A Tavistock garage which has been run by the same family for three generations is proudly celebrating its 80th anniversary.

Paul Bishop still runs Bishop and Turnbull on Pixon Lane, the garage founded by his grandad Fred Bishop in 1944 after wartime service in the RAF with one Harry Turnbull.

A few years later, Fred's son Dennis joined the business and in 1954, Harry gone and Fred retired, Dennis began his long tenure at the helm with wife Thelma at his side.

They built up a thriving business, expanding on the site beside the Market Inn where the garage is still based.

While the family photo album shows their son Paul as a small boy tinkering with engines, he says taking on the family business was never his intention growing up.

On leaving school, he had taken on an apprenticeship with Rolls Royce. “Then they laid off all their apprentices. I was devastated and so I came back to the garage by accident really,” he says.

“I went to undergo my training and City and Guilds. Then after eight years, the business was too small for both me and my dad, so I left and worked in Holland as a mechanic for four years.

“I then worked in Saudi Arabia for the American army and then in 1983 I came back to the UK. I moved to London to work for Peugeot the factory, on the retail side, running dealerships in London.

“Then in 1990 my father said to me, not for the first time, 'I’m going to retire' and he meant it this time and so in 1990 I came back to Tavistock. Dad left to retire in 1992 and I have run it ever since. I am still here 24/7, even now.”

Still working with Paul are mechanics Andy Palmer and Alf Birch, who have been with him for 25 years plus.

Over the years, technology has galloped apace but the important things have stayed the same. The service offered by the garage is the same high standard it has always been.

Open Monday to Friday, Bishop and Turnbull repairs all makes and models of cars and light commercial vehicles such as vans, also offering MOTs, servicing and bodywork.

"I’m a firm believer that if a customer comes through those doors, whatever they want, I can do,” says Paul. “I don’t say ‘you have to go there and get your tyres or there to get your exhaust and there to get your bodywork.We can do most things, we are not just mechanics, we are engineers.

“Another important thing to mention is that we do bodywork. There are only three of us now in the area that do. One of our early adverts said ‘you bend it, we mend it’ and that says it all.”

He said he wanted to thank his parents, still living nearby, and his loyal staff. The business remains a family affair, as one of Paul’s three children, his daughter Taylor, does the garage paperwork. He is proud of the number of repeat customers he has.

“I’ve got a huge interest in mechanical things and I’m still learning at 71, I’m still learning every single day. I treat cars as individuals," he said. "Customers say to me, I come here, Paul, because I trust you."

Bishop and Turnbull, Pixon Lane, Tavistock PL19 9AZ, telephone (01822) 612570. See the website at https://www.bishopturnbullmottesting.co.uk.