Pumpery
By the side of a road a few miles outside elegant, hilly Malvern, in the flat country between the villages of Guarlford and Rhydd, is this small corrugated-iron building, now partly surrounded by grass, weeds, and elderberries. Driving past many times, I took it to be a farm outbuilding, but then I noticed the way it faces right on to the road and the presence of a very old petrol pump at one corner. There’s an enamel warning sign about the dangers of petroleum spirit too, its red lettering still clear against a white background, now partly obscured by the elder. I assume, then, that this was once a small garage, supplying fuel to cars on the way to and from Malvern and also to vehicles associated with the neighbouring farm.* Like so many early garages and pumps, it is right by the roadside (the tarmac is just out of shot), so that the motorist had just to stop and refuel. Since Malvern is the home of the Morgan Motor Company, I have mental images of early three-wheelers and 4/4s pulling up…
In 1927, as car ownership increased in Britain, the Roadside Petrol Pumps Act was passed, giving local councils the power to licence petrol pumps. To start with, these pumps were hand-cranked, but by 1930, electric pumps were being installed on roadsides. World War II brought petrol rationing and the demise of many rural garages, but once the post-war period of austerity was over, there was a steady increase in car ownership again and many new purpose-built garages and filling stations were built. More and more, these were substantial buildings with proper forecourts, on to which one pulled, and eventually safety considerations meant that the old roadside pumps disappeared. The occasional survivor, either rusty like this one or more consciously preserved, remains to remind us of a very different era of motoring.
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*And since this is an assumption, I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who knows more about the history of this building.
Brilliant, just love it. Once again your picture makes me want to go there NOW.
ReplyDeleteThe shed itself may be older? I'm surprised how far corrugated iron goes back. A very Worcestershire experience... like the self-build squatters' houses near Kidderminster (probably long gone) and various permanent caravan sites in bygone apple orchards...
ReplyDeleteWhat a little gem! How amazing that it's still there and hasn't been vandalised. To me, corrugated iron buildings like this are things of beauty.
ReplyDeleteThank you all. Yes, this does chime with other Worcestershire buildings.
ReplyDeleteLike Peter I am curious and would like to see this for myself. The proliferation of small roadside petrol stations/garages caused some concern in the 1920's when they were often seen as an eyesore particularly when covered in enamel advertising signs.
ReplyDeleteThere is one of these early petrol stations in the Hitchcock fim 'Young and Innocent'
Stephen: Yes. Books from the interwar period like England and the Octopus and Britain and the Beast have things to say about the 'blight' caused by this kind of thing. Garages, roadside cafés, and refreshment 'shacks' were particular targets for this sort of criticism, as were advertising signs of all kinds, from big posters on hoardings to the colourful enamel signs that are now prized by collectors. Shacks and similar roadside buildings were seen by many as part of the same tendency as 'ribbon development' - unplanned, badly built, ugly, etc, etc. Even back then, though, not everyone saw them in a negative light. I must do another post about all this.
ReplyDeleteI always like to watch pictures from "no man's land" terrains. Abandoned building have their own magic.
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