hi larry
thier was a lot of them piles went into the ground down their, freeways did a lot of them aswell
mark
The old days on the Quayside, study the haulage gear , & people made a living doing it, the compare present day ■■■■ it is crap to say the least. red tape from knob heads that cant even drive a HGV, I t was obviousley bloody hard inthe old days, but today, well how can I put it. There are more rules & regs than there is work, Regards LARRY.
A really interesting thread this and some great photos. Sad to see the Spillers Mill being demolished, it was one of the biggest flour mills outside of USA when it opened in 1938. I spent 10 very happy years working for Spillers Milling and visited Newcastle mill on many occasions. When I can get my photos out of store I’ll post a postcard shot of the mill when it opened with a steam waggon just in shot.
gingerfold:
A really interesting thread this and some great photos. Sad to see the Spillers Mill being demolished, it was one of the biggest flour mills outside of USA when it opened in 1938. I spent 10 very happy years working for Spillers Milling and visited Newcastle mill on many occasions. When I can get my photos out of store I’ll post a postcard shot of the mill when it opened with a steam waggon just in shot.
I’ll try and get some more shots this weekend “gingerfold”,I was talking to one of the workers a few weeks ago, he said
the site was scheduled to be cleared by Christmas, I think they may be on target. It is such a shame to see our
industrial heritage disappearing. I wish they could have done something with this iconic building, (after all they saved
the Ranks Mill and turned it into an art gallery.) I still after all these years don’t know anyone who has been inside that
building, but at least it’s still there.regards kevmac47
Aye Kev The Baltic, its just as boring as it was when it Ranks Flour Mill, Ive only been once, & they were showing a display of match stick men made with welding rods I think, & a batch of empty tea chests, It must appeall to some folk though its allways seems to get a good write up in the press, mind you it was free entry, so that may be the attraction to some of the visitors, but once was enough for me. Regards Larry
Lawrence Dunbar:
blackbox:
Hi just been looking at the hino page remembered taking all the hinos sold by davidson @adamson to ziebart to get the cabs done think it was where the copthorne hotel is now, right in the narrow bit tight get in cheers bobThats right they did our New Datsun 160. Blue Bird in 1975,.Im sure they went bust 3 later.There was also .a n exhaust supplier door, & of course like you said the Copthorne stands there now.
the exhaust supplier you mention was it silencer distributors ltd
Yes your right it was S/dbtrs. They did all sorts of systems, we got wagon silincers from them , & decent discount for the trade, All long gone now, along with decent prices, every thing we buy today, is top dollar & some of it is total crap, Long gone out of haulage, but still doing a bit Larry
gordy69:
Lawrence Dunbar:
blackbox:
Hi just been looking at the hino page remembered taking all the hinos sold by davidson @adamson to ziebart to get the cabs done think it was where the copthorne hotel is now, right in the narrow bit tight get in cheers bobThats right they did our New Datsun 160. Blue Bird in 1975,.Im sure they went bust 3 later.There was also .a n exhaust supplier door, & of course like you said the Copthorne stands there now.
the exhaust supplier you mention was it silencer distributors ltd
Is this McPhees/Wilds old garage ? the one with the half a mini sticking out the side of the wall ? back then.
The only McPhees garage I can remeber was the one beside Glasshouse Bridge, plus they had a big yard along Foundrey Lane, Regards Larry
McPhees old garage burnt down a few years back, it had the name on the roof for quite a while after Mcphees had gone, I can’t actually recall if this had the mini sticking out the wall but I can remember that, thought it was quite original at the time. It was rumoured the garage was set on fire deliberately but they tend to say that about all the old buildings gutted by fire in Newcastle now when a definate cause isn’t found. There’s a lot going on down on the quayside just now but I hope they don’t get rid of all the old places. Franky.
Well Jimmy,s cafe building is still standing, all locked up & weeds growing up the steps,a sad sight in my eyes, a lot of drivers dined in there over the years, plus the owner drivers used it as their office, IE, Albert Greenwood, Lofty Marshall, John Lowes & his mate Gordie Melrose, Peter Green, Norman Barwick, , The late Albert would be the last one I think, he took ill ended up in the Freeman, & his Leyland Clydesdale with the Hyab on got stolen while he was in there. Regards Larry.
Heres a few shots I took today near the Spillers site. Also some shots I found on my phone from a couple of months ago.
It shows the progress of the demolition now. I also took a shot of Jimmy’s cafe which will bring back many memories
to lots of drivers who visited the cafe just to see Jimmy’s smiling face and experience his legendary hospitality! 
regards Kev.
Aye Kev I was down that way the other day,what a sad site Eh. Jimmys boarded up, weeds growing 2ft high uo the steps. I suppose thats another end of a era, I remember when Jimmy first opened The St Lawrence Cafe, in the 60s, it was a gold mine to say the least, The docks were still busy , plus all the passing trade, & the grub was canny, plus the pay phone facilty. Albert Greenwood Etc, Etc, used it as their office, & it worked very well for them, Im suprised That Jimmy being such a pheasant plucker, never aske for commision on the ammount of worked that was obtained, in his premmises, Happy Days Larry.
This is the only bit of the Quay that hasnt changed much over the years, also if you look closely to the left just under the Tyne Bridge, there is two of Shorties wagons parked close to their wooden office on wheels, a Trader & a 6 wheeler Bedford. Regards Larry
Lawrence Dunbar:
This is the only bit of the Quay that hasnt changed much over the years, also if you look closely to the left just under the Tyne Bridge, there is two of Shorties wagons parked close to their wooden office on wheels, a Trader & a 6 wheeler Bedford. Regards Larry0
Aye Larry, one empty the other loaded!!!
v7victor:
Lawrence Dunbar:
This is the only bit of the Quay that hasnt changed much over the years, also if you look closely to the left just under the Tyne Bridge, there is two of Shorties wagons parked close to their wooden office on wheels, a Trader & a 6 wheeler Bedford. Regards Larry0Aye Larry, one empty the other loaded!!!
blimey you`ve got good eyes, fredm
v7victor:
Lawrence Dunbar:
This is the only bit of the Quay that hasnt changed much over the years, also if you look closely to the left just under the Tyne Bridge, there is two of Shorties wagons parked close to their wooden office on wheels, a Trader & a 6 wheeler Bedford. Regards Larry0Aye Larry, one empty the other loaded!!!
Aye they had two of those 6wheeler Bedfords, Bob Dale, & Jock Marsh drove them , the Trader was driven by Fred Bernard, aka The Mad Monk, Fire Engine Fred, a canny lad , but what a poser, he could bluff his way out of anything,allways smiling, I suprised he isnt on here, he would be good crack, Regards Larry
Any of you lads who new the Quayside as the picture shows, Baxters Garage, Youngers Warehouse, Arnotts Oils, Love Lane Warehouse at the very end, which is now flash apartments, where Baxters stood , now a car park, The good old days . Larry