Welsh garage from the 1920s.
We spent a week in a holiday cottage near Caernarfon, and during one drive out, I think on the Llanberis road, we stumbled across this amazing looking garage, which dates to the early 1920s if not earlier. The location is Llanrug, a visitor to the site (Jamie) has now confirmed.
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I managed to speak to the garage's owner, and he told me that it has been in his family from new. This garage is a very early survivor, dating to the time before petrol pumps, when fuel was distributed in two-gallon petrol cans, of the type that are collected today. He still has much of the original paperwork from when the garage was in its prime. Fortunately he has no plans (2006) to pull it down, although there are no plans to restore it either. Hopefully it'll be preserved in its "as-is" condition, it certainly deserves it.
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The condition of the main building is looking quite poor, and the deterioration would need arresting in the fairly near future if it is to survive. Apparently it is quite a landmark and often prompts drivers to pull over and have a look around. The old-style petrol pumps (from the 1940s/1950s at a guess) are still on the tiny forecourt, and a battered enamel sign advertises Essolube oils, and Esso fuel, as it has done for sixty years or more. Lodge Plugs are also advertised on the front of the building, the sign having faded over the years as you'd expect.
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Quite a few older garages still survive in Wales, and several are featured in this section of the site. One of the best preserved is Pritchard's in Llandrindod Wells.
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