Spot the Oddity..

[Tiggers]

We were recently donated various consignment tickets etc relating to Mendip here at the museum. One of which stands out, as certain things do not add up, and I wondered if anyone had thoughts...

 

[Athy]

Well, the LMS had ceased to exist over two years earlier, but I guess they were using up old stationery stock.

Come to think of it, hadn't FMC also ceased to exist from 1948?

Edited February 27, 2014 by Athy

[Tiggers]

Bingo

Edited February 27, 2014 by Tiggers

[Athy]

....either that or the clerk didn't know what year it was, unlikely I would have thought.

[Suzie_q]

....either that or the clerk didn't know what year it was, unlikely I would have thought.

I have an official uk goverment document that has the century wrong!! So not that unlikely I would have thought.

[Tiggers]

But if it is the date that is wrong, then this would suggest that Mendip did in fact work for FMC

[cariad]

FMC . Is that fatstock marketing company . I seem to remember a neighbour was working for a company with that name sign written on his van and that was approximately 1962/3. Could my memory be playing tricks ?.

[pete harrison]

FMC . Is that fatstock marketing company . I seem to remember a neighbour was working for a company with that name sign written on his van and that was approximately 1962/3. Could my memory be playing tricks ?.

F.M.C. is Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd., who were a long standing independent canal carrier based in Birmingham. They ceased trading on 01 January 1949 when the sold their operations to the Government. The name "Fellows, Morton and Clayton" is written on the consignment note in post 1.

We were recently donated various consignment tickets etc relating to Mendip here at the museum. One of which stands out, as certain things do not add up, and I wondered if anyone had thoughts...

Do not read too much into these documents as they were never meant to be analysed by enthusiasts.

 

In my opinion the L.M.S.R. Co. consignment note is being used as old stock until they are all used up. The quoting of 'Fellows, Morton and Clayton' is just an old habit written by the clerk. It was not unusual for old company names to be used for quite some time after nationalisation, although of course Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. were not nationalised.

[Tiggers]

I did think it odd to be getting the name wrong almost 2 years later though

[pete harrison]

I did think it odd to be getting the name wrong almost 2 years later though

Possibly, but you know the history of the boat, carrier and canal company - so there is nothing to question

[Athy]

Maybe - though I still think of the body which controls our waterways as "BW".

[IanM]

Did the boats get repainted in BW livery straight away or were there a few in FMC livery knocking about for a few years until they got around to repainting them?

[pete harrison]

Did the boats get repainted in BW livery straight away or were there a few in FMC livery knocking about for a few years until they got around to repainting them?

There were several that stayed in Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. for a few years, and there were a few that were never painted into 'British Waterways' livery. This was the same in the North West and the South East.

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

In the 1980's the BRS yard at Preston was still known as Vinnys yard despite being nationalized 30 years earlier

[pete harrison]

Maybe - though I still think of the body which controls our waterways as "BW".

I don't think anybody is questioning the title of the 'body which controls our waterways', only questioning why the letterhead on the consignment note was still in use in 1950 and why the carrier was referred to as "Fellows, Morton and Clayton" some 20 months after that company had ceased trading.

[Athy]

Both have been explained in earlier posts, Pete.

I didn't say I was questioning the body's name. I was saying that I, along with many other people, still think of various organisations by old familiar names - NCB, British Rail(ways) and so on. Obviously the clerk was doing likewise. Perhaps the boat still bore its FMC livery - I think you're the one to tell us if it did or not.

[IanM]

Perhaps the boat still bore its FMC livery

 

That's what I was getting at but a phone call stopped me from elaborating. Maybe the boat was still in FMC livery and the clerk was just merely copying down the company name on the boat without thinking about it.

 

We still have trains go past here in the One livery even though the routes have not been branded as One since 2008.

 

 

 

 

Edited for speeling.

Edited February 27, 2014 by IanM

[Tiggers]

I don't think mendip was ever in FMC livery

[pete harrison]

Both have been explained in earlier posts, Pete.

I didn't say I was questioning the body's name. I was saying that I, along with many other people, still think of various organisations by old familiar names - NCB, British Rail(ways) and so on. Obviously the clerk was doing likewise. Perhaps the boat still bore its FMC livery - I think you're the one to tell us if it did or not.

I see, please accept my apologies. I still use the term G.P.O. instead of Royal Mail or B.T., and the number of people who understand this term seems to get less every year !

 

I have not seen any evidence that MENDIP every carried a Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. livery, and this is especially unlikely as its construction was completed by 'British Waterways' in October 1949.

[Athy]

Pete, I almost added GPO to my list! I do sometimes have to remind myself that telephones are no longer administered by the Post Office too! Fond though distant memories of those little dark green vans, and of my Dinky Toy version of one.

Ian, I have never heard of One, a local railway company I assume?

[IanM]

Ian, I have never heard of One, a local railway company I assume?

 

It was the branding which National Express used on their Greater Anglia franchise which they used until 2008 changing to National Express East Anglia until 2012 when they lost the franchise.

[archie57]

Regarding long - lasting FMC painting, Ernie Humphries' "Jaguar" was the last in the SE Division fleet to bear their colours, keeping FMC painting until it was docked at Saltley in 1956 - a testament perhaps to how well the boat was looked after!

[Derek R.]

I did think it odd to be getting the name wrong almost 2 years later though

 

Perhaps his loyalties lay with the former company.

 

I worked on the buses from 1970 through to late 1975 as driver. The company was officially London Country Bus Services Ltd. But we were driving London Transport vehicles, we were trained by LT instructors, and 99% of the crews and servicing staff were LT - despite the LCBS label as of Jan 1st 1970 - we were LT. We wore LT uniform, badges, and our rule book was LT. I can quite understand a person clinging on to what was maybe for him quite a large part of his working life.

 

Sometimes old habits need to kept alive. Still remember my old phone number Bowes Park 2204, and later Cholesbury 596. And 960 Farthings in a Pound.

[Speedwheel]

 

Perhaps his loyalties lay with the former company.

 

 

I'm fairly certain the ticket was from the office at Cut End. Anyone know who was working there at the time? Sam Lomas?

[Ray T]

I see, please accept my apologies. I still use the term G.P.O. instead of Royal Mail or B.T., and the number of people who understand this term seems to get less every year !

 

I have not seen any evidence that MENDIP every carried a Fellows, Morton and Clayton Ltd. livery, and this is especially unlikely as its construction was completed by 'British Waterways' in October 1949.

 

I'm still here Pete and understand perfectly, I started work in 1967 for the G.P.O., finished 42 years later when it was BT Plc.