 |
Stewart Fenton Robertson was born on 3rd November 1924. |
| He had
3 sisters and 3 brothers. Their early years were on the family farm at
Cleikheim, Angus. |
| The
family moved to St. Fink farm, Rattray, a mixed farm with soft fruit and
beasts. |
| Even
as a youngster Stewart was interested in green energy. He fitted a windmill
to the top of the farmhouse – but was practically knocked out when a sudden
gust of wind prematurely set it in motion! A poor start for someone who was
to go on to repair helicopters! |
|
Stewart did well at school, and obtained an office job in Kirriemuir. This
wasn’t what he wanted to do, so he left to become a time served motor
mechanic in Alyth.. |
| He
joined the Alyth Scouts pipe band, and met up with Ian Beverley – who was to
be his best friend and eventually his Best Man. |
| Motor
bikes were their thing and they were soon modifying and racing them at Errol
Airfield. |
|
Stewart was called up for National Service. He wanted to join the Merchant
Navy (he liked the idea that in their engines each inch is about two feet
long!) but served in the RAF. There he continued his mechanicing, repairing
helicopters and heavy trucks. |
|
Unfortunately he contracted “travelling pneumonia”, reportedly in a swimming
pool. He walked around with this for some time before being rushed back to
Bridge of Earn Hospital where he had to breathe in yellow penicillin powder,
which was in its early stages of use. |
| In the
1950s Stewart worked as a mechanic in Farnell, Friockheim and Brechin. |
| MOTs
came out around then - with brake and steering tests undertaken on the
road. Carrying out an MOT, Stewart was testing the steering when he was
pulled over by the local Bobbie - who thought he had a very drunk driver! |
| During
this period Stewart was an elder at Farnall Church. |
|
Stewart married Betty in 1951, and had 2 sons, Iain in 1956, and Colin in
1961. |
| In
1964 he moved his family to Burnbrae. It was tough and he spent days
sharpening drills, waiting for the next customer. However through his
personality, humour, experience and hard work the garage prospered. |
| Petrol
cost 3 shillings and 4 pence a gallon then (3p/ litre). The “pump bell”
ruled life – guaranteed to ring when you sat down to tea. |
| After
a couple of years the garage expanded and a second mechanic was hired.
There was a pit in the old wooden garage (which filled with water) and a
large trolley jack. |
|
Stewart strongly believed in saving up to buy things. He saved and bought
his first ramp, and later pneumatic air tools. These were immediately
classed as “how did we manage without them”! |
|
Stewart always loved selling cars. He and Ian Beverley would go the Glasgow
“Car Mart” every couple of months and see what took their fancy. They would
then drive back in their purchase – often a minivan. That vehicle would
then be used for several months as a “garage vehicle”. This meant that when
you bought a car from Stewart he knew how good it was. |
|
Stewart and Betty separated in 1968, and the two boys stayed at Burnbrae. |
| A
third mechanic joined and by the time of decimalisation petrol had risen to
34p/ gallon (4p/ litre) |
|
Stewart continued to experiment with wind power. He built a horizontal
windmill – which operated no matter which direction the wind came from –
this whirred (noisily) charging tractor batteries. One stormy night, its
Honda 50 gearbox dropped into neutral; and the windmill, freed from it’s
load, revved up and up until it exploded! (and peaceful nights returned). |
| He
also built heat pumps using salvaged industrial deep freeze units and later
hand formed copper coils. The garage office was heated by these. |
| MOTs
were always a large part of the garage business. In the late 70’s new
regulations requiring extra equipment, off street parking and dedicated
workshop space meant that many garages abandoned MOTs. Stewart saw the
opportunity and, contracting out only the steelwork and sheeting, built a
new garage with Dunc McOmish the master builder! The concrete blocks for
the garage were hand made – 60 each night before tea! |
| Iain
left to become an Engineer with Automotive manufacturers, and Colin joined
the garage. With Colin’s help the garage expanded, adding additional
minibuses, breakdown vehicles, ramps and mechanics. |
| The
Garage took on the Fendt tractor agency, and Stewart donned new working
clothes - a collar and tie - and travelled over Perthshire trying to sell
tractors that were twice the price of any of the others! However he very
much enjoyed seeing the country side and chatting to farmers. At about this
time Stewart’s grandchildren were born, Lucy and Guy to Iain and Diane, and
Evelyn and Neil to Colin and Karen. He also enjoyed driving the mini bus
more often but Colin was stunned to hear his dad say when he came back from
Edinburgh: “That’s the first time I have been there”. Stewart loved
travelling around Scotland in his caravan and his favourite holiday was
sitting at the edge of a loch frying bacon listening to Scottish music on
the car radio. A new home was built for him next to the garage and he moved
reluctantly, but once settled in his centrally heated home he was much
happier. |
| Car
repairing has changed out of all recognition. The hours spent balancing
twin carburettors or filing points are of little value now, where individual
computerised elements and sensors in a car (or tractor) communicate with
each other across a network. Stewart had a longstanding love of old
agricultural equipment. Several tractors, diggers and engines were returned
to working condition and used in the garage business – or indeed building
the roads and building foundations that form the business. When asked about
all the others he answered that he was going to “do them up when I retire”. |
|
Stewart never really had a retirement. He continued to help in the garage,
and even held a PSV licence, until he was forced to stop following a serious
illness in 2003. The effect of that illness, and arthritis in his hands,
meant that he was not able to carry on in the garage, but he did cut all the
grass, on a Honda mower with his controls altered to suit his disability. |
| In
April 2007 he was admitted to hospital but, after a series of chest
infections that worsened his increasing dementia, he was too poorly to
return home. We would like to thank the staff at Rigifa, Methven, Crieff
Hospital, and Louisebrae Nursing home for looking after him so well. We
would especially like to thank Linda and the staff at Richmond House for
taking such special care of Stewart during the months he spent with them. |
| What
words could be used to describe Stewart? Stoic, hard working and honest –
but we have memories of Stewart and his achievements which outweigh even
these. |
