I found these on an old HD today, my last trip to Austin Seven Services...

How are things with Chris Dalby, R. I seem to recall hearing that either he was unwell or was closing down.??

Ian Mc.

Location: Shropshire

fantastic pictures R,

I never had the chance to nip into see chris. I know he has had helth problems, and wish him well.

its good to see he has the same piles of parts that all suppliers have.

axle casings a plenty.

mountains of sumps.

more front hubs than you can shake a stick at.

I`ll guess there isn`t to many complete axles with "good" internals, or short wheel base either.

waisting my breath pointing out that's why the good stuff is so expensive.

would love to see more if you have it though.

cheers tony

Great pics Ruairidh! How long ago were these? I first knew about this place in 1969 when I had a 747 side-valve Reliant, but didn't visit until early eighties. It's only 20 miles from me.

A time warp. Poor Chris not well at all. Best discussed privately perhaps. (great pics though)

Location: Farnham

Ruairidh, I sincerely hope that the good folk of Kirby Wiske are ready to repel tonight's invasion of septophiles armed with jemmies and borrowed trailers!

Location: Herefordshire

My only visit to Austin Seven Service was in 1974, when Mr Dalby Snr (?John), a real character, was still running the business.

My brother and I had persuaded my dad to stop there on the way to a holiday in Scotland. It looked much the same then - not at all what we'd expected!

Anyway, we bought an exhaust system for the Box. My father, not wanting to have this thing in the car for the next fortnight, asked Mr Dalby to post it. He offered all sorts of reasons for us to take it with us, including the possibility that we could use it to "yoddle" (?yodel) on the banks of Loch Ness.

His parting shot was "are you sure you won't take it? You could have fun with that in Scotland!"

To this day, 40 years on, "You could have fun with that in Scotland!" is the private code used in the Prior family when we want some useless item removed from the house!

Location: Herefordshire

I got my first Austin Seven in 1957 and as I then lived near Thirsk , John Dalby was my supplier of parts.I hope Chris is OK and still keeps his business open.
Ken Morton , North Vancouver, Canada

Location: North Vancouver Canada

What a sadness to see this in ruins ''

Looks like it would have been a fantastic place to live near when it was run as a business. Nice looking rad she'll on the wall!

Location: Ireland

Those photos took me right back to the late 70s when I dropped in for bits for my first A7, a Speedex.

Location: Isle of Wight

MY RK saloon (late of Northern California) came with an undated 28 page catalogue/ advice booklet from A7 Service of Kirby Wiske....and a parts list from The Seven Workshop (5th edition, temporary extension) and what I think is the price list for same dating from 1991.
Among the invoices was one from A7 Service (Sept 2001) for 4x 18mm plugs (£11.00)& a jet key (£2.50).
This car was sent out in 1992 for a 25 year holiday!
David Harrison

Location: Stratford upon Avon

I remember if you wanted a spares catalogue you had to send one shillings worth of postage stamps !

That's shocking.

Location: Bristol

Ken Morton sends some pictures of his last visit to see Chris.