Hauled a fair few loads from there before Cannons undercut us. Fuller’s Earth is a type of clay, by the way, as is bentonite.
I realised after I’d posted about it; I was thinking of cat litter as it’s a product of it but should’ve remembered it’s a clay. My mums’ family were blanket mill workers and fulling was carried out around here. The Vale of White Horse is a funny area for minerals; A lovely yellow sand around Stanford in The Vale that also produces a hard limestone…Faringdon has a grittier sand…Towards Lechlade is gravel…Baulking is Fullers Earth and towards Didcot awful bloody clay soil!!
Andrew Morrison:
You mean like this Chris when it was still G. Cannon & sons up at Johnsons farm in the village of Milton?? 210
That’s it Andrew, that was a proper yard when we were there mate , offices/ spray-shop/stores & workshops/ wash-down/ trailer park that was a swamp in winter & dust-bowl in the summer , dragging those bloody railway sleepers across the yard to drop the trailer legs on & ■■■■■■■■ your head on a rope hook pushing them under . Getting quite nostalgic here, cos the job was actually fun back then .
One of my Dads old wagons, the Depot was down Botley Road but as you can just make out on the cab door, the offices were in Gloucester Street at the time. Looks like John Farmer taking part in the LDOY heats at Oxford, he went on to be Depot Manager.
adr:
One of my Dads old wagons, the Depot was down Botley Road but as you can just make out on the cab door, the offices were in Gloucester Street at the time. Looks like John Farmer taking part in the LDOY heats at Oxford, he went on to be Depot Manager.
Hi Chris, a nice original shot .can make out John -that would be from his early days as driver ,i remember the fuel depot was next to Laytons the the main dealer for Bedfords in Botley road --working for Ameys i was a regular in there for spares for our numerous Bedfords —regards ivor
adr:
One of my Dads old wagons, the Depot was down Botley Road but as you can just make out on the cab door, the offices were in Gloucester Street at the time. Looks like John Farmer taking part in the LDOY heats at Oxford, he went on to be Depot Manager.
Hi Chris, a nice original shot .can make out John -that would be from his early days as driver ,i remember the fuel depot was next to Laytons the the main dealer for Bedfords in Botley road --working for Ameys i was a regular in there for spares for our numerous Bedfords —regards ivor
Hi Ivor,
Can you remember, were Laytons taken over by City Motors, or was it some other kind of merger or buy-out? As the workshops etc stayed Bedford all the way through the years! Also, do you remember down by Gloucester Green (Buses), where Home Counties had their office at the time, my Mum says there was a City Motors Garage (Car Sales) there on the corner? Or maybe if Eddie (Oiltreader) reads this he will know from when he was on the Oxford Buses with my Dad, as they were round the City Centre all the time.
Regards Chris
adr:
One of my Dads old wagons, the Depot was down Botley Road but as you can just make out on the cab door, the offices were in Gloucester Street at the time. Looks like John Farmer taking part in the LDOY heats at Oxford, he went on to be Depot Manager.
Hi Chris, a nice original shot .can make out John -that would be from his early days as driver ,i remember the fuel depot was next to Laytons the the main dealer for Bedfords in Botley road --working for Ameys i was a regular in there for spares for our numerous Bedfords —regards ivor
Hi Ivor,
Can you remember, were Laytons taken over by City Motors, or was it some other kind of merger or buy-out? As the workshops etc stayed Bedford all the way through the years! Also, do you remember down by Gloucester Green (Buses), where Home Counties had their office at the time, my Mum says there was a City Motors Garage (Car Sales) there on the corner? Or maybe if Eddie (Oiltreader) reads this he will know from when he was on the Oxford Buses with my Dad, as they were round the City Centre all the time.
Regards Chris
Ah! I was going to ask about Laytons, as couldn’t recall the name, but can remember a garage showroom on Botley road, nearly always had a new Bedford Tipper in Tuckwells livery. They seemed to be putting them on the road constantly at that time, but I’m thinking it might have been City Motors by then. I remember those tankers on Shell, from Thame depot, in '62 running stocks into Hartwells Oils at the Osney depot.
adr:
One of my Dads old wagons, the Depot was down Botley Road but as you can just make out on the cab door, the offices were in Gloucester Street at the time. Looks like John Farmer taking part in the LDOY heats at Oxford, he went on to be Depot Manager.
Hi Chris, a nice original shot .can make out John -that would be from his early days as driver ,i remember the fuel depot was next to Laytons the the main dealer for Bedfords in Botley road --working for Ameys i was a regular in there for spares for our numerous Bedfords —regards ivor
Hi Ivor,
Can you remember, were Laytons taken over by City Motors, or was it some other kind of merger or buy-out? As the workshops etc stayed Bedford all the way through the years! Also, do you remember down by Gloucester Green (Buses), where Home Counties had their office at the time, my Mum says there was a City Motors Garage (Car Sales) there on the corner? Or maybe if Eddie (Oiltreader) reads this he will know from when he was on the Oxford Buses with my Dad, as they were round the City Centre all the time.
Regards Chris
Hi Chris. No mate my recollection of the history re Laytons is very hazy .whether the Laytons motor cycle in castle st was the same firm i dont know .Halls brewery along the road was a favourite with BRS as when you returned after a trip with the empties you would find a few bottles in the cab as thanks ! – that has reminded me of another firm TIMBMET at ■■■■■■ who would give us sixpence ,enough for 3 mugs of tea on the trip -normally Glasgow !!—ivor
Did BJ Henry become Hardings then, because that’s one of Hardings
I was trying to make out what it said round the edge of the Roundal, trying to read some of these old pics is a ■■■■■ sometimes, reckon you are right & I wrong mate, I stand corrected! I don’t know if there was a tie-up in any way between the 2 at some point? Does anyone know?
Regards Chris
adr:
One of my Dads old wagons, the Depot was down Botley Road but as you can just make out on the cab door, the offices were in Gloucester Street at the time. Looks like John Farmer taking part in the LDOY heats at Oxford, he went on to be Depot Manager.
Hi Chris, a nice original shot .can make out John -that would be from his early days as driver ,i remember the fuel depot was next to Laytons the the main dealer for Bedfords in Botley road --working for Ameys i was a regular in there for spares for our numerous Bedfords —regards ivor
Hi Ivor,
Can you remember, were Laytons taken over by City Motors, or was it some other kind of merger or buy-out? As the workshops etc stayed Bedford all the way through the years! Also, do you remember down by Gloucester Green (Buses), where Home Counties had their office at the time, my Mum says there was a City Motors Garage (Car Sales) there on the corner? Or maybe if Eddie (Oiltreader) reads this he will know from when he was on the Oxford Buses with my Dad, as they were round the City Centre all the time.
Regards Chris
Hi Chris,
A few memory joggers there, start with Laytons, the only Laytons Garage (cars) I remember was in Pusey St off St.Giles , didn’t have a garage frontage as such more of just a yard, the reason I know this is that in 1959 I was in digs in Morrell Ave and my landlord (semi retired) worked there.
I do remember the City Motors having a showroom, (Vauxhall) and offices, this was in St Georges Place and part of a larger building called Threeways House, opposite the cinema, Odeon I think.
Other bits I remember at Gloucester Green were the Fire Station, also fronting on to George St, also the Municipal Restaurant,( there was another one in York Place off St Clements) good wholesome food at a very reasonable price, also Boffins Bakery was in the Green and of course the Thursday Market, talking markets, Gloucester Green was originally the livestock and produce market in the 1800s until the move to Oxpens.
City Motors (cars) were also on the Iffley Road by Iffley Turn, City Motors Commercials were off Botley Rd, Lamarsh Rd maybe. I did have a picture of he original City Motors 1930s which was on the Botley Rd, can’t find it
Couple of bits more, the Oxford BRS Head Office was in George St. and there was also a Laytons garage on London Rd Bicester, lefthand side going out.
Oily
I’ve posted some of this before, but here goes…B J Henry and J Harding and Son were in no way connected. B J Henry were in at the very start at Cowley, experimenting with transporters (Brockway and later Carrimore), the yard was in Between Towns Road behind Gwyn Morgans the Bookie, entered by a lane alongside, about 1962 they moved to a site being developed, now known as Transport Way off the Garsington Rd Cowley, Progressive were next door and further along Hardings and later H&M, Dykes Bros were opposite Progressive.
B J Henry were swallowed up by the group who controlled Autocar and Transporters(Birmingham) with a change of livery to Autocars and Transporters, this was around about 64/65, the original Cowley car transporter firm gone.
J Harding and Son transporter work was all export stuff both from Cowley and Abingdon.
The pic from a 1958 Kelly’s Directory with an entry for B J Henry.
Oily
oiltreader:
I’ve posted some of this before, but here goes…B J Henry and J Harding and Son were in no way connected. B J Henry were in at the very start at Cowley, experimenting with transporters (Brockway and later Carrimore), the yard was in Between Towns Road behind Gwyn Morgans the Bookie, entered by a lane alongside, about 1962 they moved to a site being developed, now known as Transport Way off the Garsington Rd Cowley, Progressive were next door and further along Hardings and later H&M, Dykes Bros were opposite Progressive.
B J Henry were swallowed up by the group who controlled Autocar and Transporters(Birmingham) with a change of livery to Autocars and Transporters, this was around about 64/65, the original Cowley car transporter firm gone.
J Harding and Son transporter work was all export stuff both from Cowley and Abingdon.
The pic from a 1958 Kelly’s Directory with an entry for B J Henry.
Oily
Hi Eddie, thanks for all that info’ great reading . My Dad drove for BJ Henry when he was Between Towns Road, this was when Henry only had 2 Transporters, I’ve just spoke to my Mum & she says the other driver was called Tom (can’t remember surname), he like Dad was a Cockney & he lived down by the Canal on the Botley Rd up by the bridge just passed the Railway Station. this she thinks was about 1955!
Regards Chris
Hi Chris, they had some nice J units . Seem to remember they did a lot of export work to the ports including Newport . regards Keith
Hi Keith, I grew up by the Green Rd roundabout, virtually every heavy that went through Oxford used this route, the wagons were in & out of Leyland Cowley night & day, with car-transporters some of the main fleets to be seen! Brilliant Regards Chris
What was the pub called at what is now McDonald’s on the Green Road roundabout? Talking of the old fire station on George Street and with Halloween approaching;
In Rewley Road fire station, there was (might still be there) a photograph taken around the back of the old fire station from the days of brass helmets and steam pumps of some firemen; At the back stood beside one of the fire horses, is a misty figure of a fireman who apparently had died not too long before. He was actually identified by his colleagues when the photo was developed.
Also heard during my time as a fire cadet in the md '90s that Slade fire station is haunted by a fireman killed in the '60s…
. Getting quite nostalgic here, cos the job was actually fun back then 
