Innehållsförteckning för April 2022 från Heritage Commercials

February will be a month to take a moment of reflection, it included, the passing of my father-in-law Peter, and my uncle Jim both on the same day. This was followed by the breakdown of my car (a minor inconvenience in comparison, but annoying all the same), and then the invasion of Ukraine. So, I think after a moment to remember those who have passed and those who are still suffering under these uncertain times, we will look forward to better times ahead and to start with by enjoying the magazine. This month’s issue of Heritage Commercials, includes gas turbine engines, the Coventry Transport Museum, Part 2 of the Sweeting Dynasty, a new article which features Latil, while Timothy Byrne looks back over 22 years at the International Waste Management…

THIS MONTH TYRES Q My Bedford has been off the road for two years. The tyres have plenty of tread depth, but what issues relate to vehicles that don’t need an MoT? REH, Suffolk A It’s always best to think about the worst-case scenario. With a restored classic, suffering tyre failure on a smart motorway is about as bad as it gets. If the tyre was on the live lane side of the vehicle, for obvious safety reasons, National Highways (formerly the Highways Agency) would not allow the wheel to be changed. National Highways imposes charges for removing broken down vehicles off a motorway to the nearest services or motorway exit, or a garage. For a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes, the towing charge is between £150 and £300, and…

I have been a reader of Heritage Commercials for a considerable period and enjoy the variety that it contains. My attention was drawn in the November 2021 issue to the restored 1964 Bedford TK tipper. I think there can be little doubt that the vehicle was new (with a green livery) to D W Free (Transport) Ltd., of Marlborough in Wiltshire. Although the vehicle in the enclosed photograph is not the one in question, I think the proximity of the registration number is significant. Free’s were not involved in construction. They were haulage contractors and wholesale coal merchants, and over the years, their fleet used Bedfords, Leylands, Commers, Dodges, Fodens, Atkinsons and numerous AEC’s. Their essentially tipper fleet closed down with the decline in the use of coal when the…

Chatham Dockyard was created in the early 1500s and continued to serve the Royal Navy until 1984 when it closed permanently as a result of the 1981 Defence Review. Fortunately, the most historic sections of the dockyard were saved for the nation as a tourist attraction. In the 1930s and 1940s the dockyard was a hive of activity repairing war damaged ships and building numerous submarines for the Royal Navy, something that continued until as late as the mid-1960s when the last three submarines for the Canadian Navy were constructed at Chatham. The building slips where these boats were built was then used for storage with all but one concreted in to provide a level surface. In one of these are housed the overspill collection of military vehicles from the…

Although Latil built trucks in all shapes and sizes, mention their name and the first image that comes to mind is a short-wheel-base, stubby tractor with large tyres and a ground-anchor, sticking up to attention on the back. This is a description of the infamous Latil H14 winching tractor which earned itself a phenomenal reputation for unsticking the stuck! The founder of the celebrated, French firm of Latil was Auguste Joseph Frédéric Georges Latil, known as ‘Georges’, who was born to a large family on the 3rd of June 1878 in Marseille. His father Charles was in the legal profession as a notaire but Georges became an engineer. He retired in 1939 after being badly affected, emotionally, by the death of his wife. He lived out his life in a…

Literally days before the pandemic became a real threat, back in late February 2020, I was on the internet booking my flights, accommodation and press pass for the 2020 Assen Truck festival in the Netherlands. I’d been once before in 2015 and it was a brilliant show, so a return visit was always going to be a must. As we all know, 2020’s summer was written off for truck shows (and just about everything else!) and obviously with it, went my trip to Assen… But I will return, maybe not in 2022, but certainly some year very soon. The Assen show is kind of split into three. The main driving thrust of it is a show for truck drivers, a chance for them to let their hair down, drink beer,…

hc.ed@kelsey.co.uk Heritage Commercials, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent. On behalf of the Hampshire Police History Society, I have recently come into possession of a number of photographs of Fire Engines from the Portsmouth Brigade. I believe the attached photo No.1, is of a Merryweather engine, pre 1911, due to the flat bonnet. I would be very pleased to have this confirmed or otherwise identified! The photo is taken outside what is now known as Park Building in King Henry Street, Portsmouth.WHAT IS IT? I also attach what I think is a slightly later photo No.2, of Portsmouth Fire Brigade, again with a Merryweather engine, with a rounded-style bonnet, so I believe slightly later. I cannot place where this photo was taken at the moment.…

1992 EXHIBITION Torbay was a great location because of the mild climate, seaside location and abundance of hotels, restaurants and venues – useful for more than a small amount of networking and socialising during the event. Funded by the IWM, it was heavily backed by the local Council, which provided the Greens/seaside promenade to the Institute for the exhibition to take place. The 1994 exhibition was an International exhibition in conjunction with the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), while the 1995 exhibition was hosted by the IWM and headlined as the Institute of Wastes Management Annual Conference and Exhibition. 1993 EXHIBITION 1994 EXHIBITION 1995 EXHIBITION…

David’s younger brother Fred had worked for his father when still a boy before leaving to drive motor coaches for Burnells’ Motors Ltd of Weston-Super-Mare. It was during his time as a driver with Burnells’ that he met the woman he would later marry, Margaret Rolls, who was in service at the time at a house in nearby Banwell. He and Margaret were married and soon afterwards Fred left Burnells’ and for a while he delivered wines and spirits in a small lorry for Glanvilles. This did not last long however, for in 1936 Fred decided to follow in his brother David’s footsteps by setting himself-up in haulage. With a loan from the bank he purchased a bungalow in Sandford and with the money he had left-over was able to…

Big power was the preserve of the Swedes in the 1970s, who developed larger engines to produce more horsepower and torque than anything seen in the UK. Scania had a 14-litre V8 and Volvo had the 12-litre straight six in the F89. These were aimed at operators in its Scandinavian homeland that needed more power as their gross weights were far higher than the 32 tonnes UK operators could max out at. The 350hp Scania 140, and then its replacement, the 375hp 141, were still sold across the globe and became very popular in the UK especially among those hauliers doing long continental and Middle East runs. Throughout the 1970s, Volvo, however, had only had a 12-litre engine as its biggest and most powerful engine. It first appeared with the…