Sands of time

by Nick Drew | Fri 05 May 2017

Sands of time

Taking another look back at one of my articles which first appeared in Earthmovers in 2014 and bringing it to life here on the internet.

If you have lived and worked in or around the Corfe Mullen area in Dorset during the past 50 years, the chances are you have seen or even used sand and gravel produced by local family business M B Wilkes Ltd. The company, who operates out of its Henbury Quarry facility near Wimborne, celebrated its milestone 50 years in business as an Ltd company in 2014, but the story begins way back in the 1950’s. The initial 350 acre site was purchased in the early 50’s by Harold Wilkes, who was the grandfather of the current operators. The land was originally thought to be a rich resource for timber production, however once a number of trees were felled, on pulling out the stumps it was discovered that an even more lucrative material lay below, a premium type of sand and gravel that the area is rich in. In 1958 the decision was made to start quarrying for the golden material that lay beneath. It’s this sand that MB Wilkes has become famous for, not just locally but nationally as well. The sand, which was identified as Ginger Sand (Corfe4) and Hoggin, a gravelly based form of sub base, was discovered in vast quantities on site. The fledgling company invested in a small Parker screener, which was purchased with a 10K loan. This screener ensured a consistent quality of sand and gravel was always produced. The bulk of the excavation work was carried out by a dragline, one tracked loader and two wheeled loading shovels.

MB Wilkes became an Ltd company in 1964 and over the next three decades the business expanded massively. In 1985 Paul Wilkes, son of Michael, joined the family business at the tender age of 17 and was quick to learn about the sand and gravel extraction business. In 2010, Dave Fletcher was appointed as Commercial Manager. Dave brought with him over 30 years of experience in the industry and was given a brief to expand the range of products and services offered by the company, in addition to developing further markets and to increase the level of recovered and recycled products. The special sand produced at Henbury is very popular with bricklayers, but is also used in the manufacture of bricks themselves. One customer, Ibstock Brick Ltd of Stoke on Trent, use the sand to colour bricks, as when it is fired it changes colour to a slightly red & pink tinge. Somewhat incredibly this premium sand is transported north by road using hauliers from the Stoke on Trent area.

Of course when the recession bit, the brick manufacturing industry almost came to a standstill. As such all the business they had with the brick company’s virtually dried up. At this point the company had to look at different options, with one being diversifying into the decorative aggregates industry. Today the firm is run day to day by Michael Wilkes two sons, Paul and David, overseen by Mr Wilkes senior. The company is expanding daily and is now heavily involved in the recycling sector, Commercial Manager Dave Fletcher said, “Four years ago we had one four wheeled tipper on the road and 11 staff in the quarry. We’ve now got 13 tippers of various sizes, some with grabs and 30 in quarry staff”. Dave continued, “I’m very confident about the state of the business. We’re totally self-sustaining in what we do here. We can handle most types of material in-house and we have the ground to save the product in stock. We have some of the best equipment to deal with it and the trucks to deliver it”. Earthmovers were taken on a tour of the facility, to see the various operations in action. Our first stop was to see one of MB Wilkes brand new 8 wheeler grab lorries loading itself with one of the recycled products which had been ordered by a customer.

Further down in the soil storage area material was being loaded onto a hired in Bell B30D ADT by the company’s Komatsu PC210LC-8, prior to being delivered to the soil recycling area for screening.

The company has recently taken delivery of a Hitachi Zaxis 210LC-5, which when we visited was working in one of the extraction areas of the quarry, battling to drain an area after a prolonged period of inclement weather. A small Komatsu D51PX dozer on hire from G Crook & Sons was busy trying to maintain the haul road and tip area in this section of the quarry.

The company run two 22 tonne class Hitachi ZW220 wheeled loading shovels in the facility, one of which is operated by Dave Poultney who was instrumental in arranging our visit by contacting me on our Facebook page. Dave was busy loading another hired in Bell B30D with recycled type 1 material, which was being removed from under the belt of the company’s Powerscreen Warrior 1800, which is one of three new screening units purchased in 2014. This unit was being fed by a Komatsu PC210LC-8.

Further down at the soil recycling unit the second Hitachi ZW220 was busy loading another new piece of kit in the company’s recycling arsenal. A 174hp Cat powered McCloskey 621 Trommel screener. According to McCloskey this machine can turn out around 200 tonnes of soil per hour depending on dampness or when working with sand and gravel can achieve 300 tonnes per hour. The machine is working in unison with a secondary self-propelled tracked Powerscreen Chieftain screening unit. Soil produced from this process is stored undercover in large open fronted sheds adjacent to the soil processing plant.

The company also run two Terex TA300 30 tonne class articulated dumptrucks, one of which had just received a load from one of the latest arrivals in the quarry, a Hyundai HL760-9A. Talking about the new machine Commercial Manager Dave Fletcher said, “We recently trialled a number of loading shovels from all the big players, but after assessing them on merit, we chose to go down the Hyundai route, this was primarily because our dealer Molson’s have been great people to deal with, offering us a great warranty package, which included bucket pins and bushes, which gave us a lot of peace of mind and confidence to go for the Korean machines. In addition the operator has been very pleased with the machine in general with particular praise for the well-appointed cab environment, as we know a happy operator is a productive operator”.

The new Cummins powered Hyundai HL760-9A shovel was busy loading two screening machines in the operators work section, which also included the very latest screening machine to arrive at Henbury. The tracked self-propelled Terex Finlay 683 Supertrack inclined screener is powered by a Deutz water cooled engine with a power output rating of 100hp (75kw). The unit has certainly impressed the operators since its arrival in the quarry. Another screening unit is on order but had not arrived in time for our visit to the site.

Two Manitou MLT 245-120 telescopic handlers act as support machines in the yard handling a whole range of products, ranging from fence posts to 1 tonne dumpy bags. The recycling side of things is an important aspect of the business these days, with incoming materials being turned around into a quality re-useable product. The quarry really is a hive of activity with the recycling works running in unison with the sand and gravel processing, which is a real credit to the professional approach adopted by the workforce on site.

However there is now another aspect to the business, this involves the selling of timber, fence posts, natural paving and all manner of products for the small builder, landscaper or avid DIY fan. In a display area just outside the quarry offices a large comprehensive display of the company’s product are on show, which are interestingly dominated by a large ex RAF bombshell which was one of three dug up in the quarry some years ago! Thankfully they were discovered to be practice/dummy bombs, two of which were taken away for display in museums, but one has remained as a feature in the product display area.

Another interesting fact was that bricks made from sand sourced from MB Wilkes, have even been used on projects across the world including high profile jobs like Tokyo airport and Los Angeles bus station, with some sandstone also used during restoration works at the local Wimborne Minster Church. MB Wilkes Ltd is now focused on the future, with ongoing plans to develop recycling markets to complement their existing products. It is estimated that there are still enough aggregate reserves in the ground to enable extraction to continue for the next 50-60 years and the firm expects to carry on as a long term family business for many years to come.

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