Gwenda’s Garage was founded in 1985 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, by 3 women mechanics: Ros Wollen (aka Roz), Annette Williams, and Ros Wall.
Faced with difficulty finding employment in a male-dominated field, they established their own repair workshop.
Women mechanics in 1980s Sheffield
In the mid-1980s, unemployment in England was high, and government training schemes were popular. After excelling in the TOPS motor vehicle training courses, Roz and Annette were eager to start their careers as mechanics.
Their friend, Ros, wasn’t a fan of formal training but was already a skilled mechanic. As a child, she learned about bicycles, motorbikes, and cars from her father and spent many enjoyable hours working on bike engines.
Roz and Annette volunteered in Leeds at Spanners, a radical female-run garage, gaining experience and learning from the renowned feminist Connie O’Donovan. Despite their efforts, finding jobs proved difficult.
Soon, the idea of starting their own garage began to take shape.
Gwenda’s Garage
Gwenda’s Garage opened in May 1985. It was named in honour of Gwenda Stewart (1894 to 1990), a racing driver who set multiple motorcycle and motor car records in the 1920s and 1930s.
The garage offered typical services like repairs, servicing, breakdown assistance, welding, and bodywork. However, Ros, Roz, and Annette focused equally on empowering women.
They provided DIY car maintenance classes, advice on buying second-hand cars, and information on adapting vehicles for disabled drivers.
Inspired by their impact, Ros helped set up a motor vehicle workshop with the Nottingham Women’s Training Scheme. Annette started part-time vehicle repairs training for women at Bradford College.
Women in Engineering, Science and Technology
In 1989, the garage faced a turning point. The women concluded they could reach more people through teaching and other roles.
Gwenda’s Garage was sold in 1990, the same year Gwenda Stewart passed away.
Annette developed the ‘Let’s TWIST’ (Train Women in Science and Technology) program at Bradford College in partnership with Ros at the Nottingham Women’s Training Scheme and Sheffield Hallam University.
‘Let’s TWIST’ challenged sexist attitudes prevalent in vocational training at the time and significantly impacted mainstream education.
Ros also initiated a Women in the Built Environment course at Sheffield Hallam University. Together, they founded the UKRC, a national resource centre for women in science and engineering.
Roz became the AA’s only female patrol person in northern England, breaking gender stereotypes during their ‘I Know a Man Who Can’ ad campaign.
She later taught at Sheffield College and helped establish the South Yorkshire Women’s Development Trust, ultimately managing the Women’s Construction Centre in Sheffield.
Roz co-founded the WEST (Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology) bursary fund in memory of Ros, who died in 2010. WEST has provided grants to young women entering male-dominated fields.
Gwenda’s Garage: The Musical
In 2023, Historic England funded Out of the Archive to produce a script-in-hand musical telling the story of Gwenda’s Garage as part of the Everyday Heritage Grants scheme celebrating working-class histories.
In November 2023, 2 performances of Gwenda’s Garage were held at the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres. The shows sold out immediately and received exceptional audience responses.
Alongside the production, Out of the Archive created an exhibition and a public workshop to memorialise Gwenda’s Garage, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the repeal of Section 28 in England. 130,000 people saw the exhibition.
Founded in 2019 by Nicky Hallett and Val Regan, Out of the Archive is a collaborative project involving writers, musicians, performers, and academics.
Its mission is to bring archival material about LGBTQ+ lives to life, highlighting hidden histories and making them relevant to contemporary audiences.
Further reading
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