57 replies to this topic

[Phyll]

Hi John C, Welcome to Connect. I hope you find lots more memories on here.

[lightweight dickie]

hi . new hear is DION still around i have news of a photo of GENEVA MOTORS , BOOTLE ?

[vinty]

Did Fred Hartley live in Oxford St.
I bought a lot of Motor Cycle related gear from him about 48 years ago He had an Experimental racing bike built by an Italian which I tried to buy but he wouldnt part with it at the time . I seem to remember a 2 storey building with the top floor full of bike bits somewhere near the the old Oxford cinema..

Edited by vinty, 14 January 2012 - 09:20 PM.

[Dion]

lightweight dickie, on 14 January 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

hi . new hear is DION still around i have news of a photo of GENEVA MOTORS , BOOTLE ?

Yes I am, I've seen the Bootle photo, thanks anyway.

[tessmop]

Hi Vinty,yes he did,I bought my first car a MINI reg 857 VLG colour Fiesta Yellow,what a death trap it was until I got it sorted by Lunns Garage in Ashcroft St.

[lightweight dickie]

glad you've seen the pic. Dion . i only joined the forum to show it to you . i am not from St.Helens but found the Geneva querie pop up on another forum - the wonders of t'internet eh ? while i am here can any of you help me ? i have a Bond 3 wheeler 1949 - very early one . it was owned first by Geoffrey Evans ,Lawrenson St. St.Helens . listed as withdrawn/scrapped by the authorities in 1962. i am restoring it but would love to know why the car is LEFT HAND DRIVE the only one in u.k.

does anyone recall the car , geoffrey or are any of the family still around ? many thanks

[Lowe House Boy]

I have only just seen this thread. I can settle the Geneva motors query for you 100%.
The shop was located on the corner of Hall St. and Church St. After it closed the premises were taken over by the Army And Navy stores.
In later years it was a Chinese buffet establishment.
The reason I know of the place is because working for Geneva Motors was my first job when I left school. I worked at the shop for only a few weeks in early Spring 1960.
One time they sent me to Shaw St. Station to pick up a new motorbike.It was quite a big bike and still had some sort of wrapping on it for protection and I as a smallish fifteen year old had to wheel it back to the shop. It was hard work. But could you imagine the same situation these days,I don't think so. One of my other tasks was to go to the town hall to register new bikes. Sometimes I might have a dozen log books to register.
They sold a lot of stuff at the time I was there but things must have changed in the next couple of years.

[morgan]

I seem to recall an iron mongers shop on the corner of Hall st and Church st,sometime in the 1950s.

[Phyll]

Hi Morgan, If I haven't said it before to Connect.

You too Lightweight Dickie.

I believe the Ironmongers was called Brooks at one time.
Here is a thread we had about it.

http://www.sthelens-...nmonger-tokens/

Later it was called Grundy's.

http://www.nationala...t=139-g&cid=0#0

Edited by Phyll, 23 January 2012 - 08:35 AM.

[morgan]

Thanks phyll,
I'm not sure but I think Grundys was the wooden building on the corner of Church st & Shaw st.
The one I was thinking about may have been called Barrows

[Dion]

Lowe House Boy, on 22 January 2012 - 03:36 PM, said:

I have only just seen this thread. I can settle the Geneva motors query for you 100%.
The shop was located on the corner of Hall St. and Church St. After it closed the premises were taken over by the Army And Navy stores.
In later years it was a Chinese buffet establishment.
The reason I know of the place is because working for Geneva Motors was my first job when I left school. I worked at the shop for only a few weeks in early Spring 1960.
One time they sent me to Shaw St. Station to pick up a new motorbike.It was quite a big bike and still had some sort of wrapping on it for protection and I as a smallish fifteen year old had to wheel it back to the shop. It was hard work. But could you imagine the same situation these days,I don't think so. One of my other tasks was to go to the town hall to register new bikes. Sometimes I might have a dozen log books to register.
They sold a lot of stuff at the time I was there but things must have changed in the next couple of years.

Was it owned by the Forwards (later Forward Autos)?

[jonmuse]

I bought a Royal Enfield from Bill Pope's in Church Road Haydock in 1959. It had a super Fairing on it and it gave me wonderful service for about three years, when I bought a second hand Morris Mini from Jackie Lunn in Ashcroft St. My first bike was an old 500cc Rudge (handchange) which finished up in the cut at Blackbrook with me on it. Happy days eh?

[SKYMAN]

off the subject,,how nice to see a member useing his own name.
hope it will catch on ,im willing with back up..............