M G b:
I was in a White DHL Volvo with a Blue Curtian sider on, And no I didn’t hear any music. Is there a bloke still at Blackthorne called Malcolm he was there when I ran in there from Hardwick and I think he was in the Premix plant at Ardley as well years ago.
Malcolm “Goosey” Robbins died earlier this year, only a year or two from retirement. He was well known for keeping Blackthorn plant immaculate and into model railways-there was always a wagon or carriage on the desk being built or restored. As the plant stands on the site of Blackthorn Station he used to tend flower beds and vegetable patches in GWR style, only stopped when the H&S Muppets at Smiths Concrete stopped him. You are right about him being at Ardley, he moved to Blackthorn when Ardley plant closed (it went quiet after M40 was finished and RAF Upper Heyford closed). Did he have any animals when you visited? At Ardley he had an owl that would swoop down at visitors, and a goose (hence his nickname) that was as vicious as a guard dog. At Blackthorn he had a goat named Mountfield that was tethered on a series of ropes so it would only go where the grass needed mowing. Dad used to stand at the ropes end and torment her with biscuits and cake until one day Goosey lengthened the rope and Dad came flying through the mess room door with Mountfield 2 feet behind!
My previous (and favourite) lorry;
This truck was sold to WJ (Bill) Wyatt last year and is driven by ex Sands and Gravels driver Mick Hayes. Has a 340 Cat and a really growling Jake Brake-used to wind down the passenger window going steep hills (Fish Hill near Broadway a favourite) just to hear it bark! One truck that went before it’s time.
BigG-Unit:
Suprised no old Tuckwell drivers on here, bigish firm in the '60s but had a bit of a reputation! Well tippers! A lot of blokes had “Hell Drivers” chalked on the tailboard but not having seen the film I didn’t know what it was all about. They ran nearly all A series Bedford’s then and seemed to have a new one in the showroom at the agents down Botley road constantly. The wagons took a bit of a beating so their own workshop was kept busy with repairs and staightening. I remember one chap known as “Skinny Bore or Ball” I think, seemed to have more than his share of dings and scrapes so the boss had him in, had a talk with him and said they were giving him a brand new motor as they thought if he had something to take pride in he would keep out of trouble. Early one morning in the first week, he pulled out of the yard, turned onto the Cowley road, ahead of him was a milk float, the only other vehicle on the road. He started to overtake then in his headlights he saw “milkie’s” hand stuck out of the float cab, then a row of milk crates! You can guess the rest!! Smack in the middle of the bonnet.
Tuckwells old yard is now a full on builders merchants, can’t remember the name. As far as I am aware Tuckwells now runs out of Radley sandpits on concrete mixers. No general haulage and only a couple of mixers.
Muckaway:
My previous (and favourite) lorry;
This truck was sold to WJ (Bill) Wyatt last year and is driven by ex Sands and Gravels driver Mick Hayes. Has a 340 Cat and a really growling Jake Brake-used to wind down the passenger window going steep hills (Fish Hill near Broadway a favourite) just to hear it bark! One truck that went before it’s time.
You would need that Jake-Brake coming down Fish Hill Muckaway,as you say they soung good when they are barking out.
Cheers Dave.
very interesting reading about all the different firms including the tipper companies around Oxford, having lived for most of my life in that area from just along the A41 towards Aylesbury to just outside Burford off the A361 and some of the names take me back to when I first started driving trucks. I got the bug from when I was driving a Cat dozer for a plant hire firm near Buckingham and it had to be moved by lowloader everywhere and I used to go with the driver to the next site and I thought this looks a good job (it was an old Atkinson Borderer with no power steering and actually ended up driving it for a short while) so I took a job with a local company who put me through my class one on a bulk tipper. Unfortunately someone offered me a new F88 and more money doing general around the uk, they then ventured into Europe and the die was cast, no more regular uk for me, that was until the company went broke a year later so I worked for Dines of Bicester for a while until the lure of europe and the middle east beckoned again and I became an owner driver doing regular Greece, m/e and Spain/Italy.
Packed it in in 1990 and spent the next 19 years working for most of the F1 teams in the area as a truckie, and from around 2007 after they cut back with the test teams I became a self-employed driver subbing to the teams when they needed extra drivers and doing a bit for local firms such as Macburnie of Witney and Smurfits. Got fed up with the direction driving in the uk is heading, eg the drivers cpc and road cameras, upped sticks, moved to Obamaland and became an immigrant myself (but at least a legal one).
So keep up the flow of names and places it makes me feel homesick now and again.
Chazzer
chazzer:
very interesting reading about all the different firms including the tipper companies around Oxford, having lived for most of my life in that area from just along the A41 towards Aylesbury to just outside Burford off the A361 and some of the names take me back to when I first started driving trucks. I got the bug from when I was driving a Cat dozer for a plant hire firm near Buckingham and it had to be moved by lowloader everywhere and I used to go with the driver to the next site and I thought this looks a good job (it was an old Atkinson Borderer with no power steering and actually ended up driving it for a short while) so I took a job with a local company who put me through my class one on a bulk tipper. Unfortunately someone offered me a new F88 and more money doing general around the uk, they then ventured into Europe and the die was cast, no more regular uk for me, that was until the company went broke a year later so I worked for Dines of Bicester for a while until the lure of europe and the middle east beckoned again and I became an owner driver doing regular Greece, m/e and Spain/Italy.
Packed it in in 1990 and spent the next 19 years working for most of the F1 teams in the area as a truckie, and from around 2007 after they cut back with the test teams I became a self-employed driver subbing to the teams when they needed extra drivers and doing a bit for local firms such as Macburnie of Witney and Smurfits. Got fed up with the direction driving in the uk is heading, eg the drivers cpc and road cameras, upped sticks, moved to Obamaland and became an immigrant myself (but at least a legal one).
So keep up the flow of names and places it makes me feel homesick now and again.
Chazzer
Mcburnies’ trucks are all in the contract colours of Stuart Milne Timber nowadays, running out of Curbridge Downs Business Park. Smurfit still going, were using MRS as their haulier until a couple of years ago, now using Wincantons. Have heard MRS have closed down?
Hi Muckaway, nice to see someone keeping this Oxfordshire thread alive.
I’m surprised Smurfits have got rid of their own trucks and contracted the haulage out again. Those drivers are never going to build up their pensions if they keep changing companies like that.
What trucks are they running now? They had blue XF 105 s with auto boxes when I did work for them, only 460’s but pulled really well, only dropped one gear up Ardley bank on the M40 with 28 ton of paper reels on.
They’re dark blue, I guess it’s Wincanton doing their work as their trailers have WIN(number) written on them. As a kid I remember seeing (I think) ERFs with UK corrugated on them, I presume became Smurfits? Used to date a girl who’s family relocated to Witney area when Smurfits closed down at Uxbridge. Smurfit Kappa trucks are still Daf XFs.
Loving this thread, got a few pics of local companies
I remember from my childhood, must be when i was 10 or younger (20+ years ago) there used to be a Foden parked in our village with the slogan “suger & spice & all things nice” on the front of it, was white from what i remember. The driver used to love to use his air horns when we used to wave at him. Anyone recall it or the company? Must have been local due to it being parked in the village all the time
Hi Muckaway, you’ve got it slightly wrong on Smurfits, the Win on the trailers stands for Windrush corrugated plant which means that they are still running their own fleet.
Nice pics Nickyboy, good to see the ERF badges still dominate Werrells fleet. There’s a new housing estate in Wootton (Abingdon) named after Werrells. I see most of Hayters’ trucks wear private plates now, so you can’t tell if they’re secondhand motors!
They have got some nice older wagons, S and T plate Volvos still do the Witney-Haddenham run but I think the FL10s have all gone.
The Tomkins 4 wheeler I see a lot around the A34 so I presume it runs tarmac for Hansons out of Sutton Courtenay.
Hi Dieseldogsix, I had left Dines before they had such exotic trucks as a Seddon Atkinson,I was there between 74 & 75. but they had just bought a couple of tilts.
dieseldog6:
Chazzer… yes Brian was his name, nice to know D Ledbetter and D Hughes are still about, I was real good friend with the Tagg Brothers especialy Kevin but have lost his number now, Dines went to the wall not long after I left but I don’t know the reason, had a couple painted Pink for a while I think.
think dines went bust because of strike busting at british leyland & they got blacked after so no more work
One truck that went before it’s time.
They ran nearly all A series Bedford’s then and seemed to have a new one in the showroom at the agents down Botley road constantly. The wagons took a bit of a beating so their own workshop was kept busy with repairs and staightening. I remember one chap known as “Skinny Bore or Ball” I think, seemed to have more than his share of dings and scrapes so the boss had him in, had a talk with him and said they were giving him a brand new motor as they thought if he had something to take pride in he would keep out of trouble. 
Early one morning in the first week, he pulled out of the yard, turned onto the Cowley road, ahead of him was a milk float, the only other vehicle on the road. He started to overtake then in his headlights he saw “milkie’s” hand stuck out of the float cab, then a row of milk crates! You can guess the rest!! Smack in the middle of the bonnet. 
