Carl Johnson – författare

ERF Limited was formed in 1933 when Edwin Richard Foden founded the company with his son Dennis.Under the guidance of design engineer Ernest Sherratt, the best components available at the time were assembled to create vehicles that soon earned a reputation as good lorries capable of earning good revenue with reasonable running costs. This approach continued, more or less, until the end of the company and proved to be a very successful and lucrative business plan with a lot of development costs being borne by the component suppliers.This book is a broad overview of the company, with almost 200 photos offering an insight into the range and model types that spanned the years. The majority of the images included here are previously unpublished and offer a wonderful tribute to this much-loved manufacturer.

Road tankers come in many forms, with certain goods very often dictating the type and shape.The transport industry has adapted many innovations over the years and a wide variety of examples have travelled on our roads over the years – powder tanks, tanks for liquids, and even specialised tanks for the carriage of a plethora of goods from live eels to animal feed, cement, plastic pellets and more.All of the images in this book were captured by the author over a number of years. They document an important part of our transport history and will delight enthusiasts and modellers alike.

In the 1980s Great Britain had steadily seen an influx of foreign manufacturers, a trend that was to eventually see the demise of all the major UK makes. However, it was still possible to see lots of interesting vehicles – some companies and individuals remained staunch users of British-built lorries.Quite a few older vehicles could still be seen soldiering on, but as time went on these gradually started to disappear. With a wealth of previously unpublished photos, this volume will bring back some memories of how things used to be.

The 1990s were a time of change as British manufacturers struggled to keep pace with the times and the invasion of imported vehicles. However, what a lot of enthusiasts consider to be classics of their time were still to be seen dutifully earning their keep. A lot of UK companies had by this time already tested the water with seed vehicles, which were put head to head with established makes for comparison.With a wealth of previously unpublished images, this is a fantastic record of the nation’s lorry scene during the 1990s.

The days of the fairground operating with steam traction engines have long since gone – the next vehicles to enter the tobers were the internal combustion engine, lorries with both petrol and diesel engines being used. As time went on these old vehicles were brought up to date, and today include modern high-powered lorries, some in articulated form, to cope with the ever-increasing demands of sophisticated trailer-mounted loads and greater distances to travel.With a wealth of rare and previously unpublished images, Carl Johnson offers a fascinating record of fairground lorries.

The 2000s saw the end of a significant number of haulage and vehicle-manufacturing companies as well as a series of company takeovers. British lorry manufacturers had all but disappeared and foreign vehicles became more and more prominent on British roads. ERF, which was sold to Western Star in 1996, had moved from Sandbach to Middlewich in 2000, around the time of the takeover by M.A.N., and the name was dropped completely in 2009. Foden’s ceased production in 2006, and in the same year it was announced by ENASA/IVECO that Seddon Atkinson production would end. All had been major players in Britain as well as the export market. Fortunately, there were still a number of diehard users of British vehicles, and these were more than capable of doing a hard day’s work.Carl Johnson’s collection of rare and previously unpublished images celebrates a time of change on the roads in the early years of the twenty-first century.

Malta has long been a destination for British holidaymakers, but it has also been a market for many vehicles imported from the British Isles. Not only cars and buses, but lorries as well. The lorries that made their way to the islands of Malta had generally come to the end of their UK working lives. Vehicle breakers and dealers regularly shipped out significant numbers of lorries, which were then often subjected to the ingenious conversions and alterations that the Maltese are so good at. Tractor units in particular received chassis extensions, sometimes the rear section including axles from other vehicles that have been grafted together to make rigid vehicles (often tippers) into powerful motors. The weights carried in Malta often exceeded the original design weights, so more horsepower was needed to cope with the steep hills that exist in parts of the islands. However, older vehicles are thinner on the ground nowadays, especially since the regulations were tightened up following Malta’s entry into the European Economic Community in 2004.Carl Johnson tells the story of these fascinating vehicles through vibrant images, predominantly from what many consider the halcyon days of the Maltese scene, the 1990s and 2000s.

Together the Midlands counties of Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire can almost be described as the crossroads of the United Kingdom. They have always been excellent places to spot local vehicles and others from many parts of the country passing through or delivering to the area. In addition, many hauliers and transport companies have been based here. The area itself is quite industrial and there are also a number of quarries dotted around. Tippers, tankers and flats have been the order of the day. However, times change and although similar vehicles still operate, the days of rope and sheet are almost a thing of the past with curtainside motors being more prevalent nowadays.Living in Staffordshire, Carl Johnson has been best placed to capture on film a fascinating selection of lorries in the Midlands going about their daily grind, as well as being fortunate to visit some operators’ yards.