MY FIRST CAR
Caroline Hawley
Driving is important to antiques dealer and television presenter Caroline Hawley who remembers her first car, a Fiat Mirafiori, for being unreliable.
But she added: “It was marvellous to be mobile.”
She earlier had a scooter and felt very fashionable when she rode it with her white leather jacket but it wasn’t quite as much fun when it rained.
Caroline, who runs Hawleys Auctioneers and Valuers in North Cave and Beverley with her husband John, says she needs a vehicle to do her job.
She grew up in a village near Beverley which she said was a lovely place but its bus service was poor so it meant she was isolated.
“Having a car and being able to go where you wanted without relying on public transport was fantastic,” she said.
“The bus only seemed to come once or twice a week so to be able to drive was such a freedom.
Her most memorable vehicle was a Mercedes-Benz
sports car but now she has a Volvo estate.
“I have to fetch and carry a lot of things so an estate is essential, even though I do miss having a sports car.”
She is always out and about, filming or visiting customers, but enjoys motoring. “I have a roofrack which is also an essential,” she said.
Caroline has been dealing virtually all her life and opened her first antiques shop in South Cave in 1983 and she has been involved in the business ever since. For a number of years Caroline has been one of the experts on the BBC in their Flog It and Bargain Hunt programmes and is still enjoying her life in antiques to the full.
Since 2018 Caroline’s son James has been involved in the business.