stevetwigg:
hi i worked on the bank on nights at braintree depot mid 80s until it all went pear shaped best company i worked for i would probably still be there anyone remember mick newman kenny howman johnny laidlaw or pete bennet still see him sometimes i could go on and on haha
Hello
Mick Newman is now on a “Basildon to Birmingham” trunk - drop & swap
I did his run on Monday when he had a night off
hi thanks for that mate
Wheel Nut:
Wheel Nut:
It was before my time with UCL but Willmott Motors who they originally acquired in Howden had some Commer units I am sure.Later on though I drove a Dodge which was in Arrowfasts blue and white colours. I loved that lorry, 16 tonner which could catch pigeons.
As I mentioned Willmott Motors, here are a couple of their lorries, a brand new Bedford TK parked at the dealers and an Albion on a photoshoot.
Williemac are you there? Courtesy of Mr J E McLeod and Johnny Rose.
My dad Albert Henrickson drove twin to Albion Claymore TBT 134 his was SBT 822 he had it from new
does anyone remember united carriers also does anyone have any pics cheers
remember their walsall wood depot.realy awkward bays to reverse onto,been knocked down now a few years back now got houses built on it
re.trucker 4067 if anybody remembers united carriers.? i worked for them for over thirty years at their wellingborough dept mostly on night trunk. i have loads of photos of their trucks but will have to learn how to post them
I would be interested in seeing any pictures. I worked at Howden twice for about 4 years. I agree with curnock about Walsall Wood, they seemed to save the bay in the bottom corner for new drivers 
there were also a couple of bays on the front on the road.
The parcel depot at Gretna was a UCL depot later taken on by Baylis.
I did C&D, shunted in the depot on nights for 8 months and did a regular night trunk to Dunstable to change with the Alton driver.
diesel dan:
i have loads of photos of their trucks but will have to learn how to post them
Hi,I worked at Pucklechurch depot albeit part time,I remember taking out a Collins express Bedford for a trip(non hgv days)…what a heap but at 21 I was king of the road,my old chap had worked there from the early 60s when they were Frank Willis…heres a clipping. 
Cheers Bubbs. 
Brilliant picture Bubbs.
My first artic driven in anger the B series were just coming into the fleet at the time. Howden was originally a company called Willmots and I knew several of the drivers when UCL bought the depot.
diesel dan. I am sure you will have come across a couple of names in your 30years with United Carriers
John (Jock) McLeod and Michael (Mick) Darley
hi bubble man. blimy those pictures bring back memories i drove that erf ebd189k on night trunk for awhile. i also worked for frank willis on nights in the workshop there were some mad drivers at the pucklechurch dept .sometimes one of them phone me up to say they were leaving and we see how long it took to get wellingborough.i think the record was 2hours. knowwonder we seemed to be going out to rollovers every other week mind you we proberly did more damage to the truck than the driver did. names i remember are duggle uzzle and the gas man we called him that because he looked like(wait for it) a gas man. he even turned an artic over on tower bridge one night. magic days. i remember collins express trucks blue j type bedfords origionally from wallsal wood
hi wheelnut was jock mc cloud the manager.the night superviser was abig bloke with bushy hair another driver i remember was short guy with white hair used to do wellingboro trunk cant remember names. at howden dept they always leave my return trailer outside the garage. well when i was younger i was always in a hurry .dont know why but there you are anyway it was the last trunk before xmas i whooshed into the yard dropped the trailer on the bank whooshed under my return trailer walked (might have been a brisk walk) to the back to check l ights when i heard someone crying help help the voice was coming from inside the trailer. the night shunter had jumped into the back to pull shutter down when the supporting cables broke letting the shutter crash shut it needed the fork lift to release him he was lucky because if i hadnt heard him he would have spent 2 weeks over xmas at wellingboro joy of joys it wasnt you was it wheelnut
diesel dan:
hi wheelnut was jock mc cloud the manager.the night superviser was abig bloke with bushy hair another driver i remember was short guy with white hair used to do wellingboro trunk cant remember names. at howden dept they always leave my return trailer outside the garage. well when i was younger i was always in a hurry .dont know why but there you are anyway it was the last trunk before xmas i whooshed into the yard dropped the trailer on the bank whooshed under my return trailer walked (might have been a brisk walk) to the back to check l ights when i heard someone crying help help the voice was coming from inside the trailer. the night shunter had jumped into the back to pull shutter down when the supporting cables broke letting the shutter crash shut it needed the fork lift to release him he was lucky because if i hadnt heard him he would have spent 2 weeks over xmas at wellingboro joy of joys it wasnt you was it wheelnut
Yes Jock was originally the depot Manager and Mike Darley went to Wellingboro after worming his way through the ranks they both ended up as area managers and spent a lot of time in Turnells Mill. I think the short guy with white hair could have been John Thomspon. If it were one of the Thompson twins, his brother worked there too, supposed to be twins, but cynical young pillocks like me thought they were not related, just gay
I don’t remember ever losing anyone in the trailer I do remember the yard was quite tight for space and we pulled trailers off the bays to make room for the next incoming trunk. As night shunter it was quite a difficult operation to have a bay free for each trunk as they arrived, if one was late or one came in early it was like musical chairs to fit it on a bay and keep the vans moving too, a great experience though if you remember how tight we parked them.
If you remember every depot workshop specialised in something, Howden was Engines and Swap Bodies and I think other depots did gearboxes, cabs, etc, So because I lived right opposite the gates got a lot of overtime running damaged bodies about or taking a freshly refurbed engine to a depot. Normally the engines were sent over on trunk and our lads could change a TK motor in about 5 hours.
I often wonder why I left, oh yes it was the crimson and grey uniform with a corduroy collar that Bunzl provided
Wheel Nut when did you work at Bunzl as a mate of mine worked there before he came to Sykes he later opened a truck stop at Whitwood off the M62
sammyopisite:
Wheel Nut when did you work at Bunzl as a mate of mine worked there before he came to Sykes he later opened a truck stop at Whitwood off the M62
United Carriers had a bit of an identity chrisis as they were involved in so many takeovers and mergers, the only thing I remember was the last truck I drove for them was X registration which was around 1980 I think.
United bought companies like Thompson Jewitt, Ripponden Motors and Abel Demount, then were bought out themselves several times, Diesel Dan might be able to help you with the dates, but I was based at Howden and your mate most likely worked at Gildersome.
Was it your mate who opened the original Whitwood, Stuart somebody?
Diesel dan, can i ask your real name? i am from w’boro or finedon to be more precise, now in canada, pulled a few trailers for u c not so long before they closed when steve grant was manager, one of the jobs was the mod work out of bicester and a few night trunks to leeds.
steve
diesel dan:
hi wheelnut was jock mc cloud the manager.the night superviser was abig bloke with bushy hair
The big bloke may have been Geoff Laverack, he had a gimpy arm if it was him.
hi steve.i too came from finedon.ithought i reconised your name.but i.cant put a face to it.it must have been in the late eights when you were there.bill stevens was the regular mod driver untill about99. i did the maidstone trunk those days. my name is mick goss.do you remember me.i heard that steve grant was /is a singer in a night cub in malta. or somewhere i envy you living your dream in canada .i moved to america for a few years but couldnt get a green card so had to come home
hi wheelnut.yes ibelieve it was geoff.a lovely bloke
Few Pre UC days at Collin Express