Monday, October 03, 2005

Day 46 - Beavers!

When starting in business naming your company is always difficult, its easy if you are called Mr Sainsbury or William H Smith but I must admit naming a company has always been a challenge to me. That’s why I admire the owner of the most inappropriately named taxi company in the South West. The award goes to “Beaver cars” of Sherbourne.

Now can you imagine calling Beaver Cars after a good night out at the Sherbourne Conservative Association tombola and charity race night, only to be greeted by the taxi co-ordinator at the other end of the phone saying “Beaver here how can we help” Now you would think you had one glass too much of Mrs Beekeepers home made sherry. Now Dorset is not known for its legends but I suspect there are no wild beavers within 5000 miles of Dorset or in Zoological gardens in the County but for some reason the people who started the company decided to call themselves Beaver! It’s not even a clever marketing tool. If you’re a taxi company call yourself Aardvark Taxis to get yourself the first listing in the Yellow pages, but Beaver cars in a small sleepy Dorset Town I am sure there is some answer to this amazing piece of mystery. I think there is some pun that relates back to the sexual connotations of the alternative word for Beaver, but I have yet to work that one out.

How do I know all these interesting facts I hear you ask. Well it’s looking out the train window en-route to London. I have started back to work today and travelling to London. We are lucky in the West Country there are 2 routes to London from Exeter one can take. The London Paddington route which can be only 2 hours on a fast train or the London Waterloo route, which calls at a mammoth ten stations before depositing me three plus later in South London. I do prefer the latter route it has a more gentile, sedentary and relaxed view of life about it. The route is patronised by a more elderly population than the Paddington route and stops at such hip places such as Yeovil, Sherbourne of course and Andover.

I call it the elderly line, I did not realise how many old people actually lived in East Devon, Dorset and South Somerset. However, regardless of their age they still manage to indulge in the tactic of surrounding themselves with books and papers to bag the table of four and make discouraging noises to prevent young whipper snappers parking myself next to them and upsetting their neatly arranged piles.

The train journey and my fellow occupants reminded me of the Alan Bennett story where he said you cannot imagine Ryan, Brittany or Jordan being in an old peoples home suffering from incontinence and forgetting their name. Only Gladys, Walter or Ethel find themselves in old peoples homes.

I enjoy rail travel my day dreaming of Beaver cars and old people has more to do with my 1st real day back at work, one which fills me with trepidation and joy both at the same time :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

well, the power of advertising is that you will remember where "Beaver Cars" are - Aardvark just wouldn't have sunk into your memory. I told Robin about them and he said "I know where they are!". You see, clever advertising! lol. xxx