The Cockshoots works van - Nineteen Sixty Somefink

Busy work day, hence filling the gap with a work related Blip.

Dad isn't in this photo. He left school he thinks the year after it was taken to become Roy Ives' apprentice Mechanic. Roy is sat in the right foreground with a cup of tea. He was a nice guy too but has now sadly passed after working well into his retirement years. His Son, Steve Ives, used to race against the likes of Joey Dunlop in the 1990s Isle Of Man TT Races and still owns a local business repairing motorcycles!

The only other face I recognise is the tallest on the back row, Billie Rushton, who I think set up his own business selling used cars. The Bangladeshi chap left in the first year or so of Dads apprenticeship and set up a Car Spares shop in Stalybridge. The lady, Ethel, Dad says was the company Valeter.

The vehicle will have been almost brand new in the photo, a Morris 1000 'Minor' van, unusual as many Minor vans were Austins with a wavy grill.