Chris Webb:
Any of you lads remember H.Pheasey from Bakewell (or was it Ashford)and if they are still going? I don’t think they had tippers,I only recall them running flats.
Chris
Pheasey’s finished a long time ago Chris, my mate drove for them (as did my Neighbour who worked on the NORDE). One of their artics ran away on the A619 from Wadshelf to the island at Baslow and killed a woman in her car, the woman’s daughter started the organization known as BRAKE as a result of her mother’s death and has had a “downer” on lorries ever since. The truck driver was (allegedly) going too fast in top gear, he had alredy caused another death somewhere on the A1 I believe and Pheasey’s closed shortly afterwards. Their yard on the A6 is now a business park and I think that the last of the founders sons died last year, another of the sons was run over and killed by his own lorry during maintenance work.
They ran flats and also used to do milk churn work with petrol engined Bedfords to the Sheffield area.
Pete.
I drove for Herbert Pheasey in 1970-1, I drove a AEC mercuary with a 505 engine. at that time 1t was a fine
truck Could catch pigeons. A good fellow to drive for, he even filled up my self converted austin a60 diesel
car free (he said it would save me syphoning it) Reet good
Hiya when i worked at Harrisons in stoke we had a ex Pheasey unit ynm 449 k iicr. the driver of this ERF used to keep the post office in Ashford. i was talking to him in hostpital in Stoke(1978) my old chap had a heart attack and this chap was in the next bed…infact we had a good chat as it was a bad winter and is wife was to busy with the post office plus the roads was closed over the tops…georgie4 any idea if he ever got better i often wondered.
John
3300John:
Hiya D B theres a chap who had a Routeman/Hiab crane at Peakstone bricks and later a Foden of his own his name was Eric Perkins I don’t know if hes any relation to the chap who owened that Thornecroft.He lives in Buxton at the back of that VW agents on the A6
Talking about Thorneycrofts a chap i know has just finished restoring the last cervillian Thorneycroft built its a 8 legger 1960 model its in Hulland products livery. Its taken him since 1986 to do but looks like new. Hes just finishing the body so it will be out next year.
John.
Hello mate ,
I dont remember this little truck,but a chap called perkins had a coal yard on silverlands
and drove an eight wheeler coal truck into very old age, I believe turned seventy?
sadly he had a mishap. ran into a school wall near newmills lights, he was ok but dont think
he drove trucks again.this was about 40yrs ago and memorys are a bit vague. I dont think it was
eric he came from up in gonder gress, !!
georgie4
Retired Old ■■■■:
1600cc BMC, Georgie? Or did you go for full power with the 2200 out of a Mothers Pride bread van?
Hello old mate,
the engine I used was a BMC 1500cc,same block size as the 1600 petrol fitted as standard to a 60 car
To fit the diesel I got it down to a fine art ;; redrill front mounts 1" forwards and shorten prop by the
same. also if I remember right I bashed a dent in the front axle beam to make room for the fatter diesel
starter motor. The reason for this was the flywheel and bellhousing was thicker, I got all my 1500 diesels
from ex post office J4 vans, never paying more than £25 .Got stopped by the law often for a diesel checks
the reason they stopped me was the very noisy air intake, said they could hear me coming a mile away!!
50 mpg on a run . Reet good times, never happy unless your hands were black
Georgie4
Nice one, matey. I bet you wore some tyres out doing wheelies away from the lights?!?!
We managed to get a 2.2 into a Westminster with overdrive gearbox, but it was as gutless as your A60 must have been. Another wheeze was chucking a Merc diesel into a Ford Zephyr, although that involved fitting a Jag rear axle to get the speed up a bit. Another of our gang managed to shoe-horn a Perkins P6 into an early fifties Buick. As I recall, it was flat out at around 55mph!
hiya john , eric was no relation to the perkins from silver lands . eric originated from that lane that runs at the back of the winking witch , and i lived in the next farm with my grandparents . i recall those thornycrofts of perkins , they would romp up via gellia with a full load on . i tried for a job with him but the money was (zb) , about 15 quid a week and i was on 20+ at marchingtons . cheers , dave
rigsby:
hiya john , eric was no relation to the perkins from silver lands . eric originated from that lane that runs at the back of the winking witch , and i lived in the next farm with my grandparents . i recall those thornycrofts of perkins , they would romp up via gellia with a full load on . i tried for a job with him but the money was (zb) , about 15 quid a week and i was on 20+ at marchingtons . cheers , dave
marchies at dove? affectionatly known as cruddys to most of us, wonder how many of us left who drove for eric
georgie4
Retired Old ■■■■:
1600cc BMC, Georgie? Or did you go for full power with the 2200 out of a Mothers Pride bread van?
Hello old mate,
the engine I used was a BMC 1500cc,same block size as the 1600 petrol fitted as standard to a 60 car
To fit the diesel I got it down to a fine art ;; redrill front mounts 1" forwards and shorten prop by the
same. also if I remember right I bashed a dent in the front axle beam to make room for the fatter diesel
starter motor. The reason for this was the flywheel and bellhousing was thicker, I got all my 1500 diesels
from ex post office J4 vans, never paying more than £25 .Got stopped by the law often for a diesel checks
the reason they stopped me was the very noisy air intake, said they could hear me coming a mile away!!
50 mpg on a run . Reet good times, never happy unless your hands were black
Georgie4
Nice one, matey. I bet you wore some tyres out doing wheelies away from the lights?!?!
We managed to get a 2.2 into a Westminster with overdrive gearbox, but it was as gutless as your A60 must have been. Another wheeze was chucking a Merc diesel into a Ford Zephyr, although that involved fitting a Jag rear axle to get the speed up a bit. Another of our gang managed to shoe-horn a Perkins P6 into an early fifties Buick. As I recall, it was flat out at around 55mph!
Hiya old ■■■■…do you know John who worked at S Coopers he had a range rover with a P6 under the bonnet
he also had some Humbers with P 6’s. he works for the ministery now. he did live sort of oppersit the chain
and gate…Andy Mcarthy (coaches) has a Secpter with a 1.5 fitted in her.have you seen Bolshaws Loagonda
with the 4lk in her. that was a Gardners rep’s car.
In Leek years ago their was stacks of 50’s yanks with diesel engines, the stock car lads ripped out the V8 for
racing and stuck old oilers in to sell them on
John
Retired Old ■■■■:
1600cc BMC, Georgie? Or did you go for full power with the 2200 out of a Mothers Pride bread van?
Hello old mate,
the engine I used was a BMC 1500cc,same block size as the 1600 petrol fitted as standard to a 60 car
To fit the diesel I got it down to a fine art ;; redrill front mounts 1" forwards and shorten prop by the
same. also if I remember right I bashed a dent in the front axle beam to make room for the fatter diesel
starter motor. The reason for this was the flywheel and bellhousing was thicker, I got all my 1500 diesels
from ex post office J4 vans, never paying more than £25 .Got stopped by the law often for a diesel checks
the reason they stopped me was the very noisy air intake, said they could hear me coming a mile away!!
50 mpg on a run . Reet good times, never happy unless your hands were black
Georgie4
Nice one, matey. I bet you wore some tyres out doing wheelies away from the lights?!?!
We managed to get a 2.2 into a Westminster with overdrive gearbox, but it was as gutless as your A60 must have been. Another wheeze was chucking a Merc diesel into a Ford Zephyr, although that involved fitting a Jag rear axle to get the speed up a bit. Another of our gang managed to shoe-horn a Perkins P6 into an early fifties Buick. As I recall, it was flat out at around 55mph!
Hiya old ■■■■…do you know John who worked at S Coopers he had a range rover with a P6 under the bonnet
he also had some Humbers with P 6’s. he works for the ministery now. he did live sort of oppersit the chain
and gate…Andy Mcarthy (coaches) has a Secpter with a 1.5 fitted in her.have you seen Bolshaws Loagonda
with the 4lk in her. that was a Gardners rep’s car.
In Leek years ago their was stacks of 50’s yanks with diesel engines, the stock car lads ripped out the V8 for
racing and stuck old oilers in to sell them on
John
Hi old ■■■■, I remember those days well. I did some weird conversions, D reg humber hawk I fitted a BMC
2.2 engine and box ex LD van 35mpg+ but wouldn`t pull your hat off, next a LWB L/rover fitted a
BMC3.8 EX threenny bit cab fg? noisey and slow, better when fitted with 3.5 diffs. My last conversion was fitting a perkins 4236 3.8 in a range rover. pulled ok 35+ mpg 65 mph flat out. sadly now retired from the black hands
gang and settled for a nice merc est 220. (oiler of course) Georgie4
3300John:
Hiya …i think we,re mixed up here long hill goes from whaley bridge straight into Buxton.
Chapel is on a diffrent route thats where we stopped at the cafe on the left just before
chapel at tungstead milton oppersite the garage that had the tankers IICR j morton or j morden
i think he carried water. his units was red.
now High lane is only 2or so mile out of Hazel grove before Disley.there was a cafe nr the rail bridge
at hazel grove and a little lorry park.(now closed)
There was a cafe in whaley bridge but was,nt it bad parking. mind you i was usuall running with another artic
so squezing 2or3 lorries in was always a pain.
Dose anyone remember that cafe near the lights going out of Buxton towards the leek/ cat n fiddle road.
We could always park on the roadside no damed yellow lines or traffic wardens was there.
That cafe is still going at wardlow dip but the cafe at stoney middleton looks bleak i came past about 4 weeks ago.
I do,nt know if Bradwell village is off the betten track nowadays but there was a good little cafe there in the late 70,s
it was always full of tipper drivers.
John[/quote
Hi john the cafe on west rd near lights towards leek-cat n fid was george vales. fastest best allday
breakfast in the north. Finest thing after a night on the razz, used to top your breakfast off with
black fat from the bacon pan. no toilets , relief was had in the grid at the back door . fond memorys
i feel i should know you georgy , what did you pilot at cruddies ? i had percy hill’s fg 6 wheeler and the chinese six s21 flat , drove a few of the others from time to time . i went back when callahan took over , but not for long . log book , what log book !! cheers , dave
rigsby:
i feel i should know you georgy , what did you pilot at cruddies ? i had percy hill’s fg 6 wheeler and the chinese six s21 flat , drove a few of the others from time to time . i went back when callahan took over , but not for long . log book , what log book !! cheers , dave
Hello old mate,
I drove 4918NU the last tk, and i finished up driving the S21 chinese six!
Wish I had it now. Question? Did you drive a tk for Jack Royles.If so it was you
who got me the job driving the darn thing for about nine years until they
retired. Talk about logbooks at cruddies, 38 hrs for s/wales and coal back
as long as you were in tunstead at 6 next morning. now how much was that
at about 6 bob an hour. happy days
rigsby:
i feel i should know you georgy , what did you pilot at cruddies ? i had percy hill’s fg 6 wheeler and the chinese six s21 flat , drove a few of the others from time to time . i went back when callahan took over , but not for long . log book , what log book !! cheers , dave
Hello old mate,
I drove 4918NU the last tk, and i finished up driving the S21 chinese six!
Wish I had it now. Question? Did you drive a tk for Jack Royles.If so it was you
who got me the job driving the darn thing for about nine years until they
retired. Talk about logbooks at cruddies, 38 hrs for s/wales and coal back
as long as you were in tunstead at 6 next morning. now how much was that
at about 6 bob an hour. happy days
I like the bit “as long as you were in Tunstead at 6 next morning”.38 hours for South Wales loaded both ways from Buxton area sounds about rayt,them were t’days Georgy.
georgie you’ve got me totally baffled now ( doesn’t take much these days ) i’m damned i i can remember who got on royles when i left . bloody hell it’s 35 years ago now ! when i left cruddies eric chapman got the chinese six , i think i went to dowlow on the scammel , 2 a day to northwich , paid 14 hours , spent more time in graces at macc than i did driving . i think there is only eric morton and ged morris still alive , and of course you and me . cheers , dave
by heck chris you sheffield lads had it soft , not like us rufty tufty drivers up in th’ills . that s.wales run could be done in 16 hours if you had a good run , part time stuff . we got 18 hours for avonmouth and back empty , or " fetch a load of fertiliser back for staffs farmers they are open till 6 pm " but that paid 35 hours as well . no wonder i’m a knackered old ■■■■ , cheers , dave
rigsby:
by heck chris you sheffield lads had it soft , not like us rufty tufty drivers up in th’ills . that s.wales run could be done in 16 hours if you had a good run , part time stuff . we got 18 hours for avonmouth and back empty , or " fetch a load of fertiliser back for staffs farmers they are open till 6 pm " but that paid 35 hours as well . no wonder i’m a knackered old ■■■■ , cheers , dave
When you say South Wales Dave,do you mean limestone to Llanwern and coke/coal back,say from Cwm for 16 hours pay and get it tipped same day ? South Wales is a big area,I know Sam L used backload out of Ammanford which is a long way from Llanwern.We got paid on the log sheets/books at A E Evans and very rarely came out of South Wales empty,usually loading out of Baglan Bay,Llandarcy or Llanwern usually for the north or north-west,sometimes for London area or Felixstowe.
rigsby:
georgie you’ve got me totally baffled now ( doesn’t take much these days ) i’m damned i i can remember who got on royles when i left . bloody hell it’s 35 years ago now ! when i left cruddies eric chapman got the chinese six , i think i went to dowlow on the scammel , 2 a day to northwich , paid 14 hours , spent more time in graces at macc than i did driving . i think there is only eric morton and ged morris still alive , and of course you and me . cheers , dave
Hi dave , put you out of your misery, I lived at bottom of pictor rd.john
rigsby:
georgie you’ve got me totally baffled now ( doesn’t take much these days ) i’m damned i i can remember who got on royles when i left . bloody hell it’s 35 years ago now ! when i left cruddies eric chapman got the chinese six , i think i went to dowlow on the scammel , 2 a day to northwich , paid 14 hours , spent more time in graces at macc than i did driving . i think there is only eric morton and ged morris still alive , and of course you and me . cheers , dave
Of course what about cruddies phantom fitter? eric thomlinson at dove, fit as ever!!
chris , we got 35 or 38 hour ( can’t remember which ) for s.wales ( llanwern/margham/briton ferry/ baglan bay) ,coal back rhonnda/swansea valley/kidwelly etc ) no time for hanging about tea drinking unless there was a queue at the pit . oh i forgot the favourite , mountain ash , it was a long day if you dropped for that (zb)hole . i used to sleep well though when i had time . i was lucky , i had a flat most of the time , 15 ton of bags to liverpool docks , handball off on your own and back before 6pm to load for morning . cheers , dave . ps , the money was very good for the time
georgie , i can only think of one john from pictor road , did you drive a taxi for years ? i never saw eric the phantom fitter , went into sandwich for repairs , or lomases on the market place .
rigsby:
chris , we got 35 or 38 hour ( can’t remember which ) for s.wales ( llanwern/margham/briton ferry/ baglan bay) ,coal back rhonnda/swansea valley/kidwelly etc ) no time for hanging about tea drinking unless there was a queue at the pit . oh i forgot the favourite , mountain ash , it was a long day if you dropped for that (zb)hole . i used to sleep well though when i had time . i was lucky , i had a flat most of the time , 15 ton of bags to liverpool docks , handball off on your own and back before 6pm to load for morning . cheers , dave . ps , the money was very good for the time
Aye long days and goodish money Dave.Going back to Cwm ovens I used to deliver gas oil to the boiler house there from NCB Manvers refinery and I’m sure that there was a notice up on the bridge about it closing at 6-00 pm might be wrong,but when I was on nights running to our Ross and later Chepstow depot I still used to see tippers running north with steaming coke way after midnight so some plants must have kept open 24 hours for loading? Do you recall a firm called Mountains,think they were same colour as Hazlecrofts Garage, I used to see them regular from that lay-by opposite the Derbyshire Yeomanry boozer at Markeaton Park Derby at 2 or 3 in a morning going south west,leaning ovver round the island,chasing would be the word.
Bill Mountain from Wirksworth Chris. Bill has long gone but his lad Ian still runs some wagons for Tarmac and Agg Industries (or whatever they call themselves these days!) based at Longcliffe.
