Around 1905 my great grandparents moved into Old Church Street in Nottingham where the family then continued to live until almost the turn of the millennium. In the early years they ran a fish and chip shop but by 1921 that had gone as after renting land next to the houses a coal yard had been created and local coal deliveries started with a horse and cart. Of course as we later found out for ourselves, having a vehicle capable of doing other work means you get asked to do that other work as well and so the first seeds of a removals business were sown as local people were helped to move house. By 1930 the horse and cart had given way to a lorry and my great grandfather was "The Man" if anything needed moving from A to B and the lorry was also used in the May Day parades when the Castle Ward Labour Party used to decorate it and use it as one of the floats. Alsatians were kept as guard dogs at the coal yard and my great grandfather even had a monkey and it was usual for his favourite Alsatian or the monkey to accompany him in the cab whilst out working. The first picture shows my great grandfather and his favourite Alsatian looking out of the cab of the lorry, sorry but I do not know the date of the photo. With a vehicle of his own to maintain he became quite an adept mechanic also and began to take on work for other people and the coal yard at the side of the house was used as parking for various vehicles, some awaiting repair, some used as spare parts, and a small van which was home to the monkey. In fact the repair side of the business was doing so well that by the end of the 1930's an old barn had been rented on the corner of Abbey Bridge & Gregory Street which became Priory Garage and remained a family business until the late 1960's which I can just rememeber, the coal business gradually falling by the wayside. The second photo is of the Priory Garage which was eventually demolished to make way for Red Cross offices which still stands on the site today.
Now almost a century later, based on the Costa Brava near the French border we are almost halfway between the UK and the Costa del Sol, perfect for the AP-7 and collections and deliveries all along the Mediterranean coast, much better than Skegness which was holiday destination of choice back then. In fact as another story goes, one day my great grandfather arrived home with an old bus strapped to the back of his lorry. It was a small bus without any wheels and fitted perfectly on the flatbed of the lorry and that summer it was used like a caravan for the family holiday. Later holidays were more conventional after he purchased a static caravan at Ingoldmells.