by Michael Whitley
As Chairman of the Beagle Pup and Bulldog Club, and on behalf of all the Members, I am honoured to wish one of our longest standing Beagle Original Members, Pete Woods, Happy 90th Birthday!
Mr. Pete Woods began his career as an apprentice panel beater at Thomas Harrington & Sons, based in Hove. The company built coach bodies and, during WWII, Harringtons were chosen by the War Office to build Westland Lysander aircraft, so the company had previous aviation interests.
In 1954, by now qualified, Peter moved to work for Beagle Aircraft at Shoreham, building fuselages. He clearly recalls the hangars being very cold, but that didn’t put him off, as he continued to work there for 14 years, right up to the end of the Pup project.
Peter has long maintained his connections with Pups, and for his 80th birthday, his daughter, Amanda, arranged a flight in a Beagle Pup and created for him a Beagle scrapbook. They also had many enjoyable trips to Shoreham to research the remaining Beagle archives, attending a Beagle celebration event at Shoreham along with his wife and son-in-law.
When Beagle sadly closed up shop, Peter wasn’t finished by any means, and set his sights on America where he worked for the Ford Motor Company in “Motor City” Detroit. (Strangely, my own Uncle worked there – I wonder if they met?)
From every Member of the Club, and especially all your Beagle Original Colleagues, we wish you a very Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day!
