Hello all, long time no see, been over three years now since I last posted on here but I figured it was time to get reporting again.
I thought I might be the first to document this place here, and that it might be a bit of an unknown gem but Mikeymutt has a report from last year that shows the site in a bit more of a 'complete' condition including still some of the old cars left out back: Report - - Cranes Skoda of Marsham .Norfolk, February 2022 | Other Sites
History:
Hard to find much about the early years of this place, but the central garage building beneath all the modern extensions and cladding looks to be quite old, maybe even pre-war. It seems it started life as a small roadside garage and service station alongside what was once the main road from Cromer to Aylsham to Norwich. It would eventually become branded as an Esso petrol station until at least the early 90s. Later in life, this road was bypassed, removing much of this purpose except to those who knew it was there and would detour off the new main road. (Only a few hundred yards away, mind you!) However the pumps did remain and the owners did in fact keep their licence to sell fuel, I believe right up until the end.
It's quite possible that the Crane family have owned the garage right from the start. It's still listed on Companies House, with the original director (if not the first, then certainly the first to be registered officially), Agatha Crane, born in 1910 and resigning in 2002. The final owner, who I have found mentioned around the web but mainly simply as "old Mr Crane" seems to have died somewhere around 2012 and the garage closed after that. Apparently he lived on site in an old shack, that I didn't get into this time but will try and take another look at. Various car enthusiast forums (particularly Skoda ones) talk about the place and how it was known as a bit of a Mecca for parts. If you look the place up on Google Maps then the only street photo of this road, taken 13 years ago, shows the garage still thriving with numerous old cars out front.
I can't find when they first started a dealership for Skoda cars but it was likely quite some time ago, at least the 80s if not the 70s or maybe even before. However from what I've read online it seems that after the Volkswagen takeover, they lost official dealership status as VW wanted their official outlets to be big, shiny, fancy new places and some little old series of sheds out in the country wasn't going to cut it. However, Mr Crane notably bought all the parts from the Kings Lynn Skoda dealership when it closed up, and did continue to be a specialist as well as selling used Skodas on the forecourt.
There was also some kind of lawn mower sales and repair service on site too, given the number of old mowers and paraphernalia about.
A photo I found online of the garage in its heyday, when it still had Esso branding, taken 1992.
The Google Maps photos of the garage showing it still up and thriving in 2010. Retro car enthusiasts like myself might be salivating a little at the number of everyday classics parked out front which have since vanished from the road. A surprising amount of Citroën AXs! Note that white VW T3 camper, you'll be seeing it again...
Today & The Explore:
Now sitting forlornly down a forgotten side road, the garage is in quite bad repair. The main sales floor area is suffering from an extremely rotten roof which is being propped up with scaffolding but still looks ready to collapse at any moment. The older parts of the building don't look too bad, but still the usual signs of age and nature trying to reclaim them.
The jewel in the crown of this place is the sheer number of old and no doubt very rare Skoda spare parts to be found, many of them still neatly stacked and boxed up. From official paints to doors, windows, seats, trim and more it's all here and mostly in perfectly good condition. For whatever reason it appears that the bulk of the parts are for the Skoda Favorit, but other parts for other models are certainly around too.
There are likely many retro Skoda owners out there searching high and low across the internet for these rare parts, and here they are in these sheds, mouldering away and no doubt due to be put in a skip some day... as a retro car lover (and previous Skoda Favorit owner) it does break my heart and quite honestly if given the chance I would break the rules, I would rescue as many of these parts and pieces as I could and make them available to Skoda owners to help them keep their cars on the road for many years yet. Sadly, for one thing, I'd need a huge warehouse just to store them all in the first place and an entire lorry to move them!
Talking of, it seems that since the last report some attempt at a clearup was started. The old cars previously found at back have been taken away (bar one) and things are a bit more in disarray as if they've been rifled through and started to be removed. However it looks like they gave up on that mammoth task fairly quickly, and I don't know what the plan is now. Very likely to come back with a bulldozer. The big black skip out front appears to be about as empty as when Mikeymutt visited a year ago, but certainly some things are changed.
This was a fairly brisk but very enjoyable little poke about on a whim, with my girlfriend. I didn't take in quite as much as I'd have liked so will likely return soon for a really proper look through every nook and cranny of the place!
Photos:
Sorry for the low quality, they were taken with my girlfriend's phone, which I'm not familiar with. I'd left mine in the car by mistake!
And here's that camper! It hasn't had an MOT since before online records began. The registration on it would be worth a fortune.
The original shop/garage front can be found inside, hidden behind all the more modern metal cladding and extensions. A really cute little unexpected feature.
These old number plates and sets of keys were a real treat to a car nerd like me. Feel free to run the plates at your own leisure! Some real gems in there, most of which seem to have bitten the dust but there's a couple which may still be hanging on, SORNed somewhere.
More pictures to follow in the next post!
I thought I might be the first to document this place here, and that it might be a bit of an unknown gem but Mikeymutt has a report from last year that shows the site in a bit more of a 'complete' condition including still some of the old cars left out back: Report - - Cranes Skoda of Marsham .Norfolk, February 2022 | Other Sites
History:
Hard to find much about the early years of this place, but the central garage building beneath all the modern extensions and cladding looks to be quite old, maybe even pre-war. It seems it started life as a small roadside garage and service station alongside what was once the main road from Cromer to Aylsham to Norwich. It would eventually become branded as an Esso petrol station until at least the early 90s. Later in life, this road was bypassed, removing much of this purpose except to those who knew it was there and would detour off the new main road. (Only a few hundred yards away, mind you!) However the pumps did remain and the owners did in fact keep their licence to sell fuel, I believe right up until the end.
It's quite possible that the Crane family have owned the garage right from the start. It's still listed on Companies House, with the original director (if not the first, then certainly the first to be registered officially), Agatha Crane, born in 1910 and resigning in 2002. The final owner, who I have found mentioned around the web but mainly simply as "old Mr Crane" seems to have died somewhere around 2012 and the garage closed after that. Apparently he lived on site in an old shack, that I didn't get into this time but will try and take another look at. Various car enthusiast forums (particularly Skoda ones) talk about the place and how it was known as a bit of a Mecca for parts. If you look the place up on Google Maps then the only street photo of this road, taken 13 years ago, shows the garage still thriving with numerous old cars out front.
I can't find when they first started a dealership for Skoda cars but it was likely quite some time ago, at least the 80s if not the 70s or maybe even before. However from what I've read online it seems that after the Volkswagen takeover, they lost official dealership status as VW wanted their official outlets to be big, shiny, fancy new places and some little old series of sheds out in the country wasn't going to cut it. However, Mr Crane notably bought all the parts from the Kings Lynn Skoda dealership when it closed up, and did continue to be a specialist as well as selling used Skodas on the forecourt.
There was also some kind of lawn mower sales and repair service on site too, given the number of old mowers and paraphernalia about.
A photo I found online of the garage in its heyday, when it still had Esso branding, taken 1992.
The Google Maps photos of the garage showing it still up and thriving in 2010. Retro car enthusiasts like myself might be salivating a little at the number of everyday classics parked out front which have since vanished from the road. A surprising amount of Citroën AXs! Note that white VW T3 camper, you'll be seeing it again...
Today & The Explore:
Now sitting forlornly down a forgotten side road, the garage is in quite bad repair. The main sales floor area is suffering from an extremely rotten roof which is being propped up with scaffolding but still looks ready to collapse at any moment. The older parts of the building don't look too bad, but still the usual signs of age and nature trying to reclaim them.
The jewel in the crown of this place is the sheer number of old and no doubt very rare Skoda spare parts to be found, many of them still neatly stacked and boxed up. From official paints to doors, windows, seats, trim and more it's all here and mostly in perfectly good condition. For whatever reason it appears that the bulk of the parts are for the Skoda Favorit, but other parts for other models are certainly around too.
There are likely many retro Skoda owners out there searching high and low across the internet for these rare parts, and here they are in these sheds, mouldering away and no doubt due to be put in a skip some day... as a retro car lover (and previous Skoda Favorit owner) it does break my heart and quite honestly if given the chance I would break the rules, I would rescue as many of these parts and pieces as I could and make them available to Skoda owners to help them keep their cars on the road for many years yet. Sadly, for one thing, I'd need a huge warehouse just to store them all in the first place and an entire lorry to move them!
Talking of, it seems that since the last report some attempt at a clearup was started. The old cars previously found at back have been taken away (bar one) and things are a bit more in disarray as if they've been rifled through and started to be removed. However it looks like they gave up on that mammoth task fairly quickly, and I don't know what the plan is now. Very likely to come back with a bulldozer. The big black skip out front appears to be about as empty as when Mikeymutt visited a year ago, but certainly some things are changed.
This was a fairly brisk but very enjoyable little poke about on a whim, with my girlfriend. I didn't take in quite as much as I'd have liked so will likely return soon for a really proper look through every nook and cranny of the place!
Photos:
Sorry for the low quality, they were taken with my girlfriend's phone, which I'm not familiar with. I'd left mine in the car by mistake!
And here's that camper! It hasn't had an MOT since before online records began. The registration on it would be worth a fortune.
The original shop/garage front can be found inside, hidden behind all the more modern metal cladding and extensions. A really cute little unexpected feature.
These old number plates and sets of keys were a real treat to a car nerd like me. Feel free to run the plates at your own leisure! Some real gems in there, most of which seem to have bitten the dust but there's a couple which may still be hanging on, SORNed somewhere.
More pictures to follow in the next post!
