Interview with Bob Bunn (b.1934) about his washing machine business and mobile greengrocers, playing golf and networking in Bletchley.
Bobby Bunn's wedding day, 1955. Photograph supplied by kind permission of BCHI (Accession Ref: BLE/P/201).Original donated by Living Archive.
Bob Bunn talks of his early life and family; living in bed and breakfast places in London with his wife. He and his brother came to Robert Shaw of Bletchley as metal polishers, living in lodgings initially. He was then allocated a re-let council house on the Saints. He later took a job on night shift at Vauxhall’s in Luton. ‘I wanted to do night work only ‘cos if you done 9 hours a night you could sleep 5 of them.’ During the day he hired out washing machines locally at 2/6d. an hour. However, in 1960 John Bloom invented cheap washing machines and the hire business collapsed, so instead he took on the local mobile greengrocery shop, together with window cleaning. ‘I didn’t know the difference between a swede and a parsnip, and I had £13 in cash that’s all’. He built up the business successfully and tells many anecdotes about it.
In 1963 he bought a plot of land in Whalley Drive to build a bungalow, getting a council mortgage. He took up golf and joined Leighton Buzzard Golf Club, playing 3 days a week; he then joined Aspley Guise. Golf enabled him to make many new contacts: he attended various local Balls and enjoyed mixing with people like Fred Roche. He remembers the opening of Windmill Hill public Golf course in 1970/71; the main instigators were V Stephens and Luing Cowley: ‘you couldn’t get into Aspley or Leighton Buzzard Golf Clubs if you were a factory worker’.
He kept racing pigeons; Robert Maxwell was chairman of the pigeon racing club, and he remembers going to Maxwell’s house on the night he was elected M.P. He also recalls nights at The Shoulder of Mutton pub; the singer there was Jimmy Quinn.
He was pleased Milton Keynes was coming, but it affected his shop: by 1974, takings were declining. He then became a builder, but got into debt within two years, so took up motor trading. Again debts built up: a court order was set up for him to pay the creditors; he paid none of them and they eventually gave up.
Creator
Bunn, Bob
Extent
1 audio tape cassette
Contributor
Lindsay, Sheila Kitchen, Roger
Reference number
BBB/002/016
Comments about this page
He used to play golf up windmill hill and was a good friend of my dad .
I remember Bob, and the grocery van
He was good friends with my grandad, Albert (Bert) Kirby
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