Wednesday, July 18, 2018

THE 'BUSINESS END' OF A BRIGG GARAGE YOU MAY REMEMBER


A number of pictures have survived showing the front of the once extensive Layne's garage in Brigg town centre.
But there are very few about today that show the rear of the premises, close to Elwes Street. This one has just come to light from our family archive.
Layne's sold and repaired cars, vans and lorries from the early part of the 20th century through to the 1970s.
At its height the company employed scores of people in Brigg and at its other outlets in North Lincolnshire.
Among the long-servers was Charles Ernest Taylor, pictured above in the company's yard, close to Elwes Street, in the late 1950s or early 1960s, judging by the makes of car on display.
He joined Layne's after service as a First World War sergeant with the Lincolnshire Regiment, and held the same rank in Brigg's Home Guard during the 1939-45 conflict.
A coach painter and signwriter, Charles still rode his bike to work from his home in Hawthorn Avenue when  well into his 70s - latterly working part-time in what was, by then, something of a specialist role.
Born in 1896, one of his earliest jobs was as a messenger/delivery boy when the Post Office was on Wrawby Street.
However, there was another location long before that.
The painting below shows the Market Place in 1835 when the  building on the extreme right housed the County Post Office, and there appears to be a mail coach on the left.
Although Rowland Hill's renowned penny post did not arrive until 1840, organised letter delivery had existed in England since the 16th century.
Was this, perhaps, Brigg's first Post Office?
The view also shows a front corner of the Buttercross, on the left.
It was a relatively new structure then, as was the County Bridge in the far distance.
Due to conservation, planning and some good fortune, Brigg town centre has not changed out of all recognition in 183 years.



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