With Chale Service Station closing, the Isle of Wight County Press has trawled through its archives to take a look at how the business served its community so well for so long.
As previously reported, the much-loved family-run service station is set to close after more than six decades.
The Chale business welcomed its first customers on June 28, 1960, and exactly 64 years to the day, it will shut for the final time.
When the garage first opened, Roy Sheath worked on the vehicles while his late wife, Hazel, looked after the office.
The business had featured in the County Press many times over the years.
In November 1999, with a bout of severe weather on the horizon, Roy issued some sage advice to motorists.
He said, although a winter check-up was worth having, ideally a car should he serviced regularly.
“A lot of people have an MOT and say that's it until the next MOT,” said Roy, all those years ago.
“People should really have their car serviced and a basic winter check before the winter sets in."
At this time, Chale Service Station was offering a basic winter check for just £10.
In 2008, the service station was celebrating almost 50 years of keeping customers’ cars on the road.
With a fleet of eight recovery vehicles, including a motorcycle trailer, spec-lift lorries and slide-bed vehicles, the garage provided emergency roadside assistance for the Automobile Association and other organisations.
In 2013, at 85 years old, Roy was still available in a consultancy capacity, but by this time, the day-to-day running was being carried out by his son, Kevin, and daughter, Diane.
On arrival, customers were often greeted by the garage mascot — a friendly Labrador called Clouseau.
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