Elizabeth Taylor starred the new gleaming white Series II Alpine in "Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof".Then, cars had to be serviced every 3,6,12 and 24 thousand
miles..The Hillman Minx and Super Minx, Sunbeam Rapier, Singer, Humber
Hawk, the luxurious Super Snipe, Commer TS3 lorries with the powerful
Cadenz engines, I repaired and test drove them all. One customer I remember
so well! He secretly glued single paint brush hairs to check tappet
adjustment and wheel transposition was correctly done It was.
I recall a high stone wall parallel to the pavement between the Pen Mill
Hotel and Lyde Road junction. One could not see over the wall so I do not
know what lay behind it. If one drove further down Lyde Road one arrived at
the the town rubbish dump. I did my apprenticeship at FW Saunders.( Rootes
Group Dealers) Reckleford, which was widened in 1962. Sadly the pretty,
green Bides Garden, next to the hospital was also eliminated.
Automatic transmissions were rare. A lady asked us for help. Her Hillman
Minx III was stuck on Reckleford. I lifted the bonnet a saw no engine but
lots of black tubes. One was hissing, so I stuck my finger in the hole and
the car promptly sprang forward and ran me over! The oil sump warmed my
cheek as I lay on the ground and the dear lady was most upset. That was my
first (unique) Smiths 3-speed automatic.
You worked at Rootes dealers back in 1962? Did you get to drive Series II
Alpines and those gorgeous Loewy-designed Singers that looked like
miniature Studebakers brand new from the factory? If so, I can't help but
be a bit jealous!
Also, I was asking because I'm trying to locate the home of a family who
lived on Sherbourne Road in the 1880s. I believe they lived within a
partially-obstructed view of the railway line so I'm guessing very near
that corner.
As someone born in Yeovil (1953, at Balidon house) I was most interested to
see this collection as quite a lot of the scenes I remember. Thanks for
posting.
What stood at that vacant lot at Sherbourne Road and Lyde Road? The lot
that would have been behind the photographer in the pic you showed? Was it
a house?