J.E.F Jones Castle Garage is a family run business located in central Crickhowell, established in 1958 by John Elvet Francis Jones.
John, who was more commonly known by the name Elvet or “Curly”, had previously been a mobile engineer who travelled from farm to farm within the Brecon Beacons repairing agricultural vehicles. He also had a keen interest in cars and was on the lookout for his own garage in or around the Crickhowell area.
As Castle Garage came on the market, Elvet spotted it and took his opportunity. In 1958, he bought the garage from Mobil Oils and began his business journey.
Predominantly selling petrol, which Elvet continued to source from Mobil Oils, he also set up the workshop repairing vehicles, which he built a positive reputation from. This resulted in him being known as a knowledgeable man, who people turned to if they needed quality work undertaken on their cars.
Fastforward to 1983, Elvet’s sixteen year old son James Francis Jones, joined him to work in the garage. Soon after working with his Father, James, who is better known by the locals as Jamie, took over the garage workshop repairing cars.
In 2001, Elvet sadly passed away and Jamie took over his father’s reputable business and was keen to better the garage even further. Jamie also had a keen interest and alot of knowledge in motorcycles, therefore added motorcycle repairs to the garage, as well as car repairs. Soon after, he also added a motorcycle MOT bay and a motorcycle showroom, to enhance the sales of the motorbikes.
Jamie kept up his father’s great reputation of the garage as well as building his own reputation within the motor trade.
Castle Garage is now in it’s third generation of family mechanics, after Jamie’s son Harri Francis Jones joined in 2010. With Jamie and Harri both being ambitious mechanics, as well as providing great customer service, the business continues to grow.