Something for all Eddie Stobart fans
Early ad for the Neville tilt cab
Complex diagram showing how it works
Ultratilty truck
HGV tilting cab was invented in Nottinghamshire
According to a local newspaper, it was a man from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire who originally patented and developed the idea for tilting cabs on lorries - a feature that is now virtually universal on HGV vehicles.
In its edition of 31st August 1978 the Mansfield Chronicle & Advertiser (CHAD) newspaper printed a short article on the history of the firm of Neville Truck Equipment Ltd, then based at Lindley's Lane in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
The tilt-cab, "...a device seen in use among lorries everywhere", said the paper, was "the brainchild of Mr George E. Neville who patented the know-how in October 1944.
Originally known as The Neville Cab, it was instantly hailed as "the most progressive step in commercial vehicle cab design"
"The patent was allowed to lapse, Messrs Foden Ltd., of Sandbach, were the first manufacturer to adopt it."
Origins of the Neville family business
George Neville was born in 1913 into a small family business which had been started in 1908 by his father (also George) in Westfield Lane, Mansfield (1).
George snr. began by contracting for transporting the Post Office mails between Mansfield and Nottingham using horse-drawn vehicles.
It was in an effort to convert these horse-drawn vehicles into covered vans that George snr. first entered the business of creating vehicle bodies.
George's son, George E. Neville, joined the firm and continued working with building vehicle bodies. Following the Second World War he began to purchase ex-War Department vehicles and convert them for commercial use by adding saloon or van bodies. He found a ready market for these hand-built conversions.
In the 1964 the firm of G. E. Neville & Son Ltd, car distributors and commercial vehicle body builders, then with premises on Forest Road, Talbot Street and Nottingham Road, Mansfield, and Mansfield Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield family business was taken over by Martin Walter Ltd who manufactured Dormobilies (1).
Mr Ge E. Neville retained his position as Managing Director, with the business subsequently trading as Neville EMV and Neville Industries Ltd., Mansfield, trailer manufacturers and body builders.
Subsequently, George and his son, Michael, set up their own business, Neville Truck Equipment Ltd., in January 1968 at Lindley's Lane, Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
** At Nottinghamshire Archives there is a document - a letter - (DD 636/11) on the reverse of which are illustrations of the showroom and offices at Nevilles c.1947)
Easysheet
A further innovation came when George invented this simple method of covering open-topped tipper lorries to keep dust down during transit.
The 'Easysheet' was a large tarpaulin type structure which can be pulled over the top of the lorry by an automated mechanism, or manually.
This systenm was recognised in the industry for its excellence in design, and in 1977 George Neville received a Design Council Award from the Duke of Edinburgh.
This innovative sheeting system is still used extensively on both road and rail vehicles today and George Neville Transport Safety Systems Ltd. remains one of the country's leaders in ground-breaking transport safety solutions.
NOTES
(1) Mansfield CHAD 25th June 1964