Shropshire is one of the oldest counties in England, and back in the 18th century, it hosted the birth of the Industrial Revolution. These days it’s predominantly an agricultural county, and as is so often the case in such places, it’s also home to a fair few old lorries.
Lewis Weaver has lived in the county all his life and runs the family’s haulage company. The business was started by his father and in 2022 celebrated its 70th anniversary.
“Charles Albert Weaver started the firm in 1952 with a GMC (General Motors Corporation) flat, ” he explained. “My father had left school when he was 13 and went to work on a farm. This was typical of a lot of lads of his age. He then started driving lorries and joined local contractor Arthur Jones in Ludlow. He worked for several different hauliers until the beginning of WW2.
“After the war there were lots of army surplus lorries for sale,a fair bit of money, but my father wanted to get on, so he made the investment. He then started hauling quarry stone and lime. Lime was an important commodity back in the post-war years and in great demand. My father used to drive to the spreader boys and shovel the lime off the lorry on to the spreader.”
