WNL 773T
Evening all,first time on the forum so bear with me. Having a browse and have come across a lot of names from years gone bye.Recently retired after 47 years driving ,last 30 years as an owner driver and prior to that for various north east companies. Looking through the postâs itâs surprising how many names and events are brought to mind (age thing I suppose) and I look forward to contributing to the forum. Regards Mac Gallagher.
macg:
Evening all,first time on the forum so bear with me. Having a browse and have come across a lot of names from years gone bye.Recently retired after 47 years driving ,last 30 years as an owner driver and prior to that for various north east companies. Looking through the postâs itâs surprising how many names and events are brought to mind (age thing I suppose) and I look forward to contributing to the forum. Regards Mac Gallagher.
Welcome to trucknet mac,
Hope you doing ok in your retirement look forward to your input , like many other old timers youâll have plenty storyâs to tell .
Regards Daveymk
macg:
Evening all,first time on the forum so bear with me. Having a browse and have come across a lot of names from years gone bye.Recently retired after 47 years driving ,last 30 years as an owner driver and prior to that for various north east companies. Looking through the postâs itâs surprising how many names and events are brought to mind (age thing I suppose) and I look forward to contributing to the forum. Regards Mac Gallagher.
welcome to the forum
Carl wrote
Eddie Howe OK Coaches from Spennymoor had one of his AEC busses destroyed in a fire in Hodgsonâs workshops, where it was being repaired. There was a fire in the workshops.
Could have been before I joined Hodgsons Carl, certainly wasnât me that started the fire! I left just as it changed names to Lex Tillotson, we got a Yorkshireman as the new Manager then, big ruddy faced chap. I recall when the Fed Brewery motors came in the lads would drain the pipes for a pint or two! The government scheme of semi-skilled workers (or diluties as we called them) hadnât long came about and Hodgsons also employed several of these, canny lads but the courses they done didnât really train them enough for the job in hand. You canât beat having a good apprenticeship in any manual trade, the country has suffered since its demise and the lack of clued up tradesmen shows in todays workplace. Cheers Franky.
Aye welcome to TNUK, Where have you been hiding you owld bugger, Im sure you must have plenty of old photos, & Plenty of crack of course, Heres a one to bring back mems of the days when we earned a few bob Eh, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye welcome to TNUK, Where have you been hiding you owld bugger, Im sure you must have plenty of old photos, & Plenty of crack of course, Heres a one to bring back mems of the days when we earned a few bob Eh, Regards Larry.
Having a problem putting photos on at the minute, Will try later, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye welcome to TNUK, Where have you been hiding you owld bugger, Im sure you must have plenty of old photos, & Plenty of crack of course, Heres a one to bring back mems of the days when we earned a few bob Eh, Regards Larry.
Evening Larry ,hope your keeping well, talking to Les Baston last year and he mentioned the forum. Itâs taken me 12 months to work out how to join 
macg:
Evening all,first time on the forum so bear with me. Having a browse and have come across a lot of names from years gone bye.Recently retired after 47 years driving ,last 30 years as an owner driver and prior to that for various north east companies. Looking through the postâs itâs surprising how many names and events are brought to mind (age thing I suppose) and I look forward to contributing to the forum. Regards Mac Gallagher.
Hello Mac, I remember you subbing for Fergy. I worked for Waughâs until 1984 so our paths often crossed at Alcan. I retired myself last year as an O/D but started work again two months later, 
( I do intend to retire again shortly ) welcome to TNUK. Regards Kevmac47.
Aye Im keeping OK, Apart from a few aches & pains Im still active & still do a bit of driving from time to time, And I still have a few Malts to keep my blood thin, You should try & get to the next gathering at The Newcastle Labour Club, Theres one due anytime now, The crack is tops, and you will see some of the lads that you know from the past, The good old days Eh, Regards Larry.
Frankydobo:
Carl wrote
Eddie Howe OK Coaches from Spennymoor had one of his AEC busses destroyed in a fire in Hodgsonâs workshops, where it was being repaired. There was a fire in the workshops.Could have been before I joined Hodgsons Carl, certainly wasnât me that started the fire! I left just as it changed names to Lex Tillotson, we got a Yorkshireman as the new Manager then, big ruddy faced chap. I recall when the Fed Brewery motors came in the lads would drain the pipes for a pint or two! The government scheme of semi-skilled workers (or diluties as we called them) hadnât long came about and Hodgsons also employed several of these, canny lads but the courses they done didnât really train them enough for the job in hand. You canât beat having a good apprenticeship in any manual trade, the country has suffered since its demise and the lack of clued up tradesmen shows in todays workplace. Cheers Franky.
Frank can you remember the paint shop ay the back of Hodgsons Next to Walls Depot they used to paint the Whitbread Dennis,s, â â ?, Regards Larry.
macg:
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye welcome to TNUK, Where have you been hiding you owld bugger, Im sure you must have plenty of old photos, & Plenty of crack of course, Heres a one to bring back mems of the days when we earned a few bob Eh, Regards Larry.Evening Larry ,hope your keeping well, talking to Les Baston last year and he mentioned the forum. Itâs taken me 12 months to work out how to join
Mac you will remember the days when we used to back load with bricks for the late Alan Ohare down to Felling from the various brick yards in Scotland Happy good money Days Eh. Regards Larry.
H L Walker Ltd Thornaby on Tees (donât know if they were subbies for Smiths or were they taken over by them) perhaps Larry may know.
There was an H L Walker at Thornaby,my next door neighbour drove for them,but all i ever saw where artics carr 
ying steel,liveried as H L Walker,bright red as i recall(mind,i was only a bairn then)the yard was next to the old swimming baths,and,im not sure on this,but i think the "Walker person"built a factory on the site of the ASDA store at Portrack to build Walker Trailers,because by this time i was driving and delivered steel there on more than one occasion.
joeshell:
There was an H L Walker at Thornaby,my next door neighbour drove for them,but all i ever saw where artics carr
Aye Joe i think your right,i remember taking road springs to them at Thornaby but its a long time back,Mizzo will have the answers on this one for sure.vic.
Stanfield:
0
H L Walker Ltd Thornaby on Tees (donât know if they were subbies for Smiths or were they taken over by them) perhaps Larry may know.
As far as I can remember Smith of Madison Did take Walkers over & built a new depot on Portrack Lane on the left before you get to the tanker cleaning depot, They did a lot of storage there for BP Chemicals from Grangemouth Works, Regards Larry.
Hi Stanfield, This ERF of H L Walker was new to a company called Northern xxxx ? of Brampton, â â â â â â â OAO is A â â â â â â â â â â Number.
Chassis Number 6889 ULW 7t-0cwts - 0qtrs. First registered 20-05-1954. The company name Northern puzzles me but I remember a very similar ERF owned by Miss Winnie Graham who was joint owner of The Moss filling station adjacent to the Moss Café. Can anyone throw more light on the subject.
Cheers. Leyland 600.
hiya,
In the early 70s when working for Glendenningâs I ran to London with a load of
Volkswagen campers which I picked up ready loaded in Shotley depot the load
was addressed to a multi-story car park in I think Chelsea, meanwhile another
driver (Bobby Dodds) was loading an identical load at North or South Shields not
sure which, we arranged to meet at Normanâs, Bobby arrived a little while later
than me and had hit something en-route the front camper was minus itâs wind
screen and the roof was pushed down to a slot, we got to the unloading point
and tipped mine first then when we got to the last one on Bobbyâs trailer I went
to the security mans kiosk and got his back turned while Bobby drove the last
one up the ramp and parked up, we both came away with clear signatures and
off to Oxford to load Marinaâs back home.
I often wondered did Bobby hear any more about the damaged motor, I left
Glennyâs soon after that and have never seen Bobby since, if you post or look in
on here mate let me know if you got away with it or not, Iâd love to know.
thanks harry, long retired.
one here from the past
Lawrence Dunbar:
Aye Dougie Parker , Thatâs a name from the past, I new Dougie from the early 70s when he worked for Vincy Charlton running out of Moot Law Quarry, The last time I saw him was in Normans, I would be pleased to here if he is still about, Hes a real nice bloke & good crack, Regards Larry.
Dougie parker still about i belive, saw him in hexham last year and was looking well. great mate of my dads and went to school with my mum. If i can find a number for him, iâll tell him about the labor club next month. Mick V64