Any news on the AEC?
Re Bedford : Thanks Muckaway, knew I could rely on you. 
will study the map tomorrow. That Bedford was like the last one my dad drove which I mentioned in an earlier post, or maybe on another thread! Oh, are Bints still in Northmoor with the green motors?
No, Bints packed up about 2 years ago. At the end had an 05 Volvo FM 8 wheeler and a T reg Actros wagon and drag both on blocks. Dave Bint sold his truck and now drives for Cotswold Natural Stone (Conlons) and Steve Bint sold his to AWBS but still drives it for them. I remember they used to be coal merchants originally; used to use a TK for that and their Dad drove it.
Re. The Bedford O-type tipper, my grandad drove a flatbed version between the late 30s and 50s for Bernard T Frost of Witney. They were coal merchants/hauliers that used to run out of West Oxon railway stations; mostly Witney but also Charlbury Hook Norton and Chipping Norton. Gran and one of my uncles used to tell of during the war he’d run stuff to London especially after the air raids when the GW Railway had been bombed, and during a cold spell the windscreen shattered and drove back from london to Witney with no screen (he smashed it out with starting handle so he could see!)
BigG-Unit:
Found this one on Bubb’s Scrapbook thread. They were all Bedford in the 60’s, except for a couple of eight leggers, which I think were Fodens. Does anyone know if they changed to a mix fleet in the 70’s.
Yeah remember Bints on the coal when I used to visit Northmore in the '60s/'70s/'80s. Don’t know which generation that would have been! I well remember Frost in Witney railway yard as in my youth I was a fireman on the footplate at Oxford Railway depot. One of our jobs was running the goods to Fairford and back, stopping at all the little stations along the way. Frosts used to have there own coal wagons with there name on them,like this model I bought off E.Bay a year or two ago to put on my scenic diorama.
I’ve got 2 of those wagons, one an old Farish/Dapol model and the recent Hornby one. Frosts had red lorries with white writing. My Grandad came from hailey and used to take his eldest children with him. Someone my Dad knows saw a tv programme years ago about wartime drivers and he recognised Witney goods yard; Swore blind he recognised my Grandfather as he was the only driver to wear glasses and was also the youngest as he was rejected for military service due to his eyesight. Gramp was in the Home Guard and used the lorry to help remove wreckage of a Whitley bomber that crashed near his house-had to guard it after the flames were put out and the only part of the pilot he found was his foot! 
If you google witney railway there’s a website by Martin Loader that’s got stacks of pics of the Fairford branch and ones over the years as the buildings have been demolished.
My first full day on tippers was hauling clay to a building site on the site of Oxford loco shed-someone decided that all the ash that had been tipped in there over the years was “hazardous” so it was dug out, clay put in and then dug out again for the foundations! Did get to see the remains of the turntable pit before it was filled in; there were the remains of the turning gear amongst the debris but I wasn’t allowed a souvenir for “safety reasons”. I think someone thought it was valuable like a nameplate! 
Bloody hell Mucka, they didn’t tell us about that all them years ago! wonder if I can make a claim for compo. Well it could have been that effected my brain and led to me going into haulage for 22 years! 
Thanks for mentioning the Witney railway site, I had that bookmarked on an old computer a couple of years back but had forgotten all about it. Made a trip down memory lane around the Oxford area the week before last, took a few photos but my computer gobbled them all up! 
My lad had a look the weekend and made it spit a few back out, so I will have to see what there is and if relevent to post on here. Not many left though unfortunately. 
Oh, saw an engine on it’s side in that turntable pit one morning. They said a shed worker tried to move it with almost no steam and water got behind the regulator which prevented it from closing. With the table set to another road and no way of stopping it he got off and let it go!! Well no point in being a hero in that situation ay!
Wasn’t that loco a black 5 or something of that size? Got a pic of one on it’s side in the pit. Not long after I did that clay job, our groundworks gang done some work at the said Business school on the site of rewley Road station. Doing muckshifting meant hauling plenty of coal dust, sometimes even coal. Dropped a bit separately next to the dozer drivers’ van on return to the tip!
Thought you might be interested to know, today’s the 40th anniversary of the Witney section closing. As you’d know the Witney-Fairford section went in ‘62 but the original (and busier part) carried on. Delivered some sand to the old mill at next to the old Station at South Leigh this morning; the owner was told it used to be the Stationmasters’ house, and got a surprise when I said there was never a SM there, just 2 porters and a crossing keeper! Get into the old Yarnton Junction site quite a bit; it’s M and M Skips recycling plant and Hansons Cassington pit now. Appararently, the turntable pits been buried intact and recently a load of coal was dug up during construction of a new Energy from Waste plant. This sits on the site of the wartime marshalling yard. A JCB owner driver I do work for who comes from Lechlade told me his Father in law was the last Crossing Keeper at Little Faringdon and bought the cottage off BR for silly money. I read last year someone sold it for £450000! 
To be honest, I’m amazed to hear from an ex loco crewmember who worked on the line after years of reading books on it and walking/cycling the route. Plus the fact you remember Frosts!
Hi Muckaway, reading your posts again, I’m not sure if we are talking about the same shed! I was at the old GWR depot at the back of the now Oxford station. Of course there was the old LMS depot at Rewley road, the town side of the station,where the Bletchley line terminated. Although it was all British Railways when I was there in the late '50’s there was still a bit of “them and us” kind of thing with the older guys. Anyway I will try to PM you in the next couple of days and talk some more, as we might be going off topic a bit. So to try to put that right I will put this pic. on (the only one that survived) of the remains of the John Allen Factory. It’s looking a bit neglected now and hardly visible from the road, but at least it is still there!
Glad you got a pic of Allens, I tried last week when loading rubble out of the retail park but traffic wouldn’t stay still for long enough!
Re. The loco sheds, I ran clay into the old GWR Depot, and done the waste coal out of Rewley as both sites were being re-developed at the same time. To get back on thread, Alvescot station still has a coal merchant, Lucketts there. Someone said they used to sell Bedford parts; I think there might be some still in there…
Muckaway:
Glad you got a pic of Allens, I tried last week when loading rubble out of the retail park but traffic wouldn’t stay still for long enough!
Re. The loco sheds, I ran clay into the old GWR Depot, and done the waste coal out of Rewley as both sites were being re-developed at the same time. To get back on thread, Alvescot station still has a coal merchant, Lucketts there. Someone said they used to sell Bedford parts; I think there might be some still in there…
I ran coal in there a lot years ago they did the Bedfod spares then, always claimed they could get you any part you wanted for a Bedford. They ran all little TK’s on there coal rounds.
altitude:
Muckaway:
Glad you got a pic of Allens, I tried last week when loading rubble out of the retail park but traffic wouldn’t stay still for long enough!
Re. The loco sheds, I ran clay into the old GWR Depot, and done the waste coal out of Rewley as both sites were being re-developed at the same time. To get back on thread, Alvescot station still has a coal merchant, Lucketts there. Someone said they used to sell Bedford parts; I think there might be some still in there…I ran coal in there a lot years ago they did the Bedfod spares then, always claimed they could get you any part you wanted for a Bedford. They ran all little TK’s on there coal rounds.
That’s something I’m trying to show in my ‘Scenic Diorama’ based on the changes in traffic from rail to road in the late '60s. When coal came by rail a lot of merchants set up in railway yards, which made sense. Then when British Rail stopped doing small mixed load deliveries, or branch lines closed, the coal came to the merchants by road into the railway yards!
BigG-Unit:
altitude:
Muckaway:
Glad you got a pic of Allens, I tried last week when loading rubble out of the retail park but traffic wouldn’t stay still for long enough!
Re. The loco sheds, I ran clay into the old GWR Depot, and done the waste coal out of Rewley as both sites were being re-developed at the same time. To get back on thread, Alvescot station still has a coal merchant, Lucketts there. Someone said they used to sell Bedford parts; I think there might be some still in there…I ran coal in there a lot years ago they did the Bedfod spares then, always claimed they could get you any part you wanted for a Bedford. They ran all little TK’s on there coal rounds.
That’s something I’m trying to show in my ‘Scenic Diorama’ based on the changes in traffic from rail to road in the late '60s. When coal came by rail a lot of merchants set up in railway yards, which made sense. Then when British Rail stopped doing small mixed load deliveries, or branch lines closed, the coal came to the merchants by road into the railway yards!
Lucketts was our Coalman,
We used to play down there as kids when my dad worked for Pathfields Transport.
AW Mobbs used to use Tiddington Station for their coal deliveries aswell as Wheatley and Priors used to deliver coal there after the line closed. Site was a council highways depot for years after before being derelict. South Oxon Housing Association have recently built houses on the site. A mate and myself made a short video back in '95 for a GCSE project when Marriotts coal yard was being demolished to make way for Sainsburys in Witney. Got it on VHS in loft will have to figure out how to put it on net…
British Railways vehicles parked next to the goods shed at Witney Station, c1950s
I think Frosts used a siding to the left of the picture for unloading coal. Their yard was in what is now Langdale gate in Witney, roughly where the road passes A-Plan Insurance.
Thought Big G would like this one
Ah yeah! proper railway lorries, I wonder who came up with the idea to paint 'em yellow. Marriotts is another I remember, then up littlemore there was Morris & Beecham. I did a couple of weeks on the bags for old Ben Turner once when he was short handed. Thought it was a good idea to get fit, until it rained for about three days!!
Muckaway I have just PM’d you. 
BigG-Unit:
Saw this pic. of a little Bedford, I would think on the show scene, but does anyone know if that was the firm that ran it or the name of the chap that restored it.0
It now looks like this
I don’t like it as it is now. I know people are free to put what they like on their vehicles but when the new owner’s from the same area…
BigG-Unit:
Hi Muckaway, reading your posts again, I’m not sure if we are talking about the same shed! I was at the old GWR depot at the back of the now Oxford station. Of course there was the old LMS depot at Rewley road, the town side of the station,where the Bletchley line terminated. Although it was all British Railways when I was there in the late '50’s there was still a bit of “them and us” kind of thing with the older guys. Anyway I will try to PM you in the next couple of days and talk some more, as we might be going off topic a bit.Hi guys
Ex Fine Lady Bakery (Banbury) Renault
Witney Goods Yard with a James Marriott lorry loading in the background. When the line shut completely in 1970, Marriotts leased the goods yard as their main office.
Charringtons (to the left of the Goods office) took over Bernard T Frost in the '60s.
Marriotts old yard was off Witney High Street. This is it today
.
Behind the newer houses is the new Marriotts Close development, built on the old Witney Town football ground. The land was given to the town by the Marriott family during the Edwardian era.