A FAMILY is celebrating its 40th anniversary of owning the same garage.

Previously, the Forge in Old London Road, Patcham Village was a working Blacksmiths since the 1880s.

But in 1978 it started trading as Patcham Garage, which is an independent, family-run garage and car sales in Patcham, on the outskirts of the city.

The business has been serving the community ever since, celebrating 40 years of service this year.

Former MP for Brighton Kemp Town Sir Andrew Bowden praised the company.

He said: “As a loyal customer and friend, I would like to congratulate Patcham Garage for reaching 40 years in business

“The contribution to the local community from Barry and his team in that time has been brilliant and with Kris now taking over the reins it will no doubt go on from strength to strength, bravo!”

Looking back at its history, the infamous Waterhall Tower Mill, which was completed in February 1885, sent components for overhaul and alteration to the Blacksmith’s Forge at Patcham, situated conveniently in the present Old London Road.

This forge was then operated by the Holder family, which ended its working life in 1954, then becoming The Forge Garage, the first stop for petrol into Brighton from the A23.

The forge had collapsed around 1950.

Remnants of the old roof edge can still be seen, and the blacksmith’s cottages on the northern side remain in excellent condition.

Leonard Canning, who owned the forge, was the great-great grandson of Lord Canning who was the MP for Seaford then the Prime Minister from April - August 1827.

He sold Forge Garage to Barry’s father Raymond, a former Brighton Civil Court Magistrate, in 1978.

Patcham Garage has built up and established key contacts and relationships which allow them to consistently source quality, low mileage cars for sale.

They are proud to be an approved RAC dealership with RAC approved vehicles packaged with an RAC approval certificate, RAC warranty, RAC breakdown cover and a new MOT.

Patcham Garage also offers a full range of mechanical services that cover servicing, MOT, brakes, clutches, tyres, exhausts, air con top ups, diagnostic testing and laser tracking.

It is a trusted company which has a friendly and experienced team of skilled technicians who are always on hand.

Sales manager Kris Townsend said: “Customers can now book their servicing and MOT 24 hours a day, seven days a week by using our state-of-art booking tool on the Patcham Garage website, making the customer experience even more pleasant and transparent.

“We then provide customers with a full service report on all works carried out for their service records.”

www.patchamgarage.co.uk