A Motoring History of the Kennet Valley

ROGER DAY was born in Marlborough and for the past forty years or so has been passionately interested in the area's recent wartime history. This fascination has resulted in the publication of several books on the subject. However, less well known is Roger's interest in Britain's motoring past, which started following a visit in the early '60s to the Cheddar Motor Museum. Other books by Roger Day include The Western Kennet Valley in the Great War; Ramsbury at War; Savernake at War; Membury at War; Look, Duck & Vanish; and Tonight We Die As Men (with Ian Gardner) TIM GREEN was born in Newbury and has always had a keen interest in old stuff of all kinds, being perfectly happy as a child to visit stately homes with his parents and listening to his dad's jazz records. A vintage car owner and collector of Automobilia, among probably too many other things, he is married and has lived in Highclere for many years.

Foreword 5
Introduction 6
Acknowledgements 8
Chapter 1 - From the dawn of motoring to the 1930s 9
The Thousand Mile Trial 10
Early Motoring Accidents 14
Edwardian Lambourn 17
Carnival Time 19
The Mill, Chilton Foliat 21
The EJYR Syndicate and Highclere Garage 22
Short-Lived Motoring Companies 26
The First World War 27
Automobile Association Filling Station, Aldermaston 28
Regulating the Garages 30
The roaring twenties and thirties 32
Repairing the roads 36
Chapter 2 - Pointing The Way 37
Pointing the Way 38
Chapter 3 - Fill 'er up! - Petrol Stations & Garages 46
Avebury Garage 47
Beckhampton Filling Station 49
Silbury Hill Garage and Cafe 51
Bartlett and Son of Overton 56
Bell's Garage, Marlborough 57
Herd and Leader, Marlborough 59
Cadley Garage, Savernake 64
SkippenceGarage,Froxfield 68
Laurel Garage, Ramsbury 72
The Central Garage, Ramsbury 78
Aldbourne's Motoring Heritage 83
Lunn of Aldbourne 85
A Motoring History pgs.indd 3 21/10/2021 19:14
Stag Garage, Chilton Foliat 88
Western Charnham Street, Hungerford 91
Eastern Charnham Street & Bath Road, Hungerford 99
Manor House Petrol Station, High Street, Hungerford 109
Kintbury Garage 111
Motoring in the Lambourn Valley 114
Goslings, High Street, Lambourn 114
Brown and Warren, Lambourn 116
Stradlings' of Newbury 119
E C Wheeler, Newbury 123
Martin and Chillingworth, Newbury 128
Marchant's Garages, Newbury 134
Murray & Whittaker, Newbury 139
Keene's Garage, Thatcham 143
Harry Lester, Thatcham 147
C G Brown, Thatcham 149
The Sun Garage, Woolhampton 155
Halfway Garage, Padworth 160
Beacon Hill Garage, Burghclere 164
Chapter 4 - Transport Cafes 167
Ridgeway Transport Cafe 168
The Golden Arrow Filling Station and Cafe 171
Mac's Cafe, Padworth 175
Tower Cafe, Beenham 178
Chapter 5 - The Bentley Boys 179
Elmdown Vintage Automobiles, Ramsbury 180
Chapter 6 - Motoring Emergencies 186
Chapter 7 - The 50s, 60s & 70s... accidents, congestion and change 200
Bibliography 207