Thomas Quine was a joiner, builder, decorator and general contractor, he had started his business around 1878 and by 1914 his two sons had joined him in the business. His yard was located in the village on Ford Road, opposite the junction with Moreton Road.

To relieve the congestion in Upton Village and Rake Lane it was proposed in 1933 to build a by-pass. The new road was to run from Ford Road near its junction with Moreton Road and rejoin Rake Lane near Upton Motors (now the Shell filling station)..

Few properties would be affected by new road, the main casualty being Quine’s yard. It was located just where the new by-pass was to be built. The Quines offered their yard to the Corporation for £10,000 to include the land and compensation for disruption of their business.

The Corporation felt this was much to high and asked for the Borough Engineer to value the property, he described the site as follows:

• Shop, office with timber stores over, constructed of timber and corrugated iron, the inside being wood lined, a small lean to shed adjoining.
• Carpenters shop and paint stores
• Plumbers shop and stores
• Small stores for ladders etc.
• Two sheds containing mortar mills in each with electric power
  
  The above structures are of wood construction with corrugated iron roofs
  
  
• One shed containing a mortar mill as above of wood construction with felt roof.
• The area is 1340 square yards or thereabouts and includes the road at the side over which a right of way is enjoyed by the adjoining owner

He estimated the value of the property to be in the region of £2,250, not including trade disturbance. 

The Quines also owned land on Moreton Road, behind The Stonehouse, they proposed that if the Corporation contributed to the costs, the yard could be relocated to this land, this would a cheaper option as the cost would be:

Purchase of the Quines' original yard	£1,000
Preparing site, laying drains cables etc., new buildings for offices, stores etc.	800
Moving the three mortar mills	150
New access road, demolition of an existing building to provide access, new gable ends on remaining parts of the building	500
Total	£2,450

Negotiations continued for almost four years, the main sticking point being that the Quines were worried that their new neighbours on Moreton Road would get an injunction to stop them using the mortar mills due to the noise. Their sale of mortar was an important source of income, in each of the years 1933, 1934 and 1935 had been around 2,500 tons, giving an annual profit of around £500.

The Quines wanted the corporation to provide an indemnity should the neighbours obtain their injunction.

Eventually, in June 1937, the Corporation agreed to pay £2,950 including a contribution towards the cost of enclosing the mortar mills in brick buildings to reduce the noise.

Other land required for the new road caused less problems, in fact Mr D W Roberts gave the part of his land required free of charge.

The new Rake Lane bypass, now called Arrowe Park Road, was opened the following year in 1938.

The Quine family have a stained glass memorial window in St Mary’s Church, and the short lane which led into their ‘new’ yard, and now leads to St Joseph’s Primary School, is still called Quines Way.