Enthusiasts Of British Motor Vehicles
  • Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Photo Galleries
    • 2025 >
      • 2025 Superb Snowdonia Tour ​Photo Gallery
      • 2025 Pride of Longbridge Show ​Photo Gallery
      • 2025 NEC Resto Show ​Photo Gallery
      • 2025 Yorkshire Moors & Coastal Towns Tour ​Photo Gallery
    • 2024 >
      • 2024 BL Autumn Rally ​Photo Gallery
      • 2024 Fabulous Fourth Peak District Tour Gallery Gallery
      • 2024 Glos Vintage & Country Extravaganza Gallery
      • 2024 North Devon Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2024 NEC Restoration Show Photo Gallery
      • 2024 Norfolk Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2024 Coal in the Valleys Photo Gallery
    • 2023 >
      • 2023 NEC Classic Motor Show Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Fat Lamb 3 Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Warwickshire Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Lucas isn't bored Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Gar's birthday tour of Devon Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Shropshire Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Anglesey & Snowdonia Tour Photo Gallery
    • 2022 >
      • 2022 Classic Motor Show Gallery
      • 2022 Fat Lamb Tour Gallery
      • 2022 NC500 - the Grand Tour of the Scottish Coast Photo Gallery
      • 2022 Glos Vintage & Country Extravaganza Gallery
      • 2022 Best of Yorkshire Tour Gallery
      • 2022 Peak District Revisited Tour Gallery
      • 2022 Gaydon Weekend Gallery
      • 2022 NEC Resto Show Gallery
      • 2022 Forest of Dean Winter Tour Gallery
    • 2021 >
      • 2021 Classic Motor Show Gallery
      • 2021 Fat Lamb Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Welsh Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Jurassic Coast Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Crich Museum & Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Staffs Oatcake Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Boston CCC Show Photo Gallery
    • 2019 >
      • Yorkshire Moors Driving Tour 2019
      • Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC Nov 2019
      • New Forest Driving Tour 2019
      • Gloucester Vintage & Steam Extravaganza Photo Gallery 2019
      • Tour of the Dark Peak Photo Gallery 2019
      • Codgers do the Cotswolds 2019
      • Bubble Car Museum Gallery 2019
      • Brecon Beacons driving tour 2019
      • Morgan Factory tour 2019
      • Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show 2019
    • 2018 >
      • Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC November 2018
      • Isle of Wight Tour 2018
      • Brunel's Somerset Tour Gallery 2018
      • Gloucester Vintage Extravaganza 2018
      • Maesteg Charity Classic Car Show & Driving Tour 2018
      • Bubble Car Museum & Driving Tour 2018
      • Peak District Driving Tour 2018
      • Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show 2018
      • Coventry Transport Museum 2018 >
        • Joel Lodder's 2018 Coventry meet gallery
    • 2017 >
      • Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC November 2017
      • Snowdonia Driving Tour 2017
      • Gloucester Vintage Extravaganza 2017
      • Lupin Farm Charity Car Show 2017
      • The Shackleton Trust 2017
      • Crich Tramway Museum 2017
      • Bubble Car Museum 2017
      • Pride of Longbridge 2017
      • April 2017 Practical Classics Restoration Show (NEC)
    • 2016 >
      • Crich Tramway Museum 2016
    • 2015 >
      • Bubble Car Museum 2015
      • Coventry Transport Museum 2015
  • YouTube
  • Insurance
  • Shop
  • Mailing List
  • Contact
  • Join
  • About

blogs

Categories

All
Alan Warwick
Andy Perman
Anthony Osborne
Austin Mini
Brett Richardson
Brian Allison
Brits Abroad
Callum Tooey
Classic Motor Show
Daniel Bysouth
Drive It Day
Eddy Glass
Eric Dalton
Focus On British Classics
Gar Cole
Graeme Moore
Graham Hemsley
Group Events
Group Tours
Gus Brooks
Holly Bush
In The Workshop
Jim Lodder
Joel Lodder
John Lonergan
John O'Cean
John Simpson
Kevin Thompson
Mark Smith
Matthew Homburg
Members Classics
Members Recollections
Mick Masters
Mike Peake
Nicholas Webb
Nick Arthur
Nigel Hughes (Vauxhall Cavalier & Chevette Club PR)
Paul Sweeney
Projects
Steve Favill
The Weekly Groan
Tony "Tosh" Brooks
Unsung Heroes
VLOG
YouTube

Archives

June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
February 2021
December 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
September 2016
August 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015

Dads and their lads

25/9/2020

5 Comments

 
Written by Gar Cole
The anniversary of my Dad's passing recently came and went so  it's at this time of year many memories and emotions bubble to the surface to fill my thoughts. I still love to talk about him even now,  things he'd done in his life and the incredible experiences he had,  and the happy memories we made over the 36 years I was lucky to have him around.

​He came from a long line of gifted men who all shared a love for all things mechanical and the desire to see their sons succeed in different careers instead of the traditional working class jobs available at the time.   It's a story of trains, planes and automobiles compiled from records from Ancestry.Com and family tales; their story is my story. Still with me?
My great grandfather George J Cole (1873 - 1951 hailed from the Forest of Dean but his son and my grandfather Thomas we know was born in Filton (Bristol). This started our search on Ancestry where we found out he was a train driver for the GWR railway company,  something we hadn't known until recently. He was registered in this profession on the 1911 census and we were surprised such a relatively young man of 37 had made his way through the ranks to engine driver.

He was also registered as living in Filton with a young lady called Mary who was 'domestic service'. We know this girl was my grandfather's mother although they never married. We were later shocked to find that George was already married and had a wife and family of 6 children already registered in Waterloo.  I guess you could say he was 'tooting his whistle'  at both ends of the railway line!  We have no idea if either lady knew about the other but he seems to have kept this deception going between his marriage in 1894 and relocating to South Wales in 1914. He transferred to working out of Pengam railway goods yard near Cardiff, which we assume was to do with the war effort delivering munitions to the ports.
Picture
My Grandfather Thomas J Cole 1912 - 1980,  born in Filton but raised in Abertillery was a sporty and restless character who excelled at mechanical engineering. He was a keen long-distance cyclist and played rugby to a high standard for Gelligaer Rugby club for 2 years (1932-33). After marrying my grandmother in 1934 he relocated to Filton in 1936 with his pregnant wife to work for BAE systems, where he worked on fabricating the sheet metal for the aircraft bodies.

He worked firstly on the Bristol type 105 'bulldog'  and later after the war broke out the 'Beaufighter'  working for BAE. Aircraft in general were Thomas's passion,  my grandmother and 3yo father Gerry returned to South Wales to live with her parents after war broke out in 1939 for their own safety as the Aircraft factory was a major enemy target.  Sadly this was borne out one sunny day in September 1940;  Thomas and his co workers had just headed out of the factory for their lunch break when a surprise air raid by 80 German aircraft rained bombs on the plant and surrounding area.

The raid lasted less than 1 minute yet substantial damage was caused to the factory and sadly 132 people died in the raid,  92 of them Bristol employees. My grandfather Thomas was one of 315 casualties, being hit in the lower left leg by shrapnel. They managed to stem the bleeding and save his life but he lost his leg below the knee.   After this devastating incident he returned to his wife in South Wales. It's clear he didn't let this injury get him down as my aunt Pat was born a little over 9 months after he returned! Thomas later went on to be union shop steward at Penalta coal mine and worked hard to improve the working conditions of the men right up to his retirement in 1977.
Picture
My Dad Gerry J Cole (1936 - 2013 ) born in the Rymney Valley was gifted both academically and mechanically. He excelled at Pengam grammar school,  with one of his school friends a certain Neil Kinnock (he later became the Labour Party Leader then an MEP). Money was scarce in the Welsh valleys and my Dad left school at 15 in 1951 to find work.

It was always assumed in mining communities that boys would head straight for the mines; despite my grandfather Thomas being union rep he didn't want his eldest son to work underground. My Dad was also a restless soul, an avid reader of adventure novels who longed to travel.  Luckily his own Grandfather George was still alive and despite being long retired as a driver he managed to get my Dad an apprenticeship at the same Pengam train yard that he had retired from in 1946.  My dad loved it,  learning his heavy engineering skills maintaining the rolling stock and he reveled in his free employee travel pass,  visiting places such as Weston-Super-Mare and London for the first time.  
Picture
Aged 17 he signed up for the RAF in 1954 and was stationed at Boscombe Down. Continuing to develop his mechanical skills and following his father in a similar path he became an airframe maintenance technician and was soon off around the world. His first trip abroad was in an aging Shackleton bomber heading out to Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka ),  a noisy 14-hour trip with 3 landings to refuel en route.
 
Later in 1955 he transferred to RAF Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus. The island was under British control at that time and rebel EOKA forces were fighting for a union with Greece. Dad's arrival got off to a bad start after their plane was shot at over a wooded area and forced to land. He spent the next day patching up bullet holes in the wings and fuselage;  strangely he never wanted to go on holiday there later in life.   

He later spent 3 years stationed on Malta, which he described as the best time of his life. He and 4 mates bought an old Ford V8 pilot between them,  so they could pretend they were a higher rank and it was shared out on 'date nights' ,  the local ladies never seeming to notice that these young guys didn't actually all own a car of their own.
During 1958 he flew out to Christmas Island with the Vickers Valliants of No49 squadron. They were so excited to be part of watching Britain's nuclear testing. Dad and his mates were fascinated and had a great time out at the island watching this awesome spectacle. Of course many years later everyone realised the danger they had all been exposed to without adequate protection. An estimated 88% of the servicemen went on to develop cancer - another of his lucky escapes. 
During his last 3 years in the RAF Dad was in the V bomber squadron,  maintaining the planes including his beloved Vulcan. As part of the ground crew he often took part in the ' fast scramble '  exercises using the vehicle-mounted turbo starters.
Picture
After leaving the RAF in 1963, Dad returned to Wales riding around on his Royal Enfield 350 bullet and caught the eye of my mother. They married a year later and he worked at Cardiff's Rhoose airport.
Picture
His restless nature returned after several years and they relocated when he started working at Elmdon airport (now Birmingham international), in 1972.  At this time Mom was working for a company called 'Andrews Heat for Hire'.  Some might remember that name as the main sponsors on Russell Brooks' rally car during the late 70s / early 80s.

Dad was between jobs after leaving Elmdon having called his boss an 'insufferable prat' who hadn't a fraction of Dad's experience but treated his employees like idiots.   At the Andrews Christmas party the parents met guest of honour Russell Brooks and he and dad got on really well,  so much so that he joined the crew on the 78 Circuit of Ireland Rally.

While not a car mechanic, Dad was brilliant at quickly fabricating brackets, mounts or other parts that failed and had to be quickly made and fitted between stages. He described it as quite a rush being part of that world with fast-paced days and hard drinking nights. Brooks went on to win the 1978 event, but with 3 kids aged 13, 10 and 1 (me), Mom wasn't keen for him being away from home too often.
Growing up with a Dad like this was a gift for me. I loved cars, planes and trains so he took me to watch rallies, many airshows,  built me amazing model railways and of course he was car mad. He had Granadas, SD1s, Land Rovers, Jaguars, Vauxhalls, Minis, in fact most British tin. He would come in from work excited and say 'get your coat on ma boy,  I've seen a cracker at a little garage in town'. He would buy cars cheap, fix them up perfectly, get bored and sell it on before doing it all over again,  much to the annoyance of my mother.  He encouraged my love of cars which continues to this day.  However where George, Thomas and Gerry seemed to be born with a spanner in their hand, I'm actually hopeless at it!  My Dad joked I was born with a cook book in my hand.
 
My best mate has been gone for 7 years now and I miss him with all my heart. When you have somebody that always has your back and always wants what's best for you that leaves such a void when it's gone,  but I know that continuing the interests we shared through this car club and the brilliant and gifted people its brought me into contact with,  the places we've been and shows we've put on makes me feel I'm adding to their story in my own way.
 
Gar J Cole
Picture
Dad and me on his Ventora
5 Comments
Allán Broadbridge
25/9/2020 15:59:48

It’s so nice to be able to trace relatives like that Gareth, especially when you find their “secrets”.
Your talent for cookery, couldn’t be further away from mechanical work but, we can’t all follow in fathers footsteps and continue their profession.
Very interesting read.
Thank you.

Reply
Gar Cole
25/9/2020 22:41:10

Thank you for that Allan , having worked for Jaguar for 10 years I feel I've completed the trains, planes and automobiles circle, but happier these days driving classics and cooking for my mates

Reply
Anthony Osborne
27/9/2020 13:13:38

Gar,

What a lovely story of your family and your upbringing. It is sad that you lost your father a lot earlier than me (I was 54) and I feel that life stole so much from you. However you have some great memories. Don't lose them.

Reply
Roger Clark
30/9/2020 11:48:47

Hi Gar,
An incredible story, fair do’s to you completing so much of your family tree, and having such an amazing story to tell. I only wish I could mirror your family’s achievements. Keep those memories alive mate, and do what you obviously love doing with this amazing club, having achieved so much with it. Good Luck Gar.

Regards

Roger

Reply
Alan Warwick
20/11/2020 17:13:52

I just LOVE reading family history like this, we're "Who do you think you are" fans. A great read, thanks so much.
I'm OK with the spanners but hopeless at cooking so - "each to their own", I suppose.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Privacy Policy 

© 2025 Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles
  • Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Photo Galleries
    • 2025 >
      • 2025 Superb Snowdonia Tour ​Photo Gallery
      • 2025 Pride of Longbridge Show ​Photo Gallery
      • 2025 NEC Resto Show ​Photo Gallery
      • 2025 Yorkshire Moors & Coastal Towns Tour ​Photo Gallery
    • 2024 >
      • 2024 BL Autumn Rally ​Photo Gallery
      • 2024 Fabulous Fourth Peak District Tour Gallery Gallery
      • 2024 Glos Vintage & Country Extravaganza Gallery
      • 2024 North Devon Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2024 NEC Restoration Show Photo Gallery
      • 2024 Norfolk Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2024 Coal in the Valleys Photo Gallery
    • 2023 >
      • 2023 NEC Classic Motor Show Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Fat Lamb 3 Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Warwickshire Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Lucas isn't bored Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Gar's birthday tour of Devon Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Shropshire Tour Photo Gallery
      • 2023 Anglesey & Snowdonia Tour Photo Gallery
    • 2022 >
      • 2022 Classic Motor Show Gallery
      • 2022 Fat Lamb Tour Gallery
      • 2022 NC500 - the Grand Tour of the Scottish Coast Photo Gallery
      • 2022 Glos Vintage & Country Extravaganza Gallery
      • 2022 Best of Yorkshire Tour Gallery
      • 2022 Peak District Revisited Tour Gallery
      • 2022 Gaydon Weekend Gallery
      • 2022 NEC Resto Show Gallery
      • 2022 Forest of Dean Winter Tour Gallery
    • 2021 >
      • 2021 Classic Motor Show Gallery
      • 2021 Fat Lamb Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Welsh Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Jurassic Coast Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Crich Museum & Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Staffs Oatcake Tour Gallery
      • 2021 Boston CCC Show Photo Gallery
    • 2019 >
      • Yorkshire Moors Driving Tour 2019
      • Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC Nov 2019
      • New Forest Driving Tour 2019
      • Gloucester Vintage & Steam Extravaganza Photo Gallery 2019
      • Tour of the Dark Peak Photo Gallery 2019
      • Codgers do the Cotswolds 2019
      • Bubble Car Museum Gallery 2019
      • Brecon Beacons driving tour 2019
      • Morgan Factory tour 2019
      • Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show 2019
    • 2018 >
      • Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC November 2018
      • Isle of Wight Tour 2018
      • Brunel's Somerset Tour Gallery 2018
      • Gloucester Vintage Extravaganza 2018
      • Maesteg Charity Classic Car Show & Driving Tour 2018
      • Bubble Car Museum & Driving Tour 2018
      • Peak District Driving Tour 2018
      • Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show 2018
      • Coventry Transport Museum 2018 >
        • Joel Lodder's 2018 Coventry meet gallery
    • 2017 >
      • Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show NEC November 2017
      • Snowdonia Driving Tour 2017
      • Gloucester Vintage Extravaganza 2017
      • Lupin Farm Charity Car Show 2017
      • The Shackleton Trust 2017
      • Crich Tramway Museum 2017
      • Bubble Car Museum 2017
      • Pride of Longbridge 2017
      • April 2017 Practical Classics Restoration Show (NEC)
    • 2016 >
      • Crich Tramway Museum 2016
    • 2015 >
      • Bubble Car Museum 2015
      • Coventry Transport Museum 2015
  • YouTube
  • Insurance
  • Shop
  • Mailing List
  • Contact
  • Join
  • About