Aye I have been in there a few times years ago but sometimes the lorry park was full but would not have been if some drivers parked one wagon instead of two ■■. Cheers Larry
Any of yous drivers remember Jimmy Morans cafe The Swirl on the Quayside oppisite the old CWS grain warehouse the tea was stewed in 3 gallon teapots the sarnies were canny & you allways got a smile of him when you paid him but not before,…
Any one remember Bobs transport Cafe at Barrick Hill Weedon on the A 5 open 24hrs you could sleep there through the day if you needed to , which I sometimes did when tramping good grub & allways clean facilities , The good old days, Larry.
Another old cafe I wonder if it is still going Olympia Transport Cafe, Alfreton Road Derby it might have been called Smithies in the old days ? Smiles had a 8wheeler Atki stolen from there in the 60s Norman [Piper] Clydesdale drove ANL 514.B. get your thinking caps on lads ? Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Another old cafe I wonder if it is still going Olympia Transport Cafe, Alfreton Road Derby it might have been called Smithies in the old days ? Smiles had a 8wheeler Atki stolen from there in the 60s Norman [Piper] Clydesdale drove ANL 514.B. get your thinking caps on lads ? Regards Larry.
I remember the Olympia very well Lawrence,it was a regular calling place for me in the 60s,before the Derby ring road was completed.As far as I know it closed years ago.Always full of steel hauliers from Sheffield and Rotherham,day and night.
There was another Olympia in Strand Rd. Preston not far from the BRS Depot & the Docks stayed a few times in the 60s good grub & clean & handy if you wanted an earley start 5.30. it opened till Midnight 7 days a week Regards Larry
Aye Larry the Olympia was popular with Hemphills,John Smillie’s,and Clyde Oil was it called they did transformer oils, a lot o ■■■■■■■■ firms used it too but it could be gie cauld in some o the rooms in the winter.
Eddie.
I used to stay there in the 60s we used to run to Preston every week with Bacon from Denmark Collins Wholesale Food Supplies, they also had a place at Blackburn it was handy because we used to load eggs that came from Ireland Via Northern Ireland Trailers Happy days Larry
Lawrence Dunbar:
I used to stay there in the 60s we used to run to Preston every week with Bacon from Denmark Collins Wholesale Food Supplies, they also had a place at Blackburn it was handy because we used to load eggs that came from Ireland Via Northern Ireland Trailers Happy days Larry
Used to have a big pig painted on the building,often wondered what it was for when I was a kid.
Another good cafe the Mayfield at Garstang ,nice clean place, a bit noisy at night being on the A6,but the grub was ok. better than Dirty Dicks opposite… I noticed the last time I was past the Mayfield it was some sort of resturant I think happy good old days. Larry
hello lawrence dunbar,
i can remember smokey joes back in the sixties on bristol road south,there was also a cafe nearly next door called bonanza,always there on a friday night / saturday morning doing a changeover with my uncle ,he was on for steetley refractories,used to bring an octopus up from cardiff with a dangler empty and back with an octopus loaded with furnace bricks for port talbot steelworks,happy days.
regards graham.
Aye Smokey Joes was a regular stop on a Sunday on the the way down to South Wales, I used to run fire bricks to RTBs AT LLanwern plus Briton Ferry The Margam & Neath, plenty of work in those days, I used to back load off Gwyn Bowen Ltd out of Bryngwyn Plate Mill up to Westhoughton Metal Box Co Ltd. & a Mr Lewis at LLwern up to the Singer Sewing Machine Co, Ltd. Dumbarton Rd. Glasgow & oddly enough fire bricks from Bonnybridge back down to Consett Iron Co , We never stopped in those good old when long distant driving was a pleasure every body helped each other, sorry to say it is not like that now its go go go , Cheers Larry long retired ? well sort of.
Another cafe proabley long gone, The Half Acre Cafe At Lydney used to be open 6 till 10 I sometimes called there on my way to LLanwern a bit of a heavy road though in those days. Cheers Larry
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye Smokey Joes was a regular stop on a Sunday on the the way down to South Wales, I used to run fire bricks to RTBs AT LLanwern plus Briton Ferry The Margam & Neath, plenty of work in those days, I used to back load off Gwyn Bowen Ltd out of Bryngwyn Plate Mill up to Westhoughton Metal Box Co Ltd. & a Mr Lewis at LLwern up to the Singer Sewing Machine Co, Ltd. Dumbarton Rd. Glasgow & oddly enough fire bricks from Bonnybridge back down to Consett Iron Co , We never stopped in those good old when long distant driving was a pleasure every body helped each other, sorry to say it is not like that now its go go go , Cheers Larry long retired ? well sort of.
rey matter
hiya,
Larry have got to congratulate you on your wonderful memory, myself like your good self was a “proper” driver of the old school and remember the cafe’s you write about but how you remember the names and where they was located is a miracle i have the game on remembering what I had for my breakfast, keep up the good work pal you are giving my grey matter a much needed workout, I’ve found I’m going upstairs and when getting there don’t know why I went up in the first place and 99 times out of a 100 It’s because i needed the loo so I have to drag the old aching bones back up there, I suppose It’s one way of getting a bit of exersise, looking forward to reading your next post.
thanks harry long retired.
Well Harry its nice to meet someone like you who learned the hard way like I did I worked with the best set of drivers I could wish for they taught me every thing I know, I had my on family transport Co, for 28 years. Gordon Brown made me decide to pack t in while I was winning Ive still got my class 1 & still do a little bit for my mates when they are stuck for a driver, but I spend most of my time relaxing, I enjoy Glenmorangie some times in rather large ammounts , but what the hell I really enjoy it, so I live for today because tommrow never comes good luck Larry
bestbooties:
Just to resurrect this thread,does anyone remember the 3 transport cafe’s within 5 miles going North out of Newcastle under Lyme on the A34?.
There was the Durose Cafe at Chesterton,The Lodge Cafe,(Sometimes known as Bob Manleys),just before Talke,and The Mousetrap at Talke crossroads.The Durose and Mousetrap closed many years ago with the opening of the M6,but The Lodge only closed a few years ago.
Hi my dad often talked about bob manleys cafe. i wish i could get a photo of it in its heyday.Any ideas ?
My old dad often spoke about the old bob manleys cafe when i was a kid. Does anyone have any photos of the cafe in its heyday?
I wonder if Briggs on Whitehall Rd, is still going nice clean [Dunlopillo] beds and canny grub at drivers prices stopped there many a time in the winter when Standedge used to get blocked and we went via Todmorden. we had some very bad winters 50/60s. Regards Larry.
Hi Larry here’s one to make you think the name of the cafe in Retford market place, it was one of my watering holes.
Sorry l did not get to Otterburn and missed you at RedRow both very wet will catch up with you sometime Regards crowbar
Hi, Ralph, never tried that one, I used to call at the one at Balderton it had all the milages on the walls & slogans about the cutlery thieves ?. or I would push on a bit to Fords at Longbennington, the one with the waitress with rather large threepenies eh can you remember her , nice lass, & nice food too. Cheers Larry.