Bedford Driving Lessons

Service always came with a smile on the forecourt of Bentley’s garage. Right up until the last tankful of petrol, pump attendant Dudley Oliver was on duty for his customers. Not only would he fill their cars with fuel – he would check the oil, water and tyres free of charge. Sometimes he would even pass the time of day by telling a joke. But a century of proud service at the local High Street filling station came to an end when Mr Oliver and his employers hung up their pumps for the last time – driven into oblivion by crippling competition from cut-price supermarkets and health and safety laws from the EU. The closure of its fuel business marks the passing of one of the last garages in Britain that refused to bow to the rise of self-service forecourts and pay-at-pump technology. Instead, Mr Oliver maintained a tradition that most of the country abandoned long ago as part of a dramatic decline in the notion of customer service. Until last weekend, a trip to Bentley’s in the Devon seaside town of Exmouth was like turning the clock back to a different age. Although 68-year-old Mr Oliver’s official title was forecourt manager, there wasn’t actually much of a forecourt. Cars simply pulled up on the pavement while Dudley did his stuff. Mostly the drivers would hand their cash out of the window and drive off when he gave them the thumbs up. It was a priceless facility for mothers who didn’t want to leave their children alone in the car or unbuckle them to queue and pay inside. Not to mention smart-suited chaps who didn’t want to get their hands dirty, or little old ladies who weren’t quite sure which side the filler cap was on. When the garage opened for business in 1912, it filled five-gallon cans with petrol and delivered them by hand-cart to the fortunate few who could afford a car. More