Trevor’s mark on Westbrook
TREVOR Davies always said he would never leave Westbrook.
He never did. He grew up there, raised his family there and ran a successful business for 35 years Westbrook Engineering.
An estate auction will be held at Westbrook Engineering this Saturday on behalf of Mr Davies’ estate after he died in April aged 57 and the business shut shortly after.
His wife Debbie said her husband had a very good reputation, not only in Westbrook, but far and wide.
“You have to (have a good reputation) if you are going to be somewhere for 35 years,” she said.
“A lot of the business was old customers coming back. Especially the stock feeding equipment. Even trailers. That is how he made a lot of friends over the years.”
At its biggest, Westbrook Engineering had 10 employees, with Mr Davies known for his custom-made trailers after having opened the business shortly after completing his boilermaker apprenticeship when he was about 21.
“Steel fabrication, he was just very good at it. He had the ability to talk to customers and they would say ‘I want this’ and he would work it out with them,” Mrs Davies said. “He was a people person.” Mr Davies created trailers for everyone from the police and fire brigade to all of the local shire councils as they were before amalgamation. He even built a special van for the well-known Toowoomba show icon Shannon’s Chips.
Mrs Davies said when the business opened, it was one of the only ones in town.
“Except for the little corner store which used to be here and Westbrook Furniture, and that was his parents,” she said.
Pat Dunne from Toowoomba Auction Centre will run the auction on Saturday, which will feature about 750 lots of “typical engineering workshop equipment”.
“We have had people from central Queensland to the bottom of New South Wales interested in this sale,” he said.
Mr Dunne said Mr Davies had purpose-built the shed himself for the business.
Michaela Dunne, also from Toowoomba Auction Centre, said everything inside the shed would be up for auction. She said Mr Davies had never thrown anything away, including the templates he had created for what he built.
“There has been a lot of interest on Facebook for this sale too,” she said.
“A lot of people say ‘it is going to be a good sale’, but for a lot of people they have only just realised the business has shut down.
“This was Trevor’s life in a shed.”
Viewing for the items up for auction will be held on Friday from 9am to noon. The auction will be held on-site, at 8 Progress Ave, Westbrook, from 9am.
For a full list of lots, go to toowoombaauctioncentre.com.au/.
❝(have You have to a good reputation) if you are going to be somewhere for 35 years.
— Debbie Davies