Interesting pic from the FW Cawthorn workshop, my mate from the Fire Service Workshop worked for them back then, Ken Burlison who lives at Pelton Fell, but I wouldn’t recognise him in that photo if he was. He was a big fan of The Who and did say he had shoulder length hair in those days like most lads. I didn’t, I was in the Army during the 70’s! Franky.
Frankydobo:
Interesting pic from the FW Cawthorn workshop, my mate from the Fire Service Workshop worked for them back then, Ken Burlison who lives at Pelton Fell, but I wouldn’t recognise him in that photo if he was. He was a big fan of The Who and did say he had shoulder length hair in those days like most lads. I didn’t, I was in the Army during the 70’s! Franky.
Hi Franky. Did your mate go by a nickname of La or Lar
Tyneside
tyneside:
some more from the NETyneside
Two tales connected with the winding house and Cawthornes Team Valley. 1970, I worked for Mi!es Druce Metals in Hebburn, I had a Leyland Comet 4 wheeler that was damaged by the nightshift loaders, the starter was in mesh, they towed it with an overhead crane and totally wrecked the front of the motor , and of course the starter was still stuck in mesh! Cawthornes sent their wrecker to recover it on a rigid bar, all went well until we crossed the roundabout on Kingsway, instead of taking me in the first gate at the garage which was basically a slip road in, the recovery driver did a sharp left turn into what really was the exit gate, the bar came right across the front of the cab and did even more damage as I had no power to the steering and couldn’t follow him quickly enough! The Winding House was a regular drop with steel for MD Metals as it eventually became a small welding business. My last time their sticks in my head, I was taken away in an ambulance after collapsing with severe stomach pains I was rushed to hospital and operated on for a duodenal ulcer. I was off work for three months, although I went back to MD Metals,I never went their again. Those pics bring back long forgotten memories.
Regards Kev.
Hi Kevmac
The winding house in the picture is at the top of the hill on the line over what we called the “fields” between Eighton Banks and Springwell, just behind Springwell quarry.Used to walk over that way to school every morning.
The winder house further down the line at Vale Colliery (in front of the Lambton Arms and The Ship Inn at Eighton Banks)was the one owned Marian Engineering and was probably where you delivered. They used to do a lot of industrial doors and shutters. Some of the large doors for Alcan at Lynemouth were made there.
Our yard was just along the road from them and they asked us to deliver the doors up to Lynemouth, had to be one per week for about Six weeks. IIRC they were roller doors and must have been about 24ft wide as they fitted nicely onto a four wheel flat.
Tyneside
tyneside:
Hi Kevmac
The winding house in the picture is at the top of the hill on the line over what we called the “fields” between Eighton Banks and Springwell, just behind Springwell quarry.Used to walk over that way to school every morning.
The winder house further down the line at Vale Colliery (in front of the Lambton Arms and The Ship Inn at Eighton Banks)was the one owned Marian Engineering and was probably where you delivered. They used to do a lot of industrial doors and shutters. Some of the large doors for Alcan at Lynemouth were made there.
Our yard was just along the road from them and they asked us to deliver the doors up to Lynemouth, had to be one per week for about Six weeks. IIRC they were roller doors and must have been about 24ft wide as they fitted nicely onto a four wheel flat.
Tyneside
Yes Bob, that was the company, Marian Engineering, I’ve been racking my brain to think of the name. Am I right in thinking the access road is now just a bridle path?
I often ride my bike past the Bowes Incline , there isn’t a road now that I recognise.
Or maybe I’m just getting old and forgetful? 
Regards Kev.
Just been thinking about Marian Engineering, they weren’t in the winding house but in the old Vale pit buildings. The access road was right next to the crossing between the Ship and Lambton Pubs. It ran down the hill parallel to the Rail line which now forms part of the Bowes Line Museum.
The winding house was behind the pit buildings on the other side of the line and on the corner of the access road down to the Bowes Incline pub. Sometime in the sixties we moved a lot of the shale away from the Vale Pit Heap down onto the new roads that were being built for Washington New Town.
Tyneside
Hi Tyneside, the trolleybus with a two aperture destination box is a Metro-Cammel bodie BUT (British United Traction an amalgun of AEC & Leyland) 9641T 6 wheeler one of twenty built to London style Q 1s bought urgently in 1948 for tram replacement. The others with standard Newcastle Corporation 3 aperture destination boxes are probably Sunbeams with Northern Coachbuilders bodies.
Cheers, Leyland 600
Hi Franky. Did your mate go by a nickname of La or Lar
Tyneside
I couldn’t say Tyneside but I don’t think so, he’d worked for the Fire Service a lot of years and possibly since leaving Cawthorn’s, I haven’t seen him though since he retired about five years ago. Franky.
Actually Tyneside after resizing the photo the lad in the centre with the dark overalls looks like him, he was a Biker too and still came to work on an old Triumph in the better weather. Franky.
Leyland600:
Hi Tyneside, the trolleybus with a two aperture destination box is a Metro-Cammel bodie BUT (British United Traction an amalgun of AEC & Leyland) 9641T 6 wheeler one of twenty built to London style Q 1s bought urgently in 1948 for tram replacement. The others with standard Newcastle Corporation 3 aperture destination boxes are probably Sunbeams with Northern Coachbuilders bodies.
Cheers, Leyland 600
Leyland 600. Thanks for the extra info, you are certainly the encyclopaedia when it comes to buses and trolleys!!!
Tyneside
Frankydobo:
Hi Franky. Did your mate go by a nickname of La or Lar
Tyneside
I couldn’t say Tyneside but I don’t think so, he’d worked for the Fire Service a lot of years and possibly since leaving Cawthorn’s, I haven’t seen him though since he retired about five years ago. Franky.
Franky
Been trying to think of the timeline here, Cawthorns were taken over by Hargreaves somewhere in the seventies possibly around the time the photo was taken.At that time they were based at the r/bout on TVTE. Leyland Motors owned the depot next door to Armstrong Cork. Leyland pulled out and Hargreaves moved into the vacated depot and closed the old place at the r/bout.
I know the lad we are talking about still worked there at that time, and was a charge hand on the back shift which worked 4.00pm - midnight. He left to work for the Fire Service late seventies. IIRC the workshop was somewhere along South Shore Road.
Tyneside
coomsey:
This you Lawrence ? NMP off FB
0
No , Its most likley a lad called Tot Hepple, I never drove those Atkis, I had a MK5 AEC Flat, On journey work, Smiles had quite a lot of those Ex Hansons of Wakefield,They did a lot of Coke for factories down south hence the greedy board, Regards Larry.
ravda:
Davidson and Adamson Birtley
i am sorry ravda but that isn’t davison & adamson, that is tyneside bulk haulage set up by seven drivers myself included who set up the co-operative company after the demise of D & A. I took that picture & that is my Hino ORR 527w & my stepbrothers DAF FPY 402V hope that clears things up a bit. we were all ex-employees of D & A>
Lawrence Dunbar:
coomsey:
This you Lawrence ? NMP off FB
0No , Its most likley a lad called Tot Hepple, I never drove those Atkis, I had a MK5 AEC Flat, On journey work, Smiles had quite a lot of those Ex Hansons of Wakefield,They did a lot of Coke for factories down south hence the greedy board, Regards Larry.
You got the cream then Lawrence ?
tyneside:
Frankydobo:
Hi Franky. Did your mate go by a nickname of La or Lar
Tyneside
I couldn’t say Tyneside but I don’t think so, he’d worked for the Fire Service a lot of years and possibly since leaving Cawthorn’s, I haven’t seen him though since he retired about five years ago. Franky.Franky
Been trying to think of the timeline here, Cawthorns were taken over by Hargreaves somewhere in the seventies possibly around the time the photo was taken.At that time they were based at the r/bout on TVTE. Leyland Motors owned the depot next door to Armstrong Cork. Leyland pulled out and Hargreaves moved into the vacated depot and closed the old place at the r/bout.
I know the lad we are talking about still worked there at that time, and was a charge hand on the back shift which worked 4.00pm - midnight. He left to work for the Fire Service late seventies. IIRC the workshop was somewhere along South Shore Road.
Tyneside
Drove along Kingsway TVTE today, Armstrong Cork, one of the last of the old names on “The Valley” has changed its name to Zentia, when did that happen? Regards Kev.
Thanks for the compliment Tyneside but to be honest the finer details of my last comment were taken from a recent transport magazine I get which just happened to have an article about Newcastle Corporation trolleybuses, however I do take a keen interest in old photos and articles regarding north east bus and coach operators having traveled regularly on quite a few as a young lad Newcastle trolleybuses included when changing from the United Carlisle to Newcastle service at Marlborough Crescent, then a trolleybus from Central Station to the Haymarket before catching one of three United services to Blyth. a year or two ago.
Tyneside wrote, Franky
Been trying to think of the timeline here, Cawthorns were taken over by Hargreaves somewhere in the seventies possibly around the time the photo was taken.At that time they were based at the r/bout on TVTE. Leyland Motors owned the depot next door to Armstrong Cork. Leyland pulled out and Hargreaves moved into the vacated depot and closed the old place at the r/bout.
I know the lad we are talking about still worked there at that time, and was a charge hand on the back shift which worked 4.00pm - midnight. He left to work for the Fire Service late seventies. IIRC the workshop was somewhere along South Shore Road.
Tyneside
Well that is likely Ken, the workshop was on South Shore Rd in fact it still is but they just use it as a store for old office furniture etc. Bit of a waste it would be ideal for a local Haulier. We moved further along to Baltic Rd around the beginning of the Millennium, turn left at the junction where Shorts yard is/was, then first right onto Baltic Rd and the Technical Services Centre is at the end. Its called that because it holds not only the vehicle workshops but the Ops Servicing (they do the BA Sets, light pumps, RTC gear etc) and the Stores, these were also in different locations before the move. Ken told me a story of when the Brigade had a Simon Snorkel hydraulic platform on an ERF and he was told to take it back to its home Station after servicing by another fitter. On the way back he did a sharp turn and the whole platform swung out and demolished a bus shelter and lamp post, fortunately no one got hurt, it turned out the lad who worked on it hadn’t locked the platform after servicing it. He did say when he got out his legs turned to jelly ha. A pic of the ERF below, as the type mentions it was first used in the Callers fire. Franky.
