Wollaston Village

Industry & Trade

Garages & Petrol Sites

Wollaston was not only a village of shops, bakeries and sweet shops. As car ownership grew through the twentieth century, garages and petrol pumps became part of everyday village life. Residents remember three separate sites — each serving a different part of the village.

Old ShopsTed Trembecki
All three sites are based on local memory and community recollection. Exact addresses, dates and photographs are still being gathered. If you can help confirm any of these details, please get in touch.

Three garages, one village

Local memory points to three separate garage or petrol-selling sites in Wollaston. Each served a different part of the village and each has its own story.

Pearson's Garage

Shell petrol and attended service

Opposite the Wollaston Inn / Nags Head, London Road / Hinwick Road area

Pearson's Garage is remembered as one of Wollaston's main garage and petrol sites. Local memories place it opposite the old Wollaston Inn, later the Nag's Head, where new houses now stand. It is remembered as selling Shell petrol and offering the kind of attended service that many residents still recall fondly.

What people remember

  • Remembered as Pearson's Garage
  • Opposite the Wollaston Inn / Nag's Head area
  • Shell petrol
  • Linked with the Pearson family
  • Residents remember buying cars and using the garage for fuel and service
  • New houses now stand on or near the site
Shell
Local memory — photo confirmation wanted

Wollaston Motors

High Street garage and Texaco pumps — proprietor Ted Trembecki

High Street, near the Griggs area / near the turn into High Street

Wollaston Motors was run for many years by Tadeusz "Ted" Trembecki, a Polish-born airman who had served as an air gunner with No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron RAF during the Second World War before settling in Northamptonshire. To most villagers he was simply Ted from Wollaston Motors — a familiar and respected face. Former employee Bill Almquest recalls working there in 1975 and remembers Ted and his wife Maria as kind and welcoming people.

What people remember

  • Proprietor: Tadeusz "Ted" Trembecki
  • High Street location, near the Griggs area
  • Texaco petrol
  • Separate from Pearson's Garage
  • Bill Almquest worked there c.1975
Texaco
Ted Trembecki — see his full story

Shelton's

Cleveland pumps at the Strixton end

London Road (Strixton end of Wollaston)

Shelton's is remembered as the third petrol-selling site in Wollaston. Its pumps were down the Strixton end of the village — now London Road — and are remembered as selling Cleveland petrol. This helps show that petrol provision was spread across the village, not just concentrated around the High Street.

What people remember

  • Remembered as Shelton's
  • Pumps down the Strixton end (London Road)
  • Cleveland petrol
  • Separate from Pearson's and Wollaston Motors
Cleveland
Local memory — location and photos wanted

Were there really three?

Local memory now points to three separate sites: Pearson's Garage near the Nag's Head, Wollaston Motors on the High Street, and Shelton's at the Strixton end. The different fuel brands — Shell, Texaco and Cleveland — support the idea that these were genuinely separate businesses rather than the same site remembered under different names.

If you have photographs, receipts, or can confirm any of the addresses, please share them with us.

At a glance

Pearson's Garage

LocationOpposite Wollaston Inn / Nag's Head areaFuelShellSite todayNew housesEvidenceLocal memory; heritage references to Pearson's early petrol pumpStill neededOld photo, exact dates

Wollaston Motors

LocationHigh Street near Griggs / High Street turnFuelTexacoSite todayTo be confirmedEvidenceLocal memory; continuing Wollaston Motors business nameStill neededOld photo, exact site, dates

Shelton's

LocationLondon Road (Strixton end)FuelClevelandSite todayTo be confirmedEvidenceLocal memoryStill neededOld photo, exact location, dates

Wollaston Motors

Ted Trembecki — from Polish airman to village garage owner

Tadeusz "Ted" Trembecki flew as an air gunner with No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron RAF during the Second World War. After the war he settled in Northamptonshire and ran Wollaston Motors on the High Street for many years. His story is one of the most remarkable in the village's history.

Read Ted's story

Can you help?

We are still looking for photographs, receipts, or any documents relating to Pearson's Garage, Wollaston Motors or Shelton's. If you worked at any of these garages, bought petrol there, or have any photographs, please get in touch through the village website.

  • A photograph of Pearson's Garage or its Shell pumps
  • The exact address of Wollaston Motors on the High Street
  • Any photograph of Ted Trembecki or Wollaston Motors
  • The exact location of Shelton's Cleveland pumps on London Road
  • Any receipts, invoices or documents from any of the three garages
Back to Old Shops