CHAPTER ONE
(top)
32W - Deadweight 12
1
/
2
cwt
Roller. Fast speed equals 4-5
tons vibrating approx. Slow
speed equals 8-10 tons
vibrating approx
(middle)
54T - Trailer Type Vibrating
Roller, 4ft 6" wide x 2ft 6"
diameter with Petter diesel
engine which gives a high
degree of compaction
(left)
The 10 cwt. Tandem
Vibrating Roller fitted with
Villiers 2
3
/
4
h.p. petrol
engine. Suitable for footpath
reconstruction
The year away from Britain had seen significant change. Prime
Minister Harold Macmillan had opened, to great fanfare, the
Preston Bypass in Lancashire. It was the country’s first stretch of
motorway and heralded the start, in 1958, of the new age of
highway motoring.
By now there were plenty of firms renting heavy construction
equipment with operators, but non-operator plant hire was still a
rarity. Geoffrey again influenced his father and persuaded him to
focus on this side of the business rather than civil engineering.
The decision to discontinue the contracting business, coinciding
with the furious expansion in a national road system, turned the
fortunes of the company around.
The '50s, with its wide-ranging ups and downs, came to an
end with renewed optimism for the family business, and the next
decade brought 10 years of unbroken profits growth.
13
