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Personal Memories of Mr John Box on car owners in Arnside

Working down from the Knott, Mr Grundy (opp. Convalescent Home) owned a 1929 Austin 16.  Mr Popplewell  at Beechwood had a 1939 Buick.  This would have been made in Canada to attract reduced import duty.  He also bought one of the very first Land Rovers (1948) to use on his estate.  

C.B. Wilson ran a maroon 1938 Daimler and Robin Crossfield had managed to get a new Rover.  Bob Flanagan had a blue Standard 8 and Mrs. Cherry down Boathouse Lane had one of the first Bond minicars in metallic pink.  C.A. Box had a new blue Austin 8 (company car) and Kitty Heath, next door, had a black Morris 10.  Her mother founded Arnside W.I  

There was a white Jowett on High Knott road but I don’t have an owner’s name.  Captain Curwen ran a bronze coloured Vauxhall coupe.  Going down Orchard Road there was a blue Vauxhall on the corner with a one-armed owner.  Then there was Tommy Ward’s black Pontiac.  Further down, Dr Matchett had managed to get himself a new green Rover.

Along Silverdale Road behind what was the school was Procters coal merchants who owned a Bedford truck and ran the village taxi service with a 1937 Austin York limousine.  Opposite at Hill Top, Commander Lemon drove a 1935 blue Armstrong Siddeley and Mrs Blake up the hill had a similar one in green which was chauffeur drive.  The Titteringtons at Stonycroft ran a 1938 Daimler.  

Down on the front Mr Barton at the bakery owned a green Jowett Javelin and Nelsons at Trafalgar Garage had a Bedford coach which was used for transporting ladies from the station up to the Convalescent home on a weekly basis.  At the Station Garage Mr Licence (good name) had managed to get a new black Rover, no doubt through trade connections.  Along at the scrapyard opposite the Station there were two late twenties Citroens, which had probably been taxis, and an Armstrong Siddeley.

One or two cars may have escaped me but Arnside, at the time, was only a third of the size it is now and reliance was placed on the bus service to Kendal which was hourly.  This was operated by Dallam Motor Services based in Milnthorpe.  The two buses most frequently used were Nos. 9 and 10 both mid-thirties Leyland Lions.  These buses had six  cylinder petrol engines which were relatively quiet and were drowned out by the lively chattering of a full load of 30 odd passengers.  No. 6 was a standby bus, again a Leyland Lion but of twenties origin.  A new Leyland Cheetah  had been delivered at the outbreak of war but this was kept for special occasions, excursions, etc.

Their most endearing bus was the “Duchess”, a twenties Vulcan that normally served Hincaster but also did yeoman service delivering school children to Heversham.  The “Duchess” was powered by a type of engine used in Lagondas and Invictas of the period and could well exceed its legal permitted max. speed of 30mph.  The clutch used to slip ascending Milnthorpe hill filling the cabin with smoke.  Happy days.

Other services to the village came via the refuse wagon, a drab grey Fordson  but, again, petrol  engined and relatively quiet.  Mr Cummins, the butcher came in from Burton weekly with his cream coloured Austin 10 van.  Occasionally the telegraph wires outside our house were inspected  by a GPO engineer who had a specially adapted Morris van with glass panels in the roof to facilitate upward vision.  The roads were tarred and gritted annually by a team equipped with Foden steam wagons and a road roller.  On Sundays a small 1930 ish immaculately t turned out Dennis  coach would come in from Lancaster and park opposite the bakery.  The signwriting on it proclaimed it to be ‘Entwhistle’s  Lounge’.  It is believed that it became a item of interest in Dennis Motors’ historic collection.  Because commercials were more readily available and carried no purchase tax, Mr. Critchley. The local bookmaker, bought a new Ford 8 van.

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