lurpak:
yes, nice stories keep them coming Ade
Thanks Ade glad you are enjoying them lots to come I only just got to 15 so another 53 years to go better get the finger out- tomorrow is too late Regards Noel
hi laurie great story sounds like my own wating for next episode all the best neil b
Hi, Geat memory you have, I remember Warners cattle wagons,the last one I remember was a 6 wheeled ERF about a T reg. Driven by a chap called John Spiers, I think he bought the truck & carried on When Warners finished livestock. regards Rog
Just turned the machinery on after a couple of days and was headed to your thread by lurpak.
As you will probably be aware, you are writing my life story as well as your own! Brilliant read so far, butty- looking forward to the rest. Keep it coming.
P.S. I just got a whiff of the piggy doo-doo from all those years ago!
Great stuff Noel,I like the way you remember registration numbers of the old stuff,it really backs up the stories.Are you gonna tell the little tale of how we met each other later on?.. 
,Cheers Bubbs
Neil B:
hi laurie great story sounds like my own wating for next episode all the best neil b
Thanks neil glad you are enjoying it- lots to come!
driveforce 1:
Hi, Geat memory you have, I remember Warners cattle wagons,the last one I remember was a 6 wheeled ERF about a T reg. Driven by a chap called John Spiers, I think he bought the truck & carried on When Warners finished livestock. regards Rog
IIRC when the ERF expired he had an ex Gordon Gilder 112 rigid 6x2 I have Known John Spiers for years and his wife Iris since i was in early childhood .Regards
bubbleman:
Great stuff Noel,I like the way you remember registration numbers of the old stuff,it really backs up the stories.Are you gonna tell the little tale of how we met each other later on?..
Hi Marc as long it is not detrimental to anyone, anything I can remember will be told!! Nice to hear from you mate any way how on earth do you expect me to remember that we met at Elstree when I was on Sun Valley who do you think I am memory man? Best regards mate Noel
Retired Old ■■■■:
Just turned the machinery on after a couple of days and was headed to your thread by lurpak.
As you will probably be aware, you are writing my life story as well as your own! Brilliant read so far, butty- looking forward to the rest. Keep it coming.
P.S. I just got a whiff of the piggy doo-doo from all those years ago!
Hi Casey I’m glad you’re enjoying it I thought it would be right up your street! Just wait a few episodes until I get to the" Wilderness Quarry Get Rich Quick Scheme" should be good for a laugh eh? Regards Noel
I am extremely busy at the moment and consequently I am considering omitting the episode relating to the next eight years because it is mainly about plant hire and contracting which I don’t really think is relevant on here. .Probably will not be able to do any more until later tomorrow ,then next week will be evenings as I am back at work and it is manic!
May I also join the ‘love the story’ club, really enjoy it when I think I did that or similar. The other thing that catches me out is thinking great another old timers reflection of life on the road only to realise you’re (just) younger than me. Top topic, keep it going.
Hi Laurie
Enjoying the read. From the very early sixties to till we finished livestock transport in 1987 we did the Wall’s pigs from Northumberland / Durham down to the factory in Ashton u Lyne. Same as yourselves it was 5/6 pick ups, all swill fed heavy hogs, then down the road and back again. It was a night and day job. Used to often ride shotgun during the school holidays.
The double decker you mention would have belonged to Tommy Muckle from Rothbury in Northumberland. I think they had the first double deckers in the country but I stand to be corrected on that point.
Muckles were a large concern and Tommy was a good friend of my Father’s. Not sure exactly how many wagons they operated but they packed in about the mid sixties.
Looking forward to your next episode.
Cheers Tyneside
Now look here, young Dryver, don’t start missing periods out just because a) you think nobody’s interested and b) you can’t be arsed!!!
Some of us spent time on plant hire, operating, repairing and hauling it, so “kip 'er lit” and let’s have the whole, unabridged story. 
I am instructed by my learned colleague and fellow Gloucestershire livestock man - Retired Old ■■■■ ROF for short that according to rof rules I am forbidden to miss the next episode so rather than incur his wrath I will write it .It may be a trifle boring for some, if so, I apologise but there is not too much of it because my priorities had moved a little further down my anatomy at this time .Thanks
Evening all, Hello Noel, this makes great reading!! Please keep it coming.
Rob Owens sends his best, I still keep in touch with him, even though he has gone down south to Chippenham.
Like you and, Dave, and ROF, and so many of us I started my" love affair", long before pubity! and it still goes on…WS and O serie, long before I left school…motor cycle licence at 16…and delivering “mutton chops on legs”, around the Shropshire hills on an O serie…when I was not clouting gate posts… Foden S18, at (I think), about 18, (but only part time I`ll have you know)!..(.I was a trainee watchmaker by then), by 20 I was full time on a Foden 4 wheeler…but only local…Shropshire, South Wales, the Black Country…6 months later I was trying to master an artic…12 months later I was on Tilbury Dock, a very nervous youngster on my way to France.
Were we criminals? NO, but things were very different back then, and you worked within the family, and worked B hard, but enjoyed every second of it…well I did.
Keep on writing, I just cannot post pictures at all, so you must be an advanced level chap!!
Cheerio for now
I had thought that maybe I was in the minority, with my “criminal” past.
I was making my way through Wales, en route for a potato merchant in Llanelli with a ten ton load of potatoes on the back of an ex-Midlands Shires Farmers Commer TS3 when I descended a hill (What? Hills in Wales?)which had a temporary set of traffic lights at the bottom. Seeing that there was no traffic approaching from the opposite direction, I floored the throttle and sped through on red, the better to get up the other side. The inevitable happened- the officer who had been relaxing in his car just inside a gateway planted himself in the middle of the road, right arm raised in an unmistakeable gesture indicating, STOP!
After a few words of advice regarding the wisdom of passing a red light, even if the road was clear, he let me on my way.
The words, “Sigh of relief” were never so apt- I was only eighteen, hadn’t a clue if there was a log book in the cab or not and had not long filled the tank with some very pretty pink-coloured fuel.
Saviem:
Evening all, Hello Noel, this makes great reading!! Please keep it coming.Rob Owens sends his best, I still keep in touch with him, even though he has gone down south to Chippenham.
Like you and, Dave, and ROF, and so many of us I started my" love affair", long before pubity! and it still goes on…WS and O serie, long before I left school…motor cycle licence at 16…and delivering “mutton chops on legs”, around the Shropshire hills on an O serie…when I was not clouting gate posts… Foden S18, at (I think), about 18, (but only part time I`ll have you know)!..(.I was a trainee watchmaker by then), by 20 I was full time on a Foden 4 wheeler…but only local…Shropshire, South Wales, the Black Country…6 months later I was trying to master an artic…12 months later I was on Tilbury Dock, a very nervous youngster on my way to France.
Were we criminals? NO, but things were very different back then, and you worked within the family, and worked B hard, but enjoyed every second of it…well I did.
Keep on writing, I just cannot post pictures at all, so you must be an advanced level chap!!
Cheerio for now
Hi Saviem pls give my best to Robo ,there will be pics of OFH 572R & YDF 342S which he sold to me on here soon. Our stories remind me of the one about the infamous John Richardson who worked for Sunter Bros in Northallerton for about 50 years who allegedly was stopped for speeding on the A1 at Aberford driving a timber carriage when he was 14! Top man Eh !regards Noel
