Nelson’s family-owned McCashin Brewery is seeking help from the community to restore its old 1964 Leyland Beer tanker.
It used to be a familiar sight on Nelson roads but after years of being idle it is a bit beaten up according to The Nelson Mail.
“The weather has taken its toll on it, it’s now sitting idle, and the odd vandal has had a go at it,” says Dean McCashin.
The tanker was used to deliver beer, to Nelson’s Dominion Hotel, the RSA and to Baileys in Cathedral Square in Christchurch.
“It used to drop me off at [boarding school] at St Bede’s in Christchurch and bring me home for the holidays. It was quite a long trip,” says McCashin
McCashin says his father bought the truck before he set up the brewery. It used to sit on their farm in Koromiko before being moved to Stoke.
The truck was used frequently until 1996. After Lion bought Mac’s Brewery it sat unused, and came back to the family when the McCashins moved back to Stoke brewery in 2009.
The McCashin family business want to fully restore it and re-brand it under the Stoke beer name. The brewery would like to hear from anyone who knew of parts or had skills working on similar vehicles.
McCashin says the Leyland 400 engine was in pretty good nick.
Barry Galbraith, of Galbraith Sandblasting and Powder Coating, has offered to help with the restoration, as has Graham Borland, of Nelson Autoparts. Borland says the truck needed a new cab or a donor vehicle.
McCashin’s general manager Andrew Murray told The Nelson Mail the restoration of the truck was his idea. He thought it would be a great project to get the community involved in and share some of the brewery’s history.
“I suspect there’s a bit more work in it than I could have imagined.”
A current McCashin employee Graham Watson knows the truck well – he was also employed by Mac’s and used to drive it to Christchurch.
“It was a typical Leyland, no power steering, but went without a hitch. It just purred along. It’s a great old truck.”
