During several visits to Liverpool in the 'sixties I recall seeing the distinctive Leylands bearing the livery of Walter Southworth Ltd, Rufford. Since I had a particular liking for Leyland Octopuses and Steers, I rated Southworth's motors with their drawbar trailers among the best looking outfits on the road. In their traditional dark blue, cream and red livery with gold signwriting they represented the classic haulage wagons of their era. I took every opportunity of photographing these magnificent machines but even so I have only a handful of shots to show for it.

Before I started taking colour photos I was lucky enough to get a couple of good black and white shots of Southworth's Chinese Sixes, one of which was a genuine Steer being sheeted up near Parliament Street, Liverpool, the other a Beaver drawbar outfit with a second-steer conversion on a different occasion near the same location. During one of my trips to Lancashire in May 1966 I decided to head north towards Rufford to see if I could find Southworth's yard and en route I got behind one of their Octopuses, LKC 377, which was fully loaded and heading back to base so I was able to get some shots of it while it was fuelling up at the depot.

While at the depot I called at the office where I had a brief chat with Mr Jimmy Southworth. The depot was divided each side of the road; the office being on the left as you headed north and the yard was up a side turning called Mill Hey Lane on the right. Around the office walls were numerous photos of old World War 1 Leylands plus a fleet line-up in the 'thirties. I got the feeling that this was a place steeped in transport history. There were no other wagons in the yard apart from the one Octopus but at the back of the yard were a number of drawbar trailers. Having got my photos I pressed on but I have never forgotten that visit and wish I had made more of it.

Since then I have been fortunate enough to get a few more shots of Southworth's Octopuses in and around Liverpool Docks and the last shot I ever took was at, of all places, Scratchwood Services on the M1 in 1971. That was an Octopus NAJ 9 complete with drawbar trailer and was in a modernised livery. The cab lower half was still dark blue but the top half was grey and the roof was red. Chassis, wheels and mudguards were all red. The signwriting was now white and in a more modern typeface. Sadly my colour camera played up and I could only photograph it in black and white (luckily I always carry two cameras).

Until recently, March 2000 to be exact, I knew little more of Southworth's than that but in my capacity as advisor to Corgi Classics I persuaded them to produce an Octopus drawbar outfit in Southworth's livery. Having done so I was asked to find out more about the company so that a brief history could be included on the packaging - it turned out to be quite a challenge but after a bit of digging and with the help of fellow enthusiasts I was lucky enough to track down Walter Southworth's remaining son Bob who now lives in Hamble near Southampton. Bob was managing director of the company for some years and was able to recall a lot of valuable memories from its 79-year history.

The founder, Walter Southworth, was born in 1890 in the nearby village of Holmeswood where his family were farmers and produce merchants. They also had a blacksmiths and wheelwrights business. One of twelve children, Walter first entered haulage in 1910 when he used a horse and cart to transport produce from the family firm to Preston market. In 1918 he bought an ex WD Leyland RAF-type to continue with a similar service. In the meantime he had married and his first son Jimmy was born in 1919.

As the business grew Walter entered into a partnership with Charlie Rimmer of Rufford and they bought a plot of land next to the main A59 at Mill Hey Lane. After a few years, Walter bought his partner out and Charlie Rimmer purchased some farming land in Scotland and was no longer involved in the haulage business. The company was named Walter Southworth, Haulage Contractor from 1923 and a number of RAF-type Leylands were added to the fleet as the business expanded and entered general haulage while still providing transport for the family agricultural business. Walter's second son Bob was born in 1931 and in 1932 a new family house was completed on the opposite side of the A59 at the junction of New Road. This became the firm's registered office. Although the official address was 2 New Road the company address was always given as Liverpool Road, Rufford as New Road was just an insignificant side turning.

The company was named Walter Southworth, Haulage Contractor from 1923 and a number of RAF-type Leylands were added to the fleet as the business expanded and entered general haulage while still providing transport for the family agricultural business. It was around this time that Walter began converting the old 4-cylinder petrol-engined RAF-types to Gardner power using 5LWs. With diesel fuel at around threepence a gallon there were massive savings to be made. Southworth's were among the pioneers of diesel power in their part of the country and the conversions were all carried out at their own workshops. In all there were at least five Gardner-engined RAF-types on the fleet. Walter also converted the Leylands to electric lighting.

Later in the 'thirties the firm purchased three new forward control TSC.18 Beavers with the attractive streamlined cab which only appeared for a short period just before the war. The fleet size remained at eight to nine vehicles during the war and there were nine vehicles in the late 'forties. Like most hauliers Walter Southworth fought to escape nationalisation and, as most of his work was local agricultural traffic he was allowed to just carry on, though restricted to the 25-mile radius laid down by the government during the BRS era.

Bob Southworth joined the haulage firm in 1956 after a period in farming. Just two years later Walter died leaving Jimmy and Bob to run the firm which they formed into a limited company under the title Walter Southworth Ltd. The site expanded in the 'fifties and a large corrugated aircraft hangar was erected on site providing about 5000 sq.ft. Later, another warehouse of similar capacity was built further along Mill Hey Lane.

During the 'fifties a number of Leyland Beaver, Steer and Octopus lorries were added to the fleet. Most of these were operated in conjunction with drawbar trailers carrying on a tradition from the pre war era. When Walter was running the old RAF-types he favoured Sentinel trailers as they were so well engineered. The 'fore carriage' on them was wider and the drawbar was pivoted on fitted bearings so that they tracked so much better than the Dysons which he had tried. When Sentinel stopped building drawbar trailers Southworth turned to Cranes which, oddly enough, were originally based on Dyson designs.

By the early 'sixties Southworth's drawbar outfits were a familiar sight, not only in the Lancashire region but, as long distance services expanded, all over the UK. There were about nine Octopuses in the fleet of around fifteen wagons in the mid 'sixties. Sadly Bob's elder brother Jimmy died of a heart attack in August 1966 at the age of 47 and his share of the business passed to his widow Rita. Bob became managing director and shortly after took on a company secretary by the name of Fred Lee. Fred was a member of the Special Constabulary and held the rank of Superintendent

Between them Bob Southworth and Fred Lee ran the company strictly by the book and prided themselves on their clean record. When Fred joined the firm in 1967 it was on the eve of Plating & Testing and this inevitably raised concerns about the future for some of the older Leylands, some of which were between 12 and 15 years old. Even though some were withdrawn from service a number were plated and continued to operate well into the 'seventies, a credit to Bob's engineering expertise.

The first new tractor unit, an Ergomatic Beaver, was bought in 1968 and further Beavers were added to the fleet as the firm turned more towards articulation. Leylands had been Southworth's first choice since Day One, the only exception being three Thames Traders which were taken over when a small company at Birkenhead was bought in the early 'sixties. The company was acquired mainly for the business which specialised in flour deliveries and the Traders were not kept on the fleet for very long.

Other 'foreigners' to join the fleet were an ERF four wheeler in the late 'forties and, much later, a second hand Cummins-engined Atkinson 'Silver Knight' tractor. These were tried out simply to evaluate alternative makes but Southworth's didn't believe they offered anything more than their traditional Leylands. The company did in fact try two smaller vehicles in the form of Ford D Series which were used on general haulage. One was a four wheeler and one a six wheeler.

During the late 'fifties and throughout the 'sixties Southworth's two main customers were Guinness and Garfield Weston, the latter being a Canadian flour merchant who established large bakery concerns and were part of Associated British Foods. Guinness was generally loaded straight off the ship and on to the lorries in Liverpool Docks. It came in direct from Dublin in large portable bulk tanks each weighing 3 ton 15½ cwt. Four tanks formed a capacity load for an eight wheeler and three went on the trailer. They were taken to various bottling plants in Manchester, Wales, and the Midlands and even as far as Alton in Hampshire.

The Canadian flour was imported into Liverpool mainly through Gladstone Dock in 140lb sacks and was distributed to numerous companies including large bakeries within a hundred-mile radius. This traffic went on throughout the 'fifties and 'sixties but was diminishing through the 'seventies as the trend increased towards bulk shipment.

Guinness established a large kegging plant at Runcorn and tanks were shipped direct from a nearby wharf. Southworth's were also engaged on this short haul traffic but it was not as profitable since the lorries had to run empty from Rufford down to Runcorn and back. Some distribution of kegged Guinness was also undertaken to UK distribution centres and even large pubs. For a time Southworth's also did similar distribution work for Coca Cola.

The fleet grew to 21 vehicles in the late 'sixties and as some of the traditional traffic diminished, the company took on container, bulk transport and tipper work. There were around five artics in the latter day fleet with a mixture of 33ft and 40ft trailers, most of which were flats with twist locks.

Bob carried on running the company as managing director until 1980 when he decided to take semi retirement for health reasons. He moved to the Southampton area to begin a new life. During the last few years the firm was run by Fred Lee and Rita Southworth and her son Tony but difficult trading conditions ultimately led to its closure in 1989. The company was wound up and the large site at Mill Hey Lane was sold off and has since been built on.

So the 79-year history of Walter Southworth drew to a close but I for one will always remember those superb Octopus drawbar outfits trundling along the Liverpool dock road.