Volvo
The company were looking for a lighter and quieter tractor unit than the Seddon Atkinson 400 before the Seddon Atkinson 401 had come out.
In January 1982 Tom Riding was offered a damaged Volvo F7 4×2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 27V from the well respected fleet of Bowker’s which was soon followed by another one in a similar state in July 1982 Reg No WCK 180V.
These were soon sorted out and put to work with tipping gears and Wellworthy WS 9 compressors.
They did a good job and were trouble free and eventually the company bought two more from the same source Reg No’s WCX 26V in October 1982 and PCW 446X two years later in March 1984.
Mr Bill Bowker, when in conversation with Tom Riding, said he regarded the Volvo F7 as the modern replacement of the Atkinson Mk I.
In other words they were durable, cheap to run and cheap to maintain, he ought to know, because Bowker’s had plenty of them in their fleet.
The first Volvo F7 4X2 tractor unit to join the fleet was Reg No WCK 27V Fleet No 11 ‘Coeur de Lion’ which was purchased with accident damage from W.H Bowker of Blackburn on the 20th of January 1982 for the sum of £3000 plus vat with an extra £2,864 spent on parts including a Wellworthy WS 9 compressor.
It is pictured here while coupled up to a tandem axle trailer with an Incobulk container discharging it’s load of powder at Wrexham.
The late Tom Riding recalled…
“The driver of WCK 27V was Tony Lee who is seen on crutches at the rear of the vehicle after previously hurting hurt his leg in a car accident.
He had still come to work but his condition worsened so i brought the outfit back home and Tony came home in my car.
Tony Lee later went on his own and set up his own haulage business and had a several motors on sub contract to us including Seddon Atkinson 400 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No FEO 51X, Volvo F10 4X2 tractor unit Reg No A585 JFY and Iveco 4×2 tractor unit Reg No B723 CTU”
After four years in the Riding fleet Reg No WCK 27V Fleet No 11 ‘Coeur de Lion’ was sold to on to Snow Commercials of Bristol, Commercial Vehicle Dismantlers & Recyclers, for the sum of £2000 plus vat on the 6th of June 1986.
In July 1986 Snow Commercials sold it on to Frank Robbins of Avonmouth who put it to work and ran it for a further three years until October 1989 as can be seen in this picture here on the right.
Driven by Tony Lee at the time here’s another side photograph of Volvo F7 Reg No WCK 27V Fleet No 11 ‘Coeur de Lion’ taken while discharging it’s load of powder at Wrexham.
A pair of ex Bowker Volvo F7 4×2 tractor units head down Jubilee Way into Dover.
At the front Reg No WCK 180V Fleet No 28 ‘Boadicea’ which was driven by Jim McColl while taking up the rear Reg No WCK 26V Fleet No 69 ‘Hotspur’ which was driven by Mick McKay.
Both vehicles were on their way out empty to Belgium for a load of plastic pellets for delivery to a customer in St Neots on a job which went on continuously for two weeks.
The late Tom Riding recalled….
“This was an emergency spot hire job so under the circumstances we should have been well paid”.
Former W.H. Bowker Volvo F7 4×2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 180V Fleet No 28 ‘Boadicea’ was originally registered new to W.H. Bowker of Blackburn on the 1st of October 1979 with Riding’s purchasing it when it was three years old on the 1st of July 1982 at a cost of £11,200 plus vat.
Driven by Jim McColl it is pictured parked in the depot at Longridge and after five years in the fleet it was eventually sold on to Snow Commercials of Bristol, Commercial Vehicle Dismantlers & Recyclers, for the sum of £1,650 plus vat on the 10th of August 1987.
The first of a series of pictures with Volvo F7 4×2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 180V Fleet No 28 ‘Boadicea’, taken in 1983 while working down in Essex during the construction of the M25.
Over a period of a few weeks W & J Riding transported a load of peat per day from Ireland down to the M25 Bell Common Tunnel construction site at Epping.
On top of the tunnel they recreated a village green and cricket pitch, thus the need for a vast amount of peat to cover the large area as the tunnel is 500m long.
When constructing the road, the developers stumbled across an issue – they had Epping Forest on one side and a development on the other.
They wanted the road to cut right through a local cricket pitch which put the cricket club’s future at risk.
The decision was instead made to create the tunnel that would cut through and under the existing land, meaning Epping Foresters Cricket Club survived.
The second in a series of pictures with Volvo F7 4×2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 180V Fleet No 28 ‘Boadicea’, driven by Vic Mason, taken during the building of the Bell Common Tunnel, between Junction 26 and Junction 27 of the M25 London orbital motorway in Essex.
Another shot of Volvo F7 4×2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 180V Fleet No 28 ‘Boadicea’.
Driven by Vic Mason is pictured here tipping a load of peat on top of the M25 Bell Common Tunnel at Epping in 1983 which was required to make the base of a village green and cricket pitch.
The late Tom Riding recalled….
This was a tricky tip because we were not tipping on firm ground and we had to tip beyond 45 degrees to get the peat out”.
The M25 Bell Common Tunnel which runs beneath this spot was opened in 1984.
Another shot taken while tipping peat on top of the the M25 Bell Common Tunnel during construction of a village green and cricket pitch for Epping Foresters Cricket Club.
The final photograph in the series shows Volvo F7 4×2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 180V Fleet No 28 ‘Boadicea’, driven by Vic Mason, coming out of the Bell Common Tunnel during construction of the M25 orbital motorway in 1983.
Volvo F7 4X2 tractor unit Reg No WCK 26V Fleet No 69 ‘Hotspur’ was originally registered new to W H Bowker Ltd of Blackburn on the 1st of October 1979.
Purchased second-hand from Bowker’s on the 12th October 1982 when three years old for £11,000 plus vat it came to Riding’s accident damaged which was easily repairable.
On top of the original cost Tom Riding spent another £2,651 in house to bring it up to spec by fitting it with a blower and hydraulic pump.
It was driven by Mick McKay, long time Riding’s man, who took this photograph at the BP plant at Wingles in France.
Mick was loading polystyrene for Gillette at Reading having taken a load of plastic pellets from BXL Grangemouth down to France on his way out.
After five years in the fleet WCX 26V was eventually sold on to Snow Commercials of Bristol, Commercial Vehicle Dismantlers & Recyclers, for the sum of £1,600 plus vat on the 10th of August 1987.
Volvo F7 4X2 tractor unit Reg No PCW 446X Fleet No 6 ‘Sir Lancelot’ was another of the four Volvo F7 tractor units which were purchased second hand off W.H. Bowker Ltd of Blackburn.
Although seen here coupled up to a steel coil carrier the Volvo F7’s were light and very quite so were mainly used for discharging powder tanks when noise restrictions were in place at certain delivery locations.
Registered new to W.H. Bowker on the 1st of January 1982 Reg No PCW 446X was purchased from Bowkers on the 27th of March 1984 at a cost of £6,909 and remained in the fleet for three years until the 30th of April 1987 when it was sold on to Trapezium Transport Services of Middlesbrough for the sum of £1,650 plus vat.
Based in Scotland this Volvo F88 double drive recovery vehicle Reg No Q127 RDS, operated by Bobby Mcintyre & Howie Elder, is seen here recovering one of the company’s Seddon Atkinson tractor units on the M74 between Larkhall and Lesmahagow.
The late Tom Riding recalled below….
“This Volvo F88 belonged to two excellent fitters, Bobby Mcintyre and Huge Elder, who were self employed but used my garage in Motherwell to do all my repairs and recovery as and when required.
Above and beyond that they could do outside repairs so long as it didn’t cause me any grief and it was a good arrangement which worked well indeed*
Another shot of Volvo F88 double drive recovery vehicle Reg No Q127 RDS, operated by Bobby Mcintyre & Howie Elder seen here parked in Ridings Carfin depot at Motherwell.
