Advertise on podcast: The Bricklaying Show

Bricklayer, boxer, farmer and fighter — John Gavin has lived a life full of twists, turns and extraordinary stories. Ash Mahoney chats with John about his remarkable journey, from growing up in rural poverty in Ireland and arriving in Birmingham at just 16, to building houses, fighting bare-knuckle bouts and eventually finding a home in Yorkshire. John’s story is one of hard graft, determination, financial ruin, personal tragedy and survival. He opens up about the experiences that shaped him, the devastating moments he’s had to overcome and why he decided to put it all down on paper in his autobiography, Mister John.

This programme contains discussions of suicide, drug use, addiction recovery and mental health. Listener discretion is advised.  Ash Mahoney is joined by Charlie Collison and Rob Muldoon as he looks at mental health in bricklaying. Ash shares his own experiences and speaks to Charlie and Rob about their journeys, and the challenges and triggers that can affect our wellbeing. They’ll discuss why it can be so hard to admit when we’re struggling, the importance of talking and having someone to turn to, and how we can better support colleagues who might be saying “I’m fine” when they’re not. If you are experiencing mental health difficulties and/or suicidal thoughts, remember that help is always available: Samaritans - https://www.samaritans.org/Fix Radio Foundation - https://fixradiofoundation.co.uk/ The Lighthouse Charity - https://lighthousecharity.org/Construction Industry Helpline - https://www.constructionindustryhelpline.com/Andy’s Man Club - https://andysmanclub.co.uk

Ash Mahoney is joined by world record-breaking Bricklayer, Charlie Collison to hear the full story behind his successful Guinness World Record attempt. Charlie talks Ash through the challenge from start to finish – how he prepared, what it took to break the record and what it felt like to officially become a world record holder. Ash also picks up the conversation around his decision to step away from site work earlier this year. With Charlie recently back on site himself, Ash gets his thoughts on the decision.

After returning to site work this year, Ash has come to the conclusion that he simply can’t make it pay or work for him anymore. In this episode, Ash is joined by Bricklayer, Dale Wherton, who had a similar experience and ultimately decided to leave site work behind and move into teaching. Ash and Dale compare their experiences of working on site, explore why it can be increasingly difficult to make site work financially viable, and discuss what happens when experienced bricklayers decide there are better options elsewhere. They also look at what the future could hold for site work if more tradespeople make the same decision — and whether there’s still a sustainable future for those choosing to build their careers on site. Note from the producer: We recorded this show two days before Dale's win at Super Trowel - we will get Dale back on to tell us all about it and everyone at Fix Radio sends their congratulations to Dale!

Ash Mahoney is joined in the studio by Alic Ramon from Australia and Grant Helms from the US, who recently won Spec Mix in Las Vegas at the third attempt.  Ash chats with Alic and Grant about their background in the trade as well as their experiences on the tools and what the differences are between three continents when it comes to bricklaying.  Alic and Grant are over in the UK for Super Trowel 2026 which takes place Friday 31st July & Saturday 1st August at the Hertfordshire Country Showground (supertrowel.co.uk - for more details and tickets)

With the Super Trowel 2026 final just two weeks away, Ash Mahoney catches up with Dale Wherton & Tom Humphrey about their route to the final and how they've been preparing. Ash also talks to them about their qualifying heats and also who they feel are the ones to watch in the final.

Ash Mahoney asks Bricklayers to join him and discuss how we get and do certain things in the trade. From getting good work, to getting materials or bricks and finding good people to work with you. Guests: Andy Pali, James Naughton & Dean Haywood.

Ash Mahoney looks into potential roles you can take off the tools but still in the trade, if you want to keep working in Bricklaying but worry about the longevity of your body. Richard Green from GSQ talks about his progression from working on the tools into management roles and the new set of challenges that come with it.  Ian Hodgkinson talks about how he's done almost every management role imaginable after starting out on the trowel, The one role in management he couldn't crack and also his journey into TV work.

Ash Mahoney catches up with Super Trowel founder, Ash Francis and finds out about how the competition has grown, how the new regional heats have gone, changes to the rules for this year's competition, talks about the competition taking place at Installer and why this year's final at the Hertfordshire Showground is a 'can't miss' event for any Bricklayer in the UK.  Ash chats to the winner of the regional heat in the Northern Ireland, Chris Quinn and his Hod Carrier, Cian McLoughlin about their experiences competing and how they're preparing for this year's final Ash also catchs up with Josh the Bricky (Josh Oldman) who broke records after joining the competition last minute in 2025. Josh has prepared, competed in regional heats and is getting ready to go all guns blazing into this year's final.

Ash Mahoney chats with Olly Sharp, who is Head of Key Accounts at Ibstock - the UK’s largest brick manufacturer. This episode uncovers how the bricks behind Britain’s homes and skylines are made. From factories producing up to 300,000 bricks a day to the journey from clay extraction to land restoration, they explore the scale, innovation and future of the industry, including how Ibstock creates more than 450 types of brick and keeps up with demand in a changing construction market.

Ash Mahoney asks a big question: are we teaching bricklaying the right way? Joining Ash on this episode is Fix Radio legend and building trade icon Clive Holland, who questions whether the old-school general builder mindset may be disappearing. Other guests include Christian Hatherall-Good, who is a leader in delivering UK apprenticeships, as well as Jack Dawson - who is experienced in teaching the trade.

Ash Mahoney has been back on-site and is about six weeks into his work so far. Ash talks to Jason Dunsford who has about 15 gangs working on-site currently and finds out how he's finding the current site experiences with his Bricklayers and Groundworkers. Charlie Collison joins Ash so that Ash can share what he's observed with regards to how site work is now and compares notes with Charlie.

Rob Songer is back on to talk about mentoring young Bricklayers and the right and wrong ways to go about it. Rob talks about some notable apprentices and students that he's taught over the years, Talks about why he quit teaching at college and the issues with the way some of courses are delivered. Rob talks about examples of bad mentorship and lack of trust from more experienced bricklayers in learners.  Harley Walker joins Ash to talk about his experiences learning from Rob, what Rob has taught him on and off the tools - why he's thankful to have had someone like Rob teach him the trade and what he's up to now.

Ash Mahoney catches up with regular guests from the Bricklaying trade and asks them about their start to the year. Dale Wherton gives an update on what happened with his stolen truck and tools and also talks about why he's decided to have a drastic career change. Izzy The Bricky talks about what he's up to on site and shares a major personal update and Colin Reid, well known on social media for his stone walls talks about the weather, an exciting opportunity to work overseas and some of the projects he's completed and will be working on as the weather improves.

Ash Mahoney looks into the challenges facing so many Bricklayers on site currently. From being snagged senseless, issues around storage of materials, issues with the NHBC and also some of the inconsistent quality that’s no doubt coming from many of these issues.  John Cooper - well known on socials as - New Build Quality Control - talks about the quality he’s seen and what he thinks some of the problems are with the approach to house building and site work. Charlie Collison is frustrated about a lot of this and explains why and what needs to be done to sort it out!