William Staddon Timber Merchants, specialists in Oak, Ash and Walnut was started in 1920. The first premises were in the railway yard opposite the Conservative Club in Clevedon, which is now the Safeway shopping area. This was a good site because the railway sidings came right into the yard and enabled timber to be brought by rail and the Walnut trees to be loaded onto trucks by crane for delivery to the London veneer makers. William Staddon died in 1944 and was succeeded by William Clifford Staddon, his son who was keen to expand the business. A lease was taken on land from the Clevedon Council, which used to be the train sheds of the Clevedon Light Railway Company that had gone into liquidation during the war years. From this site W.C. Staddon installed the first sawmill.

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The war had ended in 1945 and it was found that English hardwoods were being replaced by imported hardwoods from Malaysia and Brazil, namely Keruing and Sapele. Staddons were very strong in the coach building trade and it then became necessary to open an imported timber company in 1956. Mr W.C. Staddon already had premises at Parnell Road in Clevedon, which were used for coach building so the importing business was established in 1956 with the name W. Staddon & Son Limited. Specialist machinery was installed to service the needs of not only the coach building trade but of the local builders as well.

In 1961 the home grown sawmill was transferred to at Moor Lane Clevedon, which was purchased during that year. Mr W.C. Staddon retired at this time and was succeeded by Mr John Staddon, the third generation of Staddons. Initially the sawmill at Moor Lane was planking Beech for the Kleen-Ez-Zee Brush Company and producing Sapele logs for the coach building trade. It was soon noticed that the timber trade was changing and many other mills were importing hardwoods as well, so John Staddon decided to change over to softwoods entirely at Moor Lane. It was found that the stock was turned over every six weeks rather than two years previously. The business was very successful for thirty two years and at one time employed 21 people. In 1993 the recession was hitting all industries fairly hard and it was decided to close the Moor Lane premises but continue with the imported business at Parnell road.

Today, the business caters for both the local building trade and the DIY market and continues to thrive as a community based business that supports other local businesses, clubs and projects.

For the last seven years, Staddons Timber has run by Avril Withyman and assisted by a team of qualified machinists and backroom staff.

Why not pay a visit to Parnell Road and enjoy the service of Clevedon’s premier timber merchant. Visit the shop by clicking here.