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Webber's Garage at 15 London Street, Basingstoke, in the 1920s

OVER the past few months, local motorists driving past the Webbers car dealership site, in New Road, Basingstoke, have been surprised to find that the business is now under the name of Harwoods.

As one driver recently exclaimed: "When did that happen?"

The answer is last October. And in reply to another query "Who are they?", the Harwood Group has 14 sites across south east England, employs some 700 staff and was established in 1931.

In regard to Webber's Garage, as it was known locally, the business was started by Walter William Webber in 1900, having moved to Basingstoke from Oxford in the late 19th century.

At first, he worked as a grocer's assistant, but, after hearing that the fashion of cycling was on the increase, he became a keen cyclist himself, and later set up a shop where he sold various types of bicycles.

With the increase in motor transport, he opened a repair workshop off London Street in 1893. Then, in 1900, he acquired premises in Winchester Road, near Winton Square, as showrooms where he sold a variety of bicycles, motorcycles and cars.

Mr Webber married and had three children, a daughter, Olive, who worked in her father's business, and two sons - Morris, who died from an illness after carrying out military service in India, and Clifton, who became a director of his father's business in 1926.

Clifton's son Roger also became a member of the firm after an apprenticeship in general engineering when he was 22 years old.

Walter William Webber

Meanwhile, in the period during the First World War, Mr Webber decided not to sell bicycles any more and concentrated on motor vehicles, having acquired premises at 15 London Street, which he converted into showrooms with large windows for displaying the automobiles.

In the 1920s, he advertised that he was a distributor for Austin, Morris and Talbot cars, and he had a garage which held 90 vehicles.

As more people bought cars, mostly for social visits and touring, Webber published a 32-page booklet called Motor Runs Round Basingstoke, in which various routes across Hampshire and its neighbouring counties were described. This 1928 publication was reprinted a few years ago by Milestones museum in Basingstoke.

In 1933, Walter Webber acquired premises in Alton for servicing vehicles, then sold it in 1958.

In 1935, as a town councillor, he was elected as Mayor of Basingstoke.

By the time the Second World War began in 1939, the business was being run with a head office and showrooms in London Street, a garage in Southern Road, and a service station in Victoria Street.

In the mid-1950s, Roger Webber began working full-time for the business. By 1960, he was a director, before becoming managing director in 1974.

Walter remained as chairman in a semi-retirement position until February 1960, when he died, aged 89.

In 1963, work began on building a new showroom and petrol filling station in Southern Road, but the events of the following years, when the town was drastically altered by the development scheme, led to a new road through the heart of the garage site after the local council had acquired the land by compulsory purchase.

In return, Webber's was given land on both sides of the new road for its use, so work went ahead on a new showroom, a filling station and workshops, which were completed in 1975.

In July 1989, Roger Webber died suddenly at the age of 57. His son Antony joined the business that same year.

Over the following years, more changes took place, which included new workshops in 1995. Two years later, some sections of the business were moved to Daneshill Industrial Estate.

Clifton Webber, Walter's son, died in October 1999, aged 95, just months before the firm celebrated its 100th birthday.

Since Webber's Garage was acquired by Harwoods last October, the name of Webber has not faded from people's minds or lips, for local folk still call it "Webber's Garage", and probably will do so for some time. After more than a century in the town, it's only natural!

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