Knowles can trace their origins in transport back to 1932 when 17 year old Gerald scraped together £75 to buy a second-hand Ford model T. A year later he traded it in for his first Bedford, a make which were to stay a firm favourite for the next 40 years.

The S type introduced in 1950 as the “Big Bedford” despite its cramped cab by modern standards, was a most successful range of models and was in production for ten years and this tractor unit of Knowles Transport loaded with a good ten tons or more of flake maize is typical of the firms 1950s road haulage fleet.