Crackin painting by the way ! the colour dont matter ! its the attention to detail 
get this thread revived, I had a parcel delivered the other day by a lad that worked for Van Hee,his name was Neil,didnt catch his last name ,nice lad,we nattered on for ages about the trucking scene up here,how all the old firms have gone,one thing lead on to another,and before we knew it he was about 20 parcels behind,I feel sad that the world moves on as I really did like being on the road,not knowing which country I was shipping out to next and the commeradery,argh well we all got to move with the times,its not good getting old,you wouldnt think Im only 47 
Wheelnutz, I think the only Neil I knew was the lad who worked in the warehouse/forklift driver, canny lad if its the same Neil.
Bri, I did get a lot of pics sent by e-mail from Bumper but as he was given them from another source I canāt put them up here, having worked on as well as driven most of the motors in the fleet from 1980 to 1999 seeing the different reg noās brought back memories although one or two I couldnāt remember exactly who drove them, however I do remember well the Decor8 shops we delivered to all round the country, seen here behind YNT 641T, which I think was Bumperās motor, might be wrong could have been Ronnie Campbellās not sure, anyway whenever my back goes crook which happens more often thesedays I always think āThis is all that bloody paint we handballedā ! No wonder I canāt stand decorating. Cheers Franky.
Frankydobo:
Wheelnutz, I think the only Neil I knew was the lad who worked in the warehouse/forklift driver, canny lad if its the same Neil.
Bri, I did get a lot of pics sent by e-mail from Bumper but as he was given them from another source I canāt put them up here, having worked on as well as driven most of the motors in the fleet from 1980 to 1999 seeing the different reg noās brought back memories although one or two I couldnāt remember exactly who drove them, however I do remember well the Decor8 shops we delivered to all round the country, seen here behind YNT 641T, which I think was Bumperās motor, might be wrong could have been Ronnie Campbellās not sure, anyway whenever my back goes crook which happens more often thesedays I always think āThis is all that bloody paint we handballedā ! No wonder I canāt stand decorating. Cheers Franky.
That looks like that shop in Glasgow where you had to turn right at the lights then stop and reverse back down through the lights. The trick was to get there early on while there was no traffic about. Did both lots of Scotch shops in my time at Van Hees but never got to do the Welsh ones which I believe were only by the four wheelers. I remember having a night out at Southall with Terry McGuiness, RIP, and he was chucking pallets into the back of his trailer to pay for his breakfast at Watling Street on the way back up the next morning.
van hee was the first job i had when i came out the army lawrence tait was transport manager he started me on a leyland comet 4 wheeler but it was always in the garage broken so i spent most of my time painting wheels thats when i first met malcolm i also washed a hell of a lot of transcons when they arrived back from the middle east i got finished at the beginning of december 1977 for breaking down to often started for crows the next day happy days eh!
Ha ha, aye Jeff it seems it was always the drivers fault if he broke down, I remember when I was first in the workshop (I started 1980, went for a driving job but nowt doing so the Workshop Foreman asked if I would start in there) drivers would be quite concerned if they had a problem with the wagon that it had nothing to do with them, Laurence seemed to think everything was somebodies fault. Alan Tune who took over after him was more approachable, when I was back for second time as a driver the engine on the old Transcon I had (TCās old WOK 158T) started knocking coming out of Team Valley he told me just to get it back, it was parked in the corner of the yard never to move again and I found myself on Four Wheelers, that was the end of me too I started for Ouseburn but they were dying a death then also so I was only there a couple of years then went to Fergies.
I was once delivering paint, canāt remember exactly where, around the Midlands maybe, when a woman walking past asked me if Tony still run the business, when I said he was she told me she had worked in the office when his Dad had been been the boss (must have been Smith and Van Hee then), she chatted about one or two things then went on her way. Life has a strange way of bringing circumstances together, I doubt if she had even seen a Van Hee motor for a good few years never mind the chance of stopping to talk to a driver. Small world in transport. (ps Didnāt know Terry McGuiness had past on, he lived near me in Washington and I sometimes bumped into him, another character gone, RIP Terry)
Franky,
Think the lady that you might have been talking to was Lena Wright, who started with Smith + Van Hee, when Geordie Gowlings, Low Fell, was bought for their A licence.
Hereās a photo of Van Heeās old yard in Low Fell not long after they left, to move to Pelaw.
Iain
Cheers for that Iain, she seemed a nice old girl and obviously remembered Tony when he was a nipper, by what she said, ahem!
Charlton Leslie thatās an oldy too, its often forgotten that companies such as them and Clark Chapman, Parsons etc had there own fleets. Do you recall the old Foden EYR 23V we used as the MOT motor, I didnāt realise it was one of E&N Ritchies until I saw it in the book about the company. It was as tough as old boots but still went like stink back and forwards to the test station. Donāt suppose its around now. Franky.
ERF64cu1:
Here is my 1.24th scale model of on of Van Heeās Mercedes 2543. Eric Logans wagon.
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Great model Iain you obviously have to much spare time on your hands!!! regerds kevmac47
kevmac47:
ERF64cu1:
Here is my 1.24th scale model of on of Van Heeās Mercedes 2543. Eric Logans wagon.
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0Great model Iain you obviously have to much spare time on your hands!!! regerds kevmac47
Took the words right out of my mouth Kev
PG9 for pic number 4 the wheels are coming off, come on Iain get a grip 
nice model even if its of the not so good version of a mercedes. 
one for all you old timers!
Iāve got mountains of old photos.
Donāt know if anyones interested but Iāve got some cast scale models available of a liveried Actros?
Oh by the way, saw AV02KBF down near Oxford last month, still going strong, still Brown and Yellow!
pmrls:
one for all you old timers!Iāve got mountains of old photos.
Donāt know if anyones interested but Iāve got some cast scale models available of a liveried Actros?
hi pmrls,
what a cracking photo,thanks for sharing that.
regards andrew.
Was talking to someone off this forum the other day (will not mention his name he might not want to be quoted) said Van Hee about knacked now even the traning, all the old names disapearing
That was a great photo of the old yard pmlrs, Iād love to see more and Iām sure others would. I noticed there seemed to be three AEC four wheelers in the pic, I never knew Van Hee had them all the time Iād been there nobody gave them a mention. The photo must be from the late Seventies, the industrial units in the back ground are just being built and there is no mettelled road around the yard leading to them. A nice range of motors from the AECās, 13 :4 Seddonās, Volvo 86ās and the big Fords ready for the Middle East and the UK, as well as Tonyās favourite the 89 in the corner. When I went there in 81 we still had a couple of 86ās and Seddonās (new drivers loved these!) and some D Series on the lighter end. Just a shame we canāt make out the reg numbers of the Fords at the back. Iām sure Bumper will remember this period.
Cheers Franky
Hi Franky
Iām sure youāre right Bumper would have been around at that time. Pelaw has changed a touch since then eh?! The yard doesnāt seem big enough to get that lot in but theres the proof I suppose.
Iāll have a root through and put some more up, sure theres more from that time and a few of the dreaded Ivecos that couldnāt get out the yard in Felling!
Cheers