A Brief History Of The Humble Skip

The skip is a common enough sight in the modern world, but few people take the time to stop and consider just how intelligently designed the very best skips are. Easily unloadable and loadable via a lorry, modern skips can handle many different types of waste.

Most of us will see skips almost every day. Whether we’re passing a construction or demolition project, or just when somebody is renovating their home or office space, skips are now a part of the background of modern living. Thankfully, the very best skip hire in the UK is here to make obtaining a skip all the easier.

The History Of The Skip

Interestingly, the first documented use of a skip was in 1922, in the north-western seaside town of Southport. There was a rising problem with the distance that needed to be travelled between houses to where refuse and waste was collected and disposed of. At that point, horse-drawn carts were the main method of transporting waste from point to point. Whilst this method worked well for obtaining the waste from house to house, it then became a long and arduous process to transport that waste to the dumping ground.

As a means of circumventing this problem, an employee of Pagefield – a lorry manufacturer – named Edwin Walker met with the borough engineer of Southport to discuss the issue. The solution was a horse-drawn container which measured 300 cubic feet. Widely considered to be the first skip, the wheels which were used to transport the skip needed to be 20 inches in diameter.

Once the container had been filled, it was then connected to the rear of a Pagefield lorry so that it could be transported to the appropriate dumping ground.

Improvements And The Development Of Skip Hire!

In 1926 improvement began to appear on the idea of the skip. The Letchworth firm of S&D improved on skips and the way in which they could be transported. They developed a small, petrol-powered truck which they called the Freighter.

In the same year, in the Marylebone area of London, skips that were actually mounted sideways began to appear. This allowed several skips to be carried across a single chassis at the same time. The Freighter became a great success for S&D, and resulted in most cities using this model for their skip hire services.

As more and more construction, demolition and refurbishment projects began throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, contractors developed the modern skip as the very best means of removing large amounts of waste from specific locations. Today, anyone can make the most of the very best skip hire in the UK. Whatever size of skip you require, for however long you require it, you can find it amongst the wide range of skip hire services available at Skip Hire UK.

Skip Hire UK; The Best Skip Hire In The Country

Here at Skip Hire UK, we are dedicated to providing the very skip hire services in the country. We understand just how essential a high-quality skip, and a reliable skip hire service can be to your projects, and we do our very best to make certain that your project goes forward without a hitch.

For more information, or to browse our varied skip sizes, visit our website today! Alternatively, if you have any questions, you can contact our friendly and helpful team today on 0845 241 34880845 241 3488 or email us directly at hello@skiphire.co.uk.