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Transport Companies in Birmingham.

J Lucas kept the 'blackout' white stripes at the corners of their vehicles for many a long year but then ditched it along with the Famous Lion.
 
I remember when the Richardson Brothers who at the time sold second hand commercial vehicles purchased the old Jensen works. They wanted to start manufacturing their own HGV vehicle.

The story goes British Leyland refused to sell them engines, so they gave up on the idea and sold the property on making a healthy profit in the process. Next stop Merry Hill.

Phil
 
Bernie, Lucas dropped the own transport on the idea that it would be cheaper to put it out to contract hauliers one of these was Wincanton?, whether it was cheaper i don`t know, of course the idea closed the Formans Rd garage and cost the jobs of the Drivers, Mechanics etc, Lucas Memories website is still looking for photos of ex-Lucas Drivers and their lorries they seem to have disappeared along with their jobs.
 
Len that happened long after I left the company. The long down turn in the company's fortunes seemed to me to happen after the Lion was dropped. I do recognise that this is a somewhat fanciful thought.

I do recall some of the Auto Electricians I worked with at Gt Hampton Street used to take immense pride in keeping the vans looking smart - even to painting the tyres with tyre black.
 
I know what you mean. I had quite a few driving jobs because as you know jobs were easy to walk into. That said, I have a couple of friends who only ever had one job from school to retirement. I do like to laugh and really, I could find something to smile about at a funeral as long as it was not to bury a loved one. As you know, lorry driving is a serious profession with a great amount of responsibilty but I always found something to laugh at. Another great memory is whenever I left South or East London I made a point of stopping at Tubby Isaacs shelfish stall near to Tower Bridge on Whitecapel. I would have a large tub of jellied eels to eat at home and a large tub of whelks and a bag of crusty bread to eat on the way. It was easy because I did not need to look, I could get a whelk and put it into my mouth without looking, then a crust and a good chew. I still like to laugh and I make all the Xmas and birthday cards my wife and I post.
Stitcher,how right you are about jobs being easy to get in the old days.If somebody up the road was offering 3d an hour more you would be off in a flash.I started driving, officially, in 1955 and progressed to driving lorries while doing national service.Passed my army test in Yeovil in 1956 and did nothing else for the rest of my life.
After leaving the army I started driving for Midland Counties Dairy,delivering milk and ice cream to shops all over the midlands.From then on I was swapping and changing all over the place to earn more money.Richard Berry,s road springs in Alma Street,various contractors on Midland sand and gravel,Watton&Grew,of Coleshill,Henry Joyner in Short Heath Road,Pridmore's of Water Orton,Mole&Wood of Perry Barr.
Several stints with BRS at Bromford Lane,Frank Grounds Thimblemill Lane.
F.D.Brown Eachelhurst Road,George Averill in Sheldon,Deutsch&Brenner in Hockley,Southalls,Alum Rock,Freddy Lewis in Miller Street.
By 1969 I was ready to settle down a bit and did the next 16 years at HP Sauce in Aston Cross,the happiest days of my life,until redundancy at the end of 1985.Then it was back to wanderlust.PPG Paints Ladywood,Business Post,DHL and several different contracts with Wincantons.I have now been happily retired for six years and I don't miss it at all.
Todays drivers have no manners,no patience and too much red tape.Wer'e well out of it.Regards, Bryan.
 
Bryan, as you may have read earlier, I also worked at Henry Joyner. I did almost always London Dock-work. I had a friend who was on Midland Sand & Gravel. His name was Squires known to us as Squizzy. Let me tell you this, I have a friend in S.West wales and when I visit I look for a quiet route. The best one I have found is through Bewdley then over Clee Hill, keep going until Landovery then back onto what used to be the best way to Carmarthen. It is a bit longer but so peaceful, just like the old days. There are places in Birmingham that I avoid these days because it is easier than getting into a row with an idiot. Never mind Bryan, we had the best of it all, and if you drove a lorry for a living you wil be a nice neighbour. Just the type that is unfortunately dying out.
 
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Stitcher, haven't seen you over on the Midland Red at Digbeth Thread lately so hope you are still keeping an eye on it. I've got a lorry related tale to tell there tomorrow night. You might like it.
best regards,
Mike
 
Mike, I am not a bus enthusiast but I do read it in case there is something I can reply to. I do enjoy the pictures of buses and all those wonderful postcards as well. I went down to Cross Hands Nr Llanelli the other day and I took an old friend of Reg Hardings with me. We had a great day.
 
Stitcher,I know exactly what yo mean about using the back roads on long journeys.I occasionally go down to the Gower and I always go across the Brecons to Swansea.A nice scenic route,quiet and you can always find somewhere nice to stop for a meal or a cuppa,and you can travel at your own pace.
Two weeks from now we are going down to Bournemouth for a week.I will travel all the way without touching motorways,through the Cotswolds,to Swindon then Marlborough,Salisbury and Ringwood.It takes no longer and there's no hassle,a lovely journey and I don't need a map or a sat-nav.
When we get there I put the car in the hotel car park and travel all over Dorset free of charge with the bus pass for a whole week,HEAVEN!
When I was with Henry Joyner on the Midland Gravel in 1960/61 there were two of us the other driver was Joe Millard.He was killed when he was tipping at the Big Top opposite the Odeon in New Street.The tail gate never opened properly and his wagon went over backwards down a huge hole about forty feet deep .A very sad event that caused me to give up tippers shortly after,to go into the rat race of general haulage.
Take care Stitcher and keep your elbows in so the faster ones can overtake!
Bryan.
 
Lencops, awhile ago you asked if Overland Contracts ran any coaches. Since then I have been racking my brains and it just hit me. I dont know how high up the tree he was but the man in charge of the Acocks Green yard was a man named Don Hands. I remember a few years before Overland opened that yard he lived in Oakhurst Road and I am sure he was something to do with coaches.
 
Mike, I am not a bus enthusiast but I do read it in case there is something I can reply to. I do enjoy the pictures of buses and all those wonderful postcards as well. I went down to Cross Hands Nr Llanelli the other day and I took an old friend of Reg Hardings with me. We had a great day.

Hi. Stitcher. Nice to hear of Reg Harding, do you know if he is keeping well these days?. John 70.
 
Landcrab, the route you describe is the exact one I always used when I went to the caravan site at Muddeford near Christchurch. I also use the Beacons when in the area. I think I have driven along every road over the Beacons. I have traversed them from all angles, a wonderful sight and as you say quite a few places to stop and eat. I sometimes leave Birmingham at 0730 and go one of many ways to my mates house west of Llanelli. I get there any time before 1200. I take him to the village local and he has a couple of rums and I have a pint of alcohol free bitter. We have a feed and a coffee then I drop him back at his house then come home. I can get there or return in a little under three and a half hours but I like to meander a bit. :2623:No one understands that I enjoy the day. My wife thinks I am balmy. Although many places have changed beyond recognition I do see places that I remember well and it all brings back memories.
 
John 70. I have not seen Reg for years but I will ask some of my friends if they know how he is doing. I will try to get him on here if I can.
 
Thanks for that Stitcher, hope he is keeping well, I think he would enjoy a lot of the stuff on here,especially about the buses, and some of his tales like Mikes would be great. John70.
 
John 70, I asked about Reg and the guy told me he had not seen Reg for about two years. By all acounts, at that time he was not best pleased because he never smoked and did quite a bit of jogging as well as eating a fairly healthy diet. Despite this he had high bood pressssure and one or two other things by all accounts. I will see if I can get someone to knock his door for you.
 
I am posting this under Transport because it has a connection. It would have been in the 60s. I was empty somewhere near Southhampton and I rang South Western Trafic for a load north of Birmingham. I was sent to a place called Picclecombe Fort. I think thats how it is spelt. I was to pick a load of iron. When I found the place it was an old fort type of place with plenty of history. It was built on top of a cliff and had housed large guns during ww2. The man in charge, I dont know if he owned the place, told me I could not load until the next day. He let me stay at his bungalow/cottage a bit further along the cliff. He took me to the local after I had showered and changed. I was treated to a couple of drinks and all the food I could eat. then we went back for the night. I barricaded my bedroom door but it was not nessesary. Next morning it was bacon and eggs then back to the fort. A gang were cutting and blasting large steel plates that were four inches thick out of the window recesses. The plates were falling into the sea below and when the tide went out a couple of men went down onto the rocks and put slings around the the steel and it was winched up and onto the lorry. I had one large piece and one smaller piece for a full load. The excercise was all about this man turning the fort into a country club and motel. I left Torbay and went up to Rotherham to deliver the steel and I have never heard any more about the fort. Does anyone know if it ever got completed?:Dancedanser01:
 
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John 70, I asked about Reg and the guy told me he had not seen Reg for about two years. By all acounts, at that time he was not best pleased because he never smoked and did quite a bit of jogging as well as eating a fairly healthy diet. Despite this he had high bood pressssure and one or two other things by all accounts. I will see if I can get someone to knock his door for you.

Thanks Stitcher, thats very good of you, hope he is OK. John 70.
 
Mikejee, thank you for that, I didnt think to look for a web-site for it. I must say it looks very different in the picture. When I saw it in the sixties it was not very tall and it was old and dank looking, rather like a ruin from the land side of it. I suppose from the sea it was just a semi round wall with large window holes with no glass in them. The man in charge gave me a brief tour and I saw the dungeons below ground so it was not purpose built as an oficers mess. Thanks again for the help.:beam:
 
Hi Sticher, the first lorry that I drove was a Thames trader for R F Willis, in the old Birmingham fruit market in the late sixteys, the reg was 807 HOX.
 
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