The Remarkable Journey of Elliott Group’s 1950’s Bedford Dumper

The Remarkable Journey of Elliott Group’s 1950’s Bedford Dumper

Sparking a new fourth generation at Elliott Group, a piece of our history, a 1950’s Bedford Dumper has come full circle.

Originally purchased by the late Patrick Elliott, grandfather to Darragh and Noel, the dumper played an invaluable role on our early construction sites, most likely the construction of churches for which Patrick Elliott was widely respected. At the time, dumpers like this revolutionised sites, replacing wheelbarrows and increasing efficiency.

By the 1970s, as construction equipment evolved, the Bedford dumper found a new role in our joinery workshop. Both Noel and Darragh have fond memories of using this dumper to clean out the workshop during their summer work in the 1980’s.

In 1995, it was decided to tag all of the company equipment, a task given to a young Darragh Elliott by his father, the late Noel Elliott Snr. Darragh spent this summer with a van, pop rivet and plates tagging the equipment and the original plate is still in place.

The dumper, however, was eventually lost—until fate intervened in 2023 with a phone call from a kind man in Kinsale – Damien Gash, who contacted Darragh to say he thought he had the dumper. Darragh repurchased it, determined to restore this incredible piece of company history.

With no idea in how to complete it, a fourth generation of Elliott’s stepped in. Darragh’s sons, Ethan, Ben, and Dylan, attend Wesley College, which runs a restoration programme for TY students. The dumper found itself in the hands of the 2024 TY students, including Ethan, who played a key role in bringing it back to life.

Thanks to their work, the dumper has been fully restored and is now proudly displayed at the entrance of our headquarters—a tribute to our past, a symbol of the Elliott family’s legacy, and a reminder that construction is in our DNA.

Special thanks to those who made this happen:
Gerry McCaffrey, Jim Elliott, Damien Gash, Iain Wallice (Wesley College), Michael Kelly (Wesley College), Ethan Elliott, Andy McGovern.