On Tuesday, 15th October, AJ Charlton and Sons Ltd celebrated AJ’s 90th birthday.

AJ Charlton & Sons Ltd is a family business, founded by Frank Charlton in 1903, that was originally formed to supply timber pit props for nearby coal mines. The business was passed to his son, Ferdinand, who expanded further into the coal industry. The next generation to take on the family business was Anthony James, affectionately known to most as AJ.

AJ left school at fourteen and went to work with the horses, delivering coal and timber. With AJ at the helm, supported by his four sons – Michael, Peter, David and Adrian – the sawmills made the brave step to diversify into gate production. This has grown from just a few oak gates a week to become one of the largest manufacturers of timber gates in the UK, supplying all over the world to a wide variety of customers, including the National Trust and many Royal Estates, earning Charlton’s the great honour of holding a Royal Warrant.

AJ is not only celebrating his 90th birthday, but also 75 years of dedicated work to a family business that has grown generation by generation, now including many of his grandchildren.

To mark this achievement, AJ Charlton and Sons presented AJ with a birthday cake at The Sawmills in Buckland Down.