T FRENCH & SON

Tom has seen a lot of changes over the years, and the local landscape has been transformed out of all recognition. His home at Cumnock in East Ayrshire used to be well-known for deep coal mining and during the boom years the landscape was dotted with collieries. Open cast mining still takes place on a reduced scale, and Tom has been involved with the industry for many years.

Tom was brought up in Cumnock and has lived in the area all his life. He comes from a farming background, and the company’s depot is still on the site of the family smallholding.

Times were hard at the end of the Second World War, especially when Tom’s father died when Tom was just five years old. Fortunately, his mother managed to keep the farm afloat. As the family struggled to make ends meet, Tom decided to buy a used Seddon four-wheeled tipper to increase their income. He then worked around central Scotland, delivering bricks to building sites.

“Things were going very well, so I decided to buy another second-hand lorry, this time a Commer TS3 flatbed,” he recalls. “I fitted a detachable livestock container