Holes Coals

[astral14]

Anyone remember this in Luton, Beds?

[johnP-bedford]

It's not something I remember as I was did not live in Luton,  but could it be linked to Wm Holes, coal merchants, at 3 Gordon Street, Luton, and also at 107 Biscot Road, Luton, as listed in my 1936 Kelly's directory of Bedfordshire,

[0rinoco]

Hello. I live in Luton and I used to see the Holes coal lorries almost on a daily basis. However, I think the firm, which was in Gordon Street, has now finished trading.

[AB_Stopsley]

I know I'm slightly late contributing to this threat, like a mere 16 years or whatever it is, but yes, I remember Holes Coles clearly.  It was on the left hand side of Gordon Street as you walk up from St. George's Square (which wasn't there in those days!).  My mum used to take pre-school-aged me down there each autumn in the early sixties to order the family coal for the winter. A ton of anthracite if I remember rightly.  The shop had lots of what I seem to remember were like china dishes displaying different types of coal from which you could choose. 

A few days later the coal lorry would arrive at our house in Stopsley and I'd be tasked with standing at the back door and counting the 20 sacks (a hundredweight each) out loud as the men tipped them into the coal bunker.  I can still smell that coal now, both as they tipped it from the sacks and when it smokes away on the fire.  Within less than 10 years it had been replaced by North Sea Gas.  "This will last until about 2020", they said (right), "Then well all go back to Town Gas" (wrong!)