Former Legs & Co dancer and Vogue model Patience Bradley has always been savvy in business having carved a successful career for herself in modelling, dancing and now as a dog trainer.
But in 1981 she made a sale to a top Northern Ireland politician that she says she’ll never forget.
“Before I got married to my husband Ivor I was spending a lot of time in London, but I had been asked to come back to Northern Ireland to organise a fashion show in Enniskillen. As a result I had to collect outfits before I went down. Only problem was I only had a two seater sports car” said the model then known as Patti Lawrence.
“So I asked Ivor to see if he could find me one to buy. Anyway, the car was £150 and I test drove it and loved it. The guy I bought it from said it was his wife’s car and that she disliked the number plate.
“The number plate had the numbers 1690 in it but it meant nothing to me at the time. Ivor said ‘1690. The Battle of the Boyne. King Billy on his white horse?’.
“I got it, but it still didn’t mean that much to me. Later I was out with a friend and we started telling a guy we were with who was a car dealer about the car.
“That’s when he said he could put me in touch with his friend at DVLA.
“I went ahead and bought the new number plate and when I asked the guy what I should do with the old one he jokingly told me I should sell it to Ian Paisley.”
And not one to miss a good opportunity that’s exactly what Patience did as she recounted in her new memoirs book Where Do You Go To My Lovely.
“I just called him up and spoke directly to him. I told him about the car and he said he had saw me driving it at the Folk Museum on the Saturday
“I can still hear the familiar sounding voice, echoing down the phone at me. He was tickled pink at the idea of getting the number plate and asked me how much I wanted for it. Off the top of my head I said £150 and he said that that was fine. So I sold the number for the same amount that I’d paid for the car!
“I then called my new friend at the DVLA and asked if he could help with the paperwork. He was laughing his head off. He said ‘You know Patience, that was just a joke. I really didn’t mean you to do it.’
“Eventually we realised there were more fees so I called again and spoke to Ian and explained that we needed another £50 to transfer the plate to him and that’s how I ended up with a cheque for £200 from Ian Paisley and his wife.”
Where Do You Go To My Lovely by Patience Bradley is published by Excalibur Press and available on Amazon and www.excaliburpress.co.uk/store/products