there must be a fair few of you on here who worked for DAVIES BROS in the 50s 60sand 70s, remember the up-to-date tackle they had 
. there was harry, hubby and sammy at wapping, solly with poulters in the highway, and frankie with goldsmiths, later bowbells, at tower bridge.
i spent quite a few of my early years with them and can recall a few drivers names, but as i get older the memory keeps giving up. there was tommy peak snr (at that time young tommy did not have a licence) , alan kendall aka tin legs, ginger godferey, also alfie green who was sollys right hand man,
sollys son , ronnie, was a schizo, would bang his head on the desk to stop āthe voicesā.
i remember alfie green going to istambul with a bus and bringing back all those fitters they had, one was called misut, he was the foreman fitter, sammy the electrician and all the harbies.
as i have said , i was with them for a fair while and i am sure others on here must have some memories, the company did have depots up and down the country, who remembers angel gordon at warrington depot?
My dad worked for solly when they were in solbay street off of burdett road,he had an old albion chieften ridged with a meat box also my uncle was there jimmy levy who later went on to cotters in east india dock.My dads name was Harry Harris he was friends with Lenny Hutton who was killed on there in a BMC.I also remember some of the other drivers George Morton he had a new leyland octopus,mad Hector,and Charlie hogger,I don,t know if charlie had his own lorry on there doing work for solly,i know he had a cream coloured thames trader ridged when they first came out.
hiya boyzee, i think the cream trader you mentioned might have been one of thomas potter priestlyās, that was another part of the group which did all london deliveries, mostly from the limehouse board mills in narrow st, them traders were total sheds.
as i recall charlie hogger worked for solly, as did kenny, it was later i saw charlie with his own motor doing boxes from tilbury. i was on there when we all ended up at the old bailey over log sheets, charged with forgery, conspiracy, etc etc, the company got fined Ā£83,000, that was in the 70s, be something like Ā£1million+ now, all the drivers pleaded guilty and got conditional discharge. solly was trying to organise a whip-round. its really sad to see a grown man cry like a girl. 
I remember the old BMC FFKās running out of The Camber at Portsmouth, recovered one one night that had caught fire,transhipped the load on to another with the big ends knocking well, and the shackle pins welded into the spring hangers ! . Some great characters on there, the good old days 
Regards MaggieD
yeah the motors were crap, but the money was good. when we first got those long nose 1418 mercs, was we the biz, or what. i got out of a 10yr old albion straight into that, in my late 20s early 30s i thought i was the dogs.
at that time we ran at 22mph, so for every 22mls we got 1hrs pay, 4hrs tip and 4hrs loading, that was hard earned in the albion but easy in the merc. dagenham-halewood and back was the normal days work, but remember the roads were not crowded like now.
Hi supercube,My dad was working there in 1950,s he left in 56/57 when there was a big dock strike at that time he had an āSā type bedford with a comet engine.I would go with him to convoys yard i think it was deptford and load lambs in an insulated box,or some times he had an old maudsley 8 wheeler.There was a cafe oppoisite the yard in solebay street where we,d go while waiting for a job to come up.We also used to load along whitechapel booths gin yard an deliver around london.My dad used to tell me about his nites out in newcastle under lyme with the other drivers they had some great times then.
he was about 15yrs earlier than me
SUPERCUBE:
yeah the motors were crap, but the money was good. when we first got those long nose 1418 mercs, was we the biz, or what. i got out of a 10yr old albion straight into that, in my late 20s early 30s i thought i was the dogs.
at that time we ran at 22mph, so for every 22mls we got 1hrs pay, 4hrs tip and 4hrs loading, that was hard earned in the albion but easy in the merc. dagenham-halewood and back was the normal days work, but remember the roads were not crowded like now.
hi do you remember john poulton he was on charles poulters in the late 60ās when they had all them new mercs and 39ft trailers before anybody else got them.
cheers steve.
SUPERCUBE:
yeah the motors were crap, but the money was good. when we first got those long nose 1418 mercs,
was we the biz, or what. i got out of a 10yr old albion straight into that, in my late 20s early 30s i thought i was the
dogs.
And hereās one of them in later life:
hi mate, the name does sound familiar, but 40 odd yrs makes the brain go soft, i was on there late 60s and i remember them new trls, i thought they was 36ft , but never mind, when they first got delivered solly was ringing his brothers to get them round to look at these āenormous great trlsā, they made hell of a difference though loading reels at purfleet, only having two toppers instead of four. it was good times then , but, trust me, i still remember the roping and sheeting.
240 Gardner:
SUPERCUBE:
yeah the motors were crap, but the money was good. when we first got those long nose 1418 mercs,
was we the biz, or what. i got out of a 10yr old albion straight into that, in my late 20s early 30s i thought i was the
dogs.And hereās one of them in later life:
yeah thats them, would be good if someone had a photo of one in poulters colours, they were deilvered in lots with consecutive nos, puv were one lot and another was slf. great photo though. any more out there?
SUPERCUBE:
240 Gardner:
would be good if someone had a photo of one in poulters colours, they were deilvered in
lots with consecutive nos, puv were one lot and another was slf. great photo though. any more out there?
Obviously not long-nosed, but this was one of a pair (DAN 725 and 726D) that went north after their Davies days:
I recall being told that they were only about a year old when Davis sold them - and also that they had a phenomenal mileage
and had probably hadnāt seen so much as a filter change in that time!!
SUPERCUBE:
hi mate, the name does sound familiar, but 40 odd yrs makes the brain go soft, i was on there late 60s and i remember them new trls, i thought they was 36ft , but never mind, when they first got delivered solly was ringing his brothers to get them round to look at these āenormous great trlsā, they made hell of a difference though loading reels at purfleet, only having two toppers instead of four. it was good times then , but, trust me, i still remember the roping and sheeting.
hi,thanks for the reply john was my uncle went on to have a few lorries of his own and with my dad (bill).there was another feller on poulters used to park up in door ave manor park cant remember his name thoā.cant beat a well roped and sheeted load.
steve.
pollystag, hi, the only one i can think of in manor pk was a guy called tony burroughs. does that sound right?
In remember John Poulton he used to park in Sampsons when we were next to Chris Hudsons at Winsor Road East Ham he had a rare atki mk1 semi auto and a ex smithers ERF nice bloke lived near the depot
Was trying to place you Supercube, did you drive one of the new Mercs on Davis Bros, if so, did you get it new or did somebody have it before you.
I was at a the funeral of Ronnie Barden yesterday, in his euology it was stated that he started his driving career with YD
240 Gardner:
SUPERCUBE:
yeah the motors were crap, but the money was good. when we first got those long nose 1418 mercs,
was we the biz, or what. i got out of a 10yr old albion straight into that, in my late 20s early 30s i thought i was the
dogs.And hereās one of them in later life:
When these Mercedes 1418s were Davises 2 or 3 of them were on Warrington Trunk up and back Dayshift,and the same on nights, 2 Trips London Warrington and back in 24 hrs,I drove one on Nights.
ben walker:
When these Mercedes 1418s were Davises 2 or 3 of them were on Warrington Trunk up and back Dayshift,and the same on nights, 2 Trips London Warrington and back in 24 hrs,I drove one on Nights.
Hence the phenomenal mileage, with no sign of having been serviced at any time in living memory!
Lay By in Kent, 60s