Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Classic Truck

Transport Heritage VULCAN All was well for me that bright autumnal morning in late October 1970,I was riding shotgun with dad in his Commer Maxiload six wheeler, which was my favourite preoccupation, having been out of bed since silly o'clock. Perfect! We were just through Melton Mowbray, on our way home, when in a farmer's field I glimpsed a lorry the likes of I had never seen before. “What's that dad”? I asked. Already braking hard dad said, “Bloody hell it's a Vulcan… do you want to have a look”? In truth I think he wanted to reacquaint himself with the breed. So it was, dad parked on the grass verge, and we ambled over and into the field. It looked for all the world as if the Vulcan had been…

A few days short of the 200th anniversary of his birth, the village of Hoo staged a special 200th anniversary celebration of the man's work and achievements within sight of the churchyard in which he is buried. Thomas Aveling was the co-founder of the world-famous Aveling & Porter company of Rochester and later became Mayor of the, then, city. The show was opened by presenter and musician Jools Holland, who lives at nearby Cooling Castle. He led a flower procession before unveiling a blue plaque in honour of the engineer. The event was organised by The Thomas Aveling Society. A spokesperson for the festival said: “We do a small event every year, but nothing quite on this scale.” Aveling is considered to be one of the main creators of the…

Transport Heritage My mum and dad really started my interest in a ‘busman's holiday’ around Derbyshire. In 2016, they enjoyed a special time and along the way they visited major attractions like Chatsworth House and the Crich Tramway Village, home to the National Tramway Museum, near Matlock. Somehow, knowing of my interest in vintage and classic commercials, they kindly photographed a c1995 ERF EC8 rigid four-wheeler containing a pipe organ and a c1970 Scammell ‘Lord George’ both owned at the time by Howard Brothers Fun Fairs. The ERF EC8 was formerly owned by a Ferrari sports car enthusiast on the Isle of Wight. The inside was fitted with an upper and lower deck, which could transport four cars. The decks were removed to fit the impressive pipe organ. However, due…

Transport Heritage MORRIS PV Alex told us that he liked the article on the Morris LC 5 truck I had written which was published in the May issue of Heritage Commercials, and he wondered if I would do an article on his 1951 Morris PV van that he and his friends had just restored back to its former glory. Alex said he had been following all our restorations in Heritage Commercials, and was impressed with the time taken to restore them. He said he has been buying HC for over 10 years. I told him that I would be pleased to do the article for him, but I would have to ask the editor, Charlie Waters if that would be okay. Charlie said yes my all means do the article and…

My family has a long history in the funfair business dating as far back as the 1800s. In the 1980s, my father (Patrick Hudson snr), bought a Leyland Buffalo, he removed the fifth wheel and fitted a Gardner 110v generator set and fitted a pin hitch on the rear to tow trailers. He bought his Leyland Buffalo from Tedcastles Oil Company in Dundalk Ireland which used to pull a fuel tanker, his also had a L12 engine and a six-speed box. I am 28 years old now and I was only six when my father sold his Leyland Buffalo. From when I was a baby, I was often sat in the middle on the engine cover while travelling with the funfair. As I grew up, I always remembered the Leyland…

My first time out with FAY I didn't know what to expect, our roads are so busy today, I did feel very apprehensive, however, I soon came to the conclusion that in general there is so much goodwill out there for old vehicles in general, many people in cars, and even more lorry drivers flash their lights and wave cheerily, I particularly found that heart-warming, and of course always wave back. FAY was built when her speed limit was 30mph, and at 25 to 30mph I think she is happiest, which of course means 95% of the time a vehicle is going to be following. Most drivers will overtake when it's safe to do so, but now and again a cautious driver will come up behind and not want to…

Transport Heritage TRUCK SHOWS I he 2024 Berwick St John Country Fayre was held at Manor Farm, Berwick St John, around five miles east of Shaftesbury, Dorset on 14 and 15 September. Entry was by donation to the Stars Appeal, Salisbury District Hospital's Charity. The Berwick St John Country Fayre has been running every other year since 1992, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for a wide variety of charities (including the Stars Appeal) over the years, before committing long term support to the Stars Appeal, in 2012. To date the Country Fayre has raised over £310,000. The interests of the organisers and a scenic setting attracted a significant array of heritage commercials. These ranged from a Ford Model T truck to an early 1980s Volvo F12 4×2 tractor unit in…

Transport Heritage TRUCK SHOWS Saturday, 3 August and I had been at Truckfest in Edinburgh but while heading south that night to North Yorkshire I took a short break at Abington services and while perusing Facebook, I saw some pics of three American cabovers at the Cromford Steam rally. So I decided it was worth altering my Sunday journey home and taking the time out to call in and check it out. I admit I didn't know if I'd even make it in time, and indeed it was just gone 15:30 when I made it to the site. People were already leaving, but nevertheless I had a couple of hours to have a look round if I needed it. There were still many trucks on show and some were still doing…

SEND YOUR STORIES TO THE EDITOR ct.ed@kelsey.co.uk Classic Truck, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent. Joseph Lewis discovers new archive photographs and history of two much-loved commercials. Paul Mancini and the Mancini family from Taunton are among my long-term tractor and commercial vehicle contacts. We often meet at local rallies like South Somerset Agricultural Preservation Club's Yesterday's Farming and the West Somerset Railway Association Rally at Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton. As a keen ploughman, I also meet Paul later into the year at Yeovil Ploughing Match Society Ploughing Match and Crewkerne Young Farmers Club Ploughing Match. For the 2024 West Somerset Railway Association event, Paul had thoughtfully prepared a new display which provided the background on his 1956 Albion Chieftain T 37 and 1963 Austin…

Transport Heritage Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the Eastbourne Historic Vehicle Club staged another Hellingly Festival of Transport. This year's show, the 48th once again attracted large crowds to see a wide variety of steam, agricultural and transport vehicles assembled just outside of Hailsham in East Sussex. Each decade of the 20th century was well represented at the show, but Guy Maylam displayed the oldest commercial vehicle at the show with his 1894 Talbot half Ton Van. Among the other exhibits of note were Andrew Mill's three vehicles being a 1967 Ford Anglia 5cwt van and a 1968 Morris 6cwt GPO Telephone van. Andrew Mills and son Simon, however, went two better with a joint display of a 1974 Austin J4 Royal Mail van and a Bedford HA Telephone…

Transport Heritage TRUCK SHOWS One of the stars of the 2023 Somerset rally scene was a 1980 ERF B Series owned and restored by West End Garage (Bruton) Ltd. West End Garage has always had a fondness for ERF lorries.This affection started with their first commercial vehicle painting commission. “Our very first painting assignment was an ERF B Series with an eight-cylinder Gardner 240 engine,” explained Managing Director, Gordon Fry. “This was for Wincanton Transport. Therefore, when we wished to restore a classic lorry for our rally fleet, we knew a B Series with a 240 Gardner had to be the one!” The ERF of choice was found locally near Castle Cary from an owner that had run ERF's in their own haulage business. Before this the 4×2 tractor unit was…

DENNIS PAX Transport Heritage Our picture shows some interesting aspects of winter life. The chap in the K6 phone box could be the owner of the submerged, snow-bound Rover at the roadside. The two ladies continue to do their shopping despite the snowstorm, while the Dennis Pax driver is guided by the second mate hanging out of the passenger side window, so he doesn't hit any metal obstructions like cars, hidden under the snow. The scene is somewhere in the Pennines or northwest England, but sadly the Dennis registration gives few clues. F?K 192 could be FBK (Portsmouth) FRK (Croydon) or FPK (Surrey). As it is a Dennis, it may have been initially registered in Surrey as the factory was in Guildford, alternatively, this could have been a second-hand vehicle from…

Transport Heritage WISBECH ROAD RUN For all those visits I have to make to see trucks – both modern and classic – that take me all over the country, and so mean long drives, early starts and the like – every now and then, it's ‘payback time’ with a local event. And that is true when the annual Wisbech road runs heads through Spalding where I have lived for the last 17 years. This year's event was 18 August, a Sunday when I had nothing else on of note, so popping out for an hour or so with the camera would have been too remiss of me to turn down. There was plenty of old lorries, plus cars, motorbikes and even the odd bus – to see, but it was the…