|  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 co-operative
one at that!
On 1927 William Armstrong, a farm labourer,
acquired a 25 acre smallholding at Newtown,
Irthington near Brampton with its 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.
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 6000 of the 36000
sheep sold.
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.
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 through
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 diversified into commercial
vehicle sales and service. Armstrong's
acquired Cumbria Truck Centre Ltd in 2002
and more recently have expanded their
Foden and Isuzu dealership network to
include Wm Armstrong Trucks, Livingston.
In 2004 the Wm Armstrong Group of companies
are made up of:
Wm Armstrong (Longtown) Ltd incorporating
Forsters Light Haulage and Palletforce
Cumbria Truck Centre Ltd incorporating
Wm Armstrong Trucks
Wm Armstrong (Cambridge) Ltd
Robsons Haulage Ltd
The Group's Directors are:
Jennifer M Whyberd - Managing Director
Robert Armstrong - Chairman
Cyril Armstrong - Vice Chairman
Geof Armstrong - Director
Derek Armstrong - Director
William Armstrong - Director
For more information ring 01228 791242
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