Coal and furniture may seem unusual bedfellows, but in the days of horses and carts, anyone with a vehicle was roped in when the occasion demanded. So a coalyard was the birthplace of Oxford removal business, Charles Wood & Sons, which now prides itself on keeping everything spotless for householders and companies moving home.

Next year, Charles Wood celebrates 90 years in business — still in the same family.

In 1920, it was not unusual to start work early, and John Wiggins was only five when he first helped with the business, which has kept the name of his father's step-father, though it is owned by the Wiggins family.

“I used to go out with my father Albert, on his horse and cart, when he was delivering coal or parcels. When there were floods, we used to take the mail to Kennington. Vehicles couldn't get through, but the horse and carts could,” said Mr Wiggins.

He continued to help his father at weekends, while training as a mechanic and then working at the Cowley car factory.

With great foresight, Albert — known as Nipper Wood — bought a Model T Ford, and offered motorised removals, as well as coal deliveries. Then he bought a truck canopy, so he could carry furniture.

“They used to do coal in the mornings and then do the removals in the afternoons,” said Mr Wiggins.

In 1936, the shop and its one lorry moved from 21 St Aldate's, later demolished to make way for Oxford Police Station. The business was run from home in Stratford Street in East Oxford, and later from Clive Road, Cowley.

When John Wiggins took over in 1975, he gradually expanded the business, buying three new Leyland lorries.

“I thought I should buy Leyland, because the factory employed 15,000 people then, and they gave us a bit of business,” he said.

One of the photos in the family album shows him and his assistants standing proudly beside the new lorries, bought from Hartwells garage in Cowley in the 1970s.

John Wiggins is now 79, and in its 90th anniversary year, the company has a dozen lorries, 20 staff and annual turnover of £1.3m.

"I used to dream about having a bigger business, but it seems unbelievable. We built up gradually and when my son Tony took over 12 years ago there were six lorries. We did it in small stages."

Tony left it a bit later to start his business career, having stayed at school until 16, but for him it seemed natural to go into the family firm.

“When I was growing up, it was run from our house and I used to see the guys coming in and out. It seemed very exciting that they were going from Oxford to Scotland,” he said.

His first job was less romantic — removing nails from tea chests, which were used for packing.

“Now it is all cardboard, and we've had to get to grips with computers — and all the regulations," he said.

And, after 90 years, a new generation has come into the company. The family tradition is being kept alive by three great-grandchildren of the founder — 26-year-old Daniel, 22-year-old Becky and 19-year-old Lauren — who have all joined the business in the past few months.

Like his grandfather, Daniel trained as a vehicle mechanic, but in the end, could not resist the pull of family.

And his mechanical training comes in useful when keeping an eye on the lorries.

As a local company, most of Charles Wood's business is within 100 miles of Oxford, but 50-year-old Tony still enjoys driving the lorries occasionally.

"It's a small company, and we all help out as needs be,” he said.

Office moves are big business, and one of its biggest jobs was the move of Express Newspapers from Fleet Street to Blackfriars — a contract won through furniture company Gesika, which was based in Abingdon.

More recently, the company moved Blackwell Publishing from its old offices in the Cowley Road to a new building at Oxford Business Park, in Cowley.

“That was a lot of books,” said Tony.

Employees tend to stay for a long time.

“It is either a job you love or hate. You don't need to be a muscle-man — you just learn how to lift things," he said.

“It is a myth that removal men have to be strong to lift pianos. You just lift one end and put it on wheels.”

He sums up the Oxford removals business as “a lot of pianos — and a lot of books as well”.

It never ceases to amaze him that people accumulate things and move them from place to place.

“What the biggest mystery is, when you go to do an estimate and ask if there is anything in the loft.

“They say: ‘We moved ten years ago and put all this stuff in the loft’. You think: ‘Why are they moving it again?’.”

And what happens when he moves house himself?

“We moved from Cowley to Horspath, and my wife had to do most of it,” he said with a laugh.

“She decided to move in August, which is our busiest time, so I could only do it in the evenings with Daniel.”