Crammed van for wartime deliveries
Now this is what you call a real van load – but bear in mind that there is a war on.
This photo has been loaned by Patrick Wood of Church Stretton, who said: "I thought you may be interested in this picture. It shows my dad Charlie Wood, on the left with Harry Masse,y taken in Craven Arms in the war years – note the blackouts on the headlights – with an Austin 12 J P Wood van, which is a bit overloaded.
"By the look of the buildings in the background it was taken outside the railway station. I do not know the little boy peeping behind the van, but maybe one of your readers might.
"Harry Massey was a friend. I think he worked for the post office telecommunications before BT. I think the crates would have been for fruit – I think they are empty here.
"My dad used to go to the Tenbury area to buy fruit for the J P Wood shops after the war. J P Wood and Sons had fruit and veg shops in Craven Arms, three in Ludlow, Church Stretton, Bishop's Castle, Shrewsbury, and also the Market Hall, Shrewsbury, and Knighton. This would have been in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
"The four Wood brothers bought The Grove, Craven Arms, in 1956. That is when the poultry business started to expand. The company then had amazing expansion, being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1965 and sold to Unilever in 1968 for £3.6 million.
"My father remained chairman until he retired in 1978. I worked for the company from 1970 to 1978, then left to start my own company."
J P Wood continued to be a major local employer but poultry production at The Grove ended in 1990 with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
