Passed one today on the A30 near Hook, a long wooden cabin and called the Shack Cafe. All painted up White, very tidy and probably not a transport cafe now but looked like it could have been at one time, anyone know. 
Can any of you remember the Don Cafe on the A465,top of Glyneath pitch,before you got to Hirwaun. Brilliant grub,as much as you could eat,very busy with the steel drivers,also Harfoots I think on coal.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Can any of you remember the Don Cafe on the A465,top of Glyneath pitch,before you got to Hirwaun. Brilliant grub,as much as you could eat,very busy with the steel drivers,also Harfoots I think on coal.
Cheers Dave.
Dave,was that the one before the NCB railway crossing?
And Harfoots rings a bell,was it Thomas Harfoot from somewhere in Lancashire?
Chris Webb:
Dave the Renegade:
Can any of you remember the Don Cafe on the A465,top of Glyneath pitch,before you got to Hirwaun. Brilliant grub,as much as you could eat,very busy with the steel drivers,also Harfoots I think on coal.
Cheers Dave.Dave,was that the one before the NCB railway crossing?
And Harfoots rings a bell,was it Thomas Harfoot from somewhere in Lancashire?
Hi Chris,
The one you are thinking about was nearer Hirwaun,right by Short Bros,who sold heavy plant,where the conveyer belt took the coal over the road to the washery,canât remember the name of that cafe.The Don was further down the road towaards Glyneath,on the right hand side,if you were going from Hirwaun.
Cheers Dave.
After meeting Mike Fountain of Fountain Bros (Aylesbury) at a show in Yorkshire a few weeks ago we found a common interest
in Atkinson and ERF lorries. I had given Mike my snail mail address and a few days later he sent me pictures of some of the
Fountain Bros Fleet, he also enclosed a short bio of the business. In 1971 they bought a closed down transport cafe and reopened it
the same year, it was called the Carefree Cafe, 115 Lower Road, Stoke Mandeville, Aylsbury. They ran it under that name until 1978
when it was renamed The Ranch House which closed in 1999. regards Big Al
When the M1 used to end at watford, I could not remember the name of the cafe on the corner when you turned on to the A5, then out of the blue in was there, the âBusy Beeâ, quite a few truckers used that in its hayday.
hiya,
Yes Norm have loaded a drop of cholesterol at the Busy Bee many times in the distant past, had completely forgotten about that one.
thanks harry long retired.
Norman Ingram:
When the M1 used to end at watford, I could not remember the name of the cafe on the corner when you turned on to the A5, then out of the blue in was there, the âBusy Beeâ, quite a few truckers used that in its hayday.
Busy Bee used to be a bikers cafe back in the '60s as well !! If you carried on along the A41 (Watford By-Pass) towards Stanmore & Edgware there was another Old Cafe on the right before you reached the Spiders Web (on the left) â anyone recall the cafe & the name (possibly Wallyâs ?) !! Now that is going back a few years !!
The âwooden hutâ at Cromwell near Newark is called CROMWELL HALT, and is a proper timewarp place. Itâs still open, thank God, but for how long is anybodyâs guess as the upgrading to motorway status continues.
Another place which had a similar atmosphere, but which closed years ago was the MOOR CAFE just west of the old Flouch crossroads on the A628 Woodhead road. The derelict building is still there, gradually crumbling into the undergrowth and unseen from the re-aligned main road.
Anyone remember the Beuley Cafe at Newmillerdam (A61 Wakefield) when it was a proper transport cafe? For years there were a couple of early 1930âs wagons, one of them an Albion, and a pair of DKW Junior cars parked round the back. I think at least one of the wagons has been restored.
fodenway:
The âwooden hutâ at Cromwell near Newark is called CROMWELL HALT, and is a proper timewarp place. Itâs still open, thank God, but for how long is anybodyâs guess as the upgrading to motorway status continues.
Another place which had a similar atmosphere, but which closed years ago was the MOOR CAFE just west of the old Flouch crossroads on the A628 Woodhead road. The derelict building is still there, gradually crumbling into the undergrowth and unseen from the re-aligned main road.
Anyone remember the Beuley Cafe at Newmillerdam (A61 Wakefield) when it was a proper transport cafe? For years there were a couple of early 1930âs wagons, one of them an Albion, and a pair of DKW Junior cars parked round the back. I think at least one of the wagons has been restored.
I remember the cafe at Newmillerdam,used it regular before the M1 was open.I remember the Robin Hood cafe just before the Dog and Partridge pub so I think the Moor cafe must have been the wooden building on the r/h corner as you turned off for Sheffield,only a guess though.I started using Woodhead in 1967 and donât recall it being open.The ministry man used to park there doing his silent checks,waved to him regular. 
hiya,
Chris, âwaved regularly to the man from the ministryâ with or without number plate??
thanks harry long retired.
Chris, the Moor Cafe was/is the brick/concrete building on the A628 about 50 yards on the right after the old Flouch crossroads heading towards Manchester. Thereâs a concrete and â â â â â â â â parking area behind. You can still read the name above the door. The site was up for sale when I went up there about a year ago and took a load of photos -guess what? can I hell as like find them!
fodenway:
Chris, the Moor Cafe was/is the brick/concrete building on the A628 about 50 yards on the right after the old Flouch crossroads heading towards Manchester. Thereâs a concrete and â â â â â â â â parking area behind. You can still read the name above the door. The site was up for sale when I went up there about a year ago and took a load of photos -guess what? can I hell as like find them!
Fodenway,I know which cafe you mean now,itâs been mentioned on here before and I couldnât recall itâs name.The owner was a right miserable sod in the 60s and 70s and there was a notice outside saying no this,no that etcâŚI never used it and I donât think many other wagon drivers used it either.I havenât been over that way for years and totally forgot the road layout had been changed.It was still a crossroads the last time I was there.But there was a wooden building opposite that cafe and a lay-by next to it and IIRC the AA had a patrol office there.I wish Iâd got some photos - hindsight again.
Yes Big leggy, I used it alot specially when the coaches to spain were there, quite a few drivers used to walk down the road to the hotel on the left, to go to the single club dances.
Big Leggy:
Norman Ingram:
When the M1 used to end at watford, I could not remember the name of the cafe on the corner when you turned on to the A5, then out of the blue in was there, the âBusy Beeâ, quite a few truckers used that in its hayday.Busy Bee used to be a bikers cafe back in the '60s as well !! If you carried on along the A41 (Watford By-Pass) towards Stanmore & Edgware there was another Old Cafe on the right before you reached the Spiders Web (on the left) â anyone recall the cafe & the name (possibly Wallyâs ?) !! Now that is going back a few years !!
transporter man:
BigG-Unit:
transporter man,: do you mean âJohnsonâsâ cafe on the right just before the railway bridge and right opposite the Pressed Steel gate? Long single story building, almost like a big shed, double doors on the front, as you walked in the counter was on the left behind you.That could have been the one, we also used to go to Laings canteen about 5mins from the gate.
Johnsonâs cafe was a little gold mine being where it was and a family run business. Old Mr Johnson didnât do much by that time, there were a couple of his sons, Len and Aubrey (IIRC) and a daughter whos name I forget, also, later lens son Joe worked there as well. He was a very good scrabbles rider at the time and his uncle Frank, (a real character) was a Speedway rider in the '50s, riding for Cardiff and Belle Vue (Manchester). Just before each factory breaktime they would cover the counter with rows of mugs, open the double doors, and as the factory hooter went would start a constant pour from huge teapots, as the workers stampeded across the road. something I will never forget!
The Busy Bee also featured in the film Alfie.
Sydney Tafler wheeled in there with his Davisonâs of Shildon Park Royal cabbed AEC artic and then, when tucking in and chatting up Jane Asher in the caff, Michael Caine in his chauffeurâs uniform strode in and told him his ropes had come loose (wonder how that happened? 
).
Of course conscientious lorry driver that he was, Sydney went outside to sort them out giving Alfie the chance to race the redheaded vision off to the smoke in his limo.
Spardo:
The Busy Bee also featured in the film Alfie.
Sydney Tafler wheeled in there with his Davisonâs of Shildon Park Royal cabbed AEC artic and then, when tucking in and chatting up Jane Asher in the caff, Michael Caine in his chauffeurâs uniform strode in and told him his ropes had come loose (wonder how that happened?
Of course conscientious lorry driver that he was, Sydney went outside to sort them out giving Alfie the chance to race the redheaded vision off to the smoke in his limo.
Transport Cafeâs used in films or T.V. ?
Remember the cafe on the âoldâ A1 just south of Hatfield & near Sth. Mimms used in the TV show âBudgieâ starring Adam Faith ? It is now well by-passed by the new A1 dual carriageway !!
lads all of this is correct, and on the A13 there was cafeâs used in old police and gangland films, did they think us truckers were a load of wrong unâsâ â ? .
Spardo:
The Busy Bee also featured in the film Alfie.
Sydney Tafler wheeled in there with his Davisonâs of Shildon Park Royal cabbed AEC artic and then, when tucking in and chatting up Jane Asher in the caff, Michael Caine in his chauffeurâs uniform strode in and told him his ropes had come loose (wonder how that happened?
Of course conscientious lorry driver that he was, Sydney went outside to sort them out giving Alfie the chance to race the redheaded vision off to the smoke in his limo.
Itâs good to hear from you again Spardo 
and you canât really blame Michael Caine for trying to pull Jane Asher in his bosses Rolls Royce. I would of done the same in my bosses Ford D Series if I had got the chance .
I drove past Bert Hinchcliffs yard on the A56 near Ramsbottom one Saturday morning in the late 80s and the little transport cafe outside his yard was closed to the public as they were filming an episode of All Quite On The Preston Front.
Does anybody remember that t.v. programme and what was the name of that cafe ?, I can only remember drivers refering to it as Bertâs Cafe or Hinchies Cafe.
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
Itâs good to hear from you again Spardo
Me too Steve, wasnât/isnât she delicious, and not just because of all those cakes she makes.
First noticed her as a very young teenager in the Greengage Summer, in fact she is the only thing I remember from that film, couldnât really be accused of paedophilia as I wasnât much older myself at the time. 