Cheers White Mick
I should have remembered Ken Lane as they tipped at our place a few times around 1979. Lanark down to British Beef at Chester and then back to Bury and then heading north to bring another lot down was the regular run, or so I was told. No shortage of overtime when working there from what the drivers were telling me.
Here is a photograph of my Dads third cattle wagon, bought new in 1954. Ford Thames 4D reg. no. PWU 830. It gave very reliable service. The photo was taken on its last days work before being replaced by a new Austin FE 5 Tonner.
Dalesman, can you remember the Ford in its later life ?
I started work in the family business in 1973 with this new Karrier Bantam reg. no PEC 123 l.
The livestock container was specially made at a reduced width of 66" by Houghtons Parkhouse to enable the wagon to navigate the numerous back roads and smaller farmyards which our Leyland Boxer could not reach.
Top speed was only 43 mph but its low gearing meant it never shied at any steep hill, and believe me, we`ve got more than our share up here in the Yorkshire Dales.
When we sold the wagon in 1979 a livestock company called Blower & Coleman bought it. They were based somewhere in Essex.
Can anyone reme
mber seeing this wagon in its later life ? I would be grateful of update.
Cheers cattle wagon man.
jj72:
jonto:
Here’s one to begin, Robisons of Halifax at Banbury.Excellent, I remember their Ergo cabbed 6 wheeler AEC Marshal Majors which used to come to grandad’s place, just!
My Dad drove for Robinsons of Halifax, Peter Chilcott was his name. They were based in Triangle nr Halifax apparently they kept all there wagons when they packed up,rotting away in one of the fields so my dad says. I think he still sees Mrs Robinson from time to time although Mr Robinson passed away i think. He keeps telling about the time when sheep would jump of top deck and he had to chase them round Halifax town centre on a saturday night, or when a bull would make a break for freedom and they had to get the slaughterman to come down and kill it because they couldnt catch it. He did tell me who the driver was but i forgot it.
Hi Boden my farther had the export larage at felixstowe in the 1980s and Ken lane you-st two bring calves down from albert hall farms in yorkshire. and at the time i drove for G W Martin Braintree Essex and we ran sheep out of Dover with ken lanes lads in those days we all ran 24 7 a taco was just to keep your time sheet state I’m afraid generally there was no respect for the law at that time in the livestock job.
boden:
Cheers White MickI should have remembered Ken Lane as they tipped at our place a few times around 1979. Lanark down to British Beef at Chester and then back to Bury and then heading north to bring another lot down was the regular run, or so I was told. No shortage of overtime when working there from what the drivers were telling me.
Hi cattle wagon man my family have bin in the livestock job all our lives in Essex and i asked my dad about your carrier and he remembered it at blower and Coleman halstead Essex the chap that drove it was jock spears who has now past on as far as i now the company doesn’t exist now.
cattle wagon man:
I started work in the family business in 1973 with this new Karrier Bantam reg. no PEC 123 l.
The livestock container was specially made at a reduced width of 66" by Houghtons Parkhouse to enable the wagon to navigate the numerous back roads and smaller farmyards which our Leyland Boxer could not reach.
Top speed was only 43 mph but its low gearing meant it never shied at any steep hill, and believe me, we`ve got more than our share up here in the Yorkshire Dales.
When we sold the wagon in 1979 a livestock company called Blower & Coleman bought it. They were based somewhere in Essex.
Can anyone reme
mber seeing this wagon in its later life ? I would be grateful of update.Cheers cattle wagon man.
cattle wagon man:
Here is a photograph of my Dads third cattle wagon, bought new in 1954. Ford Thames 4D reg. no. PWU 830. It gave very reliable service. The photo was taken on its last days work before being replaced by a new Austin FE 5 Tonner.
Dalesman, can you remember the Ford in its later life ?
Hi. Cattle Wagon Man.
I don’t remember your Ford 4D in it’s later life, who did you sell it to? I remember the Austin and the later wagons you ran.
Regards Dalesman
Dave Bessy drove for Ken Lane.Spent a week stuck in Calais with him.
IIRC hed had a row with his missus before he left Yorkshire and shed swapped all his tinned grub for dog food 
white mick:
Hi cattle wagon man my family have bin in the livestock job all our lives in Essex and i asked my dad about your carrier and he remembered it at blower and Coleman halstead Essex the chap that drove it was jock spears who has now past on as far as i now the company doesn’t exist now.cattle wagon man:
I started work in the family business in 1973 with this new Karrier Bantam reg. no PEC 123 l.
The livestock container was specially made at a reduced width of 66" by Houghtons Parkhouse to enable the wagon to navigate the numerous back roads and smaller farmyards which our Leyland Boxer could not reach.
Top speed was only 43 mph but its low gearing meant it never shied at any steep hill, and believe me, we`ve got more than our share up here in the Yorkshire Dales.
When we sold the wagon in 1979 a livestock company called Blower & Coleman bought it. They were based somewhere in Essex.
Can anyone reme
mber seeing this wagon in its later life ? I would be grateful of update.Cheers cattle wagon man.
Hi “white mick”, thanks for the reply and for the information regarding PEC 123 l. I can remember the owner of Blower & Coleman was called Stephen Gay and he was also a livestock dealer. He bought a lot of livestock in the north of England, and we often gathered for his wagons when they collected for backloading. IIRC the name of Blower & Coleman was an old established company name and he retained it out of honour. Without being rude it is understandable why he might not choose to adorn his surname on the cab doors !!!
I would ask if anyone has a photograph of my old PEC (as she was known) please.
Cheers cattle wagon man
dc014m0342:
jj72:
jonto:
Here’s one to begin, Robisons of Halifax at Banbury.Excellent, I remember their Ergo cabbed 6 wheeler AEC Marshal Majors which used to come to grandad’s place, just!
My Dad drove for Robinsons of Halifax, Peter Chilcott was his name. They were based in Triangle nr Halifax apparently they kept all there wagons when they packed up,rotting away in one of the fields so my dad says. I think he still sees Mrs Robinson from time to time although Mr Robinson passed away i think. He keeps telling about the time when sheep would jump of top deck and he had to chase them round Halifax town centre on a saturday night, or when a bull would make a break for freedom and they had to get the slaughterman to come down and kill it because they couldnt catch it. He did tell me who the driver was but i forgot it.
Hi dc014m0342
Did your dad work at Ripponden & District in the mid 60s as a drivers mate? If so,was he on Ashton u Lyne run with driver Neville "Tiny"sydney??
Regards JOHN.
cattle wagon man:
I started work in the family business in 1973 with this new Karrier Bantam reg. no PEC 123 l.
The livestock container was specially made at a reduced width of 66" by Houghtons Parkhouse to enable the wagon to navigate the numerous back roads and smaller farmyards which our Leyland Boxer could not reach.
Top speed was only 43 mph but its low gearing meant it never shied at any steep hill, and believe me, we`ve got more than our share up here in the Yorkshire Dales.
When we sold the wagon in 1979 a livestock company called Blower & Coleman bought it. They were based somewhere in Essex.
Can anyone reme
mber seeing this wagon in its later life ? I would be grateful of update.Cheers cattle wagon man.
That’s a cracking little lorry Cattle wagon man, thanks for posting the pictures & please keep them coming.
BB
hello i was looking on the site the other day and found this post about yorkshire livestock haulage.
when i was reading through i saw the name of ken lanes popped up a few times, well when i was a mere lad of 10 i started as i would call it my transport apprenticship will a family freind Lenny Hornsby.
Len was a driver for ken for many years and my first memorys were going with him to scotland in a n reg f88 volvo,it was fantastic
i ended up spending all my official school holidays on the road and even the unofficial one,s.Over the years ken had alot of differeny wagons from volvo,s 88 86 89 f10 and f12 to man,s daf,s.
I remember going with my mate kev Beighton who drove a 1800 daf rigid we were going down to boston lincs and the half shaft decided
to come out not good when your loaded and doing about 60mph.
Ken was a hard man to work for but he had some good drivers on his books apart from the two ive mentioned there were Goerge Buttle, Gordon, Lofty ,Dave Bessy, Mike Garret ,Bryan Dickinson and a few more who i cant think of good days and a good start to my job as a driver
as i tell my mates i was taught by the best.
white mick:
Hi Boden my farther had the export larage at felixstowe in the 1980s and Ken lane you-st two bring calves down from albert hall farms in yorkshire. and at the time i drove for G W Martin Braintree Essex and we ran sheep out of Dover with ken lanes lads in those days we all ran 24 7 a taco was just to keep your time sheet state I’m afraid generally there was no respect for the law at that time in the livestock job.boden:
Cheers White MickI should have remembered Ken Lane as they tipped at our place a few times around 1979. Lanark down to British Beef at Chester and then back to Bury and then heading north to bring another lot down was the regular run, or so I was told. No shortage of overtime when working there from what the drivers were telling me.
Hi mike as a lad i used to go with kev Beighton and we went to your dads larage in felixstowe when kev drove for ken lanes, we would bring a load of calves down from Albert Halls rest them for 8 or so hours load them up again and ship to rotterdam, and in the morning unload in Breiel just outside the docks,back on the boat again and collect the next load from your dads, happy memorys
HI Andy i just red your thread about coming to my dads la rage at felixstowe i rang him he said he remembers you both .
andycam69:
white mick:
Hi Boden my farther had the export larage at felixstowe in the 1980s and Ken lane you-st two bring calves down from albert hall farms in yorkshire. and at the time i drove for G W Martin Braintree Essex and we ran sheep out of Dover with ken lanes lads in those days we all ran 24 7 a taco was just to keep your time sheet state I’m afraid generally there was no respect for the law at that time in the livestock job.boden:
Cheers White MickI should have remembered Ken Lane as they tipped at our place a few times around 1979. Lanark down to British Beef at Chester and then back to Bury and then heading north to bring another lot down was the regular run, or so I was told. No shortage of overtime when working there from what the drivers were telling me.
Hi mike as a lad i used to go with kev Beighton and we went to your dads larage in felixstowe when kev drove for ken lanes, we would bring a load of calves down from Albert Halls rest them for 8 or so hours load them up again and ship to rotterdam, and in the morning unload in Breiel just outside the docks,back on the boat again and collect the next load from your dads, happy memorys
Albert Hall Farms is another one that white Mick dragged from the memory bank,they always had a Commer 16 tonner parked in the same place every Saturday at Bingley,I always thought they were on the calf job.
andycam69:
hello i was looking on the site the other day and found this post about yorkshire livestock haulage.
when i was reading through i saw the name of ken lanes popped up a few times, well when i was a mere lad of 10 i started as i would call it my transport apprenticship will a family freind Lenny Hornsby.Len was a driver for ken for many years and my first memorys were going with him to scotland in a n reg f88 volvo,it was fantastic
i ended up spending all my official school holidays on the road and even the unofficial one,s.Over the years ken had alot of differeny wagons from volvo,s 88 86 89 f10 and f12 to man,s daf,s.I remember going with my mate kev Beighton who drove a 1800 daf rigid we were going down to boston lincs and the half shaft decided
to come out not good when your loaded and doing about 60mph.Ken was a hard man to work for but he had some good drivers on his books apart from the two ive mentioned there were Goerge Buttle, Gordon, Lofty ,Dave Bessy, Mike Garret ,Bryan Dickinson and a few more who i cant think of good days and a good start to my job as a driver
as i tell my mates i was taught by the best.
Hello Andy cam69 you & me both mate them guys learnt me a lot in them good old days i can remember your friend Lenny i spent most off my youth riding with George Buttle mostly from Banbury back to Norfolk spoke to George about 3 years ago dont know if he is still with us or not (rum & black on the door & Wandrin Star on the front off the old F10 BEE 180W what a star that man is!!. Two you.ve missed are Chris Hagen who untill a couple of years back worked for Nick Lane & Danny Cantrill who did the export work can also remember poor old Gordon getting killed in the yard having a accident with a tractor spent some hours with that man aswell he was Georges second fiddle on the Banbury run back to Norfolk . Can you remember the so called transport manager Jim Leek!!
Dalesman:
cattle wagon man:
Here is a photograph of my Dads third cattle wagon, bought new in 1954. Ford Thames 4D reg. no. PWU 830. It gave very reliable service. The photo was taken on its last days work before being replaced by a new Austin FE 5 Tonner.
Dalesman, can you remember the Ford in its later life ?Hi. Cattle Wagon Man.
I don’t remember your Ford 4D in it’s later life, who did you sell it to? I remember the Austin and the later wagons you ran.
Regards Dalesman
Hi Dalesman
I had been taxing your memory about the Ford 4D. My father sold it to Billy McFarlane who used it on flat for milk kit collection around Dent, Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale areas to Barbon Creamery. After a few years he sold the outfit to a farmer called Dodgson at Gallaber Farm, Burton in Lonsdale. Eric Staveley says he often saw the Ford at Hellifield Auction.
I think the colours remained the same, if that is any clue to you
The last time I can remember seeing PWU was around 1965, on its old “home ground” of Sedbergh Auction, on a store cattle sale day. Cheers cattle wagon man.
boden:
Albert Hall Farms is another one that white Mick dragged from the memory bank,they always had a Commer 16 tonner parked in the same place every Saturday at Bingley,I always thought they were on the calf job.
I well remember Albert Hall Farms at Chippenham market. Their lorries were always perfect & while I can’t recall whether the farm name was on the lorries but I do remember they were from Strensall. I hope someone comes up with a photo of them.
They always had a short man is a milking smock in the ring when selling dairy cattle, he’d stop the cow in the ring & then draw milk from each quarter to encourage buyers. I don’t remember his name & I believe he collapsed & died in one of the rings.
BB
I have joined today and spent some quality time reminiscing about my days as a boy and my own experiences in the livestock haulage business…There is not a forum for Lancashire Livestock hauliers of old, so I wondered if anyone had ever come across stories of the following Cattle Men ,active in the late fifities until Foot and Mouth broke out in the late1960s
Jeff Howard, ran an 8 wheeler ERF 3 deck Cattle wagon based at Bardsley,Near Ashton Under Lyne, he also ran a chinese 6 ERF 3 Deck Cattle wagon, both liveried in dark blue with sky blue stripes
Sam Aspin ran an 8 wheeler 3 Deck Foden S20 liveried in mid blue with redstripes, I am producing a family website which includes the antics of these two chaps.
It would be great to get old of photos of their trucks, but not sure if any exist. Sam frequently collected at Carlisle, Penrith, Dingwall, Inverness, Ayr,Dumfries Longtown, Krkby Lonsdale, Long Preston, Banbury, Rugby,Nottingham, Chelford, Hellifield, Skipton, Clitheroe, Guisburn,Abergavenny, Shrewsbury, Oswestery and a host of other markets as well as loading at Birkenhead with Irish Imports.
Tale has it that Sam also ocassionally carried exotic animals for travelling circuses and zoos culminating in collecting two elephants from Manchester Victoria Railway Station.
Jeff and Sam were perhaps best known for descending SHAP without using brakes being fully loaded with cattle or sheep!!!. Both always stopped at the Jungle on their way north. Other names I would be interested to learn more about are Harvey Ashworth, Jim Booth of Booth & Taylor fame and Frank Strivens,abbatoir owners and butchers in the Manchester area. Hopefully you might be able to help.
Many thanks
Ben Taylor aka Foden Seeker ( I am interested in restoring a Foden S20)
