Archive for December, 2009



Coast To Coast Charity Bike Run

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Rotherham demolition company director David Wall has presented over £1,500 to Macmillan Cancer Support after a high speed dash across the country:

Ron Hull Charity Ride

David and four friends biked coast to coast, 147 miles from Workington to Sunderland, in less than 24 hours – a day less than the average for the expedition.    David, Commercial Director with Ron Hull Demolition, said: “The  trip was something of a personal challenge for us but we decided that we should make it hard and do it for a really good reason.”

“People rode for various charities. I chose Macmillan for family reasons. They looked after my grandmother and I think they do a wonderful job. I have enormous admiration for them.    The big shock on the trip was the hills, particularly for someone who had done all their training in Lincolnshire!”

“I live in the Isle of Axholme, which is about as flat as it gets. We’ve only got one little hill in the area and it really wouldn’t rate a thought on he coast to coast. In early morning training we rode  up and down it 25 times in an hour.”   

Gargill on the other hand was so steep that you couldn’t bike straight up it. We had to traverse. Just when you thought it must end you would turn a corner and it went up again.  It felt like somebody was really taking the Micky!”

“Hartshead just went on climbing forever, five miles of it.  Amazing !  On the plus side, going down the other side of some of these hills was breathtaking. The fastest speed that anyone clocked was 42 mph.”

David added: “I’m pleased the event has raised such a tidy sum of cash for various good causes. I would particularly like to thank Nigel Hull for the generosity of the company and their support throughout.”

Macmillan’s Sarah Herrett said: “We think it was a fantastic achievement. Ridiculous but absolutely brilliant!    We are of course delighted that David chose us as his charity. The donation is very much appreciated.”

Far from hanging up their bike clips the boys are planning to do it again next year  . . . this time non-stop!

Fancy That!

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

A Victorian railway bridge has finally been demolished . . . 66 years after it was attacked by the Luftwaffe . . . with a dispute still raging about the incident!

Built in 1895, the 90-ton Doughty Road Bridge in the centre of Grimsby was removed and replaced with a brand new structure in less than 48 hours.  The main Grimsby to Cleethorpes railway line and the road under the bridge had to be closed to allow the work to go ahead.

A team from Ron Hull Demolition of Rotherham were brought in by main contractor Spencer, a Humber based civil engineering company, to dismantle the historic structure. Members of the team cut the bridge into three slices that were then lifted clear by a 1000-ton mobile crane.

Ron Hull director George Brabham said: “You have to hand it to those Victorian engineers, they certainly knew how to build. Despite being hit by numerous high-sided vehicles over the years and being attacked by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, not to mention enduring more than a century of normal wear and tear, it remained in astonishingly good nick.”

“The project involved a number of specialist teams, including Network Rail, who lifted the track for us, through to Ainscough, the crane firm, and the main contractor Spencer. At one stage in the operation there were 120 people working on the site.”    “It went very smoothly and we had the bridge out on schedule, which allowed the new bridge to be put in place and the track laid and reopened for the trains to begin running again – on time!”

Meanwhile George’s team has cleared the way for local historians to settle the big question: Was the bridge bombed in 1943 – or was it strafed?

At the request of the local authority the holed section of the bridge side was cut out and is to be preserved.    George said: “One group is absolutely certain that the holes were caused by bombing or shrapnel during an air raid, whilst the other is equally sure that the bridge was shot up, possibly by a Messerschmit that was attacking a train.”      “We found that the holes were neat, in pairs and in a line. It looked to us as if they were bullet holes, rather than the random damage that would have been caused by bombs or shrapnel. Either way it did not impact on the use of the bridge. The damage was cosmetic.”

The main structure of the bridge has now been transported to the firm’s site at Mangham Road in Rotherham where the steel will be recycled. Meanwhile other materials recovered at the site are being recycled and used in the local area.