SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Does anybody know or remember anything about the traders or types of traders who used to work in the units at Tower Works on Globe Road after the factory closed in 1981? Or does anybody know somebody who used or worked in the site after that or even before?

There was a small specialist Citroen repair shop where I had good service for many years until around 2001. There was also, right to the last days of the estate, a large building near the main gates which housed a specialist in dismantling Bedford vehicles and selling the spares. Plus a reputable smallish garage called Aireside Motors who also did MoT's.

BLAKEY wrote: There was a small specialist Citroen repair shop where I had good service for many years until around 2001. There was also, right to the last days of the estate, a large building near the main gates which housed a specialist in dismantling Bedford vehicles and selling the spares. Plus a reputable smallish garage called Aireside Motors who also did MoT's. The Citroen garage was “Double Chevron Motors” and was run by a mad chap called Charles. He’d actually worked at the Citroen plant in Paris and knew his stuff when it came to fixing my DS. In the double unit next door was a precision engineering shop where I applied for a job. Sadly, they wanted quality engineers, not rough-arsed hammer merchants like me!

You have a DS? Wow, not Leeds related but they are amazing. I was going to get one but found out that Double Chevron has finished and knocked the idea on the head!

I always had Citroens [CX Safaris] and came upon the DS by chance. It looked the part but was a pig to drive. Stick with Range Rovers now. Not very green but that's why I love them!

liits wrote: BLAKEY wrote: There was a small specialist Citroen repair shop where I had good service for many years until around 2001. There was also, right to the last days of the estate, a large building near the main gates which housed a specialist in dismantling Bedford vehicles and selling the spares. Plus a reputable smallish garage called Aireside Motors who also did MoT's. The Citroen garage was “Double Chevron Motors” and was run by a mad chap called Charles. He’d actually worked at the Citroen plant in Paris and knew his stuff when it came to fixing my DS. In the double unit next door was a precision engineering shop where I applied for a job. Sadly, they wanted quality engineers, not rough-arsed hammer merchants like me! Again unrelated to Leeds but - not a lot of people know this:http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/894731

Sounds like Double Chevron Motors was pretty reliable. I wonder what happened to Charles?

Bryony wrote: Sounds like Double Chevron Motors was pretty reliable. I wonder what happened to Charles? I knew Charles quite well as a customer, having first met him by chance as a frequent visitor to the famous David Street cafe at lunchtimes. I may be wrong but I believe he gave up the successful business simply because he was a perfectionist, with a capital "P", and he was not happy with even minor hiccups which were usually the fault of a customer or supplier. He was also an absolute expert on every aspect of preserving vintage Scammell lorries and owned several from time to time. Anyway, he took his HGV test and passed first time, in his md fifties, and got a really good job with the Army in a civlian capacity of some kind. This involved moving far away somewhere and I imagine he has now retired happily.Incidentally, while still running Double Chevron, he bought a piece of land abutting the railway embankment in Whitehall Road and made a very successful commuter car park operated by an employee.Charles was a fascinating character to know, and many of we cafe regulars enjoyed many a witty lunchtime with him.Bet you wish you'd never asked !!        

WOW! What a guy! Hopefully he's somewhere more sunny! So were the majority of the units used by garages/car dealers?

Bryony wrote: WOW! What a guy! Hopefully he's somewhere more sunny! So were the majority of the units used by garages/car dealers? Can't honestly say about the other units and what they were used as.Another kindly side of Charles showed when a hedgehog in his garden at Moortown died, leaving four new orphans. Charles brought them to Double Chevron and made a nest for them. Each one had a tiny blob of coloured paint applied for identification - they were fed and watched regularly and, can you believe ??, all thrived and were eventually released back into his garden and as far as we know "lived happily ever after."