawn from Newmarket. There were also 2 of Turners Blue Circle vehicles from Northfleet regularly parked there as well, mainly because I was told, the drivers lived in the area.
gingerfold:
I worked for Turners when they bought out Lowes and we used Lowes’ depot for a few months then had to move out. Very, very little work came with the buyout, the NAAFI contract was virtually finished and the buyout was basically to give Turners a presence in Kent. Lowes’ equipment was also somewhat peculiar and not main stream, for example 6x4 ERF tractor units with 16 litre Gardner engines and the trailers were narrow and heavy holding 21 or 22 pallets when 26 pallet trailers had become the industry standard. Some of the ERFs we acquired were sold to Eric Vick and one of the 6x4s was retained for special duties at British Sugar Wissington when Turners still had that contract. Turners admitted that the Lowes acquisition was not one of their better decisions and the owner of Lowes was not the easiest person to deal with. Re the East Peckham based vehicles, if memory serves we had four based there initially for daily collections from the Kent packhouses, then they came up to Newmarket for load consolidation.
MAURICE KEEVES HAS DIED ONE OF THE LONGEST DRIVERS AT LOWES 1969 TO 1993 THIS IS PAUL KEEVES FROM WORK SHOP AT LOWES
CALL ME ON 07521-709934 FOR MORE INFO CREMATION ON 20/8/12 @ 12.00 NOON
oxo3:
0Erf LV Sleeper 1965 Then re regisered
Hiya ,this cab is also a rare boyer(boalloy) cab, notice the vertical door handle.the screen was not
the same as the jennings LV cab, the screens are like rocking horse ■■■.
it would be nice to have that tractor unit to show.
John
lawrence2765:
this would be the erf pkr 668g its now been preserved by a company in shropshire and for some reason or other the lowe family wouldnt allow it to be painted in the old livery,god knows why!0
Heading north out of Maidstone. Just crossing the river.
Some of the Lowe trailers had TSA on them, anyone got any idea what that stood for?
Hello,
I have just joined this Forum and came across this thread after searching on-line for any photos of Lowes,
That photo of ERF wkp563s is of me entering Dover Docks, I worked for Lowes in the 1970/80’s.
This photo was taken in Bari Italy while waiting for the Customs as i had a loaded for London, wkp563s not very clear i 'm afraid.
I am retired now and find this site very interesting, thanks.
Cheers,
Roger.
Always liked the look of their double drive C & E Series - can anyone tell us how/why they came to this spec please?
valleyforge:
Hello,I have just joined this Forum and came across this thread after searching on-line for any photos of Lowes,
That photo of ERF wkp563s is of me entering Dover Docks, I worked for Lowes in the 1970/80’s.
This photo was taken in Bari Italy while waiting for the Customs as i had a loaded for London, wkp563s not very clear i 'm afraid.
I am retired now and find this site very interesting, thanks.
Cheers,
Roger.
Any pictures of B-series ERFs with palm trees in the background is going to get my pulse running! 
Robert
GCR2ERF:
Always liked the look of their double drive C & E Series - can anyone tell us how/why they came to this spec please?
I too have often wondered about this. The only answer I can come up with is that having done quite a lot of work in the '80s roaming the Kent countryside to pick up produce with artic fridges, there was plenty of opportunity to risk bogging down in some of the farms and even fields visited. Even as recently as 2008 I got bogged down in a Kentish farm early one morning (fortunately, with judicious use of the diff-lock I was able to ‘un-bog’ myself before the farmer arrived)!
However, it may have had more to do with the destinations on the Continent that Lowe went to. I expect someone will come up with a definitive answer. Cheers, Robert
Lowe’s had a long term contract with NAAFI or with AAFES to supply military bases in Germany.
I have been told it was especially meat and meat-products, Van Steenbergen had a contract
for supplying Dortmunder beer at that time. Heads up and cheers!
I remember the LV-cabbed twin steers…in the seventies and mid eighties. In World
Trucks No. 1 (coincidence?) a nice picture is printed at the back overleaf. Names on the
tractors had a relation with admiralty.
ERF-Continental:
Lowe’s had a long term contract with NAAFI or with AAFES to supply military bases in Germany.
I have been told it was especially meat and meat-products, Van Steenbergen had a contract
for supplying Dortmunder beer at that time. Heads up and cheers!I remember the LV-cabbed twin steers…in the seventies and mid eighties. In World
Trucks No. 1 (coincidence?) a nice picture is printed at the back overleaf. Names on the
tractors had a relation with admiralty.
There’s a picture of it on page one of this thread! R