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A B Fletcher, Great Lister Street.

K

Ken_R

master brummie
Not been there for years. From memory, it used to be on the corner with Dartmouth Middleway but when I went past some months ago I think it had different occupancy.

Does it still exist?

I can find numerous trade listings for the business but no actual Home Page.

I'm after some 'U' section felt (in quantity) of the type that would be inside the window runners of cars like the Morris Minor, etc.

>>>> Off to search for some enthusiasts suppliers that might sell it.
 
I used to spend hours mooching through the old tools and car parts. It went up market a few years ago and did not seem to attract many people.
 
It changed into a sort of Halfords type car parts shop, lost its appeal then, it was a right gem of a place in its day could spend hours mooching through the boxes of switches, knods tools etc. Its a workware store now.
 
I've just been reminded that Fletchers was a voluntary closure in 2010 and they have a similar store still operating in Coventry..I used to buy materials from there for my business.
 
Coventry. The only one I can find there with a 'Fletcher' name connection looks to be a high-end tuning and styling outlet.
 
Latest comment I found was on a Trade listing site and dated 2009. Reply by an A Clutterbuck who signed himself as MD of the company.
 
Ken_R said:
Not been there for years. From memory, it used to be on the corner with Dartmouth Middleway but when I went past some months ago I think it had different occupancy.

Does it still exist?

>>>> Off to search for some enthusiasts suppliers that might sell it.
Click to expand...

AIUI AB Fletchers was acquired by Oscott Air/Oscott Equipments. They had a trade warehouse in Homer St (behind Lidl) and
their retail arm was in the old AB Fletcher premises that we all knew and loved, but it became an up-market go-faster stripes and exhaust store. The warehouse closed and Trade customers were also serviced from these premises until it's final demise.

The little Fletchers store in Erdington featured above is an ordinary car spares shop like you had in every shopping area (and still better than Halfrauds!) - I don't think it has any links to the old AB Fletcher although it may still be in a branch of the family.

Dave
 
I wish they were still about,finding spare parts for our classic vehicles is becoming a nightmare,parts that could be bought for a few pence at Fletchers now cost an arm and a leg
Malcolm
 
I found this listing in a trade page but they do not appear to be there any more.

Carnoisseur Coventry @ Fletchers Autostore
Address: 13, London Road
Postcode: CV1 2JP
 
Just discovered that they have the same address as Elliots from whom I used to buy stuff from back in the 1970s.

Elliots Autostore
13, London Rd
Coventry CV1 2JP
 
Last edited by a moderator:
A B Fletcher Ltd was magic! They kept my old bangers going for years. Back in about 1967 a friend of mine stayed with us at my parent's house. He had a 1936 Austin Big 7. One morning there was a pool of petrol under the car and on close inspection the brass banjo connection to the carburettor was found to have cracked in two, probably due to vibration. He said the chances of finding a new banjo were very slim, but my dad took us up to Fletcher's, and we found a boxful of banjo's, all of which my friend bought, along with a load of other stuff for Austin 7's. He fixed his car in about 20 minutes. My first car was a 1953 Split-screen Morris Minor, and one afternoon while I was 'browsing' around Fletcher's I found a brand-new carpet, which I bought on the spot. Fitting it was something else, though.

G
 
Bernie D'Boult said:
I found this listing in a trade page but they do not appear to be there any more.

Carnoisseur Coventry @ Fletchers Autostore
Address: 13, London Road
Postcode: CV1 2JP
Click to expand...

That's the one I found.

Two other possibilities,

https://www.bullmotif.com/

which sell a 'finished product' line, and,

https://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-290-single-track.aspx

who supply a more 'generic' product.

In my initial post, I made reference to 'cars like the Morris Minor'. The reason that I need it 'in quantity' is because of the need being a little larger than a Morris Minor.






image.jpg


In fact, a lot larger than a Morris Minor.:sneakiness:

But, the door windows is still windows, and they still need to run in 'runners'.

The 'Engineering' may be larger, but the methods remain unchanged.
 
That photo brings back memories,my first job when I left school was at the rolling stock firm of Metro Cammell.
 
My old grand dad used to be the gatekeeper at the met,sometimes in Arley Road and sometimes on the main gate
 
Hi all, i remember A B Fletchers very well, i used to go there with my dad and two older brothers, looking for parts for dads old bullnosed Morris, what an Alladins cave that place was in the 1950s, there didnt appear to be anything you couldnt get,one thing that stuck in my mind was the Perspex covers taken from Bomber aircraft, what possible use they were i dont know. Regards Eddyjayauk.
 
HI Eddy
thats correct there great grand father started them up many years ago by selling the old type cars of the era
out side his house in the avenue next to st mary church as you turned into the avenue off the aston rd north which is just along the aston cross
he used to stick orange wooden boxes out side his front window of his house theold back to back houses
with the old big car lamps and bulbs any think he got was of any distscription wires handles any bits and bobs
you wpould pay half a crown for an old austin head lamp ;my grand father and his family grew up with him and said he was a robber in his prices
and he would not buy the pars he needed he wopuld rather go to tarriones or any scrap yard rather than pay his price
i recall my grand father driving around for monthswith onehead lamp in his three wheeler and his old morris van what he eventualy bought ;
eventualy he wnt to he maindealrs on lichfield rd ; or should i say astonrd north ;and payed brand new price top wack ;
but thats where flechers of dartmouth street set up by his family whom become top dealers ; with there big show rooms and then became multi bussiness ;
by his son and grand kids whom expanded the bussines by carry on his dream if you like ; thats where fletchers startedbefore setting up in darthmouth stret birmingham ; over the years like most people of brum went there especialy aston people;
also along with flights coaches of victoria rd started in aston; they also grew up around the same time and set up a little bussines there repairing the ol austins of the periof in the 1800- and early 1900s it was a shed and he woulddo the simliest of repairs like batterys and light bulbs
orinionaly the flights company go back years and there grt ; grt. grt grand father was a rag and bone mam of aston ; its a story of the expression ; rags to riches and over the years each member of the family of victoria rd aston built and extented to gret things it was built by there sons and sons of the generation of the fletchers family and now look its a muliti million pounds bussines internationioaly know for there coaches ;
just like the fletchers international name they became ;
afew years back i did an article of the fletchers about four or five years ago on mr fletcher on this forum on howthe fletchers of darhmouth street aston started ; but i beleive its all ben hacked ; still not to worry but thats how fletchers started ;
icidently my grt grand father george william jel started thetea rooms known as coffe shops around birmigham and aton and in the burlingtonarcarde far back as the 1800 along with joe lyons tea rooms and my grand father ernest jelf and his brothers built my grt grand fathers dream as well with all there tea andbed and breakfast,s around brum; they also had the aston cross and lichfield rd and aston rd north and tyburn rd and by the dunlop just to mention afew
have your self a cracking day best wishes astonian;
 
Ken,

sorry, I missed your request for U-channel felt in your initial post. Try this company: https://www.automobiletrim.com. They're in Stanmore, but will deliver, and I can virtually guarantee they'll have what you want.

I worked for a technical textile company for 20 years before I retired, and we supplied large quantities of felts and other fabrics to the automotive industry, but unfortunately stopped manufacturing channel seals a few years ago.

Hope this helps.

G
 
Did Fletchers also sell ex WD/MOD equipment, I seem to remember buying radio equipment from them in the early sixties.
 
HI ALBERTA ;
Good morning to you ;yes indeed they most certainly did my grand father owned a mini van ; a dark green morris mini van he used for his bussiness when he died in 70 afew weks later his brother took it away and with in a couple of days he crashed it ;he told my mother that he had crashed her dads mini ;
and a couple of years ago i got of carl chinns maggs and thee was a car dealer on the bottom of rocky lane at nechells end
and a picture appears in carls magg of this car sales point and lord and behold it was my grand fathers mini van with a busted head lamp showing for sale
but bear in mind thy done other parts ; if you recall ;
have a good day best wishes alan; astonian;
 
nickcc101 said:
Did Fletchers also sell ex WD/MOD equipment, I seem to remember buying radio equipment from them in the early sixties.
Click to expand...

As a young lad fresh in the motor trade I used to be taken to A B Fletchers in the early sixties. The yard was a sea of mud full of ex-army vehicles of all descriptions. A mechanic there

told me how a lot of the army trucks were got running and shipped out to places like Africa. If a part was not available to carry out the required repair then something was bodged in its p

lace. I was shown pistons that had been turned out of wood to replace damaged original pistons. One wooden piston in each engine didn't seem to make much difference. The vehicle only

needed to be driven on to the ship for export. Once it was in Africa who cared.

Later years I used to enjoy wandering around Fletchers. You would see dustbins full of pop-rivets, self tapping screws and washers, 100,000s of them. Hundreds if not thousands of yards

of door trim. This week it would be thousands of carpets for Morris Minors, the next week dozens of wings for Austin A35s.

Racks full of wiper motors, the next bin full of bulbs, a stillage full of clutch plates. It was a wonderful place, sad to see it go.
 
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