Wigan Album

A mk2 Ford Zodiac lies dead and almost buried, a friend of mine had one of the fine cars of it's day. It was powered by a straight six petrol engine and column change gearbox. It was no mug when you put your foot down. I remember the traffic Police had them.

hi ozy,you credit this photo to R B G,is it the same R B G who was at Gaskells as a fitter in the late 60s.

No G P, apart from eighteen months working as a panel beater and sprayer for Timberlakes in Wigan and six months at King's garage in Haydock, he's always made a living working for himself. Amongst many other things, but most notably, dealing in armoured vehicles and associated military equipment. The lad that you may be thinking of however, may possibly be his long time friend, the late Bob Sankey, the unseen rider of the Triumph Thunderbird in my previous picture. He apparently worked as a fitter on Gaskell's wagons at some point back in the 60's. There may be some photos of Bob Sankey appearing on here soon. I hope this is helpful to you.

Regards. Ozy.

What was it doing there?, did someone just abandon it. I heard that abandoning of cars was a common sight in the 50s and 60s where owners, once their vehicles had been run into the ground, would just leave it at the side of the road to rot away. I bet they fetch abit of money today (as a lot of classics do) and they would be lovingly cherished today. Still nice to see classics around the area from time to time. Saw a lovely American Buick the other day heading down Locket Rd, seen it once at the garage on Lowbank Rd last year. I bet it costs the owner a fortune to run.

thanks ozy,it was Bob Sankey,how long ago did he pass away?.

Ab it's much better today because DVLA want to know everything about vehicles. Is it taxed, MOT and insured, is it SORN (Statutory off road notification) so really it makes it so difficult to abandon vehicles today' you have to tell DVLA about scrapping too.

It must have been around 2004 if I remember correctly G P . That would have made him around 56 or thereabouts. I could be out by a bit. He'd been living in Pembrokeshire for a number of years prior to his death and was doing quite well, running a plant hire firm in Haverfordwest that he had started a few years previously, in partnership with another chap. I went down to his funeral on the motorbike as it was during the summer months. I've rarely seen as many people at a funeral service as I witnessed at his. I believe the cause of death was a heart attack.

Regards. Ozy.

Garry it's a Zephyr.

so, is this old road to ashton on the pic the old Low Bnk Road or is it the road/track leading to the skitters in which case the banking would be for the tractor bridge from Home Farm leading to Skitters Grove ?