SANDBACH STALWARTS

Things are looking up in Aberdeenshire with the recent completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. Originally announced in 2003, the last section of the long-awaited by-pass finally opened in 2019, at an overall cost of over £1 billion. Starting at Stonehaven in the south and ending at Blackdog north of the city, the new road has alleviated what was a time-consuming bottleneck across the Rivers Dee and Don.

Stuart runs his own vehicle recovery business S.S. Walker, and has lived in the area for many years. “My father was a haulage contractor and ran his own company, before he sold his fleet to local company Freeland Freight Services in 1986,” he explained. “His last lorry was a Leyland Roadtrain, and during the company’s heyday he used to operate several vehicles including artics and tippers.”

Although Stuart had worked with his father for many years, he had already decided to start his own business.

“My first lorry was a Bedford KM tipper,” he recalls. “I then bought several more lorries until I decided to give up tippers and concentrate