Remember petrol stations where an attendant waited on the forecourt to serve petrol and accepted payment without the driver having to leave the car?

This pump, in Ravenglass, reminded me of the petrol station in Bwlch Mawr, Dinas. The pumps were on the right as you drove towards Newport and the garage owners lived in Garden Terrace, on the left.

When a car drove up to the pumps, a bell sounded in the house and my aunts would cross the road to serve the waiting motorist.

Before the introduction of the bell they had relied on a notice on the forecourt which read: “Blow horn if you require service”. To their distress,  passing motorists would hoot just to annoy them, or so they believed. There weren’t many customers, however, and the ladies were seldom disturbed.

In the summer, when there was a bit more traffic, their young nephew would be staying and would be deputed to run over, surprise the waiting motorist by being obviously much too young for such a responsible task and surprise them again by his competence in serving the petrol and dealing with the payment.

The arrival of the tanker, however, was more troublesome and required a longer absence from the kitchen by the adults themselves.

Photo of Dinas :copyright ceridwen and used under a Creative Commons Licence