Hi Dean, Thank you for your comments. From soon after we started carrying for Remploy Frontline in 1995, we began to deliver
their specialised products, mainly " Counter Terrorism " garments and equipment to Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force depots,
and also to several Government departments, as well as Police Forces, Ambulance and Fire Service locations throughout the UK.
One particular Government site was D.S.T.L. ( Defence, Science, & Technology Laboratory ) at Porton Down, Wiltshire. On arrival
there, you were photographed and accompanied by a civilian guard, and depending on what part of the site your delivery was
going to, you could be accompanied by an armed M.O.D Police Officer. The guard was instructed to be no more than 2 metres
away from the driver. The location later became The Health Protection Agency. I expect they have been busy lately because of Covid-19.
After a couple of years, and with a bit of info from my main contacts at Remploy Frontline head office at Birkenhead, I applied to
The M.O.D. for approval to carry for them. I wrote a letter to M.O.D. at Andover, and about 6 weeks later, I got a phone call from
a lady at Andover to say that she was coming to interview me on Monday at 1 pm. She arrived on time and she grilled me for about
40 minutes, after which she said " You are now an approved M.O.D. Carrier ". She went on to say that I was already approved before
she arrived, her department and other agencies like M I 5 & M I 6, and the legal system etc had sussed me out over the last 6 weeks
to see if I had a criminal record etc. I then had to sign several documents including The Official Secrets Act.
Cheers, Ray.
I learned earlier today that Tommy Tickle had passed away. Tommy was the Head Storekeeper
at the Remploy factory in Wigan, and was a great chap to work alongside for organising the
distribution to many Remploy factories and customers throughout the United Kingdom.
Rest in peace Tommy.
Ray Smyth.
With the help of retired transport manager Tommy Burns i have put together a few memories of the long gone Remploy Transport Dept which was based at Borough Mill on Neild Street Oldham.
Any pictures or comments you may have would be more than welcome especially from any former drivers or staff.
Also there is a galley on Flickr dedicated to Remploy’s Transport Department which can be found by clicking HERE
Here is a shot of the old entrance to the Remploy Transport Department which was located on Neild Street Oldham, now long gone and replaced with housing.
The front of Borough Mill which was Remploy’s national distribution warehouse for many years.
The bricked up door ways were once the loading doors were vans would be loaded while parked on the street.
In the summer of 2011 demolition began of the mill, which was built in 1874, and by August of that year the whole site had been leveled in preparation for a new housing estate.
The old transport yard at Borough Mill, once Remploy’s main transport depot, stands deserted in 2010.
By August 2011 the bulldozers had moved in and the whole site was levelled in preparation for the building of a new housing estate.
A picture of Borough mill shortly before demolition the whole site is now occupied with housing.
Click here >>> Remploy Transport Oldham gallery
moomooland:
With the help of retired transport manager Tommy Burns i have now started a website dedicated to the transport department of Remploy Ltd which was based at Borough Mill Neild Street Oldham.
Over the coming weeks more pictures will be added to the site
You can find the site by clicking HERE
Regards Paul
just looking at your pics ask tommy if he remembers w.jones of port talbot i done a bit with jones & w,north on remploy work , jones no longer in buisness we used to pull out of neath,swansea merthyr i worked with dai mclean, graham,johnny brimfield,cyril jones i remember the oldham depot
Pictured on the old Tooley Street lorry park South of the River Thames next to Tower Bridge is Leyland Laird demountable four wheeler PYX 71L which was relatively new when this picture was taken in 1973.
Photograph courtesy of Remploy driver Jim Wilson,
A view from the top of Borough Mill on Nield Street Oldham which, for many years, was the hub of the Remploy’s in house transport operations.
This picture, taken in 1975, shows the busy yard of Remploy’s long gone Oldham depot when the company ran such makes as Bedford, BMC, Ford and Leyland vehicles.
Borough Mill remained empty for many years until 2011 when it was demolished to make way for a new a housing estate bringing an end to another piece of Oldham’s Industrial heritage.
A mosque, one of many in Oldham, already stands in the top left hand corner of the picture, just behind the demountable boxes.
This location is unrecognisable today as the whole area is now housing estate which was built in 2012.
You can view the Remploy Transport Dept gallery on Flickr by clicking HERE
Hi there…I am Tom Burns’ daughter. For some reason I am unable to see the photographs in this thread and would love to show them to my Dad who is now 88 years old and unfortunately has Alzheimers disease and recently moved in to a care home. I am hoping they will bring back some happy memories for him.
Kind Regards
Cathryn
Hi there Cathryn,
This site has recently been given a new platform, and some older posts and pictures are not available at the moment, but we have been told they are being transferred over so will be available to all again.
As a stopgap, maybe some members seeing this will have Remploy pictures they could post again?
Fingers crossed for you!
From earlier in this thread moomooland gave this link to Flicker Remploy Transport Department Oldham | Flickr
Hi Catherine . This is John Dickson replying to your email, I am in Canada been here for forty years so I can’t really help you in this regard. You can tell Tommy I remember him a lot, he was a great guy, just great, I wish I could help you and him , I really do, I’ve not been on the site for over a year, now . Tell Tommy I wish him all the best, and wish I could help you with this, give him my best , all the best to you and yours , I hope someone can help you. Ok. John Dickson the Scotsman .
My Dad was a Remploy driver (Tony Palfrey) who lived in Swindon, he went to Oldham on a Monday to drop and swap a box and back on Tuesday, night out in i think it was called Granellies cafe parking in the lorry park, he did Hampshire/Dorset and the Isle Of Wight, as a kid i was always in his lorry and he had a new Ford D series reg number JLX887N i remember it well, who remembers him?
My Dad Tony Palfrey went on the same French trip, he drove JLX887N.
