Dover Kent UK

History of Dover Garages

101-2 Snargate Street

circa 1964

101 Snargate Street

102 Snargate Street

PC Cloke, of Worth, said that ion the 19th March at 6.12, while on the Sandwich Road, Worth, he had occasion to speak to the defendant about driving his Chrysler.  He asked the defendant for his license which he said he had left at home.  When he produced his license eventually, it was found to have expired on 16th January 1929.  Fined 5s

102 Snargate Street

John Taylor of 102 Snargate Street, was summoned for fraudulently using a Road Fund licence on 27th January and for failing to immobolise a vehicle left unattended.

Defendant wrote pleading guilty to both offences.

Chief Inspector Saddleton said that at 3.15pm on 27th January, P.C War Reserve Metcalf saw a motor vehicle outside the Channel Garage, in Snargate Street, bearing a road fund licence in respect of another car.  The ignition key had been removed, but all the doors were unlocked.  Defendant admitted being the owner of the car, and said that a licence was issued for a car that had broken down, so he transferred the licence to that car whilst the other car was being repaired.  As regards the second offence, he said that every five minutes he had to go out in the car.  Chief Inspector Saddleton added that the defendant was fined £2 in march 1938, for offences in respect of a limited trade licence, and in September, 1939, 10s for a lighting offence.

Fined five guineas for the first offence, and 50s for the second, and licence endorsed.

102 Snargate Street

Part of the two upper floors were gutted and, but for prompt and efficient work by Dover firemen, there would no doubt the fire would have much more dangerous.

Afterwards the case of a spent rocket was fond among the debris on the floor.  It had probably fallen through the roof and the floor above,  A man later said that during the Friday evening he saw a rocket land in the vicinity of the works.

The fire brigade received the call at about 10.50pm but obviously the fire had been burning some while before that.  Soon after the brigade arrived, flames 40ft high were shooting through the roof and lighting up the docks.

Occupants of neighbouring houses were evacuated from their homes until the fire was checked.  Three or four rooms at the eastern end of each of the second floors were burnt out and valuable machinery destroyed, including some recently installed and not yet used.

Fortunately the damage to thousands of articles belonging to customers were very slight.  A few carpets in a drying room were destroyed and a small quantity of clothing was damaged.  But the majority of customers clothing and household linen was untouched.

This was due to quick action first by the police officer who discovered the fire, and then by Dover firemen under Station Officer J Smith.  Divisional Fir Officer N Mountford arrived from Canterbury to take charge, but by that time the local firemen had the outbreak under control.  Both he and other officers of the Kent Fire Brigade who later visited the scene, joining in with the firm's representatives in praising the work of the local firemen.

There was a good deal of wood in the construction of the building, while highly flammable chemicals used in dyeing and cleaning process, were stored in another part of the building on the ground floor.  Adjoining the premises too, is the Channel garage with petrol pumps and numerous cars.

Mr A Andrews Scott's resident engineer, who lives in part of the building fortunately untouched by the fire, said he walked past the works about twenty minutes to eleven and noticed nothing amiss.  Ten minutes later, Police Inspector Fred Wilkinson was passing and saw a thin whisp of smoke eddying from a first floor window.

He raised the alarm immediately, and though firemen were n the spot in a matter of a few minutes, by the time they arrived flames had burst through the roof.  As the firemen got to work, P.C's Crush and Steggles groped their way through the dense smoke to rescue two of the firms vans which were parked in the yard behind the building.  Then gave a hand moving the cars in the Channel garage to safety.

The firemen fought the flames from all sides and using their telescopic ladder, from above.  They confined the blaze to the eastern portion of the building, and within an hour had it under control.

So effective had their work been, that at 7.30am when the forms employees arrived, most were able to start their normal work, while the remainder began clearing up the debris under the direction of the manager Mr Garland.  During the weekend a number of staff at their own suggestion, worked on salvage and clearing up, and on Monday ordinary production work was in progress.

Two firemen were injured during the blaze.  Fireman Wyatt injured a toe when his foot was jammed between the telescope ladder and the building, and Fireman Pain was burnt on the hand by molten metal.

102 Snnargate Street