Treburley Garage - 70 Years of Service
Thomas Roy Rowe, known for the rest of his life as Roy, was born on the 5th July 1927 and was the second child of local farmer and butchers Thomas and Minnie Rowe.
Roy was born in his grandparents’ house, Walston, at Rezare, where he lived with his older sister Rita and younger brother Ivor. As he grew up, it soon became obvious that he would not wish to purse a working life on the farm, leaving that to his younger brother Ivor but instead enjoyed all things mechanical. Assembling bicycles and stripping watches became his preferred spare time pursuits over, milking, lambing and haymaking. Although the odd farm machinery repair, did help out the family business.
As with all of his family, subsequent and previous, at 5, he went to Trekenner school, staying there until he was 14. Despite his father wanting him to go on to further education, Roy was adamant that he wanted to be a mechanic so, in 1941, he started an apprenticeship with ‘JB Smith and Sons’ of Launceston.
In 1946, as with many young men, he was called up for National Service and civilian life was put on hold for a few years as he joined the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, doing tours of duty in Egypt, Cyprus, Somaliland, Kenya and the Suez.
Upon his return to civvy street, he continued to work for JB Smiths. However, in 1951 he applied for planning permission for a single bay garage, the area that is now the MOT bay, along with petrol pumps.
At the end of 1951, Roy married Beryl Gibbons. Beryl, although originally from Yorkshire, had been billeted to Stoke Climsland whilst serving with the land army during the Second World War. She met Roy and the rest, as they say in the movies, is history. They started married life by moving into Treburley shop, a business vacated by Roy’s uncle.
In January 1952, the first part of the garage was built, with Beryl running the shop and serving petrol. Roy continued to work at JB Smiths, doing evenings and weekends in his own workshop. This continued for 12 months until December 1952. Beryl was heavily pregnant with their first child Judith and Roy was advised by a customer, who had just called in for fuel and then driven to JB Smiths to find him, that he really ought to go home as his pregnant wife was now struggling with the manual task of pumping fuel. Roy used this opportunity to spend more of his life working from home and he resigned from JB Smiths. From that moment forward T.R Rowe Motor Mechanic at Treburley garage was to be his future.
Initially he worked alone, servicing locals’ cars, lorries and the occasional tractor, until Nick Edwards came to assist him in the mid 1950’s. Part time book work was done by Albert Downing, who Roy had worked with at JB Smiths. Eventually, by the 1970s Connie Clarke had taken over the books on a full-time basis.
In the late 1950’s, the second, main, building was built along with the petrol pumps in their present position. This allowed Roy to carry out MOTs from 1960. In 1959, Rosamund was born and Richard in 1960.
The garage continued to serve the local community through the 1960’s and into the 1970’s. In 1975, the work force of Brian Wilcocks, Gary Deacon and Dave Holland, was joined by a young apprentice, Ian Thomas. Roy’s son Richard also joined in 1976, and so it was that the workforce numbers stayed for many years. In 1981, Rosamund and Ian Thomas married. Their daughter, Rachael born in 1986 and in 1987 Rosamund joined the family firm.
Apart from the involvement in racing, the day-to-day work grew and they continued to serve the local community providing MOT’s, servicing work, general repairs and sales.
A body shop was built in the 1970’s. During the 1980s and 1990s, a continuing stream of local repair traffic, passed through the doors of Treburley Garage. Although Roy, started to take a back seat, he was still there every day – happy to serve petrol and of course, offer advice.
Sadly in 2009 Roy’s wife Beryl died and with his own health deteriorating, his day-to-day involvement reduced. However, he was still a prominent sight on the workshop floor because, despite his health, Roy was still ‘Treburley Garage’ and this was his life and his home.
In 2016, Roy passed away, leaving behind a legacy that will be bettered by few. Years of dedication and service have brought about long-lasting customer and staff loyalty. It is the 70 years of service to the life of Lezant that we celebrate – T.R Rowe of Treburley Garage.
Classic Cars 1990 at Treburley Garage - Roy & the Team
