The way we were

[FOWLER MAN]

Hi Graham,


Hello Fred,
Nice to see Larry Ryans 38-RB in your photo, I done a few shifts on her up in Cambrian Colliery ,She had shovel tracks on her hence the short boom, I notice a Foden tipping to the Bomb navvie which i would safely say was one of Edgar Pyles. Did you ever see Ryans 61-RB that done a small opencast up at South Tunnell?..

Yes Graham,
It is one of Edgar Pile's Fodens. Pic below of Edgar and Brian Pile with the Foden rep. taken on the same site. They ran about six of them, one fitted with the "Foden Two Stroke" engine.
I never did see Larry Ryan's 61RB.

[gah1950]

Hiya Fred.
I was talking recently to someone from Deri and he insisted that Ryan had a 71-RB in Fochriw but i know it was indeed a 61-RB as the driver was Glyn Seaton AKA 'The Duke' from Pontypridd, It worked directly opposite the Disposal site at Fochriw ,Ryan had some coal from there but not as much as they had hoped for. I worked on a few Ryans sites where Edgar had the Fodens that also ran with Ryans own Euclid R15 dumptrucks. I'm just thinking would Brian Pile have any more photos of Ryans operations.

[gah1950]

Hiya Fred,
That looks like Terry Rowe on the 'Bomb Navvie' His father had a level near South tunnel years ago. He is still in Nelson and i'll have to ring him to see if he has any information on the 61-RB.

[FOWLER MAN]

Hiya Fred,
That looks like Terry Rowe on the 'Bomb Navvie' His father had a level near South tunnel years ago. He is still in Nelson and i'll have to ring him to see if he has any information on the 61-RB.

Hi Graham,
That could well be Terry Rowe.
Terry and I have been friends for forty years or so and I will probably meet up with him on Thursday evening next week. I'll ask him.

[FOWLER MAN]

Hi,
A few more pics from before the HSE rule book was written.
No cones, no hi-vis or barriers to be seen. Just common-sense and experience at work.

There's even the, ( since banned), Golly on the Robertson's Golden Shred delivery van. I had a black faced cuddly toy called Golly when I was a kid and I loved it to death. What was wrong with that

[essexpete]

Is that a crane with Winget on the side?
Great period photos with nearly every machine home produced.

[Jeremy Rowland]

Fred I agree with everything you said whatever happened to common sense? I guess it just went out of the window with the evil liberal attitude of todays so called educated lot who are so far removed from reality its incredible.

How unusual to have a skimmer on demolition, think that's the first time I ever seen one used that way, perhaps that was all that was available but in those days you just did the job and got on with it, none of this namby pamby nonsense that you get today.

Jeremy

[Whitlock 505]

Great photos Fred! Is that one of Barry's ex Hoveringham tippers in one of the pictures? My father was on that job down in the river on a JCB for Richards & Wallngton, he remembers a road roller sliding out of control into one of the shops whilst he was on that job, Peter Lind was the contractor for the works

Ian

[FOWLER MAN]

Hi,
A few more pics from a former age.

Cat 955 12A and Blaw-Knox grader


580 D Hymac at work.


Pioneer were up top for concrete deliveries.

[Jeremy Rowland]

Nice one's Fred including watch out for low flying LAD concrete mixers.

Jeremy