Perhaps the most significant change in the town came in the 1920s and 1930s with motorised vehicles replacing horse-drawn carriages. By 1925 it was necessary to introduce Trinidadian Asphalt and then later Tar MacAdam. This greatly improved conditions for motorists and pedestrians alike. Amongst the earliest powered lorries were the steam-driven wagons of Peace’s whose premises were on the West Quay, and the Gas Company who used these new vehicle for hauling coke, one of these having been driven by my wife’s grandfather, Walter England, who lived in Kidsbury Road. The Bridgwater Haulage Company also had steam-driven lorries and caught the attention of the authorities in 1912 when an employee was fined ten shillings for breaking the speed limit of two miles and hour.
Text Copyright © 2008 Roger Evans
