Hello Lawrence how are you ,are you and your family all OK .that last photo of Tommy Doddds AEC,A freind of mine used to work for Tommy as a driver and later as a owner operator ,and i was wondering ,Tommy ran a few GUY big Js at some time and i have seen a couple of shots of the eight wheeler on the Fergies link ,but i was wondering as you have so many pictures my mate drove a GUY big J tractor unit for Tommy from mew and i,m trying to find a copy of a photo as a keepsake ,if i can find a copy i want to frame it for him as a birthday gift as the old f%^%$t is coming up 75 soon ,
The AEC from Steenbergs ,did the driver Bill Ashworth go on to drive for freeway haulage as i recognise where the truck is parked at longbenton and in the 70s i used to deliver around longbenton estate and would stand talking to a chap for ages who drove a Scania 141 parked in the same spot ,very nice chap from what i cane remember,maybe Frankydobbo might be able to shine a light on who i might be remembering ,thanks take care Paul
paul ward:
Hello Lawrence how are you ,are you and your family all OK .that last photo of Tommy Doddds AEC,A freind of mine used to work for Tommy as a driver and later as a owner operator ,and i was wondering ,Tommy ran a few GUY big Js at some time and i have seen a couple of shots of the eight wheeler on the Fergies link ,but i was wondering as you have so many pictures my mate drove a GUY big J tractor unit for Tommy from mew and i,m trying to find a copy of a photo as a keepsake ,if i can find a copy i want to frame it for him as a birthday gift as the old f%^%$t is coming up 75 soon ,
The AEC from Steenbergs ,did the driver Bill Ashworth go on to drive for freeway haulage as i recognise where the truck is parked at longbenton and in the 70s i used to deliver around longbenton estate and would stand talking to a chap for ages who drove a Scania 141 parked in the same spot ,very nice chap from what i cane remember,maybe Frankydobbo might be able to shine a light on who i might be remembering ,thanks take care Paul
Hello Paul hope your well? If the Big J had an 8lxb in it Larry will be looking for a shot of the back of the cab !! It might take a while, 
look forward to seeing you at our next ādoā Paul, once this bloody pestilence is over. Regards Kev.
Lawrence Dunbar:
0
Hi Larry is this a 400 with a 401 front panel(big A) fitted much smarter than the 400 set up 
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Hy Paul, not sure who the lad would have been from Freeways but Bill went to drive a four wheeler TK with Hiab for Reeds Cranes when he left Steenbergās up until he retired but he and his family had moved to a house in Fenham before that. I left Longbenton for the Army end of 71 so the Freeways driver must have been after that as I canāt recall him.
Franky.
paul ward:
Hello Lawrence how are you ,are you and your family all OK .that last photo of Tommy Doddds AEC,A freind of mine used to work for Tommy as a driver and later as a owner operator ,and i was wondering ,Tommy ran a few GUY big Js at some time and i have seen a couple of shots of the eight wheeler on the Fergies link ,but i was wondering as you have so many pictures my mate drove a GUY big J tractor unit for Tommy from mew and i,m trying to find a copy of a photo as a keepsake ,if i can find a copy i want to frame it for him as a birthday gift as the old f%^%$t is coming up 75 soon ,
The AEC from Steenbergs ,did the driver Bill Ashworth go on to drive for freeway haulage as i recognise where the truck is parked at longbenton and in the 70s i used to deliver around longbenton estate and would stand talking to a chap for ages who drove a Scania 141 parked in the same spot ,very nice chap from what i cane remember,maybe Frankydobbo might be able to shine a light on who i might be remembering ,thanks take care Paul
Hi Paul, IIRC Tommy had two of them One with a ā ā ā ā ā ā ā engine and the other one a Gardner 180, Harry Laybourne bought them from Fergies,. Keep safe my friend, Regards Larry.
Frankydobo:
Hy Paul, not sure who the lad would have been from Freeways but Bill went to drive a four wheeler TK with Hiab for Reeds Cranes when he left Steenbergās up until he retired but he and his family had moved to a house in Fenham before that. I left Longbenton for the Army end of 71 so the Freeways driver must have been after that as I canāt recall him.
Franky.
8LXBV8BRIAN:
Lawrence Dunbar:
Hi Larry is this a 400 with a 401 front panel(big A) fitted much smarter than the 400 set up
Before & After, Regards Larry.
The photo of the Ouseburn AEC loading barrels on the Quayside was driven by long serving driver Ronnie Hodgen, heās the one on the trailer with his hand up to his face, to his left in the center is my Father. They would have got as many barrels loaded that the AEC could cope with to haul it away and into a shed for unloading. The boats that came into Newcastleās Quayside were bread and butter for Steenberg Transport and drivers would be loading trailers dropping them in or outside of sheds and back to loading again with another trailer, for long hours and days until the boats were emptied. It was all hands on deck (literally) when boats filled with Oranges, Peanuts, Fishmeal, Spelter, Timber, an Acid that smelt like cat pee (very popular with drivers and warehouse lads wives/mothers when it came to wash day!) Bags of Meal that were rife with Weavels, Carbon Black and Asbestos being other not so popular goods unlike the favoured Tinned Steak, which I can vouch for was very nice indeed. Quite sad today that almost nothing comes into our Ports as they did in those days carrying all kinds of plenty and giving work for many of our local hauliers. Franky.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Frankydobo:
Hy Paul, not sure who the lad would have been from Freeways but Bill went to drive a four wheeler TK with Hiab for Reeds Cranes when he left Steenbergās up until he retired but he and his family had moved to a house in Fenham before that. I left Longbenton for the Army end of 71 so the Freeways driver must have been after that as I canāt recall him.
Franky.
Regards Larry.
Frankydobo:
The photo of the Ouseburn AEC loading barrels on the Quayside was driven by long serving driver Ronnie Hodgen, heās the one on the trailer with his hand up to his face, to his left in the center is my Father. They would have got as many barrels loaded that the AEC could cope with to haul it away and into a shed for unloading. The boats that came into Newcastleās Quayside were bread and butter for Steenberg Transport and drivers would be loading trailers dropping them in or outside of sheds and back to loading again with another trailer, for long hours and days until the boats were emptied. It was all hands on deck (literally) when boats filled with Oranges, Peanuts, Fishmeal, Spelter, Timber, an Acid that smelt like cat pee (very popular with drivers and warehouse lads wives/mothers when it came to wash day!) Bags of Meal that were rife with Weavels, Carbon Black and Asbestos being other not so popular goods unlike the favoured Tinned Steak, which I can vouch for was very nice indeed. Quite sad today that almost nothing comes into our Ports as they did in those days carrying all kinds of plenty and giving work for many of our local hauliers. Franky.
Franky, I think Iām right in saying Steenbergs were the only warehousing company with a licence to store lead. I think they had to have specially strengthened floors , am I correct? Regards Kev.
Frankydobo:
The photo of the Ouseburn AEC loading barrels on the Quayside was driven by long serving driver Ronnie Hodgen, heās the one on the trailer with his hand up to his face, to his left in the center is my Father. They would have got as many barrels loaded that the AEC could cope with to haul it away and into a shed for unloading. The boats that came into Newcastleās Quayside were bread and butter for Steenberg Transport and drivers would be loading trailers dropping them in or outside of sheds and back to loading again with another trailer, for long hours and days until the boats were emptied. It was all hands on deck (literally) when boats filled with Oranges, Peanuts, Fishmeal, Spelter, Timber, an Acid that smelt like cat pee (very popular with drivers and warehouse lads wives/mothers when it came to wash day!) Bags of Meal that were rife with Weavels, Carbon Black and Asbestos being other not so popular goods unlike the favoured Tinned Steak, which I can vouch for was very nice indeed. Quite sad today that almost nothing comes into our Ports as they did in those days carrying all kinds of plenty and giving work for many of our local hauliers. Franky.
Aye they were the days Franky, Plenty of ships on the Tyne, When I started for Baxters in 1957 we used to load Danish bacon,butter, Tuborg beer, Bagged sawdust, Canned meats etc, Most of it went to Manchester,Liverpool, Chester, Oswestrey, Blackpool, Southport, Odd times I used to deliver to Nottingham with canned stuff also from Denmark,It was a new item of canned meat called Danimeat, A sort of Spam stuff like we to get served with in Geordie Dunns Quayside Cafe in Broad Chare on the Quayside, But in there it was called fried Spam 
, of course it was all that was on offer appart from sausage which in fact didnt taste any differant anyway, But they were good times IMO, never to be forgotten as far as Im concerned, Take my friend and stay safe, Regards Larry.
Hy Larry, yes it is mind boggling the different types of goods and foods that arrived at Docks to be distributed around the country and in those days on flats and roped and sheeted. Hard graft no doubt about it, Iāve seen my Dad come home knackered many a late night, too tired sometimes to even have a pint in the Ship, then it was up early next morning and do it all over again. I done some handball during my time but never 200cwt bags that was the norm in those days, having said that he loved the job just as you did back then and it was all classed as non skilled, couldnāt be more from the truth. Stay safe too Larry donāt let that bug bite!
Kev the warehouses that held the Lead the other side of the Quayside archway were very old they still had signs of where Horses and Cattle were kept tethered that would be unloaded from boats that came into the Ouseburn from the Tyne during the 18th/19th Century. Iāve heard this before about the floors but canāt confirm it, the buildings were very well built as most Industrial places were from that age so I would think the floors were built to cope originally. I was told Steenbergās ended up owning almost all the warehousing on the Newcastle and Gateshead sides, I recall going into what was once Baxters and warehousing on the other side with the old man all chock full. They must have lost an incredible amount when the Docks stopped later on. I know when I worked for them in the late 80ās there was very little left and less than half a dozen motors on the transport side, Iād gone and been working at Fergies about a year when I heard they had closed altogether, it was a shadow of its former self though even before I started for them and very badly run by a son of one of the Steenbergās and although we still did a bit of lead work out of Elswick most other local firms did too. Franky.
Frankydobo:
Hy Larry, yes it is mind boggling the different types of goods and foods that arrived at Docks to be distributed around the country and in those days on flats and roped and sheeted. Hard graft no doubt about it, Iāve seen my Dad come home knackered many a late night, too tired sometimes to even have a pint in the Ship, then it was up early next morning and do it all over again. I done some handball during my time but never 200cwt bags that was the norm in those days, having said that he loved the job just as you did back then and it was all classed as non skilled, couldnāt be more from the truth. Stay safe too Larry donāt let that bug bite!
Kev the warehouses that held the Lead the other side of the Quayside archway were very old they still had signs of where Horses and Cattle were kept tethered that would be unloaded from boats that came into the Ouseburn from the Tyne during the 18th/19th Century. Iāve heard this before about the floors but canāt confirm it, the buildings were very well built as most Industrial places were from that age so I would think the floors were built to cope originally. I was told Steenbergās ended up owning almost all the warehousing on the Newcastle and Gateshead sides, I recall going into what was once Baxters and warehousing on the other side with the old man all chock full. They must have lost an incredible amount when the Docks stopped later on. I know when I worked for them in the late 80ās there was very little left and less than half a dozen motors on the transport side, Iād gone and been working at Fergies about a year when I heard they had closed altogether, it was a shadow of its former self though even before I started for them and very badly run by a son of one of the Steenbergās and although we still did a bit of lead work out of Elswick most other local firms did too. Franky.
Thanks Franky, we often loaded scrap batteries from Scotland back to Elswick. The method was, build a row of batteries down both edges of the trailer,then the loader would drop the rest inside the āwallsā with a loading shovel. A chock rail on the trailer was a great help as it stopped anything being lost over the sides when loading, the downside of that was it was more difficult at Elswick for the shovel to unload. The batteries were supposed to be drained of acid but of course they always leaked fluid. An old fly sheet was used to cover them then roped down. I donāt think youād get away with running with fluid dripping onto the carriageway now! No hazard symbols of hse checking then. Even then though I used to hope for rain on the way back to disguise the leakage. The paint on the trailer chassis also took a bit of a hiding. 
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Inevitably the scrapyards eventually had to stack and palletise the loads, probably due to pressure from Associated Lead. Interesting times, the good old days! .Regards Kev. Ps when I see the modern-day trend of raggy denims it reminds me of that job, not much left of your clothing after those loads.!!
