oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/dec … onZone.htm
How long before this is extended?
Muckaway:
http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decEH/OxfordLowEmissionZone.htm
How long before this is extended?
Are they going to build high brick walls around the zone to keep out the high polluting air from the surrounding countryside because it can get quite windy some days in Oxfordshire
There is probably no current budget for the “high brick walls”, matey. I reckon they will make do with a double-height chainlink fence. 
oxfordmail.co.uk/news/108478 … ?ref=var_0
Just seen this sad news on Oxford Mail.
Just hoping it’s not someone I know as Smiths operate Burford Quarry.
Let’s wake up this thread with a vintage Smiths’ pic…
altitude:
Muckaway:
altitude:
Muckaway:
Company mixers I think, although there was an OD at Warwick a few years ago-he moved over when Smiths took Warwick from Hansons (originally Pioneer I think)
Talking of mixers, Hills have apparently got a plant at their new sand pit near Tubney Woods. I guess for mortars, I’m sure Altitude will know more.There’s nothing like that in there Nathan, I will find out next time I’m in there.
I’m wondering if the driver that told me meant Bowling Green pit?
Update…I was in there last week mate, they are digging a big area out in front of the bridge. I was told this area is for the new concrete plant.
Driving a red and black Scania from January…
Muckaway:
0
Let’s wake up this thread with a vintage Smiths’ pic…
Waggon and drag, had to have a mate in those days.
That’s right, I think at one time they used to have a brake wheel thing the mate had to operate when going down steep hills. I reckon they would have to get stuck in on the handball as well! 
Muckaway:
0
Could this be BigG having an easy day?
Fairford-Oxford goods train leaving Brize Norton and Bampton, 1961.
No not me Nathan, I was gone by then, 'bout '59 I left & we still had a bit of traffic then. Always was a steady number though on that branch, never seemed any rush & once you got the staff there would be only you on that section. Lovely bit of countryside down that way, I envied the Fairford crews, being on there every day. 
Well remember those Guard vans & spent a few hours kipping in them with the little stove ticking over, when on 12 hr night shift in Hinksey Goods Yard! Thanks for the pics. & keeping the thread going, haven’t been posting of late as my computer has been on the blink. Been looking in on my new Tablet thingey, but can’t get on with it well enough to post, well not yet anyway. Just hope computer says “yes” to get this on!
David Einieg? or however it is spelt.
smalltrucker:
David Einieg? or however it is spelt.
Sort of; Contract haulage to them.
lightswitch:
Jarvis Transport Banbury mainly Ferrymasters work Driver Big Dave Waugh Volvo F1210
Hi. I remember you very well young man. I had the big long scania 141 6 wheel unit dutch spec. We where pulling ferrymasters trailers out of the docks at Ipswich back in the late 80s. I lived in north devon at the time. After I finished up there I went on to better things doing abnormal loads to North Africa and Eastern Bloc, and finished up with 7 trucks. I sold the last one 4 years ago and have now retired.
Best Regards Ben “West Coast Trucking”
Form an orderly queue to join this Witney club…
invalidcarriageregister.wordpres … -register/
I know plenty of disabled people who were glad of those Invacars back in the late 1960’s and 70’s when there was no benefits for them. Those little cars gave them independence and enabled them to travel to a job to earn a living. The only drawback with them, was the fact that you could not carry a passenger by law. It meant the spouse or close relative could not accompany them anywhere. Otherwise they did great service.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
I know plenty of disabled people who were glad of those Invacars back in the late 1960’s and 70’s when there was no benefits for them. Those little cars gave them independence and enabled them to travel to a job to earn a living. The only drawback with them, was the fact that you could not carry a passenger by law. It meant the spouse or close relative could not accompany them anywhere. Otherwise they did great service.
Cheers Dave.
Who built them Dave? I guess motability schemes killed them off?
Muckaway:
Dave the Renegade:
I know plenty of disabled people who were glad of those Invacars back in the late 1960’s and 70’s when there was no benefits for them. Those little cars gave them independence and enabled them to travel to a job to earn a living. The only drawback with them, was the fact that you could not carry a passenger by law. It meant the spouse or close relative could not accompany them anywhere. Otherwise they did great service.
Cheers Dave.Who built them Dave? I guess motability schemes killed them off?
n 1948, Bert Greeves adapted a motorbike with the help of his paralysed cousin Derry Preston-Cobb as transport for Derry. Noticing the number of former servicemen injured in the Second World War they spotted a commercial opportunity and approached the UK government for support, leading to the creation of Invacar Ltd.[1][a]
A model 70
Early vehicles were powered by an air-cooled Villiers 147 cc engine, but when production of that engine ceased in the early 1970s it was replaced by a much more powerful 4-stroke 500 cc or 600 cc Steyr-Puch engine, giving a reported top speed of 82 mph (132 km/h).[2] During the 1960s and 70s the Invacar, with its modern fibreglass shell and ice-blue colouring nicknamed Ministry Blue after the Ministry of Health,[3] was produced in the tens of thousands. Developments including an extended wheelbase, wider track and use of Austin Mini wheels saw the Invacars right through to the end of the final DHSS contract in 1977.[1] More than 50 variants were produced.
On 31 March 2003 Invacars were banned from British roads because of safety concerns.[4] The veteran vehicle could not meet modern-day government regulations, which required approval under the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval Scheme as part of a standard set by the European Union. There were still around 200 Invacars in Britain prior to the 2003 recall and scrapping programme. Hundreds of stockpiled Invacars in government warehouses were scrapped along with all their spare parts. A few examples survive in the hands of private owners and museums in Britain and abroad.
All Invacars were owned by the government and leased to disabled drivers as part of their disability benefit. Their use had been in decline since the introduction of the Motability scheme, which offers disabled drivers a conventional car with modified options.[4]
Motability was and is a marvelous thing for genuine disabled people Nathan. What a lot of people don’t realize is,that its not a free vehicle, but a lease scheme where they have to put a deposit down and then pay their DLA Mobility component money to lease the car. I have never used motability, as I am fortunate to have a good income to purchase my own vehicles . Those Invacars were a huge step forward in their day, but motability opened up the way for more severely disabled people to obtain a vehicle.
Cheers Dave.
Just to add a bit of background to Dave’s informative history, The two directors of Invacar , Bert Greeves and Derry Preston-Cobb were also the directors of Greeves Motorcycles, of Thundersley, Essex. Most of us will remember Greeves as very successful trials & scrambling bikes but they also achieved fame as road racers and a great deal of road machines were also built, using various Villiers engines. Derry’s first threewheeler, built on the Greeves production line before the word “Invacar” was thought of, became extensively modified by Derry & the mechanics in the works in the quest for more speed. Apparently it was a regular occurrence for Greeves to receive a telephone call from a passer-by reporting that Derry had tipped the beast into a ditch & would Bert please send a van and two men out to rescue him.
The last Invacars were painted in the same shade of light blue as Wall’s Ice Cream lorries- it came to be known as “Ministry Blue” and in the latter days they were fitted with Hillman Imp front wheels in an attempt to make them a bit more stable. They were a bit of a handful to drive- if you can imagine a half-length Reliant Robin with all the controls grouped around tiller steering you will have some idea!
As Dave comments, they were a life saver for many disabled people before the Motability scheme, but were eventually done for when they couldn’t pass the MOT test due to the stability issues, lack of braking and emissions that were way outside the testing machine’s parameters. The government withdrew them from service, with only a handful saved by collectors and museums. All the rest were compulsorily scrapped.
Muckaway- getting my passport renewed for the annual three-week stay in Fairford. Apparently I did such a good job of child minding last year that I’ve been invited to do it all over again this yuletide. I was fascinated by the posts earlier about the Fairford railway station so I’ll be trying to find the site of it while I’m there. Presumably it will be somewhere near the Railway pub?
I’ll be hanging around the Bull waiting for contributions to the retired lorry drivers’ whiskey fund.
