Colin, who like myself was a former Wimpey man, recently sent me a wonderful gift in the form of a great book called McAlpine’s Men. The book, which is edited by highly respected Irish historian Ultan Cowley, tells the story of the many Irishmen that came to England to work for what is undoubtedly one of the greatest road building companies this country has ever seen, alongside Wimpey’s and John Laing’s.

  

Colin has also contributed around twenty pages to this excellent book, which I can highly recommend, I am not going to give too much away but it really does make one appreciate just how lucky we machine operators and construction workers are today.

Here are some shots of McAlpine kit in action from the Digger blog archives..

The long days constructing our motorway system were tough, but the camaraderie and the crack was, and indeed still is, fondly remembered by those men that are still alive today.

So if you are looking for a good read when you are lying on a beach this year, this is your book, I know that’s what I will be doing later this year!

A massive thank you to Colin, for sending me a copy and thanks for reading and supporting the Digger blog.