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Alum Rock Road Shops
- Thread starter wendyP
- Start date
Yes, there was a milk bar close to the Capitol cinema. It was owned by a lady called Mrs Ball and, you're right - the milk shakes were delicious. That row of shops had Arrowsmith's (sweets and tobacco), J House (bread and cakes), the Milk Bar, Home & Colonial Stores and Freeman Hardy & Willis.
Opposite were Clarkes (butchers), T Mayne (bread/groceries), Hawtins (records and sheet music), Galpins - my grandfather and father - (hardware and petrol sold over the pavement), Tozers (butcher), Sands (grocers), Pets & Gardens(speaks for itself), Cookes (optician) and Midland Bank.
This was in the 1950s.
Actually, the best milk shakes were at Gardners Milk Bar, adjacent to the Beaufort cinema at the far (out of town) end of Alum Rock Road
Opposite were Clarkes (butchers), T Mayne (bread/groceries), Hawtins (records and sheet music), Galpins - my grandfather and father - (hardware and petrol sold over the pavement), Tozers (butcher), Sands (grocers), Pets & Gardens(speaks for itself), Cookes (optician) and Midland Bank.
This was in the 1950s.
Actually, the best milk shakes were at Gardners Milk Bar, adjacent to the Beaufort cinema at the far (out of town) end of Alum Rock Road
suemalings
master brummie
Does anyone remember Hawtins, the music shop, oposite the Capitol. I bought my first guitar there for £3.9.6d in the mid- 1960's
Yes, I remember Hawtins. I lived next door - my father owned the hardware shop with the petrol pumps on the pavement.
Jack and Mary Hawtin owned the music shop. As a young boy, I used to be invited into the lounge behind the shop and play and eat cakes and fizzy drinks. Physically, they were complete opposites. he was tall and thin, she was short and plump. They were very keen cycists and swimmers.
They had a maroon Morris car (can't remember the model but it was the equivalent of an old Austin 7). Jack used to play the piano in the shop in the evening, after they closed, and I could hear the tunes from my bedroom which was next door.
Happy days, those. They were very kind people. Sadly, they had no children.
Jack and Mary Hawtin owned the music shop. As a young boy, I used to be invited into the lounge behind the shop and play and eat cakes and fizzy drinks. Physically, they were complete opposites. he was tall and thin, she was short and plump. They were very keen cycists and swimmers.
They had a maroon Morris car (can't remember the model but it was the equivalent of an old Austin 7). Jack used to play the piano in the shop in the evening, after they closed, and I could hear the tunes from my bedroom which was next door.
Happy days, those. They were very kind people. Sadly, they had no children.
R
RJH
Guest
I lived on the Alum Rock Rd. in the 60's. ngst the sops I remember were
Wilcox the butchers and the shoe shop owned by Albert Fox, the were next to the Methodist Church. then there was the Municipal Bank opposite Edmund Rd. Next to the Bank was a branch of the co-op which was converted to a Wine Shop inthr mid 60's. Near by was Braggs with the bakery behind it. there was also an M.E.B. shop, Lucas the ironmongers and a news agents opposite woolworths , next to woolworths was boots the chemist and on the corner was a TV shop.
RJH
Wilcox the butchers and the shoe shop owned by Albert Fox, the were next to the Methodist Church. then there was the Municipal Bank opposite Edmund Rd. Next to the Bank was a branch of the co-op which was converted to a Wine Shop inthr mid 60's. Near by was Braggs with the bakery behind it. there was also an M.E.B. shop, Lucas the ironmongers and a news agents opposite woolworths , next to woolworths was boots the chemist and on the corner was a TV shop.
RJH
Alf
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
As promised the photo outside Gardeners 1960s on Beaufort Car Park
View attachment 29452
If anyone could cheer it up I'd be grateful
Many thanks for that photo, pmc1947.
I lived in one of those shops opposite the cinema - I can see my old bedroom from when I was a boy! The lorry in the left foreground is being served petrol from some kerbside petrol pumps that belonged to my parent's shop (third shop in from the left) but they are too indistinct to make out from the background.
The film advertised on the poster at the cinema is The Killers which was released in 1946 so that probably dates the photo 1946-47.
Also, the first shop on the left is called Peter's Stores but, as a boy, I remember it as Sands the Grocers - so the picture must have been taken just after the end of the 2nd World War, otherwise I would remembered the name Peters.
On the top parapet of the cinema, on either side of the word CAPITOL, I can just make out the neon strip lighting that was only put up there after the end of the war, so 1946-47 must be about right.
For the person who was asking about Hawtins, the music shop, it is the fourth shop in on the left.
I lived in one of those shops opposite the cinema - I can see my old bedroom from when I was a boy! The lorry in the left foreground is being served petrol from some kerbside petrol pumps that belonged to my parent's shop (third shop in from the left) but they are too indistinct to make out from the background.
The film advertised on the poster at the cinema is The Killers which was released in 1946 so that probably dates the photo 1946-47.
Also, the first shop on the left is called Peter's Stores but, as a boy, I remember it as Sands the Grocers - so the picture must have been taken just after the end of the 2nd World War, otherwise I would remembered the name Peters.
On the top parapet of the cinema, on either side of the word CAPITOL, I can just make out the neon strip lighting that was only put up there after the end of the war, so 1946-47 must be about right.
For the person who was asking about Hawtins, the music shop, it is the fourth shop in on the left.
Alf
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
I've just seen it rowen and my sentiments are the same. Look here for A30-A35 years.
https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/buyers_guide_a35.htm
Also films were always a few late to local cinemas
The Killers was released in UK on 17th January 1947
https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/buyers_guide_a35.htm
Also films were always a few late to local cinemas
The Killers was released in UK on 17th January 1947
Last edited:
Yes, Alf and Rowan, I think you must be correct about it being post 1951 - the A30 came out for the Motor Show in late 1951, so it has to be after that.
I can't think why the Capitol, which was not considered to be a flea-pit cinema and which usually got the next showing of new films after they had left the first-run city centre cinemas, would be showing a film that was 5 or more years old, though. I don't think it was that good a film that it would have been "brought back by popular demand"
Perhaps some of our contributors who know their fashions could throw further light on the subject from the length of the ladies' skirts on the right hand side of the picture?
I can't think why the Capitol, which was not considered to be a flea-pit cinema and which usually got the next showing of new films after they had left the first-run city centre cinemas, would be showing a film that was 5 or more years old, though. I don't think it was that good a film that it would have been "brought back by popular demand"
Perhaps some of our contributors who know their fashions could throw further light on the subject from the length of the ladies' skirts on the right hand side of the picture?
Further to the earlier dating of the photograph of the Capitol Cinema and Alum Rock Road I can now give an earliest year for it. The third shop along from the left was my father's. It was a hardware shop and there were petrol pumps on the pavement which are in the photograph but difficult to pick out.
From when I first remember it, the shop was painted green and then, later, brown.
In the photograph you can see that it appears white - but actually it was cream with blue trimming and sign-writing. This was because my father had signed a supply contract with Regent - a leading petrol company at the time - and as part of the agreement they paid for painting the shop premises in their colours.
During the war years and until 1953, petrol was not sold by brand due to fuel shortages - it was known as Pool Petrol. Pumps still had brand names on them from before the war but the petrol coming through them could have been from any supplier. In 1953, branding was resumed, hence the shop being painted in (what seemed at the time) over-bright colours.
This definitely dates the photograph as being taken from 1953 onwards.
So I eat humble pie about my earlier suggestion of the late 1940's!
From when I first remember it, the shop was painted green and then, later, brown.
In the photograph you can see that it appears white - but actually it was cream with blue trimming and sign-writing. This was because my father had signed a supply contract with Regent - a leading petrol company at the time - and as part of the agreement they paid for painting the shop premises in their colours.
During the war years and until 1953, petrol was not sold by brand due to fuel shortages - it was known as Pool Petrol. Pumps still had brand names on them from before the war but the petrol coming through them could have been from any supplier. In 1953, branding was resumed, hence the shop being painted in (what seemed at the time) over-bright colours.
This definitely dates the photograph as being taken from 1953 onwards.
So I eat humble pie about my earlier suggestion of the late 1940's!
On the subject of the Capitol Cinema; my parents told me when I was about to be born that the midwife needed the doctor to attend (home delivery) and he was at the Capitol Cinema, so the doctors name was put onto the screen for him to attend my birth. I bet he wasn't pleased at missing the film. That was 1943.
Yes, I remember going to cinemas in the 40s and 50s and seeing messages put up on the screen, while a film was still showing along the lines of
"Will Joe Smith go to the ticket desk - there is a message for him"
I used to look round the audience to see if I could see whoever it was and try to guess what the message was.
Barry Norman, the film critic, tells a story of when he went to a football match in which the home side were doing particularly badly. Ten minutes before the end, they were 5-0 down, and there was a break in the play. A voice came over the tannoy system saying "Will Joe Smith please go to the local hospital, where his wife, Mary, has given birth to a baby girl.". Barry said that the man next to him muttered, "Poor so-and-so. He's had to sit through 80 minutes of this rubbish and now he's going to have to cook his own tea!"
"Will Joe Smith go to the ticket desk - there is a message for him"
I used to look round the audience to see if I could see whoever it was and try to guess what the message was.
Barry Norman, the film critic, tells a story of when he went to a football match in which the home side were doing particularly badly. Ten minutes before the end, they were 5-0 down, and there was a break in the play. A voice came over the tannoy system saying "Will Joe Smith please go to the local hospital, where his wife, Mary, has given birth to a baby girl.". Barry said that the man next to him muttered, "Poor so-and-so. He's had to sit through 80 minutes of this rubbish and now he's going to have to cook his own tea!"
E
edgingtonjulie
Guest
I owned the butchers shop opposite southalls from 1990 to 2008 ibought it off kingston butchers he owned it for 33 years and before him a guy called sanders that shop was a butchers for 100 years any body remember any of them any memories from the snooker hall a few shops up
dereklcg
master brummie
Hi edgingtonjulie,i remember the snooker hall we got told off for nearly ripping a table.
my aunt lived in foxton rd for a long time Dora bluck and her husband John.also a lorry driver i worked with drove for herringshaw steels used to park it out side his house,
my aunt used to work over the rd as did my uncle she also worked at the chippie at the pelam. happy days regards dereklcg
my aunt lived in foxton rd for a long time Dora bluck and her husband John.also a lorry driver i worked with drove for herringshaw steels used to park it out side his house,
my aunt used to work over the rd as did my uncle she also worked at the chippie at the pelam. happy days regards dereklcg
Hi edgingtonjulie,
I remember Bill's (Kingstons), my mom shopped with him for years. I vaguely remember his wife and I think his son was called Peter. I also remember the dance studio beneath the snooker hall and the Co-op that became Jaws n Claws pet shop. I drive through now and again and its changed so much from how I remember it.
Macca
I remember Bill's (Kingstons), my mom shopped with him for years. I vaguely remember his wife and I think his son was called Peter. I also remember the dance studio beneath the snooker hall and the Co-op that became Jaws n Claws pet shop. I drive through now and again and its changed so much from how I remember it.
Macca
sylviasayers
master brummie
Re the messages on cinema screens, we went to see Bonnie & Clyde at the Beaufort and about half way through a message was scratched on the screen will the owner of ....... car please move it.
By which time Bonnie and Clyde had stolen it?
janet garrish
Janet G
What wonderful pictures of the shops in Alum Rock. I lived on Alum Rock Road opposite Anthony Road School from 1942 to 1962. Does anyone have any photos of the Coronation day celebrations on June 2nd 1953 held at the Morris Commercial Club on Alum Rock Road. I was 11 years old and I remember my mother making me an outfit for the fancy dress parade, I went as the Queen Of Hearts and she made me a little tray with jam tarts on it. Needless to say they were eaten well before the competition started, and I didn't win.
V
vicbucknall
Guest
i remember going to hawkins music shop and buying a buddy holly book of sheet music around 1962
