SPA News Autumn 2012 - Shell UK

Born in Newquay, Cornwall, in 1942, Tony
Jenkin attended Torbay Boys' Grammar in
Devon, where he developed a fascination
for astronomy and science, which led to
his first job in the Atomic Energy Research
Establishment, Harwell. He joined Shell in
1971 as a group leader for shift operations
at the UK Computer Centre, based in Shell
Centre. Tony's first love, however, was cars
– not stars or computers.
"I was a car fanatic from my first 1936
Austin Seven days and have been ever
since," says Tony. "For a few years I even
owned a classic Aston Martin Lagonda,
one of only 500 made."
Tony's first overseas posting was to Oman
where he, wife Jenny, and their three
children spent three and a half years. In
those days, the Sultanate offered little for
a car enthusiast, with only one road
running from the oil camp to the airport:
"It was pretty rough and ready but worst
of all the ship delivering all the new
vehicles to Muscat sank off the coast
leaving only three cars. I was stuck with
a tiny little Fiat!" Tony must have been
pleased to get posted back to
Wythenshawe. In May 1979, he returned
to Shell Centre to run the Computer User
Training team, familiarising staff in the UK,
Nigeria, Greece and Brunei/Sarawak
with microcomputers.
However, disaster struck in 1982 when
Tony had a terrible car accident: "Luckily
I was driving a Mercedes 200 which has
a strong cage to protect the interior and
that saved us. We all survived." Tony
could not return to work for many months
and was medically retired in 1985, aged
only 42. "Shell gave me fantastic support,"
says Tony, "during my recovery and
subsequent 10 years of litigation. Later,
when I worked for Manpower Services
Commission, setting up an IT training
centre in Basingstoke for young people,
Shell donated redundant furniture."
Nerves somewhat shaken by the crash,
Tony took to driving a 4.5 "Big Boy", the
safe and solid Mercedes 450SEL, which
he kept for 13 years before buying an
elegant 1951 Bentley Mark VI, steel sports
saloon. "I treated myself to the Bentley
when the compensation from the accident
FEATURE ARTIcLE
high ROLLER
A serious car crash ended Tony Jenkin's career with Shell but, as Ardella Jones
discovers, this did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm for prestige cars...
finally came through," says Tony. He joined
the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts' Club, which
includes Bentley cars, and in 1996 became
one of several Registrars, keeping track
of over 1,000 vehicles, produced from
1946 to 1955, around the world, and
helping owners to access specialist
knowledge and spare parts.
Tony has helped organise some fantastic
events, including the annual President's
Picnic at Blenheim Palace which attracts as
many as 300 Rolls Royces and Bentleys.
"One of the most memorable was in 2004
when the Royal Logistics Corps Museum at
Deepcut loaned us General Montgomery's
beautiful 1936 Phantom III," says Tony.
"Monty used the vehicle as his battlefield
staff car. He had a Silver Wraith, too."
Tony also met HRH Idris Shah, Sultan of
Perak in Malaysia, who brought his 1953
Silver Wraith, bodied by H.J. Mulliner and
lovingly restored by P & A Wood in Essex.
Boats are also an interest for Tony who
started cruising the Thames as a member
of Lensbury Motor Cruiser Club whilst still
with Shell. In his 13 years of river cruising,
Tony had many adventures, including taking
a single engine Seamaster 813 on the
Admiral's Cruise from Teddington Lock,
past the Port of London and Thames barrier,
to join the Medway at Rochester, to mark
Henry VIII's reign. "There was a strong
incoming tide as we neared the meeting of
the rivers," Tony explains, "and our little
Blenheim Palace 2004: HRH Sultan Idris Shah presents flowers
to the driver and wife of Monty's wartime 1936 Phantom III
Gen. Montgomery with his Silver Wraith
two litre diesel engine was struggling so
we had to get towed by a more powerful
boat." No wonder Tony preferred to stick
to the upper reaches of the Thames nearer
to his home in Oxford.
Tony has also found time to run a successful
three-acre plants nursery in Oxfordshire
from 1990 until retirement proper in 2006,
as well as doing voluntary work for several
Christian organisations. Currently, he is the
long-serving treasurer of his village chapel
and Methodist Circuit Administrator. He is
understandably proud of his three offspring:
a Thames Valley policeman, a chef, and a
school teacher married to a Dutch Professor
of Astrophysics who is now Director of
Jodrell Bank. Their jobs may seem varied
but Dad Tony obviously set the standard
with his own career, which he sums up
succinctly as, "From atoms to oil to the soil!".
SPA NEWS | 13