Thanks Mr Tyneside. Yes that’s the boy, Billy Anderson! I last had a chat with him at the Campground waste disposal site, earlier this year. He’s seems OK, I’m pleased to say.
I can’t recall ever having dealings with Harry Nichol (was his yard at East Gateshead, more or less on the river?) but I do recall two brothers, not sure now whether they were coal man or scrap men. They lived on Emily Street, just before the bridge, and if I’m not mistaken, had the little yard on Carlisle Street which was later occupied by Billy Kelly. Might it have been Harry Mason, and his brother (who wasn’t too clever) ? Cannot remember what wagons they ran, now. (Probably some rubbish like a Carrier Bantam or similar, haha!) I’m enjoying this, although my memory hasn’t had such a battering since I took my 11+! Is John Aka still live? I saw young Freddy a wee while ago somewhere, never changed at all!
Back to O’Sullivan and West Sleekburn, yes forster, that certainly was his yard and Operating Centre. Before he took himself off to Thailand, he did tell me that he intended leaving the business in the hands of young (haha) Keith and Eddie the driver (a cousin?). The narrowboat was coming on lovely, the last time I saw it, but it ended up becoming a catalyst in his wife Margaret leaving him after over 40 years, terribly sad!!! Then, that was what seemed to lead him to the fleshpots of the Far East. I still miss him.
Talking about Eighton Banks, who remembers Martin Duffy (whose daughter was a corker!) who used to do the transport work for the bums (sorry, the County Sheriff, I mean). He persuaded me to do a bit of (mainly storage) work for them also, but they sickened me when I had to take an artic unit out of another garage in Pelaw and store it in my yard. The owner owed a few hundred quid, and the wagon sat in my yard, accumulating unnecessary storage charges, for months, whilst £800 worth of tax ran off the windscreen!
The fellah I had to deal with there was skeletal, and thought himself posh, but he was really just a snake of the lowest order! I needed a good bath after just being in his company.
I’ve just got the details of Dave Kingsley’s funeral next Wednesday. Like me, he went over to the Dark Side (PSV Operation) but had been a haulier on Wearside before that, anyone remember him from his wagon driving days?
How about Walter Gallon, the Bill Quay farmer who ran the ash out of the Hebburn Tech College on his red LWB O model Bedford tipper? Funny bloke. He had a Suffolk Tup (a sheep) which used to attack people who wandered into the field! He was the only bloke I ever knew who wore leather gaiters as a matter of course.
Another 70’s Bill Quay haulier was Billy Handy. He started off with a two pedal Leyland, with which I got him onto classroom work for Elliots of Peterborough. A bit of a bugger, he worked me out of there when he got a fancy Scania! He spent a lot of time inventing and trialling a device to turn a single drive six wheeler (a big Scammel) into a double drive, by introducing an air-operated ram which forced a drum of sorts in between the two sets of back tyres. A queer device altogether, I couldn’t imagine it doing the tyres much good.
TTFN
How’s this weather suiting you ? Bloody hot over this side ! Cheers Dennis.