A Fletcher & Co. Ltd., was a major player in the R.E. Mason Group of companies, and as such this group operated the largest fleet of Sentinel diesel trucks in the country at any one time. Later, many of these trucks were converted to TVW’s using Gardner LW engines in the eight wheelers and Leyland Power Plus 350’s in the six wheelers. A lot of the conversion work was done in the Station Road garage at Ibstock, some cabs for the six wheelers were fitted here but the eight wheeler cabs were fitted at Warrington I believe. These mods were all carried out under the guidance of Ron Johnston, managing director of Fletcher’s and a major player within the group.
Ron was known by all in the Speedway world as Jonno, indeed, some of his friends called him that to his face, but here in Ibstock he was referred to as Jonno out of ear shot but Ron to his face. I was 18 in 1966, I had been working there for two years and now I was able to refer to Mr. Johnston as Ron. Ron was my boss, mentor and friend for over 50 years and one of the main reasons we are in New Zealand.
In 1966, a lot of changes began to happen in the road haulage industry, starting with the Construction & Use Regulations. The TVW’s were coming to the end of their working lives, they had performed a terrific job and I wish to mention a few jobs that fell my way in passing.
The TVW’s used a speedometer drive cable which was prone to breaking – frequently. especially if it was not fitted securely. We kept several lengths in stock, all hanging on a ‘peg-board’ wall along with very many gaskets near
