Lawrence Dunbar:
Hi F/T, remember Jock Thompson Bells/Fergies is he still walking about ■■, Regards Larry.
The last time i saw Jock he was doing a bit for Trevor Henderson,But i dont know what he is doing now as Henderson have started up again with three lorries.But I beleive Jock is still fit and well and enjoying his retirement.
Regards
f troop
Well Im pleased to hear that F/T, He was good crack when we used to park up at the Derry, have a cigar & talk about the good old days, long gone now sadley to say, Regards Larry.
F/T, Hows your John getiing on ? a chip off the owld block if you dont mind me saying so, hes a good lad to say the least, The last time I spoke to him is quite some time ago, & that was at the Derry I called in for some proper nosh, I was driving on a holiday relief for Mcleans at Seaton Burn the lamp post people, Davy Puntin was there also . but thats quite a long time ago, mind you he looked well, & I told him so, He just grinned at me & said you owld bugger, you have never changed have you , so I said heh way man why what I want Ti Dee that, what you see is what you get from Owld Larry, & when Im ■■■■■■ Im Uncle Lorenzo, . Regards Larry. PS< Wish your John & his family well from the Dunbars, & you & your good lady as well.
Here you are Larry,a shot of my Grandad,Dickinson Oliver on his cavalry horse “Tango”,taken in France or Belgium in WW1 when he was a Corperal Farrier in the 1st/1st Northumberland Hussars,howay the lads!!! He was born in Hexham,low quarter,and was a Blacksmith all his life.He was village Blacksmith at Capheaton for a lot of years before he bought a business after WW2 over in Ireby,■■■■■■■■■■■■■ married one of Thomas Bewick’s daughters,my Grandma,so I think I inherited the interest in hoss’es from me Grandad wor’ Hinney !!! Cheers Dennis.
Well Dennis, thats very nice, blasts from the past, great stuff Im sure they would have been proud of you, A very prominent Haulier in you field, & Im sure , ESL, envies you deep down because Im sure you like myself & lots of other hauliers have go something that they will never have is pride, & we can sleep at night with know bloody worries Eh, Well done Dennis, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
F/T, Hows your John getiing on ? a chip off the owld block if you dont mind me saying so, hes a good lad to say the least, The last time I spoke to him is quite some time ago, & that was at the Derry I called in for some proper nosh, I was driving on a holiday relief for Mcleans at Seaton Burn the lamp post people, Davy Puntin was there also . but thats quite a long time ago, mind you he looked well, & I told him so, He just grinned at me & said you owld bugger, you have never changed have you , so I said heh way man why what I want Ti Dee that, what you see is what you get from Owld Larry, & when Im ■■■■■■ Im Uncle Lorenzo, . Regards Larry. PS< Wish your John & his family well from the Dunbars, & you & your good lady as well.
John has now being at Fergusons 23 year,Still going up and down,Never says much,just gets on with it.
He’s just like Nigel,Served his time learning the trade when they were young.There is a lot of good lads who went with there fathers,uncles in the lorries
when they were young and got the bug.A lot of young lads in there teens got great experience at Fergusons and went on to be top drivers.Most started as second men on the furniture vans,helped loading rigids in the warehouse and were taut how to rope and sheet,went down the docks where they helped drivers to rope and sheet,getting the odd chance to drive a artic and uncouple trailers,went second man on wide loads and travelled all over the country,some got a odd clip around the ear, learned how to drink like a trucker on nights out,listended to all the drivers stories,then got 3 tonner then 16 tonner and then onto artics.I believe this is partly whats missing nowadays in transport,one of the reasons why young lads dont want to come into transport.
f troop:
Lawrence Dunbar:
when they were young and got the bug.A lot of young lads in there teens got great experience at Fergusons and went on to be top drivers.Most started as second men on the furniture vans,helped loading rigids in the warehouse and were taut how to rope and sheet,went down the docks where they helped drivers to rope and sheet,getting the odd chance to drive a artic and uncouple trailers,went second man on wide loads and travelled all over the country,some got a odd clip around the ear, learned how to drink like a trucker on nights out,listended to all the drivers stories,then got 3 tonner then 16 tonner and then onto artics.I believe this is partly whats missing nowadays in transport,one of the reasons why young lads dont want to come into transport.
Think you have hit the nail on the head there but I have said this for a while now but H&S also pay wise has stooped all of this now
iWhen I first started in the long distance haulage game in the 50s, a lot of the older lads that were in it in the early days told me I was a fool to get into it as it was Tom ducked then, I didnt realey know what they ment ?, Well thats I did & I worked for some great gaffers, & worked bloody hard & made some good earned money, & Im still here , & Im sure there are lots of old time drivers about who would agrree with me, I worked with the best old lads I could have wished for, sadley a lot of them have passed away, but they will allways be remembered by me & the rest of them that are still alive, the good old happy days, with no bloody ■■■■■ regs like we have today, Regards Larry.
I quite agree with you there Lawrence back in the early 60s through until 1980 and the advent of tachographs the haulage industry was enjoyable but as you say more and more regulations have ruined the transport industry, both HGV and PSV businesses. Cheers, Leyland 600
lawrence were you related to larry dunbar who worked at f. shorts st.peters with arther fox, i worked there when i was 18 driving one of the two ,(under 3 ton) four wheelers with alan paxton before i went to g.e. armstrongs at gateshead.on another note does anyone remember davis brothers at felling, gowlands at low fell, davidson & adamson pottery lane newcastle, barkers at birtley & crows gateshead & meadowfield ■■?
hi keith
i worked with a few barkers lads when i worked for kris kristiansen pulling out of frans maas birtley 1989-90 doing europe,
few of the lads i remember were
john hughes
keith sweeney
paul mountain
gary winter
micky hawkes ex K&J driver
their will be a few more but cant think of them yet.
regards
mark
marcus 22:
hi keithi worked with a few barkers lads when i worked for kris kristiansen pulling out of frans maas birtley 1989-90 doing europe,
few of the lads i remember were
john hughes
keith sweeney
paul mountain
gary winter
micky hawkes ex K&J driver
their will be a few more but cant think of them yet.regards
mark
Wingnut off this site drove the the 3 ton flatbed they had for a while and I’m sure his Grandad Tommy Wright was at Barkers for a while
Lawrence Dunbar:
Great Photos, Whats Norman Irvine doing now ? the last I heard he was driving for Richard Aynsley at Alnwick, Regards Larry.
hi larry
yes norman still with richard aynsley,
alan and robert irving are both at RTH-lubbers alan is in the office and rob doing the international work.
regards
mark
Thanks Marcus 22, Regards Larry.
Great Stuff Chrisr620, Keep them coming, Regards Larry.
The young Heed s new mount.
