Our First Car

A Memory of Ashtead.

The petrol station on the right is where my mum bought her first car, a standard 8. I was 3 at the time and remember sitting in the back [no child restraints of course] while she test drove it.
I can still remember the smell of Gadsbey's, the delicatescent on the left.
The pet shop/ garden equipment shop, 2nd on the left, was where she bought our first kitten, also about 1955. He was a tabby called Tiger and lived about 16 years. My mum was expecting my brother at the time and thought I would like a pet to look after. She denied that years later and said that Tiger belonged to the whole family.