Category Archives: Family Business

Playing away from home

Posted on February 20, 2013 by davesdemolitiondiaries

The next Hypermarket was in Bristol, meant that additional Plant was required to cope with the work. Cat D8H tractors c/w 463G and 435F towed scrapers, were purchased, larger Low Loaders were required to transport the ever increasing fleet. D8H … Continue reading →

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Our first business premises.

Posted on February 6, 2013 by davesdemolitiondiaries

1974 saw Coleman & Co (Plant Hire) Ltd purchase 43, Station Road, Stechford, and move, from the not too far away, rented property in Albert Road, Stechford, Birmingham. It was somewhere that the business could continue to develop and grow, … Continue reading →

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Decimalisation – oh dear!

Posted on January 23, 2013 by davesdemolitiondiaries

It was about this time that we changed banks from Lloyds in Sutton Coldfield to the newly established Allied Irish Bank, who are still our Bankers, who have over the years been very have proved to be supportive of one … Continue reading →

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Railway works start – another string in the bow.

Posted on January 9, 2013 by davesdemolitiondiaries

As a result of the Beeching Rail Cuts, we secured work with British Rail Property Board, clearing abandoned and isolated Level Crossing Gate Keepers Cottages anywhere in the country; at this we were very successful. One of the consequences of … Continue reading →

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A `lucky` break?

Posted on November 29, 2012 by davesdemolitiondiaries

On leaving school I managed to break my leg playing football, the job that I was due to start at Cincinnati the following Monday was gone by the time of my recovery some six months later. I was never going … Continue reading →

Posted in Earthworks, Family Business, High Rise Demolition | Leave a comment

The swinging 60’s – hard but happy times

Posted on November 21, 2012 by davesdemolitiondiaries

The day of incorporation, 16th October 1962, saw the World came close to World War 3, with Fidel Castro`s Cuba allowing Khrushchev`s U.S.S.R. to deploy nuclear weapons on Cuban soil aimed at John F. Kennedy`s U.S.A.. The armed U.S.A.F. fighters … Continue reading →

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What are holidays?

Posted on November 14, 2012 by davesdemolitiondiaries

Holidays were very scarce, maybe a long week end at Weston Super Mare or Burnham on Sea, were a special treat for us. My Mother used to go to see her folks on the farm in Ballyheane Co. Mayo Eire. … Continue reading →

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“You Never Make Money Lying in Bed”

Posted on November 6, 2012 by davesdemolitiondiaries

My Father also collected clinker ash from Nechells Power Station, to avoid queues and to be sure of getting a load before the daily supply ran out, he used be at the hopper at 3am for his load, if he … Continue reading →

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How It All Started – 50 Years of Progress

Posted on October 30, 2012 by davesdemolitiondiaries

John Edmund Coleman decided to leave his native home in Ballydorgan, Co. Cork, Ireland to seek a sustainable future in Birmingham, just before the outbreak of W.W.2. Here he met Nora Frances Staunton, who with similar ideas had left her … Continue reading →

Posted in Earthworks, Family Business | 2 Comments

Welcome to Dave’s Demolition Diaries…..

Posted on October 15, 2012 by davesdemolitiondiaries

During the process of creating the 50th Anniversary book I was set the task of writing the Foreword. The brief was fairly broad in terms of content but the word limit was clear… “about 300 words, or half a page should … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Business | 4 Comments