I was sad to hear the news of the closure of the Arriva Bus and Coach dealership.
I once met Stanley Hughes’ business bank manager on one of our weekend breaks. He believed Stanley could not read or write, but that he was brilliant with mental maths.
When my dad bought his first coach there in 1964 it was £12 a month, a payment book, and away you went to make money. Our last one in 2012 was the same principle at £2,500 a month, but with minimal paperwork.
There was a fully alcohol–ladened bar onsite back then. Reg Penn used to hitchhike with trade plates to collect a new chassis and fit a driver’s seat to drive it back. He probably needed a brandy to keep warm.
The coach sales business went through various owners, with great and eccentric managers and some bonkers stories. Ironically, Jim Martin, who was in coach sales, always said when we took a new DAF: “One day this site will be a supermarket.” Now he will be correct.
Richard Godson,
formerly of Godsons Coaches
Leeds
