ianto:
hi dave the services at the seven bridge is the same as all services expensive the cafe at avonmouth was opposite fisons on the righthand side as you came down the road from the severn bridge it was a small hut.two other popular cafes used to be at little hereford popular with the steel lads on the way to birmingham from the old duport steelworks in llanelli turned into an antique shop now and also llywel motel between llandovery and brecon its totaly derelic now ianto
Hi ianto,
Been in both of those,Little Hereford was a bit local for me,but still stopped ther with a couple of mates in the afternoon,on our last load. Used to stop at Llywel used to have a roast dinner there,its a shame it folded,it was a good set up,just not enough lorries I suppose. Did you stop at Winforton on the Brecon to Hereford road,it used to do a terrific trade,then the owner retired and turned it into a hose.
Cheers Dave.
Spardo:
A love those pictures, bring back happy memories. My Albion wasn’t as old fashioned as that one, mine was an LAD, but the Leyland (how do you know it’s an Otto Chris ?), that brings it back. The great big flat area under the screen, plain square speedo and little else along with the giant orange mushroom turn indicator.
But the star of the show is the Invincible. The best of the ‘old’ motors (I categorise ‘old’ as anything pre-Swede ) I loved that spacious cab with its wrap around screen, cigarette lighter (what luxury ), early sun visor and weird pull up ratchet brake that disappeared into the floor and had to be stamped on to release.
The Jungle is a bit of a memory jerker too, arriving down there in one piece with the brakes coming nicely to the boil was a big relief.
Hi David,right I’ve slapped me wrists for calling it an Octopus when in fact it’s an Albion,probably a Caledonian if it’s an 8-legger.
Serves me right for not paying attention!
Norman Ingram:
Too true Chris, only a idiot would be outside in that weather.
hiya,
Have sat on that lorry park waiting for the all clear to proceed the rigids always got away first and sort of cleared the way for the bendymen and the pull and pup guys and anything with a trailing axle was a no no the drivers of the latter knew trying to get up that hill pointless in them things should have been banned the lot of them, diff locks should have been around in those far off days, might have been in with a bit of a chance of getting up the thing.
thanks harry long retired.
Dave the Renegade:
Chris,Harry and Norm,you sure that you aren’t hiding behind these South Wales boys,at the Windrush.
Never been in the Windrush Dave,was it on the old A40? Not my territory down there,but I reckon that’s a Mansel Davies Scammell parked up.
Harry and Norman will probably know that cafe,especially if there was any fiddle.
Hi Chris, you might not of been hiding behind The Windrush in the sixties but I am fairly certain that a blue R.A.F Morris J2 minibus could well of been .
Norman Ingram:
Getting back to old cafes, I remember I used to call at least 7 cafes starting from Eye on the A47 to great yarmouth, anyone who can remember the names.
Hi Norman,The Hungry Horse, I think that it was somewhere near Swaffham .
Chris Webb:
Hi David,right I’ve slapped me wrists for calling it an Octopus when in fact it’s an Albion,probably a Caledonian if it’s an 8-legger.
Serves me right for not paying attention!
I didn’t even notice it was an Albion Chris , what I meant was, ‘how do you know it wasn’t a Comet’
To be honest I didn’t remember that that cab had been badged as Albion as well as Leyland, but I suppose it’s logical since the 2 firms merged around 1951.
Dave the Renegade:
Chris,Harry and Norm,you sure that you aren’t hiding behind these South Wales boys,at the Windrush.
Never been in the Windrush Dave,was it on the old A40? Not my territory down there,but I reckon that’s a Mansel Davies Scammell parked up.
Harry and Norman will probably know that cafe,especially if there was any fiddle.
Hi Chris, you might not of been hiding behind The Windrush in the sixties but I am fairly certain that a blue R.A.F Morris J2 minibus could well of been .
Regards Steve.
B.T.W. they are both great pictures .
hiya,
There’s one thing for sure i would’nt sell many roping and sheeting courses to them lads, thats one cracking picture,been there ,done that.
thanks harry long retired.
Dave the Renegade:
Chris,Harry and Norm,you sure that you aren’t hiding behind these South Wales boys,at the Windrush.
Never been in the Windrush Dave,was it on the old A40? Not my territory down there,but I reckon that’s a Mansel Davies Scammell parked up.
Harry and Norman will probably know that cafe,especially if there was any fiddle.
Hi Chris, you might not of been hiding behind The Windrush in the sixties but I am fairly certain that a blue R.A.F Morris J2 minibus could well of been .
Regards Steve.
B.T.W. they are both great pictures .
Hi Steve,yes I bet there was quite a bit of RAF traffic on that stretch.The Morris J2 would have been 92 AV 76 by the way if it was me.
ianto:
the site of the old Windrush seems to be coverd by a big building that has been ongoing for ages.does anyone remember the old cafe opposite fisons in avonmouth and also the old services on the severn bridge where the present services was for trucks only and the top one was for cars ianto
Dave the Renegade:
Chris,Harry and Norm,you sure that you aren’t hiding behind these South Wales boys,at the Windrush.
HI Dave That Malcom Harrison chap had a Guy Invincable New MEH 908 E (Thats when he had a small fleet) the air cleaner was inside the cab
you could’nt see the passanger without twisting your neck around this obstical fastened on the cab and you could’nt talk because the sucking noise.
And belive it or not we never thought of putting it outside and it lasted 6 years or more.Can you think of that happening nowadays. And then the driver bought it and set up on his own.
John
Hi John,
Those Guy Invincable and Warriors,were some strange lorries, Llanelli steel used to have one,they kept there lorries at the firm I worked for,who also did the maintenance,they had a lot of character,but some quirky fittings and old fashioned stuff,they seemed to go ok,they never had much trouble with the one’s I knew of.
Cheers Dave.
hi dave dont remember the cafe at winforton but remember the snack bar that was in the lay by hereford side of winforton off subject does duncon cammeron of letton court farm letton still run waggons my father bought many years ago a j reg D1000 from there ianto
ianto:
hi dave dont remember the cafe at winforton but remember the snack bar that was in the lay by hereford side of winforton off subject does duncon cammeron of letton court farm letton still run waggons my father bought many years ago a j reg D1000 from there ianto
Hi ianto,
The snack bar is still running. Andrew Cameron the son,who runs Letton Court doesn’t run any lorries at the moment,as far as I know they still have an operators license,also do a few repairs to lorries.
Cheers Dave.
Yes lads I have been in the windrush cafe many times, mostly when working for FMC fetching chickens from wales in the 60’s, also I remember the cafe at avonmouth, the woman was a moaning type, she would have been perfect double for the wicked wiitch of the west, in Wizard of Oz, used to use it a lot when going to Stamps to fill up.
Norman Ingram:
Yes lads I have been in the windrush cafe many times, mostly when working for FMC fetching chickens from wales in the 60’s, also I remember the cafe at avonmouth, the woman was a moaning type, she would have been perfect double for the wicked wiitch of the west, in Wizard of Oz, used to use it a lot when going to Stamps to fill up.
The cafe at Avonmouth was the Cosy cafe, almost under the conveyor that took the zinc ore to the smelter from the docks. Also on the A4 just past the Suspension Bridge was the Headlight Cafe, up the steps to the high pavement,park on the road. After this was Brown,s by the swingbridge at the docks entrance. Other cafes local to Bristol were the Silver Star and Knight of the Road on the south A38. Further down there was a cafe at Dunball by the BP oil depot.
On the A38 north was the Black & White at Patchway, Motorway at Alveston and the Hot Dog at Newport. On the A370 was Janes at Hewish laterly a caravan sales site. On the A 37 was Mrs Cook,s at Farrington Gurney ,a green tin shed where you had to sit around one big table. Further down was The Fir Tree on the brow of the hill out of Pylle.
On the A4 out of Bath was The Green Lantern at Batheaston and The White Horse at Cherhill the other side of Calne, now a bungalow.
Norman Ingram:
Yes lads I have been in the windrush cafe many times, mostly when working for FMC fetching chickens from wales in the 60’s, also I remember the cafe at avonmouth, the woman was a moaning type, she would have been perfect double for the wicked wiitch of the west, in Wizard of Oz, used to use it a lot when going to Stamps to fill up.
The cafe at Avonmouth was the Cosy cafe, almost under the conveyor that took the zinc ore to the smelter from the docks. Also on the A4 just past the Suspension Bridge was the Headlight Cafe, up the steps to the high pavement,park on the road. After this was Brown,s by the swingbridge at the docks entrance. Other cafes local to Bristol were the Silver Star and Knight of the Road on the south A38. Further down there was a cafe at Dunball by the BP oil depot.
On the A38 north was the Black & White at Patchway, Motorway at Alveston and the Hot Dog at Newport. On the A370 was Janes at Hewish laterly a caravan sales site. On the A 37 was Mrs Cook,s at Farrington Gurney ,a green tin shed where you had to sit around one big table. Further down was The Fir Tree on the brow of the hill out of Pylle. On the A4 out of Bath was The Green Lantern at Batheaston and The White Horse at Cherhill the other side of Calne, now a bungalow. 44 years on tankers. what is a rope.
Welcome to the site Numbum 44 years on tankers it’s no wonder that you remember all those cafe’s and I bet that you could of filled a few tanks with all that tea that you have supped over the years .
Now while we are in the area, can you remember in the 60’s a little white cafe on the left hand side as you came down Birdlip Hill on the A417 when you were travelling from Cirencester heading towards Gloucester. I think that it was just past a pub called The Air Balloon.
B.T.W. I heard that ropes were replaced by ratchet straps shortly after Chris Webb sold his Sisal shares and moved from tankers to the Isle Of Man .
mushroomman:
B.T.W. I heard that ropes were replaced by ratchet straps shortly after Chris Webb sold his Sisal shares and moved from tankers to the Isle Of Man .
I’m still amazed at how long ratchets have been with us Steve. I still have a good set that my brother and I bought for our fledgling transport business in the mid 70s. That means, although I still have no problem roping and sheeting (or would have if needed to) I only actually did it on a regular basis for around 15 years. BTW those straps and, sometimes, the ratchets, still come in handy here in the garden. One is a permanent fixture to a tree and which I use to pull myself out of my swimming pond (can’t afford steps ). 2 others were in use only last week to spread a leaf catching cover over that same pond for the winter and I’ve ratchetted stuff in, out, and upright many times over the years. Candidate for a best buy do you think?
They didn’t have a promising start though, a driver we employed couldn’t be bothered to sleeve over the edges of some sheet steel he was carrying and scattered them all over Daybrook Square in Nottingham. Before I could sack him he sealed the deal by having a dodgy all the way from Watford Gap to Nottingham, not with a logbook on the thumb though, with the wagon, and he had to drive all the way back in the morning to get loaded.
The only difference between Numbum and most of the rest of us is not the vast range of cafes he visited but the fact that he remembered all their names.
Welcome Numbum, with a memory like that you’ll fit in well with all the old codgers in threads like this one.
Hi David, I actually bought a set of three ratchet straps about two years ago and like I said to The Mushroom Lady " you never know when we might need one ". She was right, they are still in the packaging unopened somewhere in the garage.
Getting back to The Windrush Cafe on the A40 near Burford. Chris if it wasn’t your J2 it must of been one that I had borrowed .
I can’t remember the parking area being covered in Tarmac, I thought that it was gravelled in the 60’s and that lorry at the back of the photo looks like one of Richard Read from Longhope ? although the writing on the headboard looks like Edwards .
I think that when we mentioned The Windrush some months back I tried to post this link that I don’t think quite worked, well it’s a good read and I am sure that The Bubbleman and Dave will remember seeing Black and White coaches when they were kids . They were seen everywhere in The South West especially on the A40 going to or coming back from London.
Black and White were to The South West what Yelloways were to The North West before National Coaches came along.
) I loved that spacious cab with its wrap around screen, cigarette lighter (what luxury 
), early sun visor and weird pull up ratchet brake that disappeared into the floor and had to be stamped on to release.
.
). 2 others were in use only last week to spread a leaf catching cover over that same pond for the winter and I’ve ratchetted stuff in, out, and upright many times over the years. Candidate for a best buy do you think?
