Rolls-Royce outside The Lodge, St Andrew's Road in 1968

Image: © John Baker Taken: Unknown

My father had formerly been employed by Ohrbach’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohrbach's as an export merchant to America until 1966, when it sold its UK concern to C&A. The younger Mr Ohrbach, here referred to as Jerome http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_15050.html but whom my father knew as Jerry had become head of the firm in 1950. He had a penchant for Rolls-Royce/Bentley cars (which he could afford as he was a multi-millionaire). The deal was that Jerry would purchase a new left-hand drive car, use it to tour Europe before getting my father to collect it from wherever he had left it, have it serviced in the UK and shipped back to the States. This was the last of Jerry’s cars that my father drove as, although he had left his employment with Ohrbach’s and had started a new job at Littlestone Golf Club in May 1968, he was able (and seized the chance) to have time off to collect this car from The Continent, following an invitation from Jerry. A drive round Romney Marsh sticks in my memory, for when we reached Ivychurch and turned the corner towards Brenzett, a family standing outside their house viewed the car with open mouths as it passed by. My father took me along when he drove the car to London for its servicing, prior to its being shipped to the States. We came back by train from Charing Cross.

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