Petrol Pumps at this Garage are Unique

Mr. C. F. Burgess operating the hand petrol pump at his garage at South Anston on Wednesday. This pump is believed to be the last remaining one of its kind in the Sheffield area and thought to have been in operation since 1928.

The village of South Anston may be the only place left in the West Riding to have hand-operated petrol pumps at a public garage. Garage owner, Mr. Colin Burgess of Sheffield Road, told the "South Yorkshire Times" he had the first hand operated pump between Sheffield and Worksop in 1928 ... and it is still going strong.

During the war he bought a second-hand manual pump and this too is still being used daily.

Said Mr. Burgess: "The first pump was quite a novelty because they had only just come out in those days. Previously we served petrol from two gallon cans.

"I don't know of any other hand operated pumps in the area, but they are both still working well so I don't see why I should change them. There is not much to go wrong with them and these electric pumps often go wrong.

ALMOST AS FAST

"It is not as though we are on a busy road and I can serve petrol almost as fast as with an electric pump. At one time they measured pints, quarters and half gallons but we had this taken off because they were never used."

"The Weights and Measures chaps say they have never seen any pumps like these when they call round and the pump maintenance men don't know what to do with them. The last time something went wrong we had to do the job ourselves."

An official at the West Riding County Council Weight and Measures Department, at Wakefield said: " I did not think there were any of these left. They must be the only ones left in that area."