I remember when

[RED-DOG]

I was watching the dustbin men emptying those new stylee half-sized wheelie bins this morning. They trundle it up to the back of the lorry, pull a lever and hydraulics do the rest.

It made me think about a time when bins were carried to the truck on a man's shoulder and emptied by hand. Hundreds of them each shift. Day in, day out. It seems almost unbelievable now.

[tikay]

Coalmen had a tougher job, imo.

It was fine, though, bit of graft did no harm really.

[RED-DOG]

Coalmen had a tougher job, imo.

It was fine, though, bit of graft did no harm really.

Unusual to see drop-sides on a coal man's lorry. It's a beautiful body though. (On the truck, not the coal man. They were hand made by a company called Hawson and were a great selling point. All the Travellers loved a Hawson body.


http://www.gypsytrailercaravans.webeden.co.uk/#/albis-ford-d-series/4520543530

[tikay]

Coalmen had a tougher job, imo.

It was fine, though, bit of graft did no harm really.

Unusual to see drop-sides on a coal man's lorry. It's a beautiful body though. (On the truck, not the coal man. They were hand made by a company called Hawson and were a great selling point. All the Travellers loved a Hawson body.


http://www.gypsytrailercaravans.webeden.co.uk/#/albis-ford-d-series/4520543530

They had those clever little locking pins at each end of the drop-side or drop-tail.

They just dropped into place, except when the load made the sides or tail bulge, then you had to force them into place with a blunt instrument. 

What were those little locking things called? Was trying to find a photo of them recently. Don't ask.

[Mark_Porter]

25% of the houses on Guernsey were not connected to the sewer network and ours was one of those that had a cesspit underneath the back garden.

Once every 6 weeks or so the ‘sewage man’ came round to pump everything out. Whenever he came, we used to rush outside to sit on the wall and watch him at work - fag hanging out of the corner of his mouth, absolutely reeking to high heaven. Inexplicably the huge pipe he used to pump it all out had clear sections so we would whoop and holler, generation game style, as things whizzed past.

Here is one of the trucks. That’s one of the little ones that holds 800 gallons. This lucky customer didn’t need the extra long pipe that snaked over the driveway and right the way to the bottom of the garden.

Click to see full-size image.

As jobs go, that one looked tough.

[Karabiner]

25% of the houses on Guernsey were not connected to the sewer network and ours was one of those that had a cesspit underneath the back garden.

Once every 6 weeks or so the ‘sewage man’ came round to pump everything out. Whenever he came, we used to rush outside to sit on the wall and watch him at work - fag hanging out of the corner of his mouth, absolutely reeking to high heaven. Inexplicably the huge pipe he used to pump it all out had clear sections so we would whoop and holler, generation game style, as things whizzed past.

Here is one of the trucks. That’s one of the little ones that holds 800 gallons. This lucky customer didn’t need the extra long pipe that snaked over the driveway and right the way to the bottom of the garden.

Click to see full-size image.

As jobs go, that one looked tough.

If you've not read the story of "Peggy Shitter" on Red-dog's diary I would urge you to do so immediately.

[RED-DOG]

Coalmen had a tougher job, imo.

It was fine, though, bit of graft did no harm really.

Unusual to see drop-sides on a coal man's lorry. It's a beautiful body though. (On the truck, not the coal man. They were hand made by a company called Hawson and were a great selling point. All the Travellers loved a Hawson body.


http://www.gypsytrailercaravans.webeden.co.uk/#/albis-ford-d-series/4520543530

They had those clever little locking pins at each end of the drop-side or drop-tail.

They just dropped into place, except when the load made the sides or tail bulge, then you had to force them into place with a blunt instrument. 

What were those little locking things called? Was trying to find a photo of them recently. Don't ask.

They are called anti-loose catches. I used to buy them from Hemmingways in Ecclesfield.

[RED-DOG]

I bet you can remember 1 CWT bags of cement too.

[tikay]

I bet you can remember 1 CWT bags of cement too.

Unloaded many an 8 ton (160 bag) lorry load of them. We called cement "dust". Half a yard of 3/4 ballast & 2 bags of dust".  

Face the side of the lorry, driver (on the lorry bed) stands the sack up & leans it across my shoulder, the bag then sort of droops across my shoulder, off we go. 160 times. (We never had pallets in those days).

When the bag was "arched" over my shoulder, the upward side of the (paper) bag was stressed, & if not handled carefully, it would split, & the bag would break in half. Of course, a driver who fancied a bit of sport would deliberatly "nick" the top of the bag so that it split. A cwt of cement over you is a lotta dust.

Lorry loads of Flettons or Class A's, too.

Carlite, Thistle & Sirapite plaster was all unloaded by hand, too.

Bet I unloaded over 1,000 lorry loads. (4 or 5 per day, for a year).

Ar the time, I was an indentured apprentice, earning £5 per week, supposed to be learning my trade, & they had me unloading lorries. Best way to learn, though, & I loved it.

[tikay]

Coalmen had a tougher job, imo.

It was fine, though, bit of graft did no harm really.

Unusual to see drop-sides on a coal man's lorry. It's a beautiful body though. (On the truck, not the coal man. They were hand made by a company called Hawson and were a great selling point. All the Travellers loved a Hawson body.


http://www.gypsytrailercaravans.webeden.co.uk/#/albis-ford-d-series/4520543530

They had those clever little locking pins at each end of the drop-side or drop-tail.

They just dropped into place, except when the load made the sides or tail bulge, then you had to force them into place with a blunt instrument. 

What were those little locking things called? Was trying to find a photo of them recently. Don't ask.

They are called anti-loose catches. I used to buy them from Hemmingways in Ecclesfield.

That's the buggers. Wonderfully simple & effective.

[RED-DOG]

I bet you can remember 1 CWT bags of cement too.

Unloaded many an 8 ton (160 bag) lorry load of them. We called cement "dust". Half a yard of 3/4 ballast & 2 bags of dust".  

Face the side of the lorry, driver (on the lorry bed) stands the sack up & leans it across my shoulder, the bag then sort of droops across my shoulder, off we go. 160 times. (We never had pallets in those days).

When the bag was "arched" over my shoulder, the upward side of the (paper) bag was stressed, & if not handled carefully, it would split, & the bag would break in half. Of course, a driver who fancied a bit of sport would deliberatly "nick" the top of the bag so that it split. A cwt of cement over you is a lotta dust.

Lorry loads of Flettons or Class A's, too.

Carlite, Thistle & Sirapite plaster was all unloaded by hand, too.

Bet I unloaded over 1,000 lorry loads. (4 or 5 per day, for a year).

Ar the time, I was an indentured apprentice, earning £5 per week, supposed to be learning my trade, & they had me unloading lorries. Best way to learn, though, & I loved it.

I bet a man wouldn't be allowed to carry a cwt bag these days.

[Nakor]

CWT Bag was 160lbs?  51kg as near as.

Manual handling restrictions are now 25kg I believe, so no you would not be allowed to lift a CWT bag.

[tikay]

I bet you can remember 1 CWT bags of cement too.

Unloaded many an 8 ton (160 bag) lorry load of them. We called cement "dust". Half a yard of 3/4 ballast & 2 bags of dust".  

Face the side of the lorry, driver (on the lorry bed) stands the sack up & leans it across my shoulder, the bag then sort of droops across my shoulder, off we go. 160 times. (We never had pallets in those days).

When the bag was "arched" over my shoulder, the upward side of the (paper) bag was stressed, & if not handled carefully, it would split, & the bag would break in half. Of course, a driver who fancied a bit of sport would deliberatly "nick" the top of the bag so that it split. A cwt of cement over you is a lotta dust.

Lorry loads of Flettons or Class A's, too.

Carlite, Thistle & Sirapite plaster was all unloaded by hand, too.

Bet I unloaded over 1,000 lorry loads. (4 or 5 per day, for a year).

Ar the time, I was an indentured apprentice, earning £5 per week, supposed to be learning my trade, & they had me unloading lorries. Best way to learn, though, & I loved it.

I bet a man wouldn't be allowed to carry a cwt bag these days.

Guess you'd need a bunch of certificates, an induction course, training, goggles, helmet, sturdy boots, & all that H & S based stuff. Possibly correctly.

I turned up on the very first day in my brand new, £4/19/11d C & A Suit & shiny shoes & the only tie I possessed, thinking I'd be sat at a desk all day.

"Unload that lorry son, the Yard foreman will show you the ropes", & that was that.

I unloaded it, & thought that was it. 4 more lorries followed.

I did that for a year.

An odd way to be an Apprentice & be taught about building materials, but it worked, & I still have a soft spot & interest for all those products - cement, flettons, Class A's, cast iron manhole covers & frames, plaster, concrete paving slabs & half-battered kerbs, ACO drains, plasterboard, roof tiles, slates, salt glazed eartherware drainage & three quarter section branch bends, P, Q, R & S-traps, & so on.

I abandoned my Apprentieceship after 3 years, when I was poached by another company. My Dad was furious with me, it was the bravest thing I'd ever done to defy him. It still makes me wince even now.

But the offer I was made I could not resist.

"Listen Tony", said this East London based customer who I loked after - he refused to be served by anyone else, as I had a natural grasp of Customer Care, how much do you earn here?

"£6 per week." (I'd done well in the 3 years). 

Come work for me, & one day you could be earning.........£1,000 per year.

I did the sum. £20 per week?

Are you serious? I bit his hand off.

So the adventure began. Soon I was working for 3 guys in Walthamstow, East London, & that lasted about 30 years, but ended badly.

[tikay]

CWT Bag was 160lbs?  51kg as near as.

Manual handling restrictions are now 25kg I believe, so no you would not be allowed to lift a CWT bag.

No, a cwt was 8 stone, or 112 lbs.

There were 20 cwt bags to the ton, & they came in 8 ton loads, so 20 x 8 = 160 bags.

Apologies if I explained it wrong earlier.

PS - We loaded sand, ballast & aggregate by hand, too. A yard of sand was 160 shovelfuls. Heave, 1, heave, 2, .....heave, 158, heave, 159......

Then I drove the lorry - a flatback sided Bedford TK - to the delivery address, unloaded it all by hand, & drove back to the yard.

I was never happier.

[Knottikay]

Wooden dropside panels I notice. All Aluminium nowadays. I work for the UK's largest Aluminium stock holders for the body building trade.

I can give you a good price on some antiluce fittings if any of you two gents would like any (for old times sake). I will waive the postage as a gesture of goodwill.