Lookin g back at the photos, the one with the two highline F10s and the F12 with the four lamps under the bumper, that’s Plummer ( aka Frank Allison’s) motor and that’s him leaning out the window.
Is “big Jer” here Gerry Hughes?
Didn’t Syms run the ISR rubber contract at the old WW2 bomber base, on the right heading west, just before you got into Calne ?
Loaded out of there many times, good bunch of lads. The Manager was a decent bloke too, ex military I think, he was on TV once, some sort of talent show, playing spoons, on his head !!! I’m not kiddin, and haven’t a glass of wine either 
…anyone else remember him… 
Yes Fergie, it was Yatesbury, the old airfield about 4 miles east of Calne, about a mile off the A4. We would load rubber slabs in metal stillages from Enichem Elastomers down at Hythe and a lot was stored in the hangar at Yatesbury. The TV loonie was Brian Hussey, a well-known local eccentric, he was the manager of the Yatesbury site, I’m sure he passed away many years ago now.
There were a couple of good lads working under him in the hangar, one was called Ron, he was middle aged back then so he must be getting on now, and a younger chap who’s name escapes me ( might have been Ray?) . You would often bump into one or both of Syms’ shunters up there too, Bob House and Andy Ledbury, they both had F7’s but Bob’s pulled like a train and he often used it for day work on the plasterboard if the yard wasn’t all that busy. I still see Bob around in Devizes where I live, although I think he still lives in Calne.
Plummersmate:
Yes Fergie, it was Yatesbury, the old airfield about 4 miles east of Calne, about a mile off the A4. We would load rubber slabs in metal stillages from Enichem Elastomers down at Hythe and a lot was stored in the hangar at Yatesbury. The TV loonie was Brian Hussey, a well-known local eccentric, he was the manager of the Yatesbury site, I’m sure he passed away many years ago now.There were a couple of good lads working under him in the hangar, one was called Ron, he was middle aged back then so he must be getting on now, and a younger chap who’s name escapes me ( might have been Ray?) . You would often bump into one or both of Syms’ shunters up there too, Bob House and Andy Ledbury, they both had F7’s but Bob’s pulled like a train and he often used it for day work on the plasterboard if the yard wasn’t all that busy. I still see Bob around in Devizes where I live, although I think he still lives in Calne.
Plummersmate…Thanks for that, yep thats the chap, Brian Hussey, eccentric maybe, but a good bloke all the same. Loaded out of there a fair few times with Smith of Maddiston for Scotland, we normaly loaded Membury or Hythe, easy work, and remember seeing the Syms motors in and out of there.
We’re all the lads employed by Syms ? and did they run Membury as well do you know ?
adr:
Spoilt for choice there
Chris,ill be having a pint with the guy who took this photo tomorrow night ,im sure he will be glad you got it onto the thread ,Steve.
shakysteve:
adr:
Spoilt for choice thereChris,ill be having a pint with the guy who took this photo tomorrow night ,im sure he will be glad you got it onto the thread ,Steve.
Hi Steve, 1 extreme to the other there! There has to be a changeover at some point but… 
Regards Chris
Great thread and some fantastic pics, I used to work for another local family company and quite often loaded rubber from Syms yards for the tyre factory in Melksham.
Any one remeber John Thomas (Scouse) who worked many years for SCC Devizes? Also another old family friend was John Britain whi I think went to Wincanton at Chippenham. God old memories
benamy356:
Great thread and some fantastic pics, I used to work for another local family company and quite often loaded rubber from Syms yards for the tyre factory in Melksham.
Any one remeber John Thomas (Scouse) who worked many years for SCC Devizes? Also another old family friend was John Britain whi I think went to Wincanton at Chippenham. God old memories
i remember John Thomas ,didnt he win the wilts heat of the LDoY down at longleat house some years ago ,Steve.
Hi steve yeah he did I have the newspaper cutting he did it in his maggie deutz the first one SCC had. I did a little agency work at calne and I think he may have been shunting for dodds in swindon at the time
benamy356:
Hi steve yeah he did I have the newspaper cutting he did it in his maggie deutz the first one SCC had. I did a little agency work at calne and I think he may have been shunting for dodds in swindon at the time
Gaz ,who did you drive for in Calne and where are you now ? Steve.
Hi Steve, I worked for Spiers in Melksham most of my younger years, I knew John through my uncle at SCC in devizes. I am currently working in Andover now at Co-op
benamy356:
Hi Steve, I worked for Spiers in Melksham most of my younger years, I knew John through my uncle at SCC in devizes. I am currently working in Andover now at Co-op
16 years ago i worked for Westward commercials as a Volvo rep out of porte marsh ind est ,i a m currently working for a recycling company trying to get the cardboard and wrap out of your depot, Steve.
Fergie, been offline for some time due to computer blowing up but back online now. I’m sure the guys up at Yatesbury were on Syms’ payrole as often, on aThursday, if one of us was going up there to load, one of the office wallers would give us their pay packets to take up. The only sites we ever loaded the rubber at was Hythe, Grangemouth and Yatesbury and a lot of it went to Pirelli at Stoke, Goodyear and Fort Dunlop at Birmingham. We also delivered regularly to a tyre factory in Wolverhampton but I can’t recall which one.
Hi all John Davies aka Buzzer here, when I started out and got to two trucks on the road we ran rubber from Hythe to yatesbury two loads a day each and one load of salt back as this is what the union would allow, there were six motors on this job every day, 17 stillages was the norm. Remember Brian Hussey well and the two guys in the old hanger, always used to get them a couple of packets of ■■■■ on a Tuesday as they were always skint by then but they remembered and returned the favour by tipping you quick even if you turned up just before there lunch break. Once we had tipped our second load we always had half an hour in the café on the A4 on the left hand side before you got to Marlborough, any body remember that place. This was in the late seventies early eighties and we were grossing £175 a day which was not bad with fuel at 72p a gallon, just a foot note I knew every pothole and bump on that route but they were good old days, cheers Buzzer.
The only cafe on the left i can think of, between Yatesbury and Marlborough would have been the Ridgeway?
My name is judi hill, I am looking for people who may have known Gordon jones, Phillip green and John Davies/davis, they used to work for syms of Calne am guessing late 60’s early 70’s. Please message me if you knew them. Thank you.
x727sjn:
My name is judi hill, I am looking for people who may have known Gordon jones, Phillip green and John Davies/davis, they used to work for syms of Calne am guessing late 60’s early 70’s. Please message me if you knew them. Thank you.
Hi Judy Hill this is John Davies aka Buzzer here, I did not work for Syms of Calne at any time, my only connection is that we used to run ISR rubber into the old hangers at Yatesbury which was run by Syms. What is it you want to know or maybe there is another Davies/Davis, cheers Buzzer.
Hi, anyone used to work for stainers of melksham?
Hi folks,
A farm where i tip on a regular basis nr Devizes is where i met " Chris Oldham " . Now Chris and I started swapping a few stories and it transpired that he had 16 years as a driver for Syms of Calne. Well superb i thought as i remember seeing there smart F86s 88s F7s 10s & 12s flying around in the 70s & 80s. So i managed to cadge some absolute gems of pictures off him to share with the good folk of T-NET.
There may be some ex Syms drivers or associates, or some people who recognise some of the Syms lads. So enjoy… 
Chris Oldham, in his younger guise,
Thats just a few to be starting off with, and there’s plenty more where they came from…