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HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
we are now using a backup solution
My grandfather Fred Cooper worked for Ernest Holmes. He started his career driving a Scammell 100 tonner and finally became Managing Director of Ernest Holmes (Langley) Ltd, the heavy engineering division of the Holmes empire. Roy Larkin author and researcher of heavy haulage has written a book called 'We Can Do It' about their lives, the vehicles and their heavy loads carried during WW2. Find it here https://www.historicroadways.co.uk/
truckertew
New Member
Worked as a apprentice and spent the bulk of my youth on/in the lorries of A S Ward Ltd, Haulage Contractor. In the early 50s they were based in Ladywood (near the Police station ).Then they moved to the only commercial building at the time in Smith St Hockley. 3 lorry gate ways and the office entrance, with the top half of the building was a pebble dashed green very smart, for the early 50s.At the most 20 lorry,s all box vans with a few luton bodied, all painted British Race Green with gold and white signwriting some in Atlas Express livery but mainly A S Wards. Drivers names that I can recall, Eric" Sam" Cooper, George Powel( mechanic )Tommy Cox (foreman)Kenny Cox, Charlie Cox, Tommy Sheldon, Ron Davies, Cyril Tuckley, Barry Tuckley Peter Storrie, Arthur Smith, Reg Laraine Alan Swain , George Gaynor, Barry Yaker " Yates, Margret and Isabell office staff and Bob Ward the boss. Any memories jogged ? Would love to hear from you. A s Wards ceased trading circa 1967.
i
i
I was employed in 1957 by Atlas Express who had opened adepot in Birmingham they had purchased a firm Ladywell Transport in Old MeetingSt. to acquire the licenses. Shortly after opened a new depot at Lawden Road Bordesleyand later a larger place close to West Bromwich Albion football club. Themanagers were D.F. Dowsett--Bob Wells --Tony Arnsby. I left and started a depotin Leicestershire
My Gramps Fred Cooper negotiating a roundabout in Wolverhampton in a 30 ton tank transporter. This vehicle was originally supplied to the war department in 1944 and was used by American Forces in the UK. Post war it was registered and used by Edward Box as 80 ton ballast tractor.
Attachments
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Wendy
Guest
Oh wow Luluco what a fantastic photo. My hubby will love this he was once a tanker driver but nothing like this. No power steering then!!
The location of photo in post 69 is almost certainly The Vine (public house) roundabout on the Stafford Road, Wolverhampton. The roundabout (only recently demolished) had an unusual tight kink in it to allow better flow of traffic on and off the new post-War industrial estate (out of view to the right) which is why the vehicle is going wrong way round the conventional circular side. Unfortunately the geezer with the hat (centre) is getting in the way of us see the load's origin/destination.
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki...pg/250px-Vine_Island_Junction_Temporary_2.jpg
Here's the diagram of the location from the south to explain how the roundabout was designed.
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki...pg/250px-Vine_Island_Junction_Temporary_2.jpg
Here's the diagram of the location from the south to explain how the roundabout was designed.
Old Boy
master brummie
Hi All,
My brother in law, Joe Ratcliffe worked for his uncle (Gairs Transport. Bordesley Green) until he went into the army about 1941. On his demob Joe decided to set up on his own account by buying a lorry and getting to work. He was settling in nicely when the government decided to nationalise road transport and set up British Road Services. They took over the large companies but told the one man businesses that they could carry on but were restricted to a 25 mile radius from their base Joe tried to carry on but the restriction proved too much and he packed up and became a driver for a local company delivering goods locally. Joe has now passesd on but his son is carrying on the family tradition of driving for a living.
Old Boy
My brother in law, Joe Ratcliffe worked for his uncle (Gairs Transport. Bordesley Green) until he went into the army about 1941. On his demob Joe decided to set up on his own account by buying a lorry and getting to work. He was settling in nicely when the government decided to nationalise road transport and set up British Road Services. They took over the large companies but told the one man businesses that they could carry on but were restricted to a 25 mile radius from their base Joe tried to carry on but the restriction proved too much and he packed up and became a driver for a local company delivering goods locally. Joe has now passesd on but his son is carrying on the family tradition of driving for a living.
Old Boy
hi sticher i no this is an old post Overland contracts was started but a guy named joe hands who use to drive coaches for a firm in acocks green i think it was (james coaches) which is where my dad first met him after his dmob joe set up with one truck and buit up and moved to lincon rd which is about the time my dad started to drive for him he moved a lot of plant for the construction of the m1 then turn to fork lift trucks (lancing bagnull coventry climax eddison plant etc)joe past the runing of the company buy now quite big depo's spred all over
overland transport lincon road acocks green moved to new yard in aston lane next to coopers needle works
repair shop Berkley road haymills
overland fork trucks repair sale service War lane harboun
overland trailors (desige and manafacher in lee ?
and a transport yard in london buy heathrow airport
as i was sayin joe pass runing over to his son donald hands
my dad worked his way up and became an owner driver (Ragg and partners)and buit up to 3 trucks then he merged with with overland and became a partner /transport manager it became very sucsesfall un till donald hands locked my dad out of the company after some 30years with out going in to to much detail my dad took donald hand all the way thro the courts and won as it was the first case of its kind it is now set as a president in law (Ragg v hands)
donald manage to save some of the comany and sold it to walkers transport
as kids for me being the youngest of five lads this would have been about 68/69 dad use to grab the first one of us he seen on a saterday morning and take us to lincon road to sweep the yard i can allso remember the loading bay ramp ther was an old guy called len ? who had an " office" garden shed right on th eadge which one of my older brothers knocked of with a fork truck and racing the little lancing bagnull tow truck i remember dad coming home late one night like you one night in heavy rain he stop and picked a couple who had a small baby girl with them thay had come over from ireland no money no car no where to go as it was late he brought them back to our house where he and my mom some food for them thay agreed than she sheila and baby stay at ours and dad took him (paddy) patrick to a local b&b the next day my dad offer paddy a job which to gladly excepted and the soon found a flat thay remaind friends for years
overland transport lincon road acocks green moved to new yard in aston lane next to coopers needle works
repair shop Berkley road haymills
overland fork trucks repair sale service War lane harboun
overland trailors (desige and manafacher in lee ?
and a transport yard in london buy heathrow airport
as i was sayin joe pass runing over to his son donald hands
my dad worked his way up and became an owner driver (Ragg and partners)and buit up to 3 trucks then he merged with with overland and became a partner /transport manager it became very sucsesfall un till donald hands locked my dad out of the company after some 30years with out going in to to much detail my dad took donald hand all the way thro the courts and won as it was the first case of its kind it is now set as a president in law (Ragg v hands)
donald manage to save some of the comany and sold it to walkers transport
as kids for me being the youngest of five lads this would have been about 68/69 dad use to grab the first one of us he seen on a saterday morning and take us to lincon road to sweep the yard i can allso remember the loading bay ramp ther was an old guy called len ? who had an " office" garden shed right on th eadge which one of my older brothers knocked of with a fork truck and racing the little lancing bagnull tow truck i remember dad coming home late one night like you one night in heavy rain he stop and picked a couple who had a small baby girl with them thay had come over from ireland no money no car no where to go as it was late he brought them back to our house where he and my mom some food for them thay agreed than she sheila and baby stay at ours and dad took him (paddy) patrick to a local b&b the next day my dad offer paddy a job which to gladly excepted and the soon found a flat thay remaind friends for years
S
Stitcher
Guest
Hello Kingsley, I remember Don Hands from when he drove a coach and lived in Oakhurst Road. He is the only one of those that you mentioned that I remember from Overland. I enjoyed my time there and travelled all over the country with a low loader.
S
Stitcher
Guest
Earlier in this thread I said I drove for Road Services Caledonian, This is the same model eight wheeler that I drove for thousands and thousands of miles for tat company.
Simon4130
master brummie
Its quite interesting that this is badged as a Leyland Hippo. The eight wheelers were normally badged as Octopus and the Hippo was normally a three axle model.
Simon
hi my dad worked his way up from driver to transport manager with overland transport from early 60s untill just befor sold out to i think walkers? no thay never run coachs but thay did drive them for james coachs old joe hands started overland then his son donald and my dad dennis started driving for him
S
Stitcher
Guest
I can only reiterate what I posted previously. Don Hands lived in Oakhurst Road on the left hand side as you go down the hill from Shirley Road, about 50 to 60 metres before the small bridge that tunnels the brook running from the playing fields into the park. There was a coach outside the house at some time on most days and I was under the impression that Don was the driver, I may be wrong but it was a long time ago.
adap2it
master brummie
My dad was a lorry driver most of his life. He worked for A.J.Gupwell. He would often drive to London, which was an overnight trip (can you believe it) 20 mph all the way...A big treat for me was going with him, not very often, because most of the time he had a trailer, which required a mate, so I would have to sit on the bonnet, which had a metal cover with a blanket over it, it wasn't very comfortable and it was hot & noisy in the cab. It was worth it though...My dad had digs in Bermondsey and we would stop at Tubby Isaac's on the way home. I would have whelks and my dad had cockles. Incidentally, there was a Tubby's transport cafe on the A45, not sure where it was...
Dave A
S
Stitcher
Guest
Hello Dave, a few years ago I posted the story of when I had reloaded for the north after unloading in dockland, I would stop at Tubby Issacs and get a pot of whelks and Tubby would dice up a couple of thick slices of crusty bread for me to eat on the way home.
Radiorails
master brummie
The real Tubby Isaac left Britain, for America, in 1939. Others, as will be seen, took over the famous stall and others (maybe with the same name?) opened places with the name Tubby Isaacs.
https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co...dgate-finally-closes-after-94-years-1-2235609
https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co...dgate-finally-closes-after-94-years-1-2235609
S
Stitcher
Guest
It was obviously years after this image but The Sands is where I used to have bed and breakfast when I did 3 trips a week to Dumfries. Lovely place and lovely people.
Hi Stitcher , in 1961 I put one of these Hippo's in the river at Water Orton. I did a stint for Horace Bridges in Minworth. Coming down the hill out of Water Orton towards Minworth freezing cold ,black ice everywhere, overloaded with railway scrap from Water Orton sidings, had to hit the brakes because an idiot car driver coming the other way over the single carriageway bridge, went into A skid, SPLASH through the parapet. Took all day to recover it but we did it ourselves, using our own cranes and the Hippo was back on the road next day. The river was only about 2 feet deep. Happy days.
Bryan.
Drove for Lynx 90's
Just jumping onto an old post. All the eight wheeler Leyland I've ever worked on, including the pre LAD cab, were called Octopus. All the Hippos I've ever worked on were 6x4 six wheelers. Was the Hippo in the picture a Norde conversion where the second steer axle was added ?
Richard George Gupwell
New Member
Richard George Gupwell
New Member
Dear Dave,
I have just joined this site. I was interested to see that your father had been a driver for A,J, Gupwell Transport. This company had been established, in 1920, by my father, then 17 years old, and his elder brother, who had been an officer in the artillery during the First World War. My uncle had been aware that the United States Army, which had entered the war in 1917, had used a lot of motor transport, rather than horses. At the end of the War, the Americans decided to leave these lorries in Europe, rather than bring them back to the United States, and they were going cheap. My uncle, L.W. Gupwell, persuaded his father, A.J. Gupwell, who ran a shopfitting company in Birmingham, to purchase about sixty of these lorries, with a view to keeping a few for the shopfitting business and selling off the rest at a profit. However, in the depressed economic circumstances after the War, he found that he was unable to find buyers, so he decided to set up a road haulage business, then a new phenomenon. My father, C.G. Gupwell, who was mechanically-minded, was happy to join him in this venture. The company eventually had depots in Birmingham, London, Liverpool and Manchester and a fleet or around sixty long-distance lorries. My uncle became a prominent member of the Road Haulage Association in Birmingham and, seemingly, was on good terms with Ernest Bevin, then the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union (later Foreign Minister under C.R. Attlee). During the Second World War, the company worked under the Ministry of War Transport and was then brought into public ownership, in 1948, as part of British Road Services. However, the two brothers then established a new company, Gupwell Transport Contracts Ltd, which focussed on short-haul delivery vans, which had been exempt from nationalisation. They eventually built up a fleet of over one hundred vans, operating mostly for the Cadbury-Fry chocolate business, covering much of northern England and Scotland and operating our of depots in Leeds, Gateshead and Paisley. My uncle passed away in the mid-1950s, after which my father took over the running of the company, until he retired in the late 1970s, shortly after which the company was wound up, I worked with my father for a short time at his office in Bradford Street after leaving school in 1962 and before going to university in 1964. During that time, I attended evening classes at the Birmingham College of Commerce and managed to pass the graduate exams of the Institute of Transport. However, after completing my university studies, in 1970, I went abroad the following year in pursuit of work and only returned to the West Midlands in 2014. I should be grateful to read any other stories regarding the Gupwell transport businesses, as I should like to write a paper on this if ever I can find the time. Kind regards, Richard Gupwell
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
drivers v drovers
adap2it
master brummie
I was only 8 years old when "nationalism" was established in Britain, so I have very little to offer regarding Gupwell's transport. I know that my father drove for them prior to becoming BRS, because it became a big topic of conversation that I quickly became aware of. My dad was a very prominent member of the Transport & General Workers Union and was elated that transportation was to become publicly owned. My brother and I had a large collection of Dinky Toys Lorries that my dad proceeded to paint red, added the BRS lettering and logo's, all by hand...However, the reality of public ownership soon became a major source of disappointment for my dad. The pride that most drivers took in their vehicles pre BRS, quickly disappeared as lorries were no longer driven by the same drivers and subsequently drove my dad to seek employment elsewhere. I must add that this was the beginning of the end for my dad's socialist dreams.
Dave A
NoddKD
master brummie
Hi Kingsley, I see from your later post that your dad was called Ragg. Are you of the Ragg family that lived in Hove Rd next to the Kirby family,two sisters Linda & Arlene?
NoddKD. (Formerly Bernard Dunn of Circular Rd)
