Does anyone remember Mullan’s of Chesterfield who operated Leyland Octopus high sided tippers on coal haulage in the 1960’s and 70’s? Any information or photos would be welcome. One of the owners was Peter Mullan and I think that his brother was also a part owner of the business.
i remember them well , there is also quite a bit about them on the " old coal men of the 60s " thread . i don,t have any photos , but plenty of memories of them ,cheers , dave
Yes you’d see the odd one or two through Cromford coming of the A6 and heading up the Via Gellia
in the fifties.Heading I presumed then for Lanc’s., area ie. Trafford Park,Carrington and the many
factories that used coal.And as rigsby says odd pic.on the Peter Slater
thread.All the coal lorry firms that ran around the Derby’s and Nott’s area sadly not many pic’s about
but i always enjoy running through the P.S. thread.
Mike.
This is off the NA3T site.
I remember Mullans very well as a kid in the late 40s and 50s,chasing through Baslow,Calver and Stoney Middleton very often in convoy. If yer mate up front weren’t quick enough then you could be assured of a friendly nudge from an Octopus from behind up Stoney Dale. 
When I worked at Mothers Pride Bakery at Newbold, just outside of Chesterfield, from early 1977, it was a lot more relaxed working regieme in those days and a visit to the pub at lunchtime usually happened a couple of times weekly. Quite often it would be to The Old House, which was being developed into a pub and restaurant by Peter Mullan. Peter was usually to be found at the bar and by then I think that the transport side of his business was quite small, but he still had business interests in heavy plant hire and site clearance and excavation.
Like the lads have said take a look on the Peter Slater & other coalmen of the 50s / 60s thread which is on page 4 at the moment.There is a few post on there about Mullens.
Mullans of Chesterfield. There is a name from the past. They had a 45ton low loader, which I hired from time to time in the early seventies, Never saw it, but always imagined it to be a Foden, with a Dyson trailer ! The chap that I used to contact was a Mr Meanie (not sure that is the correct spelling). Think he came from accross the Irish Sea. They were ok, did what they said they would, and for a reasonable price.
They were before my time but I gather that you could trace their progress through the Peaks by following the trail of spilt coal! What colour were they, it looks like either black or dark green?
Pete.
I think they were dark blue Pete but if not someone will put me right. 
thelongdrag:
I think they were dark blue Pete but if not someone will put me right.
Aye Pete,they were supposed to be dark blue but always looked black. 
Chris Webb:
thelongdrag:
I think they were dark blue Pete but if not someone will put me right.Aye Pete,they were supposed to be dark blue but always looked black.
Thank’s for that Chris and Mike, I didn’t come to this area until 1975 and I guess they had finished by then? Mind you I was working nearer Ashbourne in those days so didn’t have much to do with the East side of the County. Same with Sid Cook, WH Phillips had them by then.
Pete.
windrush:
Chris Webb:
thelongdrag:
I think they were dark blue Pete but if not someone will put me right.Aye Pete,they were supposed to be dark blue but always looked black.
Thank’s for that Chris and Mike, I didn’t come to this area until 1975 and I guess they had finished by then? Mind you I was working nearer Ashbourne in those days so didn’t have much to do with the East side of the County. Same with Sid Cook, WH Phillips had them by then.
Pete.
Sid Cooke I think was from Wessington wasn’t he,ran a lot of Bedford tippers ? I didn’t know W H Philips bought them Pete.
I can’t remember when Mullans finished,I’m sure they were still going early 70s when I was running in and out of Avenue Plant at Wingerworth when on for A E Evans,but with Fodens then I think.
Hiya …WH Phillips wow they did some tramping in the MK1 Atki,s some of these new lads would get a shock if they had to work
as hard as Phillips driver,s did in lorries like they had…just get on with the job…i was on the sugar stone job from Middleton mine
with them one year. i had a S39 artic (J reg)i soon learned the way to drive following those lads from Middleton to Newark.
John
Chris Webb:
Sid Cooke I think was from Wessington wasn’t he,ran a lot of Bedford tippers ? I didn’t know W H Philips bought them Pete.
I can’t remember when Mullans finished,I’m sure they were still going early 70s when I was running in and out of Avenue Plant at Wingerworth when on for A E Evans,but with Fodens then I think.
I understand that Phillips bought Cooks for the A licence Chris, trouble was (my old gaffer told me) that they inherited massive debts plus the A,B,and C licencing ended shortly after so they were not needed really! 
Latterly some of Phillips trucks were on lease I believe, their old workshop is still there on Water Lane but alas not filled with Atkys, Leylands or Dodges! Cooks old garage is also still occupied as well, storage now I believe.
Pete.
3300John:
Hiya …WH Phillips wow they did some tramping in the MK1 Atki,s some of these new lads would get a shock if they had to work
as hard as Phillips driver,s did in lorries like they had…just get on with the job…i was on the sugar stone job from Middleton mine
with them one year. i had a S39 artic (J reg)i soon learned the way to drive following those lads from Middleton to Newark.
John
I heard that overnight cases were frowned on at WHP John,is that right? They were always to be seen in South Wales along with Sam Longson and others.
i can remember mullans well , they used to drop down into chapel out of stick at night or early mornings , how they never hit one of sam longsons leaving the yard was a miracle . they had a woman driver at one time , what a brute , giant haystacks on steroids ! i also recall two of theirs racing neck and neck down from the highwayman until they got to the narrow bridge ( long gone ) , demolished the parapet and ended up in the field . i never knew till then that police cars carried coal sacks in the boot , cheers , dave
rigsby:
i can remember mullans well , they used to drop down into chapel out of stick at night or early mornings , how they never hit one of sam longsons leaving the yard was a miracle . they had a woman driver at one time , what a brute , giant haystacks on steroids ! i also recall two of theirs racing neck and neck down from the highwayman until they got to the narrow bridge ( long gone ) , demolished the parapet and ended up in the field . i never knew till then that police cars carried coal sacks in the boot , cheers , dave
Would that be the Highwayman other side of Wadshelf going towards Baslow Dave? Several tippers went through the old Calver bridge over the Derwent when I was at Curbar school int 40s and 50s.And several bags of Earles Cement adrift near the church.
that was the one below the highwayman chris , it wasn’t long afterwards that they straightened the road out by the bridge . cheers , dave
Hermit:
Mullans of Chesterfield. There is a name from the past. They had a 45ton low loader, which I hired from time to time in the early seventies, Never saw it, but always imagined it to be a Foden, with a Dyson trailer ! The chap that I used to contact was a Mr Meanie (not sure that is the correct spelling). Think he came from accross the Irish Sea. They were ok, did what they said they would, and for a reasonable price.
Yes, the Mullan’s were an Irish family. Peter still had his Irish brogue when I used to talk to him. He was a big man with a moustache but quite softly spoken. Looked a bit like the actor (can’t remember his name) who played Frank Cannon in the detective series of the '70s of the same name.
I found Peter Mullan to be very helpful on one occasion when there was a very heavy snowfall one day, winter of either 1977 or 1978. Mothers Pride bakery was at Newbold located on the cross roads of the B6050 and B6051. The road out from Chesterfield had open fields in those days and in the blizzard the road was becoming impassable through drifting. It had started snowing in early afternoon and we were having trouble getting the bread vans back to the bakery. I had a fleet of 44 bread vans plus night trunking vehicles to get in and out. I 'phoned Peter Mullan and he sent a bulldozer to keep the road open for us as there was no sign of the council snowplough and gritter. The dozer driver kept going until 3.00 am the next day when it stopped snowing, all with a Caterpillar dozer with no cab. He must have frozen his ********** off, despite wearing a leather helmet, goggles and an old army greatcoat. He was obviously one of the old school. He would come into the bakery now and again for a brew and something to eat. He did a 12 hour shift and eventually opened the road to Barlow. Half my nightshift workers couldn’t get to work that night it was that bad. Yes, Peter Mullan and his dozer driver did us proud that night.