The Gables Garage was on the opposite side of the road to The Carpenter’s Arms public house. Although no longer a garage, the buildings are still there as part of a used car sales business. The Carpenter’s Arms is now ‘Carpenters’, a restaurant.
Do you have memories of the garage? When did it stop being a garage?
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My father bought 3 cars there in the 1970s. His first purchase was an Austin 1100, which was a big improvement on his old Ford Popular 100E. I recall sitting on a rather worn out leather sofa in the front office of the garage while my father sorted out the paperwork.
The main business at that time was used-car sales, but they still sold petrol from those old Esso pumps.
They also had several vintage and classic cars in a covered shed behind the main car sales area. Some of the older vehicles were basket cases but a few were immaculate, and as a boy I was very excited to see a pristine Jaguar E-Type.
Quite by accident, I visited the area in July 2005 and found the entire forecourt filled with old cars. Everything was being auctioned by Christie’s. It turned out those cars I saw back in the 1970s were part of a huge collection amassed by the garage owners, the Sharpe family, and they had kept most of the cars at their own Motor Museum in Ramsgate.
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