Pilton Bridge Garage in the 1960s

Pilton Bridge Garage was built in the 1930s by Charlie Hinxman and he is recorded in Kelly’s Directory as the owner in 1941.  In the 1960s, it looked like the photograph below when it was owned by Terry Loder’s uncle, Jack Bater.  By the end of that decade, petrol cost about 5 shillings and 6 pence per gallon (the equivalent of around 6p/litre and about one twentieth of what it costs today.  Regrettably, this splendid Art Deco building, which wouldn’t have looked out of place in the heyday of Hercule Poirot, was replaced by the modern construction which is there today.  The photograph was first posted on the Facebook Barnstaple History Page by Terry Loder to whom many thanks are due.