Driving Test Centre

A Memory of Kettering.

At the junction of Station Rd. and Northampton Rd. was the much feared driving test centre. I took driving lessons during 1962/3 in the instructor's car an Austin A40 or A45. The usual matchstick was placed in the rear window to aid reversing. A simple idea but it certainly worked. Satisfying my instructor that I was ready for the test I appied and was given the time and date. I remember it was a 10am appointment. My instructor turned up at my home at 9am for a pre test drive. I was looking out of the window watching for his car to turn up. A car did turn up but it wasn't the A40 but an Austin Cambridge, a much wider and longer car that I had been taught in. He had changed the car during the week. No matchstick! We had a drive around but as the controls, pedals and switches were in different positions to what I had been used to, my confidence was at a low for the soon coming test. We parked in Station Road and my driving inspector appeared and being given a route to follow, we took off. All seemed to going rather well until we began driving down Regent St. He said I was to do an emergency stop and when his clipboard hit the dash I was to brake suddenly. We continued with the corner of my vision watching the clipboard and the rest the road. His clipboard moved and I slammed on the brakes. I was premature for he was adjusting his position in the seat for an emergency stop. Being unprepared he was flung forward in his seat and his clipboard and pen fell onto the floor. I thought the sudden stop went well but when we returned to the test centre he wrote me a failure ticket. Reason given was that I was a" nervous driver who over reacted in certain situations". Thank you very much to my instructor for swapping cars at the last minute, and a big thank you to the inspector for nit picking. I passed the next test but this time I waited for the clipboard to hit the dash.