widget wrote:neilc wrote:mick h wrote:widget wrote:Hi all,
I was fortunate to be trained to operate pavers by Mickey Tinker (Tarmac Corby) on his BK90 before we got onto the M40 construction job. So after laying a few thousand tons and the building up/knocking down the screeds of various machines on the M40..... I got my very own BK (ive got some photos in the loft that i will dig out and post). I was then sent out on various jobs with MY machine to work, sometimes the only Tarmac Roadstone employee with a gang of subbies.
So during the winter while the temps weren't rising enough to lay, 5 degrees and rising (Does this still happen?) . I was sent down to Blaw Knox with other Tarmac Roadstone lads.... Long time ago now!.... dredging through the names, Barry white, Jimmy Cullen ( im trying to remember but im sure you can throw some more in for me). The lads were from Alfs gang in chesterfield and Walt Wibleys gang in Blyth (or Paul Rodgers gang i think- Known as Kawa)- And of course me from Terry Coulsons gang running out of Corby.... Come on guys help me here and then the names will start flowing.
Anyway after a great week at the factory (and bl**dy good nights ) I was sent one of these in the post.
So do any of you remember these and did you go?
Regards
Richard
Hi mate
I think the gang from chesterfield was Bill Parkers gang, and of course I knew Walt Wibley, 1st time I met him was on M1 A42 link, he was as p****d as a newt, and that was 7.30 in the morning.
Hello Richard working with same chaps today as Saturday I think the ex Watts/Bardon foremans name is Steve another chap called Neil both about 6 foot 2" and another former paver operator who is Andy Deans brother they remember you with glowing terms ! Don"t see many outfits abiding by the 5 and rising rule now it"s largely self policed.Is that the same Jimmy Cullen who went on to form Needham and Cullen?Did Alf end up in Pete Pearsons gang? I did go down to Rochester but only to pick up a stub axel ,I would have loved to see round the factory,what amazed me also was the amount of new machines waiting for onward shipment, where did it all go wrong ? Actually I think I know some of the answers to that question.As for Walt Wibley I think he sold up in Huntingdon and moved back up north after his wife died I think he is now retired.Regards Neil
Hi Neil,
Still thinking about Steve and Neil ? will have to think harder
I know Roy Dean, we used to call him Trigger ( because he looked like Trig from only fools and horses).
Alf was in Petes gang then shortly after retired i think.
I think it was Barry Needham and definitely the same Jimmy Cullen.
As for the 5 and rising rule, you never see a roller driver with a punner now either.(we used to weld a tube onto the rollers to carry them)
The BK factory was amazing, and the courses they ran were second to none. I dont know if any of the manufacturers offer anything similar nowadays?
Didnt know about Walt and his wife, poor old bugger, i havent seen him for years.
I will keep thinking of the foremans names and let you know.
Regards
Richard
Hello Richard ,the only paver operator courses I here about are at Bircham Newton where they run 20 tons of sharpe sand through the machine then scrape it up and repeat operation . So glad that I learnt how to operate in the real world on real jobs with people whose whole lives revolved around surfacing and surfacing machinery. There really is no competition to that type of schooling no matter what any current hand ringer thinks. As I posted way back ,it was like one long apprenticeship .As you know this job can not be learnt from reading a text book ,it has to be learnt in the field . Regards Neil