rigsby:
you are getting lazy nathan , nowt like a bit of handball for keeping you fit . hope you still cycle to work to keep the pounds off . she who must be obeyed will soon let you know if you start putting weight on , women are good at that . cheers , dave
Tell you what Dave, tipper driving must be a ‘Bobbies Job’ these days! They will miss all the fun of wrestling with a sheet which blows off just when you get ready to jump down to tie it, and also the boot full of lime etc when you open the arse door to let 5 cwt off and a ton and a half drops out and buries you. I bet they barely break out the old ‘Spear and Jackson’ banjo either? Not to mention the blistered feet when sheeting HRA and trying to find a puddle to cool them off in, then getting your boot soles stuck to the cab floor and pedals, ah how I miss those good old days!
What’s all this “get out of the cab and sheet” lark?
One of my ex colleagues rang me on Friday, said "what’s the matter with you? Why’s pushing a lever and dumping 19t in one go better than handballing 2t down an alleyway and upstairs? "
The only downside is that my wagon has a touch “cab interior leprosy…”
Saw this at a show recently & the Reg. No. caught my attention. The display board said it was ex BRS Oxford, & the lad with it said it had been re cabbed in '82. He had a picture of another motor as original, single head lights etc.
Hi Big j , yes looks like it was a Brs oxford wagon , this was the last two stroke at Oxford in the late 80s , I know I was a yts lad and helped the late alfie Atherton of Cowley restore it .
BigG-Unit:
Thanks for the info JAKEY, I didn’t know they made them with the exhaust at the side. Was that picture taken at Sandy lane?
The Commer 2 strokes had either exhaust set up but that one looks like a non standard set up. They did have silencers on the offside but they were normally 2 big silencers side by side, the same ones that were fitted to the under bumper models, they had them in line with the tailpipe on the nearside. I remember fitting some new silencers to a 66 model they were huge boxes and very expensive !
No doubt the size and number were an attempt to make the plot a bit quieter?
One chap of my acquaintance removed one silencer box and the air intake. I think he lasted about a week before plod had a quiet word.
Hi BIG J-UNIT, that picture was taken in Sandy lane but before my days on Brs , but that Commer was still at the bottom of the yard awaiting to be scrapped before the Work shop engineer saved it and rebuilt it , god knows what happened to it but I think Gerry brown a big brs boss had it .
The large shed whch was almost as visible as the chimney (the kiln) has been demolished but used to stand in the gap near tue chimney. A couple of machine drivers at Earthline are ex Blue Circle, and said that the kiln was run 24/7 and someone checked it even on Christmas Day.
There is talk of the chimney being blown up…
Hi Andrew, hows tricks mate? I posted some Champs pics earlier on the thread that I got off Ron “Squibby” Coles of his Champs F88. Can you remember who the Scots bloke was on Cannons, he was on the Coal when I first started on there, cos I started on the Coal then went on General when I was given JFH 751V (F10). You are going back 26-27 years now, & he must have been in his mid-late 50s then, but I was told he used to be the Transport Manager at Champs!
Regards Chris
adr:
Hi Andrew, hows tricks mate? I posted some Champs pics earlier on the thread that I got off Ron “Squibby” Coles of his Champs F88. Can you remember who the Scots bloke was on Cannons, he was on the Coal when I first started on there, cos I started on the Coal then went on General when I was given JFH 751V (F10). You are going back 26-27 years now, & he must have been in his mid-late 50s then, but I was told he used to be the Transport Manager at Champs!
Regards Chris
Hi Chris all good thanks mate busy as ever yes i can remember the photo’s squibby gave you & good they were too any chance you can get some more?
the scotsman you can’t remember is bob thompson or ‘jock thompson’ & yes he was the transport manager on there too!!still see him hobbling about in Didcot sometimes!
on holiday at moment? sat in pompey waiting for the night boat to le havre en route to tip on the Queen Elizabeth in Venice & got the wife with me as well but having few days off when we get back from this trip then out again on the sunday night to do the same boat in Greece!!! Oohh its a hard life have fun & don’t work too hard■■?
Hi Muckaway great pics of the old cement works can remember going in there a bit when on tankers for Cannons
Here’s a question then Andrew; When did production stop? I’ve heard and read different things. I certainly remember seeing Blue Circle wagons coming out mid '80s, but I thought it was just a storage depot then?
I thought quarrying finished in the '70s? I can’t recall ever seeing the chimney smoking.
The offices are a timewarp, I donned a hard hat and had a look around (constantly aware of falling ceilings) and the decor looks definitely '70s and there are some BC paperwork and notices lying about.
Looking north, the Oxford-Banbury Railway is at the bottom with sidings and what looks like the works locomotive shed. At the right is the crushing plant and slurry silos (silos are still standing). Note two chimneys (twin kilns) so the current chimney is not original, with the kilns attached. Next is the clinker store and onto the storage silos and loading plant. The offices which I’ve walked around are on the far left. The row of trees about halfway up the picture are now roughly where Earthlines’ recycling plant is.
They will miss all the fun of wrestling with a sheet which blows off just when you get ready to jump down to tie it, and also the boot full of lime etc when you open the arse door to let 5 cwt off and a ton and a half drops out and buries you. I bet they barely break out the old ‘Spear and Jackson’ banjo either? Not to mention the blistered feet when sheeting HRA and trying to find a puddle to cool them off in, then getting your boot soles stuck to the cab floor and pedals, ah how I miss those good old days! 
yes i can remember the photo’s squibby gave you & good they were too any chance you can get some more?