Take a drive down memory lane with these old photos of garages in Arbroath.
From horse power to miles per hour, there was no shortage of garages and car showrooms when vehicle ownership became widespread in the post-war years.
At the dawn of the motoring era a century and more ago, firms ventured into car making including Anderson-Grice which began life in 1875 at the Arbroath Foundry.
Anderson-Grice built a small number of cars but the project was abandoned and sold to James Law in Arbroath after they were found to be too expensive for ready sale.
Then there was Douglas Fraser & Sons, which made a few steam-powered cars in 1911.
The Fraser family were prominent among the early car owners in Angus.
The British Film Institute released a 14-minute clip of the Fraser family at their mansion in the town’s Cairnie Hill in 1928, which was sent to relatives in Argentina.
It showcases the house, grounds and staff, as well as the fleet of luxurious cars including a Rolls-Royce Twenty complete with chauffeur.
So where there were cars, there needed to be garages, mostly through adaptations to existing buildings, but as time went on, purpose-built garages began to be seen.
The 1955/56 Arbroath Year Book under Motor Engineers and Dealers included names like Arbroath Motor Company, Fleming’s Autoport, Pert Brothers and Tower Garage.
Others included Motor Spirit and Oil Merchants and the Elliot Filling Station.
Whether it was a pit stop to fill up with petrol or the exciting purchase of a first car, people might remember some of these familiar names in the motor trade.
Some have gone, some have changed hands, others are still there.
How many do you remember?
Lamb’s Garage
Lamb’s Garage in 1957.
Tutties Neuk pub is still with us, as is the wall surrounding Gayfield, but Lamb’s Garage is long gone, demolished for Arbroath’s inner relief road.
The Austin dealership was a far bigger building than the impression given in this picture.
The three vehicles look like a Ford Squire or Escort, maybe a Simca, and a Triumph.
The showroom was open from 8am until 9pm from Monday to Saturday.
Walker’s Garage
Walker’s Garage in Hume Street, in the 1960s or 1970s.
The premises, opposite the main entrance to Morrisons, are now the workplace of City Electrical Factors, but apart from the closing up of the windows the building seems largely the same.
Even the perimeter wall looks identical.
Elliot Garage
This garage was at Elliot, on the A92, but its longevity was not helped by this flood in April 1988.
Elliot was badly hit. The road was closed to traffic and under three feet of water.
Water poured into gardens and into some houses.
Craig’s Garage
Craig’s Garage in 1990.
From the days when every town had a Ford dealership, Ian Craig’s garage had its showroom window in Millgate.
The workshop was accessed from North Grimsby, but has since been demolished for housing.
The showroom is still used – for music lessons.
So, if you want your car tuned…
Shell Pump
This undated image is fascinating.
On the back of the print is written: “Roger at Gayfield Garage at pump”.
If it wasn’t for the word Shell, written on the bulb above what looks like a lighthouse light, it would be tempting to think that a lighthouse is exactly what it was.
Does anyone have any more information about this?
Law’s Garage
Law’s Garage was on the corner of Commerce Street and Marketgate in Arbroath, on a main thoroughfare in those days.
Law’s was proud to advertise that it had a turntable.
It also had a Morris dealership and was selling the “revolutionary” Minor in 1959 for £350 which was “easy to drive” and available in “exciting colours”.
When the garage closed, the premises were used by Cargill’s ice cream factory.
The TSB built an extension where the garage entrance used to be.
Copland’s Garage
What a line up at Copland’s Garage in Cairnie Street.
Bert Copland owned many taxis, some of them traditional ‘London’ models, and had several school contracts in the rural area, such as Carmyllie.
Copland’s advertised as specialising in car hire for all occasions including weddings.
It was a sad end when the bulldozers moved in back in 1994.
There are now houses on the site, and also on the open ground to the right, which stretches towards Arbroath High School.
Toll House Garage
A tollhouse stood at the foot of Infirmary Brae, Arbroath, and it had a garage and motor cycle agency attached.
It is easy to sit back and complain about how prices are rising all the time but this is evidence for the complainers that few things are as cheap as they once were.
Power Petrol cost 1/4 per gallon.
That’s almost 70 litres per pound.
The demolition is undated, but the infirmary appears to be in good health.
Greyhound Garage
It was all change in August 1996.
At the junction of East Newgate and Union Street East, the demolition was taking place of the former Greyhound bus garage.
The noise of the buses’ engines was consigned to history.
All that was left was rubble.
Alexander Bus Garage
A new bus garage was built at Elliot Industrial Estate in June 1970 for Walter Alexander, now part of Stagecoach.
The double-decker, CMS 367, was a Leyland with an Alexander-built body and was new to Alexander’s.
Askit was a favourite advert which occupied the rear panels of many buses at that time.
Nowadays the area would be covered in Stagecoach buses.
Golden Lion Garage
Doug Matthewson’s Golden Lion Garage, Montrose Road, Arbroath, in about 1962.
The post-war American influence is shown in the design of the Vauxhall Cresta and Victor, and the Ford Consul.
At various times he had agencies for Vauxhall, BMW and Maserati.
The garage is now owned by Park’s of Hamilton, selling Renault and Nissan.
Mr Matthewson was also a coxswain of the Arbroath Lifeboat.
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