Memorable Names

Mike Forbes has found some pictures in the Chris Hodge ‘Stilltime’ archives showing the vehicles of transport operators which we will all remember from the past.

- Mike Forbes

There are transport companies with names we all remember, as their vehicles were to be seen far and wide on the roads of Great Britain, as well as in their own localities.

Two of the firms seen here were part of the Transport Development Group, known to many as TDG, which grew out of the General Lighterage Company in 1957 and owned a whole raft of well-known haulage companies. They all operated under their own names for many years until, during the 1980s, a dark green livery with a ‘juggler’ motif took over, much to many enthusiasts’ dismay. Having expanded into Europe in recent years, TDG was taken over in 2010, by Norbert Dentress angle, now known as XPO Logistics. As always, it’s ‘all change’...

The third company, based in Yorkshire, remained family-owned and controlled until the 1970s, and even then retained its own identity for many years. The pictures show a wide variety of vehicle makes and types, showing the effects of the individual preferences of different managers. Those were the days – and this is probably a large part of why we are all so enthusiastic about the lorries of the past...

Watts Bros

Watts Bros began as a local general carrier, with John Watts using a horse and cart – known locally as a ‘rully’ – between Beverley, in East Yorkshire, and Hull from the 1970s. The company base was in Lairgate, Beverley, the garage only demolished in the 2000s, after later use as a carpet warehouse. The first motor vehicle, a Selden, came in 1915, others being added when his sons took over after World War I, with road-building work with Saurer tippers taken on from the 1920s.