Secret Ironbridge: The fuel pump

As you pass through Coalport village, you may find it strange to see an old fuel dispensing pump standing in front of a terraced house. However, if you look at the large ‘garage-like’ building close by, you may start to appreciate that this was once the base for a small haulage company, W. Woodhall & Son (Haulage) Ltd.

Directly opposite are the former offices of Nuway Matting, and Woodhalls used to provide transport for them, as well as a sheet metal & gasket company called Chillcotts, both of which operated on the site of the old Coalport China works. I can still recall their small fleet of red, flat-bed trucks struggling to climb up the bank out of the village, diesel fumes spewing forth. Diesel which had been dispensed from their own private pump outside of their house.

The haulage company has long since gone. But the fuel pump and garage remain a testament to the industry that once graced this quiet village.

Of course, Nuway Matting, Chillcotts and W.Woodhall & Sons (Haulage) Ltd were not the first industry in the village. It all started with a transhipment interchange. More of that in the next ‘Secret Ironbridge’ blog post.