When I joined Clarks Wood Company Ltd., in August 1974, my first impression was how different Clarks was in contrast to the rest of the timber trade as I knew it. My previous employer, Denny Mott and Dickson, operated in the "old" tradition from a busy dockside in the centre of the city with open sided warehouses and offices reminiscent of a set from the "Onedin Line".
In stark contrast, the enclosed modern warehouses at Silverthorne Lane offered luxury I had not seen before, but it wasn't always like this, as I learnt during my research into their two hundred years of history.

"The most horrible day was the flood of 1927. The sky was a dirty dark yellow and not a bird singing or a leaf moving, everything was quiet and still, except for the whine of the saw at Clarks Wood Company, and then that also stopped. Suddenly all hell let loose, all of us scared and crying, we never thought we'd leave school and get home.." - memories - Mrs.I.E.Caple.

 It's hard to imagine Bedminster as the centre of the Timber Industry in South Bristol but, towards the end of the eighteenth century, the Clark family were about to establish a business which would have a significant effect on Bristols timber trade and attract many competitors into the area.

The population of Bedminster at that time was three thousand and consisted of a busy farming community, hence the names of the public houses in the area:- The Spotted Cow, The Plough and Windmill, The White Horse, The Bull, The Spotted Horse, The Three Horse Shoes, The Barley Mow, and The Red Cow. They all attracted farmers on market day, as did the Hen and Chicken Tavern.
The landlord of The Hen and Chicken from around 1781 was a Jacob Clark who saw an opportunity to expand his business beyond being a publican. The local land owner regularly offered timber from his estate at Ashton Court and, in 1798, a business was born in the back yard of the Hen and Chicken.

Jacob's knowledge of timber was to influence many generations of Clarks who went on to be Cabinet Makers, Chair Dealers, French Polishers, Plane Makers, and Timber Dealers.
Running a busy public house and a timber business became too much for Jacob so his wife, Elizabeth, took over the timber business in 1806 and built the trade up over the next twelve years.

In 1818, Elizabeth's son, Samuel Clark, took over the business and promptly expanded into premises at Harfords Bridge, whilst maintaining the facilities at The Hen and Chicken. By 1830, another yard was opened in Coronation Road which was very close to the place where the Clark family were to witness a distressing event in their history.

Samuels brother William Clark, described as a timber dealer of North Street, Bedminster, became involved in the Bristol Riots of 1831. He was executed with four others in January 1832 at the very Gaol and Bridewell he had tried to destroy, located opposite Samuel Clarks timber yard. The much publicised trial was to uncover William Clark's excessive drinking habits, which his defence contributed to the serious injuries he had sustained at work when he had been hit on the head by a piece of falling timber.

The scene was graphically described for the court by a sawyer who had been working with him at the time - "...the unfortunate lads head had been jammed between two balks of wood..."
William's mother, Elizabeth, spoke for him in court but his defence plea of temporary derangement due to excessive liquor was rejected and he was subsequently hanged for his crime.

In 1868, Samuel's wife Susan Clark took on the business and also maintained the busy Hen and Chicken Tavern. When Susan died in 1870, her son William (yes another William) continued to develop the thriving timber yard at Coronation Road.

Back at the Hen and Chicken, the Clarks, not content with running two businesses from the premises, started a haulage company operated by Martin Clark. This business successfully continued to flourish with the opening of further garages up until the 1980's.
By now there was much competition in the timber trade and local companies, such as Clarks, Toogoods and Organs, were attempting to secure the services of Thomas Hazell, often seen hauling logs through the streets of Bedminster by horse and cart.

William was determined to maintain Clarks' position in Bedminster and was soon operating yards at Redcliffe Hill and Lawfords Gate.

In 1897, William had a moment of wild inspiration and established the "'Clarks Cheap Wood Company'- specialists in veneer and fretwood".
The boost in sales must have been questionable because, thank goodness, he dropped the "Cheap". This change of name may have been too late however and, some say, was a turning point for the timber trade, which has continued to make low margins on its sales of wood !
In 1900, William opened premises in York Road, and, in 1906, at Mill Lane and Regent Street, finally to be consolidated at one site in Dean Lane, Bedminster in 1908.

"Clarks Wood was located in an archaic building, a shambles, a draughty den fronted by a tunnel entrance through which the team of six dray horses would plunge, slipping and straining over the cobbles..." - memories - William J. Potter (1940)

 The business transferred to the last known member of the Clark family, Ivor Hamilton Clark, in 1937 up until his retirement in 1953 and the subsequent sale of the company. Many past employees, some surviving today (1998), have written of their vivid memories which best describe those years.

Many customers recall their fondness for the Drysdale horses; Prince, Major, Bob and Colonel, who would make deliveries to them. The horses were frequently spoiled with oranges from generous customers.
In 1935 the first lorry arrived, and Ivor Dyer was to be the driver of this new transportation. Finished in green, with mahogany sides and tailboard bearing the companies name, it was coach built locally in Dean Lane.

William Potter joined the company as a junior clerk in 1940 and recalled Ivor Clark, then managing director, as a "gouty, grumpy widower who had just two loves in his life. One was the company and the other was his attractive daughter, who would arrive in a little red sports car twice a year." Quite a distraction for the work force as she would "breeze through the office and disappear as quickly as she had arrived."

Throughout the war years, hardwood imports ceased and business centred on home grown timbers supplied by local forests. These timbers were used to produce aircraft spars.
Wartime brought the dangers of a timber yard into focus for the locals in Dean Lane, after all they were living alongside a potential bonfire.
"During the early part of the war we used to be on duty fire watching. We were nearly caught napping one night, having a pint in 'The Clarence' over the road. Jerry dropped some incendiaries, but we managed to deal with them in time.." - memories - E.J.Lyons (foreman 1941)

Stanley Wright was foreman during the war years and by night he drove the local fire engine. The following day he would set off, using one of the two seven ton trucks then used by Clarks, to Dulverton Forest or Walton Moor in Devon with a team of labourers to collect felled trees.
Clarks owed a lot to the resilience of the employees during those difficult times, to people like Harry Taylor, who would stay with the horses all night throughout the bombing to ensure that they were calm and not frightened.

In 1953, the company passed to new owners, Ernest Lewis, Gregory Scampton, George Paterson and Cecil Organ, and in 1956, the company was sold again to Y. Goldberg & Sons Ltd.

In 1965, the final move to Silverthorne Lane was made, and where Clarks Wood Company Ltd have traded up to the present day. Ron Lewis joined Clarks Wood Company in 1970 when the annual turnover was ninety thousand pounds.

Clarks Wood has always remained a private family business and, in 1986, when the Goldberg family decided to sell after thirty years of ownership, they turned to Ron Lewis, the Managing Director. He proposed a management buyout which would maintain the family tradition.
The successful move enabled Ron Lewis and fellow Directors Geoff Osborne, Bob Harlin and Geoff Moss to take Clarks Wood Company into it's next stage of history.

The Ron Lewis Holdings Group now consists of Clarks Wood Company Ltd., Y.Goldberg & Sons Ltd., and Dataday Computer Services Ltd., with an annual turnover in excess of £9 million.

Looking back over two hundred years has revealed many warm memories of a company which owes much to its employees and a lot to the perseverance of the Clark family in those early years. May 1998 - G.D.Osborne.

Background research detail

Whilst researching Clarks timber trade during the past two hundred years, one finds many references to the local sale of English Hardwoods which are less common today.

In 1821, on the 31st December, Capital Timber (5) offered Oak, Ash, Elm and Sycamore for sale by auction from forests in Dursley, Glouscestershire. This would almost certainly have been the type of timber which Clarks would have bid for and sold.
Howes & Co.(Timber) Ltd.,Western Wharf, Hotwells, Bristol, was a local Merchant trading regularly with Clarks Wood according to records (1) (2) (3) dating back to 1909 and now donated to the Bristol Record Office.

Bibliography and acknowledgements

(1) Howes & Co.,Cash Book 1909,Bristol Record Office No.40586/3(a)
(2) Howes & Co.,Cash Book 1915,Bristol Record Office No.40586/3(b)
(3) Howes & Co.,Ledger 1916-1929,Bristol Record Office No.40586/1(a)
(4) History of Wm.Butler & Co.(Bristol) Ltd.,1843-1943
(5) Capital Timber Sale of Hardwood,Bristol Record Office No.00319
(6) Bristol & Co.- Helen Reid
(7) Hotheads and Heroes - The Bristol Riots of 1831 - Peter MacDonald
(8) Archive Photographs - Anton Bantock/Malago Society
(9) Bristol Suburbs in the 1920's and 1930's - Reece Winstone
(10) Bristols Suburbs Long Ago - Reece Winstone
(11) Matthews Directories
(12) Pigot & Co. Directories
(13) Kelly's Directories
(14) Colin Griffin - Bedminster Group
(15) St.Pauls Church, Bedminster
(16) Peter Hodge (historian)
(17) E.J.Lyons (1935 past employee)
(18) William J.Potter (1940 past employee)
(19) G.P.Wright (son of Stanley Herbert Wright, foreman dec.)
(20) Audrey Williamson (1948 past employee)
(21) Norman Charles Shaddick (business colleague)
(22) Colin Brian Clark (family relative)
(23) Robert Kingsley Francis Clark (family relative)
(24) Eunice Tuck (Daughter of Alfred Dyer) (sister of Ivor Dyer) (niece of Stanley Watts)
(25) The Osborne family for proof reading and patience.

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