North Brighton 30 Years Ago

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30453, 29 May 1964, Page 12

North Brighton 30 Years Ago

For 30 years Mr A. W. Lack has worked in the Bower Service Station, North New Brighton, on the corner of Bower avenue and New Brighton road. He and his brother, Mr H. J. Lack, have sold the station, and it will change hands next month. “It was a sea of sand 30 years ago with the Bower Hotel—don’t forget the pub—and the petrol station an oasis in almost a desert,” Mr Lack said yesterday. “There were shingle roads leading to the racecourse, New Brighton and town. We had about 100 customers—and 20 of them are still with us. “There would be only a score of houses in the area in 1934, now there are more than 1000. Bower avenue was Racecourse road, then, and oh, that Wainoni road! “It was shingle all the way and full of potholes. Men used to ride five miles to work in town and back again daily on bicycles. There were still quite a number of solid-tyred vehicles then—and it was a hell of a road,” Mr Lack said.

“I can recall the InterCity Bus Service run by Billy Bussell. It came down Wainoni road, along Bower avenue, to Bowhill road and up Marine parade to Pacific street and return. Carbide Lamps “Many of the motor-bikes had carbide lamps when we first began here, and the sand came in handy to put them out when they caught on fire.” When Mr Lack was first in the service station it had seven pumps, all hand operated, and mounted on steps for gravity feed. The station sold three brands of petrol. “Today, 90 per cent of petrol stations sell one brand. This is better for service station owners, because they can get through their work

quickly, and it also seems to suit the customers,” Mr Lack said. He said that the public also appeared to like additives in petrol. Doubled Turn-over “The oil companies know all the gimmicks, and they certainly sell petrol. I honestly believe that the additive in the brand we sell makes it better petrol. Whether the customers believe it, I would not know. The fact renfains,

we doubled our turn-over of petrol in a few months of the oil company’s advertising campaign concerning the additive in the brand we sell.”

Mr Lack said that 30 years of working 62 hours a week had made him keen to take on an “eight to five job.” He will be living in South Brighton and will continue as commodore of the New Brighton Power Boat Club.

A third brother, Mr G. J. Lack, was originally in the business.