1934 Probably posed in London before its long journey north, this Bedford ‘WLG’, fleet no 169, AUC 768, chassis no 125773, was converted to a six-wheeler by Universal Power Drives. The total cost new, including ‘in-house’ bodywork, came to £383. With a ULW of 2.9.3.17, giving a four-ton ‘useful load’, one wonders how many crates of eggs that would amount to! The front tyres were stated as 600×20, with 30x50s on the rear. A final overhaul in September, 1940, costing £172, extended its life until January 1944. It passed to Dunnings of Enfield for scrap, under MOWT (Ministry of War Transport) licence no 44028, for £35. (Courtesy The Express Dairy Motorised Fleet, Allan Bedford, Heritage Machines)
1934. Chris comments "A bit before the Express Dairy period, but we have quite a few Alfred Wide & Co receipts in Karen Berkley's Great Grandparent's farm diary. They farmed at Sheldon Grange and sold hen and duck eggs' as well as shot rabbits and game' to Alfred Wide on a regular basis. (Courtesy Chris Berkley)
1950's? Morchard Road is a request stop on the Exeter to Barnstaple 'Tarka Line' that serves the village of Morchard Bishop. Opened in 1854 by the North Devon Railway.
1950's? Bedford Egg collection truck at Job's, Didcot. Colin Sheppard comments "Didcot was in the county of Berkshire until 1974, then became in Oxfordshire so most probably in the early 1950s." (Courtesy Lyndon Rees, Didcot Memories FB Group)
1954 North Devon Egg Packers, of South Molton. "Morris Commercial supplied new by Dando's of Chipping Sodbury. Photo taken at North Molton in June, North Devon Egg Packers were based in East Street (in North Devon Tyres former depot).. Used for running eggs and rabbits to the main London markets. Paired with an ex-ECC ERF they provided a nightly service, quite something in the 50's." (Courtesy David Tucker, Devon Hauliers FB Group)
1956 Drivers at the Safety First Dinner (Express News July)
1957 Seaton Junction egg packing station
1957 Pen & ink drawing at Seaton Junction egg packing station
1957 Seaton Junction egg packing station
1957 Seaton Junction egg packing station
1957 Seaton Junction egg packing station
1957 Egg collection driver R.W.Williams
1950's Seaton Junction (Courtesy Allhallows Museum, Honiton)
1950's Seaton Junction (Courtesy Allhallows Museum, Honiton)
1950's Seaton Junction (Courtesy Allhallows Museum, Honiton)
1950's Seaton Junction (Courtesy Allhallows Museum, Honiton)
1950's? Bedford Artic transporting eggs from Seaton Junction to Acton. (Express News Autumn 1975)
1950's ? Appleby Egg Packing Dept
1950's? Appleby egg packing station. (Courtesy and comments by David Rooke)
1954 Express Poultry Farm. (Express Salesman's Manual Fourth Edition)
1954 Express Appleby Egg Packing Station. Vera Shuttleworth comments "I can see my mum, Nora Bowman, second from right." (Express Salesman's Manual Fourth Edition)
1957 Peggy (left) and Doris (right) Wilkins at the Seaton Junction egg depot. Christine Richards comments "That's Peggy and Doris (Wilkins), twins who worked in Honiton Egg depot when I was there. Stayed friends till they both passed away. I was very fond of them, remember Peggy calling people who she could not remember their names Deary, I often think of them now." James Ayres comments "The vehicle in the background is an S-type Bedford tractor unit made by Vauxhall (General Motors) throughout the 1950s. Most often seen in a rigid chassis it was offered with a choice of petrol or diesel engines. The spokes of the ladies' chain-wheels spell a word. 'Triumph' perhaps?
1950's Egg Transport - James Ayres comments "The smaller Bedford, a model A (PUC180) was built from 1953 to 58 with an engine about half the size of the model S.". (Courtesy Keith Sweetland)
1950's Egg Transport - Eggs for London. Keith Sweetland comments "They were collecting eggs, the route was Crediton-Barnstable-Bideford-Holsworthy. There were four of these trucks-after doing the day run they would do a night run meeting a London driver at either Andover or Wincanton. (Courtesy Keith Sweetland)
1950's Egg Transport James Ayres comments "The stately AEC with a coachpainted number over each headlight (2456) is probably a Mercury built during the mid 1950s with a variety of engine options. It was the smallest of the AEC range." Phillip Budd comments "I remember these wagons coming to Crediton, as to what they were doing there I can't remember. The drivers were very friendly guys. We got talking about his lorry, for it seemed there were only two of them on the fleet with this door image. (Courtesy Keith Sweetland)
1950's Egg Transport - Eggs for London. (Courtesy Keith Sweetland)
1950's Egg Collection Truck, Seaton Junction (Courtesy Keith Sweetland)
1950's Egg Transport - Eggs for London. James Ayres explains "The wagon is a Southern Railway design made of planks on a steel frame and roofed with felt. Its loaded weight was 12 tons. The letter N at each end of the frame indicate it was fitted with vacuum brakes. They were not of a standard design so the wagon could not be used for freight by rival companies and had to be returned to the Southern. As this particular unit, the property of the Express Dairy, was probably configured inside to accommodate its fragile load it doubtless spent at least half its life running empty. " (Courtesy Keith Sweetland)
1950's-1960's Wigton Egg Packing and Express Dairy recollections of William Nixon Ismay, who worked at many Express sites. (Express Dairy Tales publication)
1950's-1960's Wigton Egg Packing and Express Dairy recollections of William Nixon Ismay, who worked at many Express sites. (Express Dairy Tales publication)
1958 Express Egg graders from Devon and London sort eggs 'live' at the Ideal Home Exhibition. (Express News July)
1958 Review of the life of Alfred Wide, Hemyock Egg founder and expert. (Express News July)
1959 Seaton Junction's annual dinner at the Dolphin Hotel, Beer with Mr W.J. Bond being presented with a safe driving medal. (Express News March)
1960's? Appleby Egg Packing department with some names, L to R: Back row: Frank Davidson, ?, ?. Middle row: Walter Jennings, Miss Leach, Evelyn Carlton, ? (Betty Dewhurst/ Hayden), Deborah Robinson, Rosina Lowden, Sheila Abbott, Ann Preston, Walter Mitchell. Front Row: ?, Florrie Blewitt, Molly Cole, Sheila Sisson, Vera Balmer, Gerald Thompson.
1960's Egg Collection vehicle (Courtesy Paul Luke)
1960's Egg Collection vehicle (Courtesy Paul Luke)
1960's Egg Collection vehicle (Courtesy ED Memories FB Group)
1960's Egg Collection vehicle (Courtesy Dave Fane)
2023 Short History of Egg Packing in Hemyock, Devon. (EDT Publication)
1960 Hemyock Dinner at the Shapland's Hotel, Wellington. (Express News Spring)
1960's Hemyock Egg Packing Station, after floods. (Courtesy Blackdown Archives)
1960 Bideford support the local Carnivals with their 'Egg Jugglers' float, assisted by Mr Leslie Sainsbury, Fred Colwill, Barbara Jenna, Ann Johns, Jean Roberts, Dilys Owen, Margaret Lake and Colin Parr. (Express News Christmas)
1969 From August, Honiton took over egg packing from Seaton Junction, Hemyock and Morchard Road. (Express News Summer)
1969 Egg expert Arthur Gilbert retires. (Express News Summer)
1971 Rationalisation of egg packing - Waddesdon Depot
1971 Rationalisation of egg packing - Waddesdon Depot
1971 Rationalisation of egg packing - Waddesdon Depot
1973 North Devon (South Molton) Eggs is acquired by Express. (Express News Autumn)
1974 North Devon (South Molton) egg depot
1974 North Devon (South Molton) egg depot
1977 Hemyock couple Lionel and Nellie Clist worked for Express at Axminster and Hemyock for 51 and 34 years. (Express News Autumn)
2024 Egg crates at Seaton Junction-Site visit - 15
