A Lakes businessman and vintage motor enthusiast has spoken of how driving one of his favourite classic cars is like ‘going back in time’.

Bill Bewley is the owner of the Lakeland Motor Museum and Windermere Lakes Cruises, among other businesses in the area.

The motor enthusiast spoke with The Times and Star about the story behind a 1925 Humber he bought almost a decade ago.

Mr Bewley, 74, said: “I bought it from Ken Atkinson, a superb engineer from Greenodd, who had searched the country for bits and pieces of this to get all the matching pieces together.

“When it was all put together, I had it reupholstered and had the roof repaired as well. A lot of detailing work was required to get it back up and running.

“I had the Humber for quite a few years. And I really loved it - I loved taking the grandchildren out in it. It was a lovely thing - driving it was like going back in time.”

Despite his passion for the restored vehicle, however, Mr Bewley eventually thought it best to sell the model to the Backbarrow museum, where it is now kept.

The Ambleside resident said: “The gear box in this model is a crash box - so there’s a lot of double de-clutching to get the gears changed.

“There were only two main brakes, so it took a bit of thinking when going down a hill or approaching a junction in order to stop.

“One of the reasons I was minded to stop using it, living in the central Lake District, was that a lot of modern drivers tend to pass you and then brake very hard very suddenly. I concluded one day that I would eventually run into something, and so I sold it to the museum’s collection.

On his passion for vintage motors - and, in particular, British vehicles - Mr Bewley said: “It’s like everything other thing that I’ve had - from my motorcycles to the classic car - I just really enjoy a challenge.

“I just love motor cars. There’s a bit of John Bull in me. I feel a lot of the great motoring advances have been built by English engineers.

“They just weren’t promoted by backwards-looking factory owners at the time, so other countries have taken the designs and developed them.

I think our job is to remind people just how good the British engineering once was.”