This article is based on the words of Les Arnage, recorded in July 2026. Footnotes with additional information are available after Les’s article. If you have additional information on the subjects covered in this article, please contact history@oveg.org.
I started with Collyns Car Hire as an apprentice in 1965. The boss was Colin Toten and the directors were Gary Osgood and Chris Urlwin. They hired mainly Ford and BMC cars. Colin was a keen racing driver and we often went to circuits to watch him racing his Mini Cooper.
I was often sent off on the trade bike to collect car parts. I was paid £6 a week.
There was a service station on Pinner Road, at the bottom of Capel Road. I think it’s a car wash now. When it came on the market they transferred the business there and ran the car hire and service station together. Many years later a friend of mine rented it for car sales and I was back there as a salesman.
Behind the garage was a coopers and I often used to slide off and watch barrels being made.
I knew most people in Capel Road. A lovely area in those days. The butchers next door was called Dixey’s. It was run by the boss, Alf Hewitt, and a younger fella as well.
A baker’s shop around the corner. John, the paper seller outside the station, was brilliant at horse racing ‘inside info.’ He gave me Polyfoto who won at 20 – 1. That bought me my first motorbike!
There was a little sweetshop opposite us. You could buy a pack of cigs for what works out at 17p!
I traced Colin to running a model shop in Bedfordshire and I believe Gary is still around living in the area. Very happy memories.
Further information
Dixey’s butcher
The butcher, ‘M. Dixey,’ was at 35 Capel Road and owned by Maurice Dixey. The shop is referenced in our article ‘A history of Capel Road‘ by Gwen Dargavel.
Collyn’s Motor Care Hire
Collyns Motor Care Hire was based at 33 Capel Road. The property has since been demolished.
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