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Di.Poppitt
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
I remember the vehicle where the refuse went into the side.
Rmember folks, age before beauty
I remember the vehicle where the refuse went into the side.
Rmember folks, age before beauty
Peter Walker
gone but not forgotten
Corblimey, Cromwell, those dustcarts are real oldies. From the registration numbers, I would gues the battery one dated from 1933, and the petrol ones a from 1936. All the dustcarts we had on the Erdington Borders were slightly newer - I'll try and find a picture soon - and came from that wonderful incinerator on Brookvale Road, just where the M6 is now. They had a much higher and more rounded roof over the cab, where a crew of I believe four dustmen(including the driver) sat side by side. Very different from the carts in Germany, which have a tiny little platform and handrail on both sides at the back, and the dusties just stand and hold tight.
Peter
Peter
Alf
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
I remember the electric one, and to top it off we have a electric one in Ipswich which travels around local areas
Thurday, Friday & Saturday and wait for it sells Veg and goods like your local shop. I'll try to get a Photo if I can :smitten: :smitten:
I remember the electric one, and to top it off we have a electric one in Ipswich which travels around local areas
Thurday, Friday & Saturday and wait for it sells Veg and goods like your local shop. I'll try to get a Photo if I can :smitten: :smitten:
shavedfish49
master brummie
Dustcart book.
I have a book which will probably appeal to many on the history of dustcarts. I've included a scan. It's packed with pics, and a detailed history with extensive fleet list and even an old display advert for Electricars Ltd of Landor Street.
The A4 paperback was published in 1990 by The Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Trust, Chapel Lane, Wythall.
ISBN 0-905586-07-7
I have a book which will probably appeal to many on the history of dustcarts. I've included a scan. It's packed with pics, and a detailed history with extensive fleet list and even an old display advert for Electricars Ltd of Landor Street.
The A4 paperback was published in 1990 by The Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Trust, Chapel Lane, Wythall.
ISBN 0-905586-07-7
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
I well remember the Dustcarts that used to file into the Refuse Yard on the corner of Moor Lane and Brookvale Road.....anyway across from the Moor Lane Witton Cemetery gates. I remember them from the late forties and
early l950's. Not sure if they incinerated the rubbish or not at that location.
Sadly, a child from Marsh Hill Junior School was run over and killed by one of these dust carts on Marsh Hill one school lunchtime. I have always remembered that because I was close by. You never forget something like that or the little girl.
early l950's. Not sure if they incinerated the rubbish or not at that location.
Sadly, a child from Marsh Hill Junior School was run over and killed by one of these dust carts on Marsh Hill one school lunchtime. I have always remembered that because I was close by. You never forget something like that or the little girl.
alan darbyshire
Old Brummie
Hi everyone
I remember the dustcarts well, my father drove one from lifford
lane depot, Kings Norton. when the crews had finished their rounds they
parked them in a line up to the tipping floor and my dad got his overtime
by tipping them and then parking them up ready for the next day. I spent
a lot of time jumping from one cab to another, Austin K4's,Electricars DV4's
S&D's,Eagle companions ect. Has anyone got a photo of an Austin K4. I
can't find one anywhere.
Amos
I remember the dustcarts well, my father drove one from lifford
lane depot, Kings Norton. when the crews had finished their rounds they
parked them in a line up to the tipping floor and my dad got his overtime
by tipping them and then parking them up ready for the next day. I spent
a lot of time jumping from one cab to another, Austin K4's,Electricars DV4's
S&D's,Eagle companions ect. Has anyone got a photo of an Austin K4. I
can't find one anywhere.
Amos
Bill Parker
master brummie
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Those really are nice pics, might sound a bit odd raving on about refuse trucks but they do serve a really useful job, which, in my book, makes them well worth the time.
I can just remember the S&D trucks emptying the Bins in Devon Road, Warley, behind the cock and magpies pub. This would be around 1955 when the contents of most bins would be ash and those bins would have been down right heavy!!
Only after the demise of the coal fire did the compactor type become necessary as people could no longer burn their rubbish. I suspect the ones I used to watch as a kiddie would have been owned by Smethwick Council and I can clearly remember one of the crew throwing a big metal can under the rear wheels in order to flatten the can......odd how we remember such unimportant things!
Those really are nice pics, might sound a bit odd raving on about refuse trucks but they do serve a really useful job, which, in my book, makes them well worth the time.
I can just remember the S&D trucks emptying the Bins in Devon Road, Warley, behind the cock and magpies pub. This would be around 1955 when the contents of most bins would be ash and those bins would have been down right heavy!!
Only after the demise of the coal fire did the compactor type become necessary as people could no longer burn their rubbish. I suspect the ones I used to watch as a kiddie would have been owned by Smethwick Council and I can clearly remember one of the crew throwing a big metal can under the rear wheels in order to flatten the can......odd how we remember such unimportant things!
Alf
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Jennyann a friend of mine worked out of Moor Lane Depot, he lived in Gypsy lane which you know well. In his day he used to come home looking like a Office worker Shower and Baths supplied in those days.
We also worked together at the Mayfair Cinema Perry Common he then became a Council man and the last job I remember he did was Grave Digger when they did it by hand at Witton Cemetery.
Yes I remember the Electric Carts from my Aston days it was no soft job in those days.
Jennyann a friend of mine worked out of Moor Lane Depot, he lived in Gypsy lane which you know well. In his day he used to come home looking like a Office worker Shower and Baths supplied in those days.
We also worked together at the Mayfair Cinema Perry Common he then became a Council man and the last job I remember he did was Grave Digger when they did it by hand at Witton Cemetery.
Yes I remember the Electric Carts from my Aston days it was no soft job in those days.
Arkrite
master brummie
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
What about the cleanliness of the vehicles in days past? I dont recall them giving off the foul stench you get these days, or is my memory being selective again? Being a kid probably made me impervious to smells. I just wonder if they cleaned them more often.
What about the cleanliness of the vehicles in days past? I dont recall them giving off the foul stench you get these days, or is my memory being selective again? Being a kid probably made me impervious to smells. I just wonder if they cleaned them more often.
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Thanks Alf...I used to pass by the Moor Lane Depot for many years and know it well. It was very hard work since the collectors had to sort out the rubbish from the Dust Carts. There was a bus stop outside where I often used to get off the No5,5a or No.7. since it was a fare stage so I always had a good look
at the Moor Lane Depot. I can't say I remember any smell from there although thee must have been some. A lot of people put their wet peelings and such like on their compost heaps.
Gypsy Lane is still a great place to walk along to Witton Lakes. Alf, you know my friend Margaret lived in Yerbury Grove and so I was always in the neighbourhood for many years.
Thanks Alf...I used to pass by the Moor Lane Depot for many years and know it well. It was very hard work since the collectors had to sort out the rubbish from the Dust Carts. There was a bus stop outside where I often used to get off the No5,5a or No.7. since it was a fare stage so I always had a good look
at the Moor Lane Depot. I can't say I remember any smell from there although thee must have been some. A lot of people put their wet peelings and such like on their compost heaps.
Gypsy Lane is still a great place to walk along to Witton Lakes. Alf, you know my friend Margaret lived in Yerbury Grove and so I was always in the neighbourhood for many years.
brummie nick
master brummie
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
I think it was more a case of what we put in the bins in those days, mostly ashes from the coal fires we had, nowadays it mostly, food cans and takeaway cartons
I think it was more a case of what we put in the bins in those days, mostly ashes from the coal fires we had, nowadays it mostly, food cans and takeaway cartons
maggs
master brummie
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Peter, reference handrails and bin collectors hanging one the back of the lorry. My friends husband got killed doing just than...jumped off the back and straight into an oncoming car and killed outright. Since then in this county no bin collector can stand on the back of the lorry. I wonder if anyone in Germany has been hurt or killed in this way.
Maggs
Peter, reference handrails and bin collectors hanging one the back of the lorry. My friends husband got killed doing just than...jumped off the back and straight into an oncoming car and killed outright. Since then in this county no bin collector can stand on the back of the lorry. I wonder if anyone in Germany has been hurt or killed in this way.
Maggs
dereklcg
master brummie
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Hello maggs,i beg to differ what they can and can,t do where i live i have seen this silly practice,because of these new type vehicles that you hook the bins on it creates a space and on more than one occasion i have seen it done crazy but true.
regards dereklcg.
Hello maggs,i beg to differ what they can and can,t do where i live i have seen this silly practice,because of these new type vehicles that you hook the bins on it creates a space and on more than one occasion i have seen it done crazy but true.
regards dereklcg.
Peter Walker
gone but not forgotten
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
My childhood recollection of dustbins was that they mainly contained ash from the domestic fire. and perhaps a few empty tins. Anything that could be burned was put on the fire, anything that could be composted like potato and other peelings went on the heap. Tea leaves were useful for certain gardening purposes, but no good for anything else. Being a boy I never knew or noticed what happened to feminine sanitary refuse, but I think a lot of it went on the fire.
As I remember, the prevailing smell was of sulphur from the ash, especially if it got freshly wet.
Peter
My childhood recollection of dustbins was that they mainly contained ash from the domestic fire. and perhaps a few empty tins. Anything that could be burned was put on the fire, anything that could be composted like potato and other peelings went on the heap. Tea leaves were useful for certain gardening purposes, but no good for anything else. Being a boy I never knew or noticed what happened to feminine sanitary refuse, but I think a lot of it went on the fire.
As I remember, the prevailing smell was of sulphur from the ash, especially if it got freshly wet.
Peter
motorman-mike
Brum visitor who stayed.
As a child up from the West Country for holidays in Birmingham during the 1940's and 50's I was fascinated to watch the binmen empty the contents of bins, much of it ash, in to a bathtub they carried hung on the back of those amazing electric dustwagons, then carry that to empty into the side openings of the wagon. This was such a difference to the back loader Bedford wagons where I came from.
T
thedodger
Guest
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
I'm trying to piece together some odd snippets of family history - which includes some connection with a corporation incinerator. My maternal grandfather - WIlliam Walter Whitehead - was a stoker I believe.
There was a Home Guard office on site.
My mother worked in the Corporation offices from 1942 to about 1944. I think she once dated a dustman!
Any help locating the depot would be a help. By the way they lived in Tavistock Road, Acocks Green.
I'm trying to piece together some odd snippets of family history - which includes some connection with a corporation incinerator. My maternal grandfather - WIlliam Walter Whitehead - was a stoker I believe.
There was a Home Guard office on site.
My mother worked in the Corporation offices from 1942 to about 1944. I think she once dated a dustman!
Any help locating the depot would be a help. By the way they lived in Tavistock Road, Acocks Green.
motorman-mike
Brum visitor who stayed.
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
A pal of mine drove an SD dustcart for the Birmingham Refuse Dept that the back end tipped up vertically to move the waste to the front of the lorry. He was working the Stratford Road at Springhill when he upended the back and fetched down a load of telephone wires. The Dept dispensed with his services after that.
A pal of mine drove an SD dustcart for the Birmingham Refuse Dept that the back end tipped up vertically to move the waste to the front of the lorry. He was working the Stratford Road at Springhill when he upended the back and fetched down a load of telephone wires. The Dept dispensed with his services after that.
motorman-mike
Brum visitor who stayed.
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Right first time John, how did you guess. Even off the buses he couldn't keep out of trouble.
Mike
Right first time John, how did you guess
. Even off the buses he couldn't keep out of trouble.Mike
H
Humph3
Guest
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
I remember the Austin dust cart that used to come round to the back of our Victorian house on the Chester Road. We had two gardens at the rear of the house we called the back garden and the top garden with a driveway between the two. Our bins were placed at the end of the back garden for collection. The dust cart had a trailer on the back of the cart for old newspapers, so they were recycling then..
The dustmen had to heave the bins on their shoulders in order to empty into the side of the cart.
We also had a pig bin for the chap who lived next door to us to collect on his weekly round as he was self sufficient and planted cereals, kept pigs and chickens and even grew his own tobacco.
I have attached a picture of what was left of the "self sufficent" neighbour's pig sties which I took in 1967.
I remember the Austin dust cart that used to come round to the back of our Victorian house on the Chester Road. We had two gardens at the rear of the house we called the back garden and the top garden with a driveway between the two. Our bins were placed at the end of the back garden for collection. The dust cart had a trailer on the back of the cart for old newspapers, so they were recycling then..
The dustmen had to heave the bins on their shoulders in order to empty into the side of the cart.
We also had a pig bin for the chap who lived next door to us to collect on his weekly round as he was self sufficient and planted cereals, kept pigs and chickens and even grew his own tobacco.
I have attached a picture of what was left of the "self sufficent" neighbour's pig sties which I took in 1967.
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
Much recycling ws done, even sewage gas was used . See https://www.enginemuseum.org/natcomp.html
Much recycling ws done, even sewage gas was used . See https://www.enginemuseum.org/natcomp.html
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Bill Parker
master brummie
Re: Refuge Collecting Vehicles
The die cast model maker "Oxford Diecast" are making a rather nice, well it looks nice on the photos, model of a Shelvoke and Drewery "Dustcart" with the same cab but a crew version, like the ones depicted in the photos submitted. The body on the model is the later type that tipped both backwards and forwards to compact the load and was very much the fore runner of todays compactors.
I wonder if they will do a Birmingham liveried version? There will be a West Bromwich version.
The die cast model maker "Oxford Diecast" are making a rather nice, well it looks nice on the photos, model of a Shelvoke and Drewery "Dustcart" with the same cab but a crew version, like the ones depicted in the photos submitted. The body on the model is the later type that tipped both backwards and forwards to compact the load and was very much the fore runner of todays compactors.
I wonder if they will do a Birmingham liveried version? There will be a West Bromwich version.