Tour blog 15

Tour blog 15

02 Nov 2008

Email this article to a Friend

BEN charity trip takes a Segway ride as part of its 100 garages in 10 days challenge

Saturday 1st November . . .

11:11am – The bracing air, winding becks (that’s rivers to anyone south of Manchester) and rolling hills of the Cumbrian countryside are so beautiful that they’re making up for the annoyance of not having a lie-in.

Here’s a look at some of the garages we’ve visited so far today as part of our bid to visit 100 in 10 days in support of industry charity BEN.


Brian Rothery at Hi-Q in Penrith
Brian kindly poses for the camera (something not everyone we’ve met is keen to do) and is well informed about BEN and the work it does.

After exchanging pleasantries, we jump back in the van to see the guys at Newland Close Garage, who we know because they entered a competition on this website to win a V-Tech UK scan tool.


Brian and Nicky Cowperthwaite and Steve Cripps form Newland Close Garage in Penrith
Brian is out in the yard changing a light bulb when we pull up. He says that Saturdays are usually odd-job days for clearing up and finishing up any left-over work in the garage.

Inside, his son Nicky is working on a BMW. Sadly, fellow tech Richard Cooper isn’t around. When Aftermarket rang the garage to ask if we could pop in, we spoke to receptionist Gill (who’s also got the day off).

She told everyone that a magazine wanted to speak to Richard and was told by everyone in the workshop that it was he because he had been selected for a photo-shoot in Milan by a top fashion publication!

Brian kindly helps us out by suggesting we dash round to see the guys at Braithwaites. After navigating our way round some winding country lanes, we eventually make it.


Mark Braithwaite from Braithwaites Garage in Newbiggin
For once, even our sat nav doesn’t know where we’re going. ‘Road’ is the unusually obvious description of the particular highway we’re taking to get to this small village.

Normally, we get a two sentence description listing every possible categorisation of the route we’re on.
We pull up and trot through to the workshop to meet Mark. With all the talk of specialisation that goes on, Braithwaites really is a rare beast.

It’s a workshop, body shop, car sales showroom and petrol station all rolled into one. Mark explains that his dad, Gerald, set up the business in an era when mastering the separate skills of repair, paint and sales work was actually possible.


Clive Griffiths at Manor House Garage in Plumpton
We’re a bit early for our appointment with Clive so we decide to take a scenic detour before pulling up outside what looks like a house with a detached garage but is actually a fully functioning workshop.

Clive, who’s a member of the Frank Massey Network, is the local diagnostic expert for numerous other garages and has an ASNU injector tester hidden away on a workbench.

“I’m not interested in putting clutches in anymore,” he says. “It’s the body that can’t take it. The neck’s gone and the back. The usual things.”

The house next door is not actually lived in anymore and Clive uses it to relax in while he’s having a break from work.
A webcam linked to a computer in the kitchen means he can see if any customers arrive even if he’s got his feet up for a coffee and a smoke.

“I’ve always been into messing about with computers,” says Clive. “It’s the challenge. If a car comes in with a problem you get a lot of satisfaction knowing you bossed it.”

Clive is keen to get an Autologic tool with PSA software, which he works on quite a lot. He’s also got an Autodiagnos Multi-Tester Pro and a Carmenscan for tackling Asian vehicles.

Over a cup of coffee and in his cheeky Cumbrian accent, Clive says he reckons mandatory legislation of the trade would probably be a good thing. But for better or worse he doesn’t think it will actually ever happen.

Before we leave, he shows us one of the latest technical problems he’s solved. In a change from the usual brain-frying electronic problems, a friend brought him a Segway that had broken down.

“It was just the battery that needed re-seating,” says Clive, with a big grin on his face as he zips about the garage on the two-wheeled contraption.

Personally, I always thought they were for people too lazy to walk but apparently this one can get up to 12mph which is a fair-old turn of pace I guess.

Clive says that sometime he feels like technology is changing too fast for its own good. But he’s clearly doing a great job of keeping up.

Another brilliant technician who seems to be profiting from his investment in technology and, more importantly, and another great guy who I’m sure offers the kind of friendly service that will keep customers coming back for more.

Dave McCallum at West Morland Garage
This workshop is on a fantastically average looking industrial estate but is home to some very witty technicians.

I ask a ruddy-skinned man wearing four inches of pullovers if Dave’s around. “Yeah, I’ll go and get Quasimodo,” he says.

“He’s dead ugly you know,” he carries on. “I hope you’ve got another camera. He might break it.”
I say hello to Dave (who looks perfectly fine to me) and tell him about BEN before we drive round the corner to our next stop.


Colin Beatty at Hi-Q in Carlisle
Colin is a fairly self-conscious guy. We ask to take a picture in his workshop and his face drops. “It’s pretty dirty,” he says. Even though it really isn’t.

He’s not convinced about his own presence in front of the camera either. In the end I have to go for the solo option and do my best male-modelling pose in front of reception.

From there it’s another drive through the rolling hills and vales next to Hadrian’s Wall as we head east towards Hexham. Along the way, we stop off at . . .


Cuthbert’s Auto Repairs in Carlisle
Being based next to a BP filling station and Spa supermarket must have its advantages when it comes to picking up passing customers.

Having an entrance way that’s so narrow you can barely see it – let alone drive a two-and-a-bit ton truck down it – is not one of them.

Still, they must be doing something right because they’re probably the busiest garage we’ve seen all day.

Email this article to a Friend

<< back