The History of Wm Armstrong (Longtown) Ltd

The Early Years

William Armstrong founded his haulage firm in 1927 on the agricultural industry and today the third generation is running the business.

Transport today is a highly specialist business for the Armstrong family whose business has grown over the decades.

Livestock lorries based at the Longtown depot can carry 35 cows compared with William Armstrong's original Model T Ford that could only carry one cow and a co-operative one at that!

In 1927 William Armstrong, a farm labourer, acquired a 25 acre smallholding at Newtown, Irthington near Brampton with it's foundering transport business. While he was never to make his fortune moving single cows he saw the opportunity for retailing coal brought from the nearly Hallbankgate drift mine which he sold for around the equivalent of 6p a cwt.

It was the arrival of the Nestle and Angle Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Carlisle in 1928 that really established the business. The 1928 agreement was that Armstrongs would bring nine churns of milk into the dairy every day - for the sum of 10 shillings (50p) and William received a cheque for £15 for the loads carried in September 1928 with which he opened a bank account.

Milk was rapidly becoming the backbone of the business but the Model T Ford did not carry enough churns as farmers began to produce more milk for the enlarged market. A Model A Ford and a Chevrolet followed but in 1936 came a new Bedford, which together with a second hand Bedford was the Armstrong fleet for 11 years, hauling feed on top of churns and also carrying sand and gravel.

At this time the Milk Marketing Board was formed and Armstrongs worked for them until de-regulation in 1994. Runs with livestock were as far afield as Hawick, Newcastle and Darlington. Petrol rationing meant that during the war the longer distances had to be curtailed and the two lorries were given first call to the Home Guard.

1940 - 1970

In 1947 Bob, William's eldest of six sons and one daughter, passed his driving test. 17-year old Bob, who had been driving since his feet could touch the pedals was immediately given responsibility for the lorries and the business while his father concentrated more on running the larger farm he had bought at Penton.

The 50s saw rapid growth at Armstrong's. In 1953, Bob Armstrong saw the opportunity of getting into livestock haulage by taking over Millican's livestock vehicles. Bob's brothers, Harold (having returned from national service) and Jock, joined the company, later to be joined by Cyril. Meanwhile Bob's wife Margaret was setting up the office systems.

In the 60's, cattle were being transported to Devon by rail but Armstrongs won business by cutting delivery schedules to a fraction of the time. Local farmers were also travelling as far as Caithness to buy their sheep. Armstrong's saw this as an opportunity, so their first 20-hour haul back to Longtown with North County Cheviots began. Today the journey takes nine hours and is over 30 miles shorter with the help of bridges en-route. At the famous one-day lamb sale at Lairg, Armstrongs lead the industry by carrying home around 6,000 of the 36,000 sheep sold.

1970 - 2000

By this time the business had developed a strong general haulage section. In the 70s the transport industry was revolutionised with the use of articulated vehicles, palletised goods and forklift trucks.

1984 saw the untimely deaths of Jock, Harold and founder William Armstrong. Through these difficult times Armstrong's drew on their reserves and the business continued to grow supported by a loyal workforce.

In April 1994 the company was signed up as the first independent haulier to handle the milk transport arrangements for Nestle UK in North Cumbria and Dumfriesshire.

The general haulage division continued to grow with Armstrong's exploiting their unique position to service Scotland for major customers in the agricultural and food sectors.

2000 - Today

The 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak had a severe effect on the region and the company diversified by joining with other UK hauliers to form PalletFORCE, a palletised goods distribution network run by its members and operating throughout the UK and Europe. Wm Armstrong were honoured by fellow members by being voted Palletforce Depot of the Year 2003 at the annual awards ceremony.

In recent years the company has expanded its haulage operation with the acquisition of Robsons Haulage Ltd and Forster's Light Haulage and the opening of Wm Armstrong Group, Uddingston. It has also diversified into commercial vehicle sales and service.

Armstrongs acquired Cumbria Truck Centre Ltd in 2002 and more recently have expanded their dealership network to include the North East of England and Armstrong Trucks, Uddingston.

To find out more about Wm Armstrong haulage and distribution services click here.