Blackwood hodge memories

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MAURICE WILBY 1967-1971, 1977-1986

LATE LAST YEAR, AROUND NOVEMBER TIME, WE STARTED CORRESPONDING WITH MAURICE WILBY, JBH SOUTH WALES, AND EVENTUALLY BH SOUTH AFRICA.

Over several e-mails, Maurice gave us quite a bit of his personal history, and we have gathered it together along with quite a selection of images taken by or of Maurice working in the Valleys or Africa, so in his own words, we have Maurice Wilby…..Reminiscing.

The shots are all black & white, and are copies, but we are pretty sure that they will jar a few memories for most of us.

Wilby 1Wilby 2
Now we have Maurice`s photo collection, which we have tried to keep in chronological order.

Firstly that group of almost all Welsh reprobates, taken at a get-together in 2004.

WILBY GROUP
Back row: Clive Turrell, Mike Smith, Malcolm Baker, Don Sedgbeer, Arthur Peake, Ron Caudy.Front row: Maurice, Norman Martin, Mike Slee.

MAES GWYN 66 R60
Maes Gwyn, 1966, with what Maurice thinks is a Euclid R65, fitted with an aluminium body, and a 16V71T lump.

MW MCC

Maurice with his site landrover, at E.C.C. in 1968.

MW HOBBS
Maurice again, this time at Hobbs Quarries, and with a Vauxhall HA Viva this time….and again..

HOBBS 1968

DUN C6 TS14

No date on this one, but to see a C6 pushing a TA14A is good enough anyway.


R65 DUN 69
Parkinson`s Dunraven O.C.C.S., with what looks like another R65 in 1969.

SLEE AMMAN 1970

Mike Slee at Murphy`s site at Ammanford, 1970.

And now a series of South African images to finish off Maurice`s contribution.
R22 RSA 1972

R22 or 24 being loaded with limestone, Hilton Quarry, RSA 1972.

JET PARK JCB
One of the first JCB`s on exhibition in B.H. Jet Park in 1986.

R45 KIMB RSA 

An R45 in B.H. Kimberley undergoing a major overhaul…..
R45 KIMB RSA 2

And finally a couple of shots of a real rarity !!TTS14 2

Arebuilt TTS14, in BH Kimberley again.
TTS14

Many thanks Maurice, and dont forget to let us have your BH South African memoirs one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 responses

  1. Patrick Buckley Avatar
    Patrick Buckley

    My father was Managing Director of BH in Isando South Africa in the late 1950’s…..I remember Stan Draper and Bernard Sunley visiting my parents house when I was about 7 years old.
    I clearly remember many visits to the dealership and some of the equipment….including Gradalls, Euclid TC 12 and 24 (?), then the Clark Michigan rubber tired dozers.

    Reply
  2. Brian J Deller Avatar
    Brian J Deller

    As the Technical Manager Export for the earthmoving machinery company, JCB. I visited South Africa with another JCB manager, Graham Ward, to give a week’s course to the service and parts managers on managemnt and leadership morals. JCB had serious problems with this dealer regarding profit losses because the management staff lacked the ability to tell cusomers when they damaged machines through very bad operation, and instead of charging the customer for the repairs, would submit warranty claims to JCB these being of course rejected as false, and the company Blackwood Hodge had to pay the bills instead. At the end of the week’s course, I was offered the position of Service Manager for Natal. The terms were favourable and I was ready to move on after five years at JCB, so I accepted. I discovered that the previous manager had died of a heart attack at age 31, and within the first month I could understand why. Within three years my Departmen was by far the mnost profitable, no mean feat as there had been R150 000 work in progess with unpaid, inflated invoices going back 18 months, and I succeeded not because I am special, but because I worked hard and stopped all the thieving. I earnt respect from the staff as well as all customers. I was promoted from Durban to JHB as General Service Manager JCB Division, a national position, but the so-called Technical Director, who was very ignorant of technical matters, took a dislike to me as he saw his position was under threat. There is a lot more but no room here. Retired now in Spain, my wife encourages me to write my life story what with my experiences in the RAF up to the age of 30 and i I guess it could also be used as a managenment tool, Brian J Deller.

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