I spent many a happy hour as a young lad whiling away my time observing the comings and goings to/from Fletcher’s garage and the lorries loaded with coal from Nailstone, Desford or Merrylees pits on their way to the Birmingham area and beyond. Lorries entering Ibstock had to slow down at the 30MPH sign at the bottom of Hinckley road causing the drivers to change to a lower gear, thus giving me a birds eye, view as they passed by only about eight feet away, and not to mention the noise!
Likewise, Fletcher’s lorries braking and revving and changing down as they descended Melbourne road to make the hard right-hand turn around the ‘Keep Left’ bollards into Station road. This is where I first observed Cliff Bennett and his driving style as he negotiated the turn. Cliff always sat high up over the steering wheel, giving him a powerful command of the steering… and usually with his window down.
Wilf Price was friendly with my folks and he often saw me at the Stumps. Wilf was a fitter at Fletcher’s, he
