After 4 years of undertaking
funerals with his vintage lorry, David Hall did a strategic review and
determined that a large proportion of his business had arisen from brick built
terraced houses rather than country cottages made from Cotswold Stone. David
had previously worked in the Newport
area and had noticed the number of Haulage Companies and the preponderance of
terraced streets. Consequently David sent Marketing Packs to Funeral Directors
in Newport and
surrounding areas which in time resulted in 40% of Vintage Lorry Funerals
business during August & September 2014.
David’s Daughter lives in Cardiff and it is a
journey that he has undertaken many times in his car and the 63 miles can take
between 80 and 90 minutes using the Second River Crossing. For most Welsh
Funerals the key strategy is to get past Newport before 0700 hours and David
gets up at 0400 hours, leaving his Bradford-on-Avon base at 0445 hours. His
route involves going north on the A46 and using the A432 to cut through
Chipping Sodbury and Yate towards the Old Severn Bridge. The 1950 Leyland Beaver normally
arrives at the Toll Booth at 0600 hours and the Bridge Attendant is pleased to
speak with David. The Old
Severn Bridge
is not often used by normal traffic and the Bridge Attendants in the Toll Booths
often see very little traffic through the night. The Ladies in the Toll Booth
are interested in the role David performs with his lorry and want to start a
conversation and David told one lady, ‘I would love to chat with you a little
more but I’m off to do a funeral in Cardiff and I must get past the Coldra
before 0645 hours.’
Coming off the M48, immediately
after the Old Severn Bridge,
David takes the A466 north to Chepstow before joining the A48, the iconic road
from the 1950’s that was replaced by the M4. Along the level sections of the
A48 the Leyland 600 engine sounds like a sewing machine which is very similar
to John McNally’s guitar in The Searchers 1963 hit ‘Sweets for my Sweet, Sugar for my Honey,’ The Leyland Beaver normally gets to the Coldra roundabout on the
east side of Newport by 0630 hours and David often looks up to the bridge above
the roundabout to see the traffic on the M4 heading westwards getting denser by
the minute. David then takes the A48, which runs on the south side of Newport, which is a Dual
Carriageway with minimal traffic lights and roundabouts. At 0645 hours only
lorries use this road and the traffic is light with car drivers always
gravitating towards the M4, which soaks up traffic like a sponge.
It is around 0655 hours when
David stops at the Esso Service Station at Carlton
for his paper and at 0700 hours the vintage lorry is on the A48 going under the
A470 intersection or trundling down Newport
Road in Cardiff.
So a car travelling at 70 miles
per hour on the M4 achieves the journey in 90 minutes and one would expect the
Leyland Beaver with a top speed of 32 miles per hour, travelling on A Roads,
with traffic lights and roundabouts, should take over twice as long as a car.
But it doesn’t. The lorry regularly does the journey to Cardiff within 135 minutes and there is no
logical explanation why. Congestion on the M4 during peak periods has
encouraged The Government to look at a new express road on the south side of Newport, however, David
reckons they have already got one, it’s called the A48!
Three memorable funerals in South Wales are contained in this article.
David always
tries to stay off the M4 with his lorry, however, sometimes the geography in South Wales with steep hills and deep valleys means that
the use of the M4 is unavoidable, like the journey from Risca to Cwmbran
Crematorium. Whilst waiting outside the Church in Risca for the service to be
completed, David Hall was worried about travelling on the M4 at 30 miles per
hour with cars thundering past at 70 miles per hour and beyond! David looked up
and couldn’t believe his eyes as a Police Car pulled alongside his lorry. The
Policeman told David that the Police Car would lead the cortege from the
church, through the village and on the roundabout before the M4 the Police Car
would go around it twice and position itself behind the lorry. As the Leyland
Beaver trundled down the slip road the Police Car positioned itself at 30 miles
per hour outside the lorry in lane one, forcing all the cars on the M4 into the
outside lane. The Police Car then travelled alongside the Leyland Beaver until
the next junction when the lorry took the slip road, the Policeman saluted
David and sped off. David is not aware that a Police presence was officially
requested and apparently it was a case of a concerned Policeman acting on his
own initiative.
One feature
of Cardiff
houses is the narrow back alleys that are used to access the rear of
properties. When a funeral was arranged from a Funeral Home with a narrow rear
access, the Funeral Director organised parking within St. Mark’s Parish Church
on the busy A470 North Road.
Three days before the funeral David was concerned about the width of the back
alley behind the Funeral Directors, although at that stage it was never
envisaged being used. Andy Lawrence, who designed and created a garden for
David’s Daughter has remained a close friend. At 1920 hours David phoned Andy’s
mobile and asked him to check out the width of the back alley behind the
Funeral Directors the next time he was in the area. At 1950 hours Andy phoned
David to say that the width of the alley was 9 feet. David asked, ‘Is it 8 ft 9
inches, 9 ft 3 inches or 3 paces?’ Andy replied it was 3 paces, however, he
warned David about telegraph poles which reduced the width. He also thanked David
for getting him out of the house whilst ‘soaps’ were monopolising the TV
screens. On the day of the funeral David joined the A470 at 0720 hours just as
traffic was starting to build. Turning left into the tight Church gateway
necessitated David moving into lane two with his left indicator flashing. Nine
car drivers comprehended what David was attempting and patiently waited in line
behind the Leyland Beaver. As David approached the narrow gate, just as the
vintage lorry was about to commence turning, David sensed that a car was about
to come past him on his nearside and he braked. At that moment a young lady
shot past him, ear plugs in place, listening to music, totally oblivious to all
around her. After loading the flowers in St.
Marks car park the Funeral Director saw that if David could reverse down the
back alley to receive the coffin, he could find another job for his hearse. So
Andy Lawrence’s research was of paramount importance and David inched his way
down the alley keeping his eye out for the telegraph poles, which fed telephone
lines to a number of locations.
For the funeral of a man who
loved horses David created a facility so that a ‘Horseshoe’ Floral Tribute appeared
to float. Whilst waiting on the roadway outside Thornhill Crematorium a
passerby knocked on the passenger door window. The gentleman said he was at
school in 1952 when he saw a Leyland Octopus going up the hill. On seeing the
wing embellishments glistening in the bright sunlight he was smitten and during
the 1950’s he always looked out for Leylands
with the wings. He thought it was unbelievable that 60 years on he could see a
Leyland Beaver on the same road, glistening in the sunlight and he told David
that they would meet again one day.