Jump to content

Bentley Brothers attercliffe Road

Recommended Posts

I went to Greenhill County School with a David Bentley in the 1950s. I believe he was the owners son and the family lived somewhere close to Meadowhead. Should David read this post then I have a couple of school class photos with him on and would be happy to forward them or give them to him when I visit Sheffield in a few weeks time.
I think you have the wrong Bentleys,the brothers who owned the one in the Wicker both lived on Norwood Rd I believe but not in the same house.the one you know will be Vernon Bentleys Abbeydale rd motorcycles son he had two sons David and Mick.:|

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I worked at bentleys in the 70,s in the budget rent a car part, i valetted their cars when they came back after being rented out, bob bradshaw worked there and i forgot the managers name there was a macanic garage above because i ended up going out with one of them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I worked at bentleys in the 70,s in the budget rent a car part, i valetted their cars when they came back after being rented out, bob bradshaw worked there and i forgot the managers name there was a macanic garage above because i ended up going out with one of them.
Vic Ellwis was in charge of the cars in and out of the sales and delivery side and the drivers.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My dad was the bodyshop foreman for Bentley brothers at Coleford Road until they closed down. The idea was to centralise the dealership to the new premises at Savile Street but the business went bust weeks before the big move. The story went that Peter Bentley had borrowed so much money to fund the building and as soon as any equipment was moved in it became liable for business rates. My dad always said that if the Vauxhall Cavalier had been launched a few weeks earlier it would have saved them.

He went back to work there when it was taken over by Charles Clarke ltd looking after the new car stock and I worked there for a while when they expanded the car compounds further down towards Forgemasters. We used to take delivery of all new cars coming from Luton and Ellesmere Port,check for damage and anything missing then stack them away and log them on to stock also ferrying cars out when sold or swapped.Our manager was John Walker but we used to work with Vic Elwis daily.When I think back it was a very busy place with car sales,bodyshop,parts department,commercial sales,truck workshop,car workshop and recovery service all on one site.

It always seemed that a lot of Bentleys staff had gone there and just carried on,some of them in different jobs but just pleased to be back at work! I remember Fred Thorpe,Bob Bradshaw,Arnold Sowerby,Gerry Barton and loads of others that I can't put names to at the moment. I think I know who you are Bullerboy,did you drive the recovery wagons?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi,bikerdave,I never worked at Bentleys but I had a lot of connections with them,Ray Jowle might be who you are thinking of,Vic Elwis was a suberb mechanic and I did a few years training with him.He first started work for Charlie Brammall at the bottom of Stannington rd in the late fourties he went on to brammalls ford on Queens rd then to Waldot and on to montys before going to the steelworks then he was sales manager four at least ten years at Weirhead for Lewis Lenzeni.He was a rough talking bugger but a top man,we were friends until he died.I knew Albert Stokes in warranty claims, Ray Bates in the workshop and all the counter staff,more by looks than names.You may know me through bikes hence my user name.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

bikerdave ,I drove the recovery trucks for waldot and the Foden 6 legger for warringtons transport along with Ray Jowle.Happy days,now they have put me out to grass but I am still biking at 70.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hi dont know about that,was it a long time ago?.

 

The other vauxhall dealer in sheffield was turret motor co could it have been them?.

 

Turret were Opel dealers then.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
you are right on the reason for closing.

Where do you mean near the tramstop?

 

The rot set in earlier when Bentley's had the bright idea of buying Jack Marshalls - Fiat Dealers .which was a disaster !

 

it didn't do much for Vauxhall customer loyalty when at least two of the Bentleys went swanning around in top of the range Fiat Coupe's ( the ones with the Ferrari engine up front )

 

In the 70's . Bentleys Had the Commercial vehicle garage , Engine repair shop, Diesel pump + Injector shop and main stores depts on Attercliffe Rd / Saville St.

 

Towards the Wicker were the accounts / offices , then nearer the Wicker arches were the Car Showroom/ Car rental / Upstairs Garage .

 

* They even hired out small dinghies / outboard engines at one stage. they had a motor mounted in a 40 gall drum of water to demonstrate to the punters ( I kid you not ) the end result being a wet T - Shirt contest !

 

They also had showrooms / garages on St Marys Rd. and at Crosspool.

 

The Commercial Vehicle Body Building Shop , Car Body Repair Shop , Steam cleaning + New Vehicle Storage was at the top of Coleford Rd. Darnall.

 

They also had a new car prep (P.D.I) Dept. inside an old steel works shed at Alsing Rd. Attercliffe .

 

They also sponsored a Vauxhall Firenza rally car , expertly prepared by themselves which spawned a run of BeeBee ( Bently Bros ) specials.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Didn't Bentleys have a small place that was actually part of The Wicker arches?

 

It was on the right, at the very bottom of Spital Hill when facing The Wicker arches.

 

It was next door to Northern Kitchen Equipment, who dealt with second hand

catering equipment. (NKE always had a manikin of a Chef outside and it was

owned by a Mr Tinker who drove a Jensen. He was assisted by a Mr Thornton.)

 

I'm sure that you got to Bentleys by going through an archway that was formed

by the extended first floor of NKE. I seem to remember a hand cranked fuel pump

being in the yard and possibly some rental vans. Only two blokes worked there.

 

Sheer panic set in one day when some welding work on the railway set fire to an old wooden gutter, right above the fuel pump. Luckily no real harm was done.

.

.

.

Edited by Unregistered

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Between University roundabout and Glossop Road/Hanover Way (?) junction.

 

It was, IIRC, a single storey building on the left hand side of the carriageway as you travel away from the University roundabout toward Glossop Road. There was a back lane between this building and the barracks (which front Glossop Road and Gell Street).

 

I'm sure there used to be Vauxhalls and Opels in the showroom windows hence leading to my belief that it was part of Bentley's.

 

Turret Motors Opel dealer

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Turret Motors Opel dealer
Turret Motors were owned by Turret finance and investments and had no connection with Bentley Bros.They were opel dealers which are part of the General Motors group which include Vauxhall.Turret Motors were on Upper Hanover St before moving to Ecclesall Rd.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Didn't Bentleys have a small place that was actually part of The Wicker arches?

 

It was on the right, at the very bottom of Spital Hill when facing The Wicker arches.

 

It was next door to Northern Kitchen Equipment, who dealt with second hand

catering equipment. (NKE always had a manikin of a Chef outside and it was

owned by a Mr Tinker who drove a Jensen. He was assisted by a Mr Thornton.)

 

I'm sure that you got to Bentleys by going through an archway that was formed

by the extended first floor of NKE. I seem to remember a hand cranked fuel pump

being in the yard and possibly some rental vans. Only two blokes worked there.

 

Sheer panic set in one day when some welding work on the railway set fire to an old wooden gutter, right above the fuel pump. Luckily no real harm was done.

.

.

.

 

Quite Right :) I had forgotten that one !

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.