A.S.Fisher and Son: memories of a family business

Part 1: Beginnings

By Ian Fisher

Harpenden 1957
Herts Advertiser
Out on a limb
Lynton Money
Removing a limb
Lynton Money
Coming down
Lynton Money

The first photograph here was taken in February 1957 in Harpenden. At this time, my Father, Arthur Stanley Fisher (known to everyone as Stan) had been in business for some years. Originally working for London Transport as a coach driver, it must have been some time after the war when he decided on a change of direction and to try his hand at tree felling. With a friend he would cycle from Ware to work, at Bishops Stortford, with 7lb axes, heavy iron wedges and a crosscut saw strapped to their cycles. The work at that time was all piecework, paid by the cubic foot for the timber and so much extra for the top wood. All the brushwood would have been burnt. One day, unable to make it back home, they asked for and were given permission to spend the night in the police cells.

I don’t remember much of those early years although the business must have prospered. Car ownership was fairly rare in those days, but I remember Father had a Singer complete with brass radiator. This he would use to carry tools, including a very heavy hand winch and wire rope, even driving across fields when necessary. At the weekends the same vehicle would be used to take Mother and I out shopping or for the occasional trip to the seaside.

In the photograph Father is to be seen talking to the man in the trilby hat. On the ground, further to the right is one of the very early chain saws. Being rather unwieldy, they were not used to the extent that they are today. Larger trees would have been cut up with a very heavy two-man chain saw.

The remaining photographs were taken about 1960, by which time I had started work. This particular job was in Welwyn Garden City for the Hertfordshire County Education Department, work that we did for thirty years until about 1980.

The equipment available greatly influenced what could be done to reduce the height of trees and the result was rather crude compared with today. There was no such thing as rope and harness and great care had to be taken when removing large branches as this had the potential to upset the balance of the climber with possibly fatal results. Men who wanted to do this work were rare and men who could do it even more so. Today with modern techniques and equipment the climbing work is much safer, although still very dangerous. In the early days even axes were used at height: you can see one stuck in a sawn off stump near the top of one of the trees. The handle of the axe is cut short to allow for working in a confined space.

This page was added on 23/06/2009.

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