Ray, Dont know if the Boon Transport Seddon Atkinson rings any bells with you ■■
DEANB:
Ray, Dont know if the Boon Transport Seddon Atkinson rings any bells with you ■■0
Hi Dean, I have just had a word with my longtime friend & fellow Transport Contractor, John Wilkinson, and he said that
Boon Transport was an owner driver, Ken Boon, and later, his son Mark Boon, from the Platt Bridge area of Wigan.
The first picture on this Wigan thread was John Wilkinsons ERF artic unit.
Best wishes for 2022, Cheers, Ray.
I am deeply saddened to report that Tommy Egan has passed away earlier today at the age of 86.
Tommy was a HGV driver for most of his life, and at the age of 64 started working for me, driving
a 14 ton GVW Leyland Daf boxvan, delivering Remploy clothing products to the Military, Fire Service,
and Police locations as far North as Aberdeen and as far South as Redruth and Penzance. He stayed
with me until he was 66, and said this was the best HGV driving job that he had ever had.
Tommy smoked 20 Capstan Full Strength cigarettes per day, and he was " As daft as a brush ".
Rest in peace Tommy.
Ray Smyth.
Further to the last post regarding the passing of Tommy Egan who worked for me for 2 years from the
age of 64. Tommy was born on June 6th 1935, and he often mentioned June 6th 1944 to me,the D-Day
landings in Normandy. He was aware that me and my wife had visited Normandy several times and said
he would like to visit. I arranged a 3 day trip for me and Tommy, so we sailed from Portsmouth in 2009
on board Brittany Ferries " Normandie " to Ouistreham ( Caen ). We visited Sword Beach, Juno Beach,
and Gold Beach, which is in this picture. I happened to be taking this picture of my car, near to the
D-Day Museum, and Tommy is seen on the left of the picture, fiddling with his new mobile phone.
Tommy was great company, always laughing, 
and as daft as a brush. Click for better picture.
Rest in peace Tommy.
Ray Smyth.
Regarding Boon transport, my earliest recollection of this outfit dates back to around 1970, or thereabouts, when they were based at the old Crompton’s rolling mills site at Edge Green near Golborne.
At that time, the site had been acquired by Bill Ratcliffe with a view to turning the place into an industrial estate, which did subsequently occur.
Boon transport at this time however , operated under the name of B&B haulage, or B&B transport. I forget which.
They rented a small portion of the site, before acquiring a place of their own in Platt Bridge .
The B&B stood for Boon and Burrows , and from memory the few motors that they ran were painted up in a green livery.
I had very little contact with them over the years, but Mr. Burrows presumably died , followed a number of years later by his partner , Ken Boon.
I personally have no recollection of a Mark Boon, but for a short period of time, just prior to my retirement, I did a spell driving for Ken Boon’s son Steve, ( known by many as Danny ), as that was actually his middle name. He operated a small fleet of DAFs at that time. Working 3 or 4 curtainsiders and one 40´ fridge van if memory serves.
When I wasn’t occupied delivering 4 or 5 drops round the East Midlands, of half a dozen in the potteries area,……or both, I was doing two trips per day delivering pizza bases from Skem to Papa Johns just off the A449 is it ? near Gailey corner……Just past Penkridge anyway.
Occasionally, I’d do one or the other , or both , then run back m/t to Skem, back under the fridge, load it, then do the run down to Wolverhampton.
At the age of 64, I was putting more hours into the day than I had done when I was 21.
I’m not having a go at Boons in particular, I’m having a go at the haulage game in general. I think the term nowadays is ‘pants’……From the driver’s point of view anyway, the haulage game nowadays is ‘pants’.
Ever wondered why all these outfits are advertising for drivers ?
That’s my view anyway, but thankfully I’m well out of it now….thank ■■■■.
This TK Bedford was new in 1968 to L. & J. Wilcock of Wigan, a potato supplier. The company still
own it and do occasional journeys with it. The Lansing Bagnall forktruck was one of thousands that
had total rebuilds in Regentruck Ltd at Frog Lane, Wigan. Regentruck was part of Lansing Bagnall,
forktruck manufacturer at Basingstoke, Hampshire.
Ray.
Hi Ray , just a quick update .
There hasn’t been a great deal of activity up at Wilcox’s of late that I’m aware of. They had half a dozen motors not that many years back, but I haven’t seen any around recently .
I’m not sure if they got rid of their plant , but the ERF low loader seems to have disappeared.
The chap on the stacker is Geoff Waller , I hope I’ve spelled his name correctly.
He’s the owner of the company and is well into his 80s now I should imagine .
I’m pretty sure he told me that he paid 800 quid for the Bedford when he bought it new . Can that be correct ? … Hardly seems possibly does it ?
His wife was a Wilcock , but she passed away a couple of years ago , and Geoff himself isn’t in the best of health having been taken into hospital on a number of occasions recently .
In fact I understand he was rushed off with the blue lights flashing only a week or so ago .
I think the couple had a daughter, but no male heirs that I know of .
Thank you for your remarks Eddie. My long time friend John Wilkinson was a regular carrier for Regentruck Ltd
for many years. His ERF is seen here at our depot at Cricket Street, coupled to an ex Regentruck forktruck trailer.
Ray.
