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Parbold

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Parbold Hill. Year unknown.
Parbold Hill. Year unknown.
Photo: . Ozymandias .
Views: 3,925
Item #: 29902
Two of Hague's fleet from Lathom, grind up Parbold hill from Newburgh, sometime in the early 60's at a guess, fully freighted with what appear to be reels of paper. Photo borrowed from another site and with credit to ' Buzzer '.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 18th November 2017 at 20:33

I don't recall a photo, which shows a lorry 'grinding' up-hill, having been shown previously on Wigan World.
Hey Presto! Now two fully laden beauties, shown addressing Parbold Hill's gradient, on a photo; their effort amply described previously.

Comment by: Veronica on 18th November 2017 at 22:50

What a fantastic view -never fails to amaze and it's not far from the convent.

Comment by: Bob on 18th November 2017 at 23:12

Hague Transport of Burscough.
Now WCF Distribution.

Comment by: Arnold on 19th November 2017 at 10:24

These two would almost be hauling Bowater Newsprint.
Bowater's supplied newsprint to the Wigan Observer in the 1960s. Bowater had a paper mill on the Manchester ship canal between the river Mersey and the Manchester canal. Hooton Wharf rings a bell at that time. Newsprint is very heavy, more so in the broadsheet days, and these two lorries would really be struggling up Parbold hill.
Thank you for the memories.

Comment by: Albert. on 19th November 2017 at 11:10

I suspect it would have been a couple of years, or so, before the M.6. was opened up.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 19th November 2017 at 12:32

I've been puzzling over this picture for a while actually Arnold. I don't know where the wagons would have been either coming from or going to specifically, but as it's unlikely that the M6 would have been built when this shot was taken, then Parbold hill would appear to be an odd route to choose. Had they been heading north, then the A59 would have been the obvious choice. Heading east, and given that the wagons were based in Lathom, then Rainford and the A580 would have been the route to follow. Had the ultimate destination been, as you suggest, Wigan, then either Rainford and Billinge, or Skem and Upholland even would have been my chosen routes. Struggling up over Parbold with that weight on doesn't make much sense to me, unless they were heading for Bolton. Even then, there are easier ways to get to Bolton. I just can't figure it out, but as the photograph seems to me to have been professionally taken, then my view would be that the shoot may have been staged as a promotional device for the company, for inclusion in a calendar for example. That's just my theory anyway, and I could well be wrong. Either way it's academic, the main thing being, whoever secured the load on that wagon was obviously a master at his craft. The old timers that could sheet and rope a load to that degree of excellence are mostly long gone now. It's absolute poetry, and If that guy had been a poet instead of a wagon driver, he'd have been on a par with Wordsworth in my opinion.

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: Philip Gormley. on 19th November 2017 at 13:10

Albert: Ozy and yourself are probably right regarding that particular part of the 60s. And a smashing photo of two powerful vehicles; their heavy freight from calender roller to trucker's wheel.

Comment by: Garry on 19th November 2017 at 14:47

A real art to rope and sheeting, not many drivers can master it, don't see much today.

Comment by: Albert. on 19th November 2017 at 15:18

One thing Ozy. The drivers' couldn't put the blame on a sat.nav. direction boo-boo.

Comment by: Howard P on 19th November 2017 at 15:25

I suspect they've lost their way. No sat-navs then.

Comment by: AB on 19th November 2017 at 15:34

I worked on several new "Atkis" in the mid sixties and by then the cabs had full wrap round windscreens so these are earlier than that

Comment by: JJP on 19th November 2017 at 17:34

Wherever they were coming from or going to, Parbold hill was not a chosen route for any driver. These owd Atki's were probably powered by Gardner 120 or at best 150 bhp engines and having driven both power units I can only imagine that at this point first gear had been selected way back down the hill. I can recall Fred Rose from Blackrod having the same vehicles and Scot Lane Aspull would knock the stuffings out of them, never mind Parbold. Fantastic photo though - lovely memories !

Comment by: Bob on 19th November 2017 at 17:45

Its an Atkinson L1856 from 1955
http://www.simoncars.co.uk/vans/trucks.html

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 19th November 2017 at 18:51

You're probably correct about the wagons being earlier AB, in fact I'm fairly sure that you are, although my remark about the early 60's was aimed at the photograph as opposed to the wagons. Having said that, I have some specification literature from Atkinson Vehicles dated 21st of June 1962 that lists the standard coachbuilt cab, with which these appear to equipped, as still being an available option, along with the heavy duty coachbuilt fibreglass de-luxe cab, as well as an all steel cab. I don't know in exactly which year the ' standard ' cab was discontinued, but it was obviously falling out of favour by 1962. The engine options For the 8 wheeler at that time evidently were either a Gardner 6LW, with a 12 volt electrical system, or the Gardner 6LX, with a 24 volt system... ( both Cummins or Rolls Royce engines could be specified for the export market apparently ). Interestingly, although not entirely surprisingly, also listed as an optional extra is ' Cab heater and demister '. One has to laugh doesn't one?. I'm also prepared to concede that I may be in error by stating that I think the photograph may have been staged for advertising purposes. It's just that if I were loading 15 tons of reels out of Bowaters at Shotton, then unless the delivery address specifically stated ' High Moor ' or ' Wrightington Bar ', and given that easier options are available, I would probably avoid Parbold hill like the plague.

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 19th November 2017 at 19:37

You're dead right there JJP. if I were coming up Parbold Hill with that load on and a 6LX under the bonnet, I'd select crawler at the end of Lancaster lane and stay in it until I got to the café at the top, and no danger.

Respect. Ozy.

Comment by: rt on 19th November 2017 at 22:02

studying the photo these two wagons are so close to the kerb I think they are parked up or broke down or even failed in their attempt at getting over parbold

Comment by: Derrick Cunliffe on 20th November 2017 at 00:38

These Atkis probabley had the 6LW112 or6LW120 gardner engine
in 150engines only came later but you could guarantee they
would always get back home if anyone wants to learn how
to rope and sheet give me a ring D.C.

Comment by: Garry on 20th November 2017 at 09:39

I would imagine Ozy is correct, crawler gear would almost certainly be used. If these happen to stall on that hill, they would never start to move again, and re-stall after re-stall would continue to happen.
As a driver you'd have to keep the rev's high and the gears low, that's the only way to tackle hills like this.
Derick rope and sheeting is no longer in operation today.

Comment by: Arnold on 20th November 2017 at 09:49

rt. if these two trucks were parked up there, both drivers should be sacked, try to move off from a standing start on that hill would rip the half-shaft in two. Credit HGV drivers with a bit more sense.

Comment by: AB on 20th November 2017 at 10:23

In the fifties Harry Hague was a farm produce merchant based in Lathom. He later progressed into Haulage and judging by the position of the two loaded vehicles on Parbold Hill one appearing to be on the footpath stationary
this is possibly a promotional photo

Comment by: Rob on 20th November 2017 at 13:12

No need for the trucks to stop for a photo shot, they would only be travelling around 5 MPH.

Comment by: Alan on 20th November 2017 at 13:33

I thought Monty Don was a Gardner!

Comment by: AP on 20th November 2017 at 16:02

Fred Rose used these on the Dundee run: A6 over Shap in pre-motorway era. Was Parbold Hill more challenging than Shap in this period?

I can remember them getting stopped on Shap, where accidents were not uncommon.

Fred Rose, also frequently hauled paper, (maybe not to Dundee) from Cooke and Nutall in Horwich.

Comment by: AB on 20th November 2017 at 16:21

Ozzy,There is a film of a restored 1955 Hague "Atki 8 Legger" VTC 951 travelling through Burscough in 2015 on Google

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 20th November 2017 at 17:45

You're perfectly correct of course AP, the climb up over Shap was far worse than the climb over Parbold hill, by virtue of the fact that it was far longer, the road in places was much narrower, there were far more bends, AND the road was much busier. To a degree, the same applies to the climb over Woodhead, or the grind up out of Glossop to the summit of the Snake pass, or coming in either direction over the Cat and Fiddle, all far worse than Parbold. Even Lindale hill that JJP mentions was as bad as, if not worse than Parbold hill. The difference being that unlike Parbold, there aren't , or at least weren't, any easy alternatives to these routes. Even the climb from Milnrow up to Windy Hill on the M62 would have been a killer for these motors. But it's all changed now, as most modern wagons these days have at least 480 or more horses under the bonnet and can probably sail up at 44 Tonnes gvw with the cruise control set at 56 mph and Barry Manilow blasting out of the MP3 player....before I forget Arnold, and this is merely a shot in the dark, if I mentioned Heyes Forge, would this have any significance to you? Just curious, that's all.

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: Garry on 20th November 2017 at 21:06

The only problem with Parbold from a driver's point, is that you can't take a good run at it!

Comment by: JJP on 20th November 2017 at 21:18

Ozymandias, wash your mouth out - Barry Manilow for goodness sake !. Anyway, I always listened to Country Girls - Anne Murray, Dolly, Crystal Gale, my favourite song was 'Rose Garden' Lyn Anderson what a voice !!. can't say I loved every minute of my 49 years in transport but looking back I would not change any of it, right from the moment I started work at White Star 1963 as a second mate.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 20th November 2017 at 23:07

I'm with you there JJP. Manilow didn't do much for me either, although Mandy wasn't half bad ( allegedly ). I never actually had a wagon that was fitted with a radio, not until about 1984 anyway, and I fitted that one myself. It was a bit like listening to the sea in one of those conche shells. I remember playing The Animals ' House of the rising sun ' on the juke box in the Jungle though, and Frank Ifield's ' I remember yoo hoo'. Do you remember the transport café on the A49 just after the Bowling Green pub, it was on the left hand side heading towards Preston. I've forgotten the name of the place, but we used to call in there regularly on the way to the ROF at Euxton. Thunderclap Newman had just brought out ' Something in the air '. We played it constantly,....." call out the in-stiga-tor " ...Brilliant! I'd do it over again starting tomorrow, but I wouldn't do it for quite as long if I'm being honest.

Respect. Ozy.

Comment by: DTease on 21st November 2017 at 09:23

Ozy, JJP, what do you think about the way that drivers are constantly watched these days? All a manager as to do is switch on a computer and he or she can see exactly where you are at any given time of the day. How fast you are going, when you start, when you stop and they can just pick up a phone and be in instant communication with any of their drivers.
Would you not find all this a bit constricting compared with your day?

Comment by: AP on 21st November 2017 at 10:58

Ozzy- be you referring to 'Dirty Dick's' Transport Cafe?

Comment by: Alan on 21st November 2017 at 11:12

If you're up to no good, then it would bother you.

Comment by: graham on 21st November 2017 at 11:36

hi chaps,i do'nt think any of these wagons will be carring newsprint reels due to the weight of a reel,reels can weigh anything from 3/4 ton to 1 1/4 ton depending on the density of the paper,modern day 44tonners only carry between 18 & 22 reels out of shoton paper & bridgewater to printing presses in manchester,so these atkis would be well over. weight

Comment by: JJP on 21st November 2017 at 11:36

Dtease, I worked in transport from the early 1960s through to 2010 when I retired and have seen both the old and the new. It was inevitable the changes were to come about that met modern day thinking and I myself never found any issue with modern ways. However, given the chance to go back even for a little while I would prefer the days of yesteryear and the freedom's that came with it I suppose. I think though, what I would really like, is my youth back again - to be able to do all the things I did way back then.

Comment by: graham on 21st November 2017 at 11:59

something,i forgot that when the wagons get to the printing presses ,the FLT driver has to change the pressure settings on his clamp for the different reels,so that the clamping pads do'nt mark the layers of paper putting to much pressure on the reels.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 21st November 2017 at 12:03

Exactly DTease, satellite tracking, vehicle routing, digicards, timed deliveries, instant communication, the mobile phone didn't do drivers any favours in my view. Back in the day, you were given a job to do and the freedom to do it in the way that you thought best, and as long as the job got done everyone was happy. " Give us a ring when you're tipped ", were usually the only instructions that you were given, and if you could find your own loads, the boss often wouldn't see you all week, which suited everybody. This freedom no longer exists unfortunately. You could bend the rules a little to suit with the old log books, but you can't do that with these new digicards. I suspect the rot may have begun to set in in the 80's, when many drivers began spending their wages on ' pimping ' up their motors by fitting vertical chrome exhaust stacks, rows of superfluous spotlights, CB radios and all manner of unnecessary bling, in a pathetic attempt to emulate our colonial cousins in Uncle Sam's fair land. Things just appeared to gradually enter into a downward spiral from around about that point, and while I think on, and just in case you weren't aware, nowadays, it's mandatory to spend a few hundred quid every few years to go on a DCPC course in order to demonstrate that you have the ability to do the job that you've been doing for the best part of half a century. No, the fun and the camaraderie went out of the job years ago I'm afraid. I've heard modern day drivers described as being mere ' steering wheel attendants ', or ' curtain pullers '. I have no desire to be disrespectful to anyone, but having personally witnessed one or two ' prima donnas ' refuse to take out a wagon because " the radio crackles ", or some other half baked excuse, then I'm inclined to believe that these descriptions fit, if not all, then at least a substantial amount of them....I suppose the safest option would be for me to retire to the Anderson shelter now DTease.

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 21st November 2017 at 12:43

You may very well be right regarding the name of that café AP, although I don't recall knowing the place by that name personally, but without wishing to appear disrespectful, it's possible that you may go back a tad bit further than I do. I've just had a look on Google street view though, and the place is called Hunter's Lodge motel. I realise its been called that for a number of years now, but back in the 60's the place was little more than a long wooden shed, with a gravel car park. Or at least that's how I remember it as being. Incidentally, I'd be very interested to know who you drove for.

Regards. Ozy.

Comment by: DTease on 21st November 2017 at 12:51

Ozy, I'm sure that the "Steering Wheel Attendants" and the "Curtain Pullers" will take your comments in the same constructive manner in which they were given......But just in case go down the Anderton Shelter anyway.

Comment by: DTease on 21st November 2017 at 13:01

My o my JJP, How we all long for "The days when once we ran wild in the sun". Sadly there is no going back.

Comment by: Howard P on 21st November 2017 at 14:17

I suspect their bails of hay or empty plastic barrels.

Comment by: AP on 21st November 2017 at 15:02

Mea culpa, realised just after I had posted, Dirty dick's tuther side of Preston (A6). Alas, you cannot edit what you have submitted on here.

Not an HGV driver myself, but my dad was.
1940's RAF, then a chauffeur for one of the local fat cats.
Early 1950's was a coal merchant and haulage contractor, then drove for Bill Ratcliff, and later 1950's, for Fred Rose. Early 1960's for Sutton's, and then drove low loader for Graystone Plant Hire.

I would endeavour to go on the trip with dad any opportunity I had. I really reminisced at your mention of Pennine Passes, if I close my eyes, I can envisage every detail of the haul up from Longdendale to Woodhead Summit, as it was in 1950's, with the electric-hauled coal trains from Yorkshire down below, with the easy option of zipping into the tunnel.

But it was the coal that I enjoyed most. We had bedford 'O' type tippers to haul from open cast excavations. Boy did they get bogged down, usually to be hauled out by bulldozer, and I recall one occasion when even the dozer got stuck. The navi, (Ruston Bucyrus diesel powered descendent of the steam shovel) had to haul us out, remaking the road as it progressed, and also had to shift the stranded dozer.

I was so fascinated at the revealed strata that had to be cut through to win the coal, it made me want to be a petrologist when I grew up, though alas I did not do so.

Comment by: Ray Smyth on 21st November 2017 at 16:26

Graham...Yes,you are right about the weight of the newsreels
on the Atkinson lorries. They appear to be about 1 metre in
diameter, or 3ft & a bit in "Old Money",and each reel would
weigh approx 1ton/1016kg. I reckon there are 15 reels on the
8 wheeler, which when unladen would weigh between 8 and 9 tons, its gross vehicle weight would have been approx 24 tons,so I think it is not overloaded. I delivered reels like
these to Daily Express in Manchester, and to The Daily Post
and Echo in Liverpool many times. Way back then, there wasn't any fork truck to unload the reels, the driver struck
the wooden scotches with a 3ft long piece of wood, and the
reels unloaded themselves on to the loading bay which was just a few inches lower than the trailer. Ray.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 21st November 2017 at 18:14

Maybe they were delivering bog roll to Standish Ray. You don't suppose there was some kind of emergency in Standish back in the 50's do you?

Comment by: Ray on 21st November 2017 at 22:40

Ozy...There could have been an emergency in Standish, needing lots of bog roll...I believe it is now called
"Toilet Tissue". After all, not far away in Standish,
H.J.Heinz produced tins of beans for many years down at
the "Bottom" of Bradley Lane.

Comment by: Thomas Clancy on 22nd November 2017 at 15:05

Were they not on a brake test?

Comment by: AP on 22nd November 2017 at 15:28

Singing?

I bet what you were really singing was, "Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz"!

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 22nd November 2017 at 18:23

You've got it AP, my friends all drive Scanias, I must make amends.

Comment by: AP on 23rd November 2017 at 16:35

I would like to say how much I have enjoyed the commentary threads evoked by the two pics of period trucks.

Keep 'em coming!

Comment by: bill parr on 2nd February 2018 at 13:01

Hi Oz
Re your question about the name of transport cafe it was the bungalow and a bit further up the road o the right


Hi
Hi oz the cafe was the bungalow and the one further up was White House cafe. Do you recal the Kem Cop cafe onthe A6 next to Fredricks ice cream
On the border of Chorley/ Adlington .
Keep on trucking mate for those of us who are still cabhappy
Bill parr

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