1955 Beardmore London Taxi

Tony Graham is a "recovering" lawyer and Mary Anne Graham is a retired teacher. Together. they own and operate Patterson's Irish Pub in Mendocino. They would love to take you on a spin around the block in their 1955 Beardmore Taxi.

Owning a traditional irish pub requires some degree of authenticity, hence ft was our duty to collect an original London taxi and an iconic red phone booth to go with your pint of Guinness.

Our 1955 Beardmore London taxi has quite a history. William Beardmore was a Scottish shipbuilder in the 1900s, who also had his hand in locomotives, motorcycles and fine motorcars. His London taxi was known as the "Rolls Royce of Taxi Cabs."

In order to avoid tax issues, it was originally considered a farm vehicle, so the outside luggage compartment was designed to fit a bale of hay. Now it fits a compliment of luggage. The taxi is made from a hodge-podge of materials.. It has an aluminum body, fiberglass fenders and an ash wood frame.

Incredibly, I found the Beardmore in Fort Bragg. An elderly gentleman had it in his garage for 20 years and would drive it on Sundays to brunch. Due to failing heaEth, he sold it to me. It has been in the driveway of the pub since 2000. Originally it had a 2-litre diesel engine and a 3-speed manual transmission with probably about a million miles on it It was easily replaceable with a Ford Falcon 4-banger and an automatic transmission.

Taking a ride in this taxi is an attraction in itself. One of the things that make this car so fun to drive is that it literally "turns on a dime' in order to navigate the narrow London streets. With the steering wheel cranked over, it will make a U-turn on the rearwheels. Try that in your SUV.

The passenger area is amazing.. It easily holds six passengers with headroom to accommodate your felt top hat. Trimmed in red leather and chestnut, it is truly a trip back in time. The signage telling you to "mind your head arid to 'watch the gap" is so fun. San Francisco taxis have a major flaw you cannot tell when they are "for hire" or "not for hire." This taxi has lighted signage that tells you both.

Sorry, but the Beardmore is not Wi-Fi enabled. In Mendocino, you are lucky if you get one bar. It doesn't have a stereo either, but there is a boom box so you can bring your own retro cassette tapes.

Although a classic collector's vehicle, the Beardmore is not in great demand and would probably fetch only $10K if in excellent condition. We bought it and restored it for purely sentimental reasons, not as an investment. Besides, the Beardmore looks great next to our red London phone booth, which is a story in itself. These phone booths are a national treasure in the UK and are no longer available for export They are made of iron and weigh one ton.

The Beardmore spent its working life mostly in the city of Liverpool. From what we were told, it even carried the Beatles to Abbey Road and was also hired out for many weddings and movies. In1981, the Beardmore won an award for the Best Vintage London Cab.

Hundreds of photos have been taken with the Beardmore. It's truly a great "selfie" opportunity for kids and tourists alike. I drive it every year in our local 4th of July parade along with my penny-farthing bicycle.

Another great photo op is our red London phone booth, which will soon be installed in front of the taxi. The next time you're in Mendocino, stop by for a friendly pint and a photo with a couple of fantastic British icons.

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Originally published in the Mendocino Beacon 11/21/2018

Applicants sought for $25,000 Graham scholarship

By Chris Calder
editor@advocate-news.com

Anthony and Mary Anne Graham of Patterson’s Pub in Mendocino have renewed their commitment to local Mendocino-Fort Bragg high school graduates again this year with a $25,000 scholarship fund, initially started last year.

Three graduates of Mendocino Fort Bragg high schools are now attending the University of San Francisco (USF) with scholarship support provided by the Grahams.

“We wanted to encourage local high school graduates to pursue their dreams by attending USF. This is our way of giving back to the Mendocino community,” said Tony Graham.

Both Grahams are committed to supporting higher education. Tony is a USF graduate and former adjunct professor of business ethics. He now mentors law students and serves as a moot court judge at USF School of Law.

Mary Anne also attended USF and taught at Redwood Elementary in Fort Bragg. She cites the school’s academic strength, small class sizes, and Jesuit commitment to social justice as reasons why local students should consider applying to USF.

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked USF among the top 100 schools nationwide, and the school has strong commitment to diversity. USF consistently ranks in the top 10 schools having greatest ethnic diversity, and more than 35 percent of USF students are the first in their families to attend college.

The Graham Scholarship is awarded as a component of the university’s need-based financial aid package to local students who complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

There is no separate application process.

To learn more about applying to the University of San Francisco and submitting the FAFSA, students should contact their high school guidance counselor.

Mendocino Beacon — 01/30/2020
COAST PEOPLE • Staff Report

Graham studying up for his next chapter

Why would the 73-year-old retired lawyer and proprietor of Patterson’s Pub in Mendocino go back to college?

Graham says he was inspired by Rodney Danger-field in the ’80s movie “Back to School.”

“Besides, at my age, I need to build my resume for my next life,” Graham says.

Fifty years after graduating from the University of San Francisco, he was accepted to and has attended the first session of a three-year master’s degree program in practical ethics at Oxford University. He will visit the Oxford campus twice a year for a month and then work from the internet from home.

As expected, he is the “oldest guy” in the class. His fellow students come from all walks of life and all over the world.

Why practical ethics?

“Our planet is being transformed, creating ever more powerful technology with unprecedented potential for great immediate benefit but also for great harm,” Graham says. “Traditional institutions and norms have not yet been developed to ethically balance these benefits against the harms. Our 21st Century 'Technological Revolution" completely overshadows the 19th Century ‘Industrial Revolution.’

“The fate of humanity in this 21st Century and future centuries will, to a greater extent than ever before, be determined by the choices made by human beings, the leaders and citizens of nations, and us folks right here in Mendocino.

“This program will address ethical choices we make involving such diverse challenges as climate change, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, global inequality, poverty, migration, infectious disease, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and the list goes on and on.

“It is the ethical critical thinking, values and principles that I hopefully will learn, that I can then use to more effectively guide the human choices that we all make.”

San Feancisco Chronicle and SFGate.com Friday, May 3, 2013 Section F

1981 DeLorean DMC 12

Tony and Mary Anne Graham are long time residents of Mendocino. Tony is a retired lawyer who is a part time SF Giants "ball dude" and and an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, and Mary Anne is a retired teacher. Together they run Patterson's Irish Pub in Mendocino.

When I brought home my new Irish stainless steel baby. I drove the Pacific Coast route on Highway I with the gull-wing doors open. What a thrill.

My bubble was soon burst when I went to fill up with gas and saw fuel all over the pavement, someone at the factory forgot to connect the fille tube to the gas tank! Fortunately, it was an easy fix.

This stramgely futuristic sports car was named after its iconic designer, John Z. DeLorean, who formally ran Pontiac at General Motors. We simply could not resist buyiny it, although in 1981, $21,000 was bit pricy. Apporximately 9,000 DeLorean Motor Cars were anufactured in the Northern Ireland plant, and most of them were detined for the North Amaerican Market. Ours was one of first DeLoreans built the (VIN is 685), but today it has only 40,000 miles on the odometer.

Thanks to the help of Lotus designers, the DMC features counter‚Äëbalanced gull-wing doors reminiscent of some of the classic 1950's Merceded-Benzes. the brushed
brushed stainless steel are affixed to the fiberclass underbody, and the body panals were designed to be replaced rather than be repaired. The engine is definitely not going to blow your socks off. It is 2.85 liter, single cam V6 producing only 130 hp. It can go from 0 to 60 in just under 10 seconds – it just looks like it is going fast.

John DeLorean parlayed his GTO muscle car at GM into fhe financing for Northern Ireland, plant to include such early investors as Johnny Carson of "The To Night Show" fame (who chiipped in a mere $500,000) and Sammy Davis, Jr., added another $150,000. Carson's initial experierice with the car was famously problernatic — the car broke down and and locked him inside unable to open doors! Needles to say, this is an omen of bad things to come for Deleoren.

The British goverment invested $140 million into the company with the of creating a facility near Belfast that would reduce sectarian violence stimulate the local econurny. The plant, which was located between the Catholic and Protestant Communities in Dunmurry near Belfast, had separate entrances for employees corning to work.

The DeLorean is probably best remembered for its role in the "Back to the Future" movies starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The DeLorean time machine is a part of American film history, and I am still looking for someone to hetp me design and install the 'flux capacitor" so it can run on banana peels, coffee grounds and beer cans,

When I bought the car the speedometer only went to 90 mph (thanks to the EPA). I have since replaced it to register 160 mph. One misconception is that the gull-wing doors require a lot of clearance when parking, but in reality, only 11 inches of clearance is required.

The charming John DeLorean was busted in 1982 for selling drugs to save his failing car cornpany. The company's eventual failure resulted in a loss of 2,500 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investments.

My DeLorean now lives in front of Patterson's Irish Pub in Mendocino, along with a 1955 London Taxi. It is a perfect photo opportunity to take you "Back to the Future." Don't forget your flux capacitor!

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MY RIDE Contributed by Tony Graham

LOCAL FAMILY ESTABLISHES COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP

Anthony (Tony) and Mary Anne Graham of Patterson's Pub in Mendocino have renewed their commitment to local Mendocino- Fort Bragg high school graduates again this year with a $25,000 scholarship fund, initially started in 2017. The fund is intended for one or more deserving students in need of financial support as their way of giving back to the community on a very practical level believing that “education is the foundational cornerstone of our society.”

Maxwell (Max) McKee, one such deserving student, was interviewed this year after his first semester of his freshman year at USF. Max has always enjoyed physics and mathematics and is enrolled in USF’s Architectural Engineering program. His dream of attending USF began at a young age when Max’s mother was enrolled in graduate school within the School of Education. Max would visit USF’s campus on the weekends and formed a connection to the university. Without the Graham’s support, Max would have needed to work during the school year to support his hopes of attending USF but now he can spend his time fully focused on his studies. Max states this opportunity has really taken a weight off his shoulders.

“Both Tony and Mary Anne attended USF in the 1960's. Mary Anne then taught at Redwood Elementary School and Tony practiced law in Mendocino and was an adjunct professor at USF. Mary Anne cites the school's academic strength, small class sizes, and Jesuit commitment to social justice as reasons why local students should consider applying to USF. Together, the Grahams also own Patterson's Pub in Mendocino. When not at the Pub you can see Tony at 1st or 3rd base at Oracle Park as the occasional SF Giants “ball dude”.

USF is a small intimate urban university established in 1855 with its main campus located on the “hilltop” next to Golden Gate Park with stunning views from the Golden Gate Bridge and overlooking the heart of San Francisco. “Like our user-friendly Mendocino Coast community where everyone knows everyone, our local students won't get lost in this urban campus of approximately 10,000 students yet they have San Francisco in their back yard. When I taught at USF my classes were never more than 20 students so I had time for everyone” says Tony. With almost 50 undergraduate and over 50 graduate majors there is a program to fit every student.

“The University of San Francisco is indeed fortunate to include Tony and Mary Anne among our generous alumni family. They contribute to the USF community in numerous ways that reflect their pride and commitment to a Jesuit education and their community.” Louise Lucchesi, USF Development Office

The Grahams hope to significantly grow this scholarship over the next several years in order to encourage local high school graduates to apply to this prestigious Jesuit Catholic university and to continue financial support to returning Mendocino students. An average of 5 Mendocino High School graduates apply for admittance to USF each year.

Qualification for this scholarship is determined and administered by USF. Applicants should discuss it with their high school guidance counsellor.