FORTY-nine years ago, a 14-year-old boy, with the help of his family, started to build a garage and petrol station in his home village of Mickleton.
Now 63-year-old David Hutchinson proudly presides over a thriving family enterprise.
Not only does this include a 24-hour petrol station which boasts “a forecourt with the best views in the country” , it includes the Lightning Signs printing business and a number of newly-built and refurbished holiday cottages.
David is also much involved in community projects as founder-chairman of the Teesdale Village Halls Consortium. He is chairman of Mickleton Village Hall, having played a major part in its construction in 1994. He was much involved in getting the Beckstone Wath footbridge over the River Tees built between Mickleton and Eggleston in 2001.
Always interested in “anything mechanical” , two years of hard graft saw young David’s dream of owning his own garage become a reality.
Friends helped with site preparation and drawing up the plans. The eldest of five children, David also had the support of his father, Ian, a construction machine driver who gave his weekends to the project, and mother, Marion, who helped run the business for many years.
Thanks to the former Startforth Rural District Council and the old North Riding of Yorkshire County Council, there was little difficulty in obtaining planning permission.
Now the village is in County Durham following boundary changes in 1974, it is a moot point as to whether the current county authority would have been so amenable.
David is now in partnership with younger brother Alistair and sister sister Karen Bowers, who alongside David’s son Andrew, also work in the business. Other employees are Annie Hall, Michael Kaye and Colin Hutchinson (no relation).
Over the years the garage has expanded to include a workshop and service bay, but the switch to 24-hour automated fuel service three years ago “has been a lifesaver” , says David.
“Petrol sales were declining to such an extent we were thinking of closing that side of the business, but now it is thriving and is much used by bikers as well as visiting car drivers” .
A Durham County Council grant paid nearly half the £45,000 cost of conversion.
A rally driver and disc jockey in his youth, there will no doubt be fresh fields to conquer for this young-looking, ever-cheerful 63-year old dalesman.
