Longs of Leeds

In 1918 Joe Long returned home to Holbeck in Leeds from the First World War. He’d been wounded, taken prisoner and had to have life-saving surgery which left him with one lung – but that didn’t stop him starting a business that would endure for generations. Joe named his business J Longs and Sons, and delivered coal around Leeds – and in 1933 became only the second company to get a licence from Leeds Weights and Measures.Joe and his sons Arthur, Norman and Reg moved from Holbeck to Cross Gates just before the Second World War. Arthur was called up to fight – and provided his haulage experience to the RAF, based in India.