Wigan Album

Good pic ozy, I like all photos of the old trucks is that an Atkinson to the left, I always think of the big orange trucks of 60s 70s with the logo of Hovering ham on the tipper also remember the Foden and Albion, AEC was a good truck as well and the common Bedfords which all coal merchants used, most probably because they where easy to maintain and cheaper to run.

You’re right Dave , it’s an Atkinson borderer with the 220 Cummins engine .
When I started there , they were still running a few Guy Invincibles with the 150 Gardner engine but these were soon replaced with the Borderer .
Later , the company introduced a couple of Scammells into the fleet as seen in the picture .
These were powered by the Rolls Royce Eagle 220 bhp engine .
They were up to the job , but they weren’t popular with the drivers .
My opinion is that they were never really in the same league as the Atkis .
But that's just my opinion.

When men were men . . . and lorries were lorries.

Great, thanks for that interesting info ozy.

Dave. Re your comment about Bedfords and coal merchants, I recall the same a couple of decades earlier. At the time, I believed that the availability of ex WD Bedford trucks shortly after the war played a big part in this.

For coal hauling from opencast mines, Bedford 'Q' types were common. The 4wd probably helpful at the excavation site, though on the road, the pulsating whine from the front Diff could be heard half a mile away: a sound once heard never to be forgotten.

We used Bedford 'O' types, both for coal hauling and coal deliveries. Lacked the 4wd, but otherwise all round a better option methinks. They were pretty rough when dad bought them, though with a lot of useful life left in them, and within a month or so they emerged as gleaming restorations.

I sometimes think that I spent the whole of my childhood spray painting chassis or cabs, hauling the chain hoist whilst dad guided engine etc out of the confines surrounding them, and suchlike tasks.

In particular, I recall working the brake pedal whilst dad was below bleeding the brakes, at a time when I was too small to be able to sit in the driving seat. Squatting on your haunches, and pressing a Bedford O brake pedal when you cannot put behind it your weight, or push against a seat back: believe me it was damned hard work for a four-year old. But, I would not have changed in for the world: children in play often simulate what adults are doing, and there was I, totally immersed in these tasks. Marvellous!

As the ex WD trucks faded from the scene, I was aware that Bedford 'S' type seemed to be the first post war model being taken up, but by then I was out of it all.

A trio of Bedfords over the first post war decade. I guess it continued with future models.

On the topic of ex WD trucks . You may remember the fleet of QL Bedfords that Gaskell’s from Bryn road ran back in the 50s and 60s Strangeloop .
I was only a youngster at the time but your mention of the whining diffs resurrected a memory .

Given that the Windy Arbour opencast site was working at around the same time it seems inconceivable to me that Gaskell’s wouldn’t have been involved in some capacity or other .

Their wagons bore no lettering as far as I can recall but they were painted red and there was a fair fleet of them .

Also , in the photo of the plant yard looking towards Highfield submitted by John Freestone … item #35611 , there is a truck just about discernable in the distance .
It’s difficult to say with any degree of certainty , but if my life depended on it , I would say that it was an ex army model OY Bedford . There were loads of those around back then .

Several years later during the construction of the M6 motorway , the 4x2 tipper of choice would appear to have been the Ford Thames Trader .
They were to be seen flying about all over the area at that time .

Strangeloop … if you haven’t already seen it ,
check out item #29037 .

It’s a photo of the walking dragline at Windy Arbour submitted a few years ago by the late Philip Gormley .

Thanks for the link, Ozy. I have just read the comments on there.

I have the books mentioned, but I am trying to obtain copies of (2volumes) 'Lincoln's Excavators: The Bucyrus Years', which covers the time of partnership between Ruston and Hornsby and Bucyrus. They are available, though a bit pricey. ie about 4 or 5 times the cover price.

As you probably know, Marion and Bucyrus both ended up owned by Caterpillar.

Their website claims that draglines still offer the most economical, efficient and ecologically friendly way to strip the overburden. Economics however now favour smaller draglines.

Yes, it was primarily Gaskells that I was thinking of, as I lived in Bryn at the time, although I think someone in St Helens area also used them. And, yes, I think I recall them in use at Windy Arbour. Someone from Gaskells does post on here, so no doubt he will correct me if I have this wrong.

Unusually, Windy Arbour was both deep mined, (ie sunk shaft) and open cast mined on at least three separate occasions.

This may in part have been due to the acute coal shortages which occurred in the 1950's. You can find in Hansard questions in 'The House' in relation to these.

1947 was bad, in part because of the harsh winter.

1951 saw a return to coal famine: a shortage of miners, along with delay in investment following nationalisation.

Sometime around middle of the decade, I recall when we could not get any coal at all for our customers, only cannel, which they hated.

Cannel actually has a higher calorific value than the house coals which they had burned hitherto, but it is very gaseous, and on domestic grates and flues, designed for coal, the heat disappears up the chimney, requiring more frequent replenishing of fuel.

I was able to modify one of the stoves in our workshop, so that we had an effective cannel burner, but obviously could do nothing for the domestic fireplaces as used by our customers.

Our stock of cannel kept this going for quite some time, as when alternatives came back on stream, the customers did not want cannel.

Deviating here somewhat , but on the topic of cannel coal , I’m reminded of a coal yard in Orrell that went by the name of Pemberton Coal & Cannel .

The yard was situated alongside the westbound Kirby line , down by the trackside with access from
Sandbrook road , close by a long defunct pub called the Queen’s head … or arms … or some other section of her majesty’s anatomy .

Doubtless no-one will remember the place .

It wasn’t that much of a setup really as I recall , just 2 or 3 coal bunkers with an elderly chap operating an even more elderly Weatherhill hydraulic loading shovel , tasked with the job of topping up the bunkers .

It’s all long gone now of course … “ nothing beside remains “… but it’s still a microscopic particle of the history of the area .

I used to go into the place occasionally with a chap from Whitledge Green called Jimmy Edwards and his faithful employee Alan Ward from Landgate , to load their flatbed OY Bedford with bagged coal .

This rambling reminiscence is of little consequence other than to record the names of the aforementioned , as I believe neither move amongst us any longer .

Concerning truck manufacturers, I have just been reading that the maker, 'Dennis' had manufacturing plant in Wigan. (OK, not their main plant).

Something which I had previously been unaware of.

Anyone know owt about this?

The only connection that I’m aware of between ‘Dennis’ and Wigan is the Alexander Dennis storage facility at Priorswood place on the Pimbo ind. est. at Skem .

Although it’s hardly in Wigan , nor is it a manufacturing plant .

To the best of my knowledge , it merely serves as a storage area for various components and miscellaneous body parts for buses manufactured by Alexander Dennis in Falkirk .

Best that I can come up with I’m afraid , and probably not what you’re looking for Strangeloop .

Sad to see the demise of Safeway. I thought them a good supermarket. I shopped there regularly.

Back in 1980's, we regularly held a garden fete to raise funds for our local hospice.

Safeway was the only one of the large chains that we managed to persuade to make a contribution.

They gave us a large container of orange juice: OK, not a lot, but more than any of the other supermarkets would give.

They weren’t a bad outfit to work for either .
They always paid over the union rate for one thing .

From memory , in 1972 the basic rate for a 40 hour week was £28.00. plus a bit of overtime .
Laughable now , but better than the going rate at that time .
In fact , I think that there may only have been the Shell tanker drivers in this area that were on a better rate .

Plus the fleet was practically new and well maintained .

I was stupid to leave the place with hindsight , but I’d previously been on general haulage and was finding the job a bit repetitive and boring .

The above shot was taken at their regional distribution centre next to the canal in Mather lane Leigh , before they relocated to purpose built premises on the Grange estate near Woolston .

The reason we’re all looking scruffy is because when we weren’t out on the road , we were constantly washing the wagons and the trailers . They were spotless , both inside and out , as befits a quality company .

Quite a few of the lads in the photo no longer move amongst us sadly , some for many years .

I could still name them all , although the above represent less than half of the drivers , as the trucks were double manned and some were at home while others were out on deliveries .