|
(20) by John Edser From
a talk given to the Roads and Road
Transport History Association by John
Edser on 28 September 2002 From
the summer of 1956 to Easter 1960 I was
employed during my sixth-form and
university holidays as a van-boy/assistant
roundsman with Lyons' Wholesale Cakes,
based at Chessington.
The
depot served a large area from Brixton
Market to East Grinstead, Haslemere,
Basingstoke, the whole of the
Aldershot/Farnborough armed forces complex
and most other places south of the River
Thames. The actual furthest point served
was the village post office/store at
Worting then still a separate community
2-3 miles west of fast expanding
Basingstoke.
The
few casual employees like myself were
normally used on the longer runs, so I got
to know the
Basingstoke/Alton/Aldershot/Farnham area
fairly well. Balham High Rd., Streatham,
Herne Hill and Crystal Palace were the
heavy suburban runs which welcomed
assistance on their heavy days. (We didn't
work some rounds as the drivers concerned
never asked for assistance.)
The
vehicles employed were mostly
normal-control Morris Commercials,
possibly the 2/3 ton payload van-bodied
Equiload series introduced in 1951. There
were also a few forward control
Thornycrofts from the Nippy or Sturdy
ranges, having the 1949-50 styled cab
shared with contemporary Guy models. These
were not liked by the regular drivers:
poor acceleration, an awkward gear-change
and a climb in to the cab compared with
the step-in Morris Commercials.
Each
round had its regular driver/salesman,
each with a weekly sales target to meet.
The Saturday rounds were much shorter that
on Mon-Fri., only calling on major
customers except in the run-up to
Christmas when the cake trade was
extremely busy.
Each
round had its list of daily calls, which
were varied according to the needs of the
customer. A few were daily, others 2/3
times a week and the smallest shops only
once a week.
Each
driver was responsible for both
'cashing-up' at the end of each day and
ordering his stock for the following day.
Practices varied with the drivers I
accompanied; some did it all back at
Chessington, others after we made our last
call and were sitting in a 'caff' (of
hugely varying quality) enjoying a
break.
Cakes
being perishable, they were all delivered
from Cadby Hall by 1950s style artics in
the late afternoon and evening and loaded
by evening staff according to each
driver's order ready for a 7.15/7.30 am
departure the next morning. Fresh cream
cakes came down very early in the morning
but doughnuts were baked on the premises
and we often had to wait for them before
leaving. This meant that we always sold
cakes normally made the day before and, as
they were all coded, roundsmen could check
the age of stock being sold to the public.
Any shopkeepers found selling
'out-of-date' cakes were suitably warned,
then reported and, if they persisted,
could have their calls withdrawn.
There
was a complete bread bakery on the
Chessington site and another set of rounds
based on that. There was considerable
rivalry between 'bread' and 'cakes' with
'cakes' considering themselves far
superior. This was probably seen at its
best on Saturdays which was the really
'heavy' bread day. There were many regular
'Saturday bread boys' who worked every
week but, occasionally, they ran very
short of help. The Chief Salesman would
then approach the Chief Cake Salesman to
see if any of us would help out. I only
worked one Saturday and finished quite
exhausted, heaving the old long wooden
baker's trays with up to 36 large loaves
in them was not easy particularly as you
often had to go in the front entrance of
the shop and fight your way through
Saturday shoppers to the
shelf-space.
My
rate of pay never altered: 3/5d per hour
(never 3/6d) and I was nominally paid for
each hour I worked. However, Friday
evening was pay day and the Chief Salesman
always knew how successful, or otherwise,
the cake rounds had been that week.
Usually I received some added 'bonus'
hours and at Christmas I worked a flat
12-hr stint every day I was there. As my
University grant (I lived at home) was
only £30 a term, my Lyons pay
was a huge addition and I certainly earned
far more at Christmas than my colleagues
working at the Post Office.
Basingstoke
was one of the furthest areas covered. It
was just beginning its expansionist period
when we served it but the original town
centre round a small square was still very
much the shopping hub. Lyons served 4-6
shops in or near the square but, even
then, there were tight well-patrolled
parking restrictions in force. On Fridays
in particular it was a race to get there
by about 8.45 am, get a space, see the
policeman and agree our time limit. Then
the race was on: into all the shops, back
to the van, make up the orders, deliver
them and collect cash or signatures and
get out in time.
The
rounds served most NAAFIs in the area when
National Service still existed, and here
it was pure bulk. The two rounds that
served the Aldershot/Fleet/Farnborough
areas normally left Chessington with the
centre aisle of the van stacked high with
trays of Lyons' Fruit Pies many of which
vanished at the first two or three
calls.
One
of the calls we made between 1958-1960 was
in the village of Lasham a national
gliding centre between Basingstoke and
Alton. I entered the shop one morning and
stood at the back in my white coat while
the owner served his customers. Suddenly
he looked up and almost shouted 'Lyons,
get out, get out'. Startled and wondering
what hideous crime we had committed, I
went outside. People came and went and
then the owner appeared and beckoned me
inside. "I'm sorry about that, Joe" he
said, "but things were a bit awkward. The
whole of the land round here is owned by
Lord X and most of us are his tenants. One
of the clauses in the shop agreement is
that, when his Lordship is in the shop,
under no circumstances are 'travellers'
allowed in and should any enter, I am to
throw them out" ('throw' was his the
actual word). You did not know he was in
the shop when you came in.
Very
often the 'far-west' rounds would end up
in a wonderful Transport Cafe at Runfold,
below the Hogs Back, before driving home
in convoy up the A3. Superb food was grown
on their surrounding small-holding,
including fresh eggs and home-cured bacon
from their livestock.
With
an on-site bakery, you would have thought
that bread would cause no problems.
However, every Friday the Redhill/East
Grinstead driver would ask round the
office "any more orders before I go?" as
we left about 7.10 am. Every Friday his
last call was at a village shop and bakery
at Bletchingley (between Redhill and
Godstone) where he loaded up with the most
delicious home-baked bread he had ordered
earlier in the day and brought it back for
our weekend supplies.
©
John Edser 2002
|
|
|
|
|