My name is Alan Sleight, I have had a life long interest in Lorries and the haulage industry. Forty seven years ago I bought my first lorry for £45, a 1948 O type 6 cylinder petrol Bedford. I used it in my coal and firewood business, I bought coal from South Yorkshire mines for five shillings and sixpence per hundredweight and sold it on for seven shillings and sixpence per hundredweight, Two Pounds per ton profit and I was moving about 20 tons a week. I went onto buy a TK Bedford, it had been the demonstration model for Bedford dealer Thompsons of Doncaster. I still used it for my coal round but gradually began doing more and more general haulage on a 100 mile restricted B licence, back in those days there were three types of Licence. With an A licence you could move anything anywhere with no restrictions. B licences usually had a mileage radius restriction, and with a C licence you could only carry your own goods. I paid four hundred pounds for the Bedford, It's registration number was 6572 DT, I expect this is worth more now then I paid for The Bedford. I own a 1945 Thornycroft Sturdy Diesel 6 ton lorry, she is affectionately named Mildred. I have just recently finished a refurb on the woodwork including new floor on the flatback. I have just bought an Atkinson Borderer artic unit with a 180 Gardner engine, she needs a bit of TLC before she goes on the Rally Circuit. I also own and show a 1940 Fordson Agricultural Tractor.(see pictures in photo album) More recent purchases include two ERF Artic units, one of which will become a low loader to move my vintage gear around.

In 1965 I started working for a farmer and potato merchant as a lorry driver, A Brown and Sons of Epworth near Doncaster. I recall my first days work at Browns, my father who knew Billy Brown took me in his car to Fern Villa their depot in Epworth. Billy took me into the large garage which doubled as a vegetable grading station. He led me over to a 4 wheel ERF registration number YBE 167, it had a 5 cylinder Gardner engine, I fell in love with it there and then. Browns kept their fleet of ERF's in good condition and Billy Brown's first instruction was to go out for a run and if any thing was not to my liking to take it to their workshop garage at Westwoodside. It was a garage I knew well because it had belonged to my Uncle Len and was still called L.H Sleight Ltd of Westwoodside. Both my Dad and his brother Len owned their own garages, L H Sleight had been bought by Browns on Uncle Len's death but kept trading under his name. After a quick check over it was off to one of Brown's many farms to collect a load of beetroot in open top plastic bags, these were brought back to fern villa where I had to tip them off the lorry onto an elevator where they went into the grader to be sized and rebagged into hessian sacks. My orders on emptying the lorry was to report to Billy Brown which I dutifully did,he gave me a slip of paper to give to Jack Cook the foreman. On this was my loading instructions, place 10 Rowatts pallets on deck of lorry. Browns despite being millionaires had no forklifts and everything was done manually. I then had to load 10 tons of bagged beetroot onto the pallets, rope and sheet ,diesel up and report to Billy for instructions. By this time it was about 1730 hours Billy's instructions were to get off home for a meal and a bath then deliver the load to Rowatts of Glasgow 0730 the next day. As this was pre motorway days and the old ERF's were not known for their turn of speed it was a quick meal and then off to Glasgow. North out of Doncaster upto Scotch Corner left onto the A66 then a gruelling climb up Gallows Bank, cup of tea and bun in The Stainmoor Canteen and on to Penrith. Joining the A6 heading North through Carlisle (through the town, this was pre M6 motorway) The old A74 was still single carriageway and it was a long steady haul to Glasgow. Arrived at Rowatts 0700hrs and tipped my load of beetroot remembering to collect 10 empty pallets, time 0830 I had orders to phone Billy when I was empty which I did. I was then to hear one of Billy's favourite sayings, Alan I want you to pop to Montrose and pick up 10 tons of new Scotch seed potatoes from George Ogilvies. Bear in mind I had been up since 0630 Monday this was another 3 to 4 hours drive North. Arriving at Oglivies I was sent to three different farms around Montrose to load up. Loading and sheeting seed potatoes was an art as you had to cover them in straw then double or even triple sheet them to protect against frost damage. After loading I thought F*** you Billy I am off to bed and booked into Jane Laing's bed and breakfast on George Street Montrose. Wednesday morning bright and early I set off for Doncaster phoning Billy from Forfar around 0830, first question was where are you Alan ? to which I replied Forfar, Billys reply was "You should be in Doncaster" end of conversation. Now if any one is thinking tachographs forget it, we had individual log sheets on which you were encouraged to be as creative as possible. I will give you a few facts and figures on the wages ect. Started off on 5 shillings an hour for 40 hours then onto the heady heights of 6 shillings an hour for all hours over forty. As you can see from the old wage slips this increased in 1966 to 5 shillings and sixpence for 40 hours and 7 shillings for all overtime hours. For you young ones that was 27.5 pence an hour for forty and 35 pence an hour all hours over forty. We were paid 80 pence for a night out, ie 16 shillings . To put this in to perspective I could get evening meal bed and breakfast at Dirty Daisy's on Paisley Road West, Glasgow for 7 shillings and sixpence with a half crown parking ticket thrown in. 7/6d paid out 18/6d returned 11 bob profit or in decimal terms 37.5 pence spent, and 92.5 returned 55p profit. Good old days !