When I was growing up I have memories of going shopping in the town centre with my mum. If we went in a shop and they didn’t have what she wanted she would be greeted with response such as “we haven’t got any today love but if you pop round the corner I’m sure Kath will help you” or words suchlike. Or if there was something she was buying that she wasn’t sure about there would be a ton of advice offered to her by the friendly face behind the counter.
Over the last few weeks I am heart warmed to realise that this business community spirit still exists. It’s just people don’t get involved in it as much as they used to. A few weeks ago something hit the underside of my car while I was doing around 70mph on the motorway. This caused a blowout on one of my tyres and a rather scary couple of minutes with little control. After limping home on my space saver tyre the following day I went to a tyre yard in Ashton and as money was tight, had a part worn put on.
When I tried to drive my car on the motorway again the car didn’t feel stable. I decided to drive onto the forecourt of National Tyres and Autocare on King Street to have the wheel alignment checked. It was done and reset after being described as “way out” by the friendly guy who was looking after me. He then said he thought he could see a couple of other problems that needed sorting. Said I should go see Brent at HiQ motors round the corner which I did. Again, a friendlier bunch of people you couldn’t wish to meet.
As it turned out, whatever had struck my car had done a lot more damage than I’d thought. Driving my little girl around in it with the unseen damage was actually extremely dangerous. The thing is not only did HiQ tell me what the problems were, they took me to my car and showed me. They explained every little job that needed doing and took me through the full diagnostics. They also pointed out that the tyre yard I went to had put a van tyre on my car.
While my car was off the road for repairs I did a lot of walking to and from the garage. This meant I was calling in and out of the shops on the way there and on the way back. I had a couple of fantastic lunches and a breakfast, picked up shopping, a Mickey Mouse balloon for my daughter, a new HD lead for my TV and even once had a sneaky half of really cool lager at the Astley at the top of the hill as I thought the climb up Chapel Street in the sunshine meant I deserved a treat. All with some friendly banter and valuable advice thrown in on the way.
Me driving into National Tyres and then meeting Brent and the team at HiQ gave me the opportunity to slow down a little, open my eyes and see that what we have around us in Dukinfield is still special. It’s the community that makes the town and the fact that everyone is trying to look out for everyone else. Just how I remember it as a kid. Thank you Dukinfield!
