F C Jones’ lorry

In 1957, Roy began working for Frederick Charles Jones of Badsey for four years.  Roy passed his driving test in a lorry whilst working for Jones.  This is an exact model of the lorry he drove and the actual number plate, KNP 7.  Roy found a piece of netting which he made into a roll to make it look like sprouts.

In his memoirs, A Badsey Man from London, Roy describes his work:

Cecil (F C Jones’ son) and I would take two lorries around the shops every Tuesday and Friday loaded with fruit and vegetables. We started out at 3 am and got back some 12 hours later. The maximum speed limit for lorries was 30mph in those days so a journey that would take one hour now days would take two then. Also the roads were not salted in the winter so we had some pretty dodgy trips when there was snow and ice about. The lorries were Austin and Bedford 4 tonners with no side racks so the boxes and crates were stacked on the flat bed and tied on with ropes (roping was quite an art). If a box or crate collapsed in the bottom of the load and the ropes didn’t hold then it was goodbye load! I remember once when I was on the road between Cheltenham and Gloucester when I heard a loud bang. I watched in the mirror as the load moved out to one side, luckily the ropes held and I decided not to stop and reload everything, which would have taken a couple of hours, but to carry on to Gloucester a few miles away. This seemed to take hours but the ropes held and I got there without spreading the load all over the road!