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Mike Spence Maidenhead Garage

Started by piperp2 , Dec 20 2011 17:01

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27 replies to this topic

#1 piperp2

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Posted 20 December 2011 - 17:01

Does anyone have any pictures of Mike Spence's garage in Maidenhead taken in the 1960's?

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#2 richie

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Posted 25 December 2011 - 21:06

Does anyone have any pictures of Mike Spence's garage in Maidenhead taken in the 1960's?

I Googled it and there is a picture on another motor racing web site.

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#3 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 25 December 2011 - 21:23

http://www.ten-tenth...ead.php?t=64686

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#4 delta44

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Posted 25 December 2011 - 21:44

I allways thought Mike Spence garage was in Shinfield near Reading.I had a good couple of mechanic friends who worked at the garage. One of them helped me to set up the suspension on my first racing car way back in the early 70's

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#5 piperp2

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Posted 26 December 2011 - 22:19

I allways thought Mike Spence garage was in Shinfield near Reading.I had a good couple of mechanic friends who worked at the garage. One of them helped me to set up the suspension on my first racing car way back in the early 70's

Advertisement below showing the Maidenhead address which I believe was before the Shinfield address. The other reply with the picture link shows the the Shinfield address not the Maidenhead showroom.

Posted Image

By piperp2 at 2011-12-26

Edited by piperp2, 27 December 2011 - 13:28.

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#6 David Birchall

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 03:14

My mother was the receptionist for Coburn Doors, Mike Spence' father's business. She would meet Mike Spence on a regular basis and come home to tell me of his latest exploits in racing. As a racing car crazy teenager this was equivalent to being there with him!

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#7 elansprint72

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 11:46

The address on my cam-cover is Reform Road, Maidenhead. I believe that at least one of our members lives in that town and may be in a position to take a photo of what the garage looks like now?

Edited by elansprint72, 27 December 2011 - 11:50.

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#8 piperp2

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 13:34

The address on my cam-cover is Reform Road, Maidenhead. I believe that at least one of our members lives in that town and may be in a position to take a photo of what the garage looks like now?

I lived near Maidenhead when I was boy, as a five year old in 1965 I remember walking past a small showroom in Maidenhead not far from the the town centre, there was a a green single seater racing car in the showroom (I suspect it was a Lotus), I still remember it all these years later. l now live near Colchester in Essex and it would be interesting to see a photo of what the garage looks like now.

Edited by piperp2, 27 December 2011 - 13:36.

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#9 Herbert Austin

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 14:22

I lived near Maidenhead when I was boy, as a five year old in 1965 I remember walking past a small showroom in Maidenhead not far from the the town centre, there was a a green single seater racing car in the showroom (I suspect it was a Lotus), I still remember it all these years later. l now live near Colchester in Essex and it would be interesting to see a photo of what the garage looks like now.

As an idea, I spent a rather interesting couple of hours putting motorsport connected addresses into Google Street Veiw to see if they still existed and what they look like now.

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#10 delta44

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 18:03

If I am not working I would be more than happy to go and take some photo's for you this Sunday. I often go for a bike ride on a Sunday morning it will be a bit of an adventure fo me. A few years ago me and my son went off for the day and found the remains of Great Auclum.

Edited by delta44, 27 December 2011 - 18:04.

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#11 RS2000

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 18:56

The 11 High Street address was just over the Thames Bridge, on the right, when heading west wasn't it?

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#12 Doug Nye

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Posted 27 December 2011 - 23:05

The 11 High Street address was just over the Thames Bridge, on the right, when heading west wasn't it?

Recognisable on Street View today - premises photographed by Google's privacy-invading cameras as an Eat Dirt sandwich and coffee shop...a most appetising title...

DCN

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#13 delta44

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 22:25

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As promised I cycled over to Maidenhead this morning and found 11 High Street. As Doug said the premises are now a cafe called"eat dirt".
I then started asking people who were passing "if they had lived in the town for any time and then if they remembered the show rooms.".Felt a bit like one of those morning tv reporters.Not much luck I am afraid but I did get a couple of leads so stay with me as I post some more pictures.

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#14 delta44

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 22:40

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Just across the road I took this picture as the shop window was full of old photo's of Maidenhead but no pictures of the Mike Spence show room.I posted this picture as you might like to perservere your self "piperp2".Get in touch with the Maidenhead Advertiser.I then started asking more of the local's for any more info and was told to look in the coffee shop up the road as they had a lot of old photo's on their wall.

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#15 delta44

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Posted 01 January 2012 - 22:58

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On the wall in the coffee shop was this picture,so I am guessing it must of been something to do with the Mike Spence show room???.
After coffee "BTW am I on expense's" :rotfl:

I found that Maidenhead has an Heritage centre which I located but was shut.Looking through the window a very nice lady came out and said that it would! be a good idea to get in touch with the news paper and also the local library.
Hope this a start for you. Good luck. Iain.

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#16 Giraffe

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Posted 02 January 2012 - 09:00

Received from Howden Ganley in the early hours of this morning:

I have been looking at the Mike Spence garage thread on TNF. I lived in Maidenhead at the time and
I remember the showroom being opened at the bottom of the High St. I did wonder at the time about
the economics of such a nice showroom. As Doug has posted , it is now occupied by the strangly
named sandwich shop " Eat Dirt ". After Mike Spence Ltd vacated the premises back in 19?? a travel
agent moved in , and were there for many years. I think another couple of businesses have come
and gone from the same shop in recent years. IF ' Eat Dirt ' lures the patrons in their thousands it
will be an interesting case study in the naming of businesses !
Mike Spence Ltd then moved to Reform Road , and ( I think ) occupied the premises which had been
those of Ron Harris-Team Lotus . Ron Harris Racing had been in a shop in Queen St ( hope I got the
correct street ) and one could wander along and watch the cars being worked on in the shop window !

Howden

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#17 Peter Darley

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Posted 02 January 2012 - 14:43

Mike Spence lived in Sheephouse Road, Maidenhead.

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#18 piperp2

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Posted 02 January 2012 - 18:09

Wow guys thank you all very much for all this! Although I was only 5, I do still remember the effect of seeing that green single seater racing car in the showroom in Maidenhead, but I also remember roughly where the showroom was in relation to the railway station and I was never convinced about the 11 High Street address but thought it must have been Mike Spence and my memory was playing tricks. However Howden Ganley has just made me realise what I saw. It was in fact Ron Harris’s shop in Queen Street; I could walk there from memory from the station even today so that has cleared that up. So now does anyone have any pictures of Ron Harris’s shop in Queen Street in Maidenhead from the mid- sixties?

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#19 delta44

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Posted 02 January 2012 - 19:20

Looks like another bike ride coming up.

I do have some friends who race FJ Lotus 27 and a 22 with a workshop in Slough.I will ask then if they have any pictures for you.

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#20 timf5000

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 11:45

That picture is a Barnard Formula 6 from the early 70's. Don't think Mike Spence would have been involved in racing one and know he wasn't involved when my brother and I were racing them from 1973 to 1977!

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On the wall in the coffee shop was this picture,so I am guessing it must of been something to do with the Mike Spence show room???.
After coffee "BTW am I on expense's" I found that Maidenhead has an Heritage centre which I located but was shut.Looking through the window a very nice lady came out and said that it would! be a good idea to get in touch with the news paper and also the local library.
Hope this a start for you. Good luck. Iain.

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#21 Cirrus

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 18:39

I've just taken a virtual stroll along Queen Street. Would the Ron Harris place be the boarded-up premises on the left of this picture?

http://maps.google.c...p=12,31.46,,0,0

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#22 A D River

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 18:49

The showroom in King Street M/head was the front of Ron Harris Racing, who ran bikes ( mv augusta for Mike Hailwood then Lotus F2 ). I worked there in 1966 on, we moved to Reform Road c 1969 after the Protos era to run the first of the Tecno F2's. Mike Spence had the unit next to us, became an oil distributor when they closed. Spence had a showroom in the high st, the garage in Reform Road and a showroom and workshop in Henley on thames, also a garage in Shinfield, acquired in the tie up with Vivian Talfourd -Cook who bought the business. During the winter we would move next door to Spences in Reform Rd and go back to Rons at the start of the racing season.
Buried somewhere in the loft are pics of King Street and all of the various Spence emporiums.

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#23 Cirrus

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 19:01

I'm confused now - Queen Street or King Street? Maidenhead has one of each.

If it's King Street then it doesn't look as though anything of any age has survived...

http://maps.google.c...=12,148.63,,0,0

I can remember going to a small racing car show at Mike Spence (presumably the Reform Road premises) in about 1970. Amongst the exhibits was a Lotus 63.

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#24 Robin Fairservice

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 19:26

It would have been on the east side of King Street, which bears little resemblance to when we lived in Maidenhead (1960 to 1963) We lived in a block of flats just on the London side of the River opposite Skindles Hotel. My wife worked at Gregorys, a Vauxhall distributor just on the Windsor side of the railway. At Gregory's one of the mechanics was David Bueb, son of Ivor, and Graham Croaker (?), who left on a Friday, and was in the March announcement on the following Monday.

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#25 A D River

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Posted 03 January 2012 - 19:51

King Street was redeveloped and all the row of shops were flattened, that was Ron Harris mind, no direct connection with Mke Spence as a business, although Jim Clark's mechanic was Malcolm Angood who also spannered for Mike in the early days. ( on the Marshgate?? estate.)

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#26 Mallory Dan

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Posted 04 January 2012 - 10:27

Somewhat O/T but, my memory of Maidenhead is of the railway. I was taken there in about 1972, specifically to see the Westerns, Warships and Hymeks. The former were very spectacular, flying through at 90 odd on expresses. Happy days!!

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#27 layabout

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Posted 01 March 2012 - 20:09

The showroom in King Street M/head was the front of Ron Harris Racing, who ran bikes ( mv augusta for Mike Hailwood then Lotus F2 ). I worked there in 1966 on, we moved to Reform Road c 1969 after the Protos era to run the first of the Tecno F2's. Mike Spence had the unit next to us, became an oil distributor when they closed. Spence had a showroom in the high st, the garage in Reform Road and a showroom and workshop in Henley on thames, also a garage in Shinfield, acquired in the tie up with Vivian Talfourd -Cook who bought the business. During the winter we would move next door to Spences in Reform Rd and go back to Rons at the start of the racing season.
Buried somewhere in the loft are pics of King Street and all of the various Spence emporiums.

Here are some photos of the shops on Reform Road taken last month. I don't know which workshop was Ron Harris' & which was Mike Spence's, but I'm sure a sharp eyed reader will know. Also, I included one more photo of "Eat Dirt", once the locale of Mike Spence's showroom on High St. because I couldn't get past its name....

Posted Image

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#28 layabout

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Posted 02 June 2012 - 03:58

As a final follow-up to the ex-Mike Spence showroom thread, Howden Ganley has provided the following as proof that good sense has prevailed in the closure of a restaurant named Eat Dirt:

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