Norfolk Carrier

Memories of a family haulage business

Barker & Sons ~Wells-next-the-Sea.

For over 80 years the Barker family of Wells-next-the-Sea served North Norfolk with taxi, local carrier, road haulage, storage and shipping services, plus a repair garage and filling station.

This book recounts how, from the 1920s, they overcame a World War, unreliable vehicles, poor roads, bad weather, restrictive licensing legislation, fierce local competition, floods and a crippling drivers’ strike until finally, due to a multitude of circumstances, the business eventually closed in 2000.

The dogged determination of Herbert and Leslie Barker in the early days and the driving force of Brian, at the helm for over 50 years, shine through. Along the way, Brian brilliantly defines the atmosphere of trade in 1950s Norwich – he recalls the aromas from Caley’s chocolate factory and from Potter’s Perfect Pickles in Chapelfield; the slippery wood block surface of Prince of Wales Road; the days when open trays of medicines and cigarettes could be left out for collection without fear of theft; contracts won and lost; battles with trades union officials … it’s all here!

This is a powerful reminder of what a carrier’s life was like in Norfolk from post-WW1 to the beginning of the second millennium. It will stir many memories.