S E Davis & Son Ltd

Mr. Sydney Ernest Davis and his wife Alice bought Sandhills Farm in 1930 and it has been their Son Bob’s home since he was born in 1934. The family was actively engaged in farming and continued hatching and rearing chicks right up until 1964.
Bob’s interest in earth moving machinery began in 1943 when at the age of 9 he saw the TD9 belonging to local engineers and landowner Mr. Eric Norbury. By the time Bob was 13 he was using the TD9 for ploughing. It was in 1956 that Bob and Christine started acquiring earth moving machinery of their own and from 1960 these were put to work on various projects around the area. Davis’ crawlers and dumptrucks were a familiar sight during the construction of the M5 and M42 motorways.

A great boost for the company’s success came with the development of the new town of Redditch which started in the late 1960’s. Bob’s activities included that of demolition contractor until 1974 and his men were responsible for the demolition of 31 of the first 33 buildings that made way for the new town. This called for an increase in the amount of plant that the company operated and their trucks were also busy taking the hard-core in to Redditch that was required for the many building projects.

The company, under the leadership of Bob and his son Andy (whose son Paul daughters Lucy and Sally are also now working in the company) has continually progressed with the equipment that it operates and the service that it offers. SE Davis & Son also now stock the widest range of landscaping materials in the midlands. These are available to customers in any quantity from a single rockery stone or a 25kg bag, through to bulk bags and right up to 30 tonnes delivered on our own dedicated fleet of tipper lorries.

We are also proud of our recycling heritage – a process that we have been involved in for over 40 years since we started delivering crushed brick in to Redditch during the development of the new town. The recycling has been continually refined to our current operation which accepts demolition material that we crush and screen out into reusable materials. Some of the screened products are then washed to produce a very popular recycled sharp sand and a range of recycled pipe beddings (that are suitable for use in concrete).

The company has continued to invest in new crushers and screeners, shovels, bulldozers, excavators and our fleet of delivery trucks. We are constaly increasing the range of products and services that are available from our base at Astwood Bank. Our latest investment has been in developing mobile aggregate washing plant that is not reliant on settlement lagoons but which recycles the water that is used.

Over the past twenty years the Davis family has been actively engaged in the collection and preservation of historic earth moving and agricultural machinery. This includes bulldozers, excavators, draglines, shovels, tractors and steam engines. The collection is now believed to be the largest privately owned collection of such machinery in the country and attracts hundreds of visitors throughout the year. Over the years these visits have helped to raise many thousands of pounds for local charitable causes including the County Air Ambulance.

The Family has allowed it’s land to be used for a number of events throughout the year, Astwood Bank carnival committee organise the annual village carnival, the bonfire and firework display each year. The North Worcestershire Tractor Club also hold their annual gathering here each summer.