Cream or jam first, settled by recommendation.

[ianc]

There used to be long queues of traffic on the main road at Trago in Newton Abbot as motorists tried to get in and out, and the County Council was taking a long time to do anything about it.

Mr Robertson, being a dynamic entrepreneur, brought in contractors at a weekend and by the start of the working week, there was a roundabout on the main road - congestion was greatly reduced!

County Council probably upset, but locals and workers & customers at Trago applauded.

Mr Robertson wrote his own advertising material for the local paper(s) - straightforward prose, no pictures, and containing his own strongly-held opinions.  Even if one didn't always agree with his point of view, well worth reading.

Although we live miles away, when visiting Maddy's brother in Paignton, we visit and - like Misfit - have seen the enterprise grow in size and coverage over more than 40 years.  I applaud his enterprise, which must have done an enormous amount for the local economy and for jobs.

Oh - I hate peacocks.  Bloody noisy beasts and deposit even more **** than the pigeons in our garden!

Ian Cornish

[Deggers]

13 minutes ago, ianc said:

Mr Robertson wrote his own advertising material for the local paper(s) - straightforward prose, no pictures, and containing his own strongly-held opinions.

I remember reading those adverts in our local paper in north Cornwall. He'd often rant an entire page's worth on various topics, but mainly about his ongoing battles with the local council.

Rumour has it he had all the gargoyles on his faux castle Trago at Liskeard based on the faces of prominent Town Planning officers. 

Deggers

[Rod1883]

Spending most of our Summer Holidays in Paignton as a child in the 60's and early 70's I'm surprised I don't remember Trago Mills at all. My Dad was a pretty good handyman, a 22 year served Royal Navy Electrical Artificer so he was used to repairing and making things work. I'm a little surprised Trago wasn't on his list for holiday visits - although maybe because by the 60's/70's he was a self employed electrician and then a Supervising Engineer within the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works/Department of the Environment so perhaps he had access to trade counters elsewhere in Bristol/Bath/Taunton where he worked.

My Grandparents (Mum's side) lived on Primley Park - must be one of the steepest residential streets in the country so that is where we went most years. 

[Hamish]

Trago in Newton Abbott is one of those famous or infamous land marks to give directions to other destinations  ie past trago mills to buckfastleigh 

 

[Misfit]

 

 

3 hours ago, Deggers said:

I remember reading those adverts in our local paper in north Cornwall. He'd often rant an entire page's worth on various topics, but mainly about his ongoing battles with the local council.

Rumour has it he had all the gargoyles on his faux castle Trago at Liskeard based on the faces of prominent Town Planning officers. 

Deggers

Mike Robertson, often took on the council, who as I recall tried to close him down in Newton Abbot, he fought for Sunday trading, fought against Kg continue to still offer goods in pounds and ounces. From memory he didn’t like decimalisation or European Union. More than happy to take on the establishment and stir things up, before calling time and moving to Ireland with his third wife. 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Misfit