Ray Smyth:
David, Thank you for your comments. You still have to pay to use the tunnel, Years ago you paid at the entrance, and proceeded
through. Nowadays, if you enter at the Liverpool entrance, you drive through and pay at the Birkenhead exit. If you enter at the
Birkenhead entrance, you pay there and then proceed through to Liverpool. The second Mersey Tunnel which opened in 1971 has
the same pay system. Having said the above words, I have not been through either of the tunnels for several years, so I expect
that most drivers will pay " Beep Beep " on their smart phone nowadays.
Cheers, Ray.
Ref Mersey Tunnel.
In the late eighties, I was covering for one of our drivers called Frank, while he was away on his two weeks holiday. Franks regular run included Widnes, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and The Wirral. I remember that he was issued with a pre paid book of Mersey Tunnel tickets which were always kept in the cab, I.I.R.C. there were ten tickets in a book.
I seem to remember (not sure but hopefully somebody will know) that they didn’t issue toll receipts at the tunnel and at the time there was a very big police investigation going on about how the toll booth operators could all afford, big houses, boats, caravans and continental holidays. 
Does anybody else remember this story.
JD, we will need photos of the excellent Swedish meatballs with cranberry sauce on the side and don’t take the photo from IKEA in England, regards Charles Wickes
cwickesltd:
JD, we will need photos of the excellent Swedish meatballs with cranberry sauce on the side and don’t take the photo from IKEA in England, regards Charles Wickes
TOBY come on down, today you are Charles Wickes
mushroomman:
Ray Smyth:
David, Thank you for your comments. You still have to pay to use the tunnel, Years ago you paid at the entrance, and proceeded
through. Nowadays, if you enter at the Liverpool entrance, you drive through and pay at the Birkenhead exit. If you enter at the
Birkenhead entrance, you pay there and then proceed through to Liverpool. The second Mersey Tunnel which opened in 1971 has
the same pay system. Having said the above words, I have not been through either of the tunnels for several years, so I expect
that most drivers will pay " Beep Beep " on their smart phone nowadays.
Cheers, Ray.Ref Mersey Tunnel.
In the late eighties, I was covering for one of our drivers called Frank, while he was away on his two weeks holiday. Franks regular run included Widnes, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and The Wirral. I remember that he was issued with a pre paid book of Mersey Tunnel tickets which were always kept in the cab, I.I.R.C. there were ten tickets in a book.
I seem to remember (not sure but hopefully somebody will know) that they didn’t issue toll receipts at the tunnel and at the time there was a very big police investigation going on about how the toll booth operators could all afford, big houses, boats, caravans and continental holidays.
Does anybody else remember this story.0
1
In Reply to Spardo and Mushroom Man
If you arrive at the tunnel booth and dont have the means to pay, they will take your details and send you a bill, Re the pre paid tickets, I recall my Dad getting a book of these as he had a disabled sticker, dont think they do them anymore.
You can still pay cash, but they have had Tunnel " Fast Tags " for many years, this is a plastic sender unit which you attach to the windscreen in front of the rear view mirror and this is read as you approach the barrier, if you have sufficient funds in your account the barrier lifts automatically.
But as I type this they are in the process of doing away with " Fast Tags " and replacing them with (A.N.P.R )Automatic number plate readers, same principal as the Fast Tags but you have to register your vehicle registration numbers with them, personally I can foresee lots of problems with this system, especially for people who use different vehicles that are not registered with the Tunnel, at least the Fast Tag can be carried in your pocket.
Re the Police investigation into the Tunnel operatives, yes there was a number of staff who were helping themselves to money, at this time you threw your Tunnel Toll into a basket at the booth, if the amount was correct the barrier would lift.
Obviously the Tunnel got wind of staff helping themselves, an observation point was set up on the roof of an adjoining warehouse to capture the events, one of these showed a chappie walking across from the offices carrying a tool box which was obviously empty, on his return journey to the office he was struggling to carry it !! .
The Tunnel was supposed to be free when the debt was paid off, but this is never going to happen as the Tunnel has become a " cash cow "and is funding other parts of the Mersey Travel system.
Cheers
John
Over the last couple of years the Tyne Tunnel has moved from cash to ANPR / online payments. By and large it seems to have worked quite well. There is an official APP where vehicles can be registered in a personal account. My wife and I are only occasional users so I keep a balance of £10.00 in the account and the fee is automatically deducted on use.
Non account users can pay online within 24 hours of the journey.
In the early seventies we had tippers sometimes doing seven or eight loads of stone a day through the tunnel to the new sewage treatment plant at Howden so my Dad would buy batches of prepaid tickets (about 40p each way IIRC) and leave them at the quarry weighbridge. The weighman would give the driver two tickets every time he had a load to go through the tunnel.
Tyneside
In Reply to Spardo and Mushroom Man
If you arrive at the tunnel booth and dont have the means to pay, they will take your details and send you a bill, Re the pre paid tickets, I recall my Dad getting a book of these as he had a disabled sticker, dont think they do them anymore.
You can still pay cash, but they have had Tunnel " Fast Tags " for many years, this is a plastic sender unit which you attach to the windscreen in front of the rear view mirror and this is read as you approach the barrier, if you have sufficient funds in your account the barrier lifts automatically.
But as I type this they are in the process of doing away with " Fast Tags " and replacing them with (A.N.P.R )Automatic number plate readers, same principal as the Fast Tags but you have to register your vehicle registration numbers with them, personally I can foresee lots of problems with this system, especially for people who use different vehicles that are not registered with the Tunnel, at least the Fast Tag can be carried in your pocket.
Re the Police investigation into the Tunnel operatives, yes there was a number of staff who were helping themselves to money, at this time you threw your Tunnel Toll into a basket at the booth, if the amount was correct the barrier would lift.
Obviously the Tunnel got wind of staff helping themselves, an observation point was set up on the roof of an adjoining warehouse to capture the events, one of these showed a chappie walking across from the offices carrying a tool box which was obviously empty, on his return journey to the office he was struggling to carry it !! .
The Tunnel was supposed to be free when the debt was paid off, but this is never going to happen as the Tunnel has become a " cash cow "and is funding other parts of the Mersey Travel system.
Cheers
John
[/quote]
This reminds me of a situation years ago when Glasgow Corporation introduced money boxes for their “pay as you enter” buses. The money was deposited in a part of the box that had a glass screen and if the driver was satisfied that enough money had been deposited he would issue the ticket and press a button on the cab floor that dropped the cash into a cash vault at the bottom of the box which would be emptied when the bus returned to the depot. A couple of clever nightshift mechanics, based at the Newlands depot, rigged some of the machines so that the notes got diverted into a separate part of the money box and they would collect them from the machines during their shift when no-one was about. It was only when the cashiers noticed that the same buses seemed to be returning a lot less than others that an investigation began and their little scam was discovered.
Thanks to Buzzer, mushroomman, Ray Smyth, robthedog and Lawrence Dunbar for the photos 
Oily
Various on the Donny Bypass credit to Richard Says for the photos.
This bread van of Richard Taylors bakery was one of about 30 vehicles based in Taylors Bakery
in Buchanan Road in the Walton area of Liverpool. I was born just 500 yards away from here in
Walton Hospital on Rice Lane. My family home was 51 Buchanan Road, almost opposite to the
bakery entrance. I am trying to remember if this bread van was an Austin or a Morris. Its number
plate suggests mid 1950s. The second picture is me, probably about 2 year old in 1946, to the
right of me, and to the left of the picture is Taylors Bakery about 20 yards away.
Ray.
Back home from the Scania big car factory in Sweden but will post pics 2mor when I down load if there any good, had to wait nearly as long for the plane home as to get on this thread it aint improved much has it, Buzzer
Ray Smyth:
This bread van of Richard Taylors bakery was one of about 30 vehicles based in Taylors Bakery
in Buchanan Road in the Walton area of Liverpool. I was born just 500 yards away from here in
Walton Hospital on Rice Lane. My family home was 51 Buchanan Road, almost opposite to the
bakery entrance. I am trying to remember if this bread van was an Austin or a Morris. Its number
plate suggests mid 1950s. The second picture is me, probably about 2 year old in 1946, to the
right of me, and to the left of the picture is Taylors Bakery about 20 yards away.Ray.
I reckon the van is an Austin, Ray. It looks like a Flying A on the bonnet.
mushroomman:
Ray Smyth:
David, Thank you for your comments. You still have to pay to use the tunnel, Years ago you paid at the entrance, and proceeded
through. Nowadays, if you enter at the Liverpool entrance, you drive through and pay at the Birkenhead exit. If you enter at the
Birkenhead entrance, you pay there and then proceed through to Liverpool. The second Mersey Tunnel which opened in 1971 has
the same pay system. Having said the above words, I have not been through either of the tunnels for several years, so I expect
that most drivers will pay " Beep Beep " on their smart phone nowadays.
Cheers, Ray.Ref Mersey Tunnel.
In the late eighties, I was covering for one of our drivers called Frank, while he was away on his two weeks holiday. Franks regular run included Widnes, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and The Wirral. I remember that he was issued with a pre paid book of Mersey Tunnel tickets which were always kept in the cab, I.I.R.C. there were ten tickets in a book.
I seem to remember (not sure but hopefully somebody will know) that they didn’t issue toll receipts at the tunnel and at the time there was a very big police investigation going on about how the toll booth operators could all afford, big houses, boats, caravans and continental holidays.
Does anybody else remember this story.0
1
2 more memories for me there MRM. Top pic has a Blue Star ship in the background, I never sailed with them but they were owned by Vesty of Rotinoff in the NT fame and I did work a long long time ago for another of their companies. Weddels, the meat wholesalers.
Then Hadfields of Ashton under Lyne and an unlikely speedster. The only commercials that were faster than me in my 75 mph Kew Dodge and 4-in-line on the M1. 
Ray Smyth:
This bread van of Richard Taylors bakery was one of about 30 vehicles based in Taylors Bakery
in Buchanan Road in the Walton area of Liverpool. I was born just 500 yards away from here in
Walton Hospital on Rice Lane. My family home was 51 Buchanan Road, almost opposite to the
bakery entrance. I am trying to remember if this bread van was an Austin or a Morris. Its number
plate suggests mid 1950s. The second picture is me, probably about 2 year old in 1946, to the
right of me, and to the left of the picture is Taylors Bakery about 20 yards away.Ray.
I have just discovered that the picture of the Taylors bread van is from a film called " Violent Playground " from
1958, set in Liverpool. The main actor in the film was David McCallum, who sadly passed away earlier this week.
David McCallum was very well known in later years as Illya Kuryakin in " The man from U.N.C.L.E. series. R.I.P.
Information from Bootle Times Forum.
Ray.
Ray Smyth:
This bread van of Richard Taylors bakery was one of about 30 vehicles based in Taylors Bakery
in Buchanan Road in the Walton area of Liverpool. I was born just 500 yards away from here in
Walton Hospital on Rice Lane. My family home was 51 Buchanan Road, almost opposite to the
bakery entrance. I am trying to remember if this bread van was an Austin or a Morris. Its number
plate suggests mid 1950s. The second picture is me, probably about 2 year old in 1946, to the
right of me, and to the left of the picture is Taylors Bakery about 20 yards away.Ray.
That’s a brill photo of you Ray cute 
the car in front of the bread van is a Ford Popular I had one in 1957.
Oily
oiltreader:
Ray Smyth:
This bread van of Richard Taylors bakery was one of about 30 vehicles based in Taylors Bakery
in Buchanan Road in the Walton area of Liverpool. I was born just 500 yards away from here in
Walton Hospital on Rice Lane. My family home was 51 Buchanan Road, almost opposite to the
bakery entrance. I am trying to remember if this bread van was an Austin or a Morris. Its number
plate suggests mid 1950s. The second picture is me, probably about 2 year old in 1946, to the
right of me, and to the left of the picture is Taylors Bakery about 20 yards away.Ray.
That’s a brill photo of you Ray cute
Oily
Thank you Eddie for your kind remark. I have added a few more pictures from the 1958 film " Violent Playground ".
Cheers, Ray.
After writing 6 lines of print on my trip to Scania Sweden this web sight shut the lot off and I aint doing it again, just pics Buzzer
cwickesltd:
JD, we will need photos of the excellent Swedish meatballs with cranberry sauce on the side and don’t take the photo from IKEA in England, regards Charles Wickes
Did not catch a shot of the meatballs on the plate but I can assure you thats what Mr P has in his gob in the picture above & very tasty they were too, Buzzer
