One of Newbury’s veteran driving instructors has celebrated 50 years of teaching people how to drive.
Thatcham resident and 73-year-old Martin Caswell reached the impressive half-century milestone on December 18 last year, exactly 50 years on from the day he first qualified as an instructor.
The occasion was marked with a surprise party at the Honesty Coffee Shop in Parkway which was attended by fellow driving instructors who work in the Newbury area and his two children.
Martin Caswell celebrated 50 years as a driving instructor at a special surprise party late last year
Martin said: “All of the instructors and even the examiners laugh at me when I say I’m going to retire, but my instructor’s insurance runs out in June so I think I will force myself not to reinsure. If I don’t reinsure it then I have to stop.
“It didn’t feel too difficult [to reach 50 years] because I actually love what I do.
“I’m a person who doesn’t get worked up or doesn’t get angry and my philosophy is that nobody makes a mistake on purpose.”
Mr Caswell, who was born in Cornwall, moved to London at the age of 23 to follow his girlfriend at the time who had just started a job at a bank in the capital.
He was unsure what career path to embark on but he enjoyed driving so he trained as a driving instructor. Fifty years on and he is still teaching people how to drive today.
Martin released his book Learn to Drive…an Easier Way in 2017
During those five decades, he has spent time teaching skid control to motor racing students and members of the police force and ambulance service.
He has also taught people how to drive 4X4 off-road cars and has trained up fellow instructors.
In 1981 he started his own driving school in the city and within 18 months he had four cars of his own.
He then moved to Thatcham in 1984 and eventually set up another driving school called Acclaim Motor School in West Berkshire.
He still lives in the same new-build house that he moved into with his wife 41 years ago.
Fellow driving instructor Peter Skelton has been an instructor in Newbury for 21 years and he organised the surprise party for Mr Caswell.
Peter Skelton (left) with Martin
He said of Martin: “He is a brilliant instructor and a great mentor as well.
“He is always helping other instructors and very much a patriarch of Newbury.
“He’s certainly one of the most respected instructors in Newbury and well-known throughout the whole country.”
Martin was named the best driving instructor in the South East in 2023, and the second best in the entire country in the same year by industry specialists.
He has also made it into the nation’s top 100 instructors list in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.