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Fodens In Chester Road Streetly & Gnosall

G

Glennys Jean

master brummie
Hello,

I am following 2 people, father & son, from 1910 to the 30's. Both had their own business:
James Foden, Harwicke Nursery, Landscape gardner, Chester Rd, Streetly, then the Swan Inn, Gnosall, Staffs in the 30's.
James Mathews Foden, Garage Foden & Walters, Streetly around 1910-1920.
If anyone could confirm the details / dates / places...
Many Thanks.
 
Can't help with the individuals, Glennys, but Foden's Garage on the Chester Road survived at least until the 1950s. (Perhaps it's still there?!)

Suspect "Harwicke" should be Hardwick.

Chris
 
I can remember seeing the garage on the Chester Road, in fact it was still there until a few years ago (10 years or less), I never saw it working, but always thought it was a nice looking place, its a shame that it has now gone and houses or flats have been built on the grounds of it now.....
 
Burnett Road is fairly near to the Chester Road: about half a mile away but hardly just round the corner.

I do not remember a garage in Burnett Road in the 1940s or 1950s and if that memory is correct it seems likely that Foden's garage had moved on to the Chester Road by then. I always regarded the Chester Road premises as relatively "modern " and I suspect that it dated back to the 1930s. As I remember it, it always specialised in commercial vehicles and was neither a filling station nor a car repair business.

Chris
 
All of which raises the question: was what we call Foden's Garage on the Chester Road the business of a local family named Foden; or was it some sort of offshoot of the commercial vehicle manufacturer?

Chris
 
The Garage was called Satterthwaite's, they specialised in Foden Lorries, presumably providing servicing and parts for Foden. I don't think the family name Foden is associated with this Garage, but there again I could be wrong. I lived on the Chester Road a few hundred yards from this Garage for 20 years. It was a shame when it was knocked down but Cutlers which was opposite and Wesleys just passed Hardwick Road also went. I worked for Meads Garage just up the Chester Road from these and alas although they still sell cars on this site, the original Garage has gone and along with it the petrol forecourt.

Katie
 
I think the Satterthwaite family bought it from someone else (see a comment in the link Wendy provided). In my recollection - 1940s/50s - it was not called by that name then, always Foden's. But who the original owner was.....?

Chris
 
Hi Glennys Jean,
I live in Gnosall and have done quite a bit of research into the history of the village.
Couple of points:
1. There is and as far as I know never has been a Swan Inn in Gnosall. However, there is a SWAN PIT NURSERY.
2. Gnosall burial records have an Agnes Foden died 1975 aged 93. Maybe she is a relative. I can check if there is a headstone if you wish.
 
hello Bob,
Afraid I made a mistake about the Swan pub which was on the High Street in Church Eaton & not Gnosall! The elder Foden moved to Gnosall in 1938 and promptly died leaving wife Agnes Foden behind with her daughter Hilda. They lived near the Post Office at "Arosa" n°5 Audmore Road. Google doesn't let me see the house or if it still stands. Thanks for giving me the info about her age & year of death. Would you be able to know what happend to her between 1940 and 1975, if they had any sort of commerce / shop in Gnosall, her address ....?
 
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