Chapter 5 more research
With the body off and the rolling chassis looking good, I locked both storage containers and returned to the computer to continue the searching.
Bill Reeves had told me that Ivor Read had owned the Buick and the golf course.
I asked Queenie Johnson if she knew if Lockwoods had any information on the Buick. Queenie said that the company records had been deposited with East Kent Archives when Ivor died and Lockwoods closed in 2001. But Queenie also told me that the golf course accounts were not done at Lockwoods, the two were kept seperate.
So I emailed the secretary at Westgate & Birchington Golf Course, and Terry Sharp replied. He did not think any record of the Buick survived, but he did remember it and they still have the gang mower it used to tow. Wow!
A real barn find
Terry recognised Bill Reeves in the photos and also identified Alec McLeod, who was Ivor Read’s mechanic.
I then contacted Alec, who remembered extracting the Buick from the barn. I understand the barn was at Hundreds Farm, next to the golf course, now a new housing developement. It was Alec who told me Olive Read had owned the car.
I have not been able to find out much about Olive yet. I know she never married and her first name was Blanche. The 1911 census shows Arthur Ivor Read born 1904 and Blanche Olive Read age 11.
1928buick 