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littlewoods...dale end

Astoness

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
Staff member
site of the new littlewoods store dale end....1958...

pic courtesy of carl chinn
 
My late Wife worked at Littlewoods Erdington branch and was sent to the Dale End branch in 1971 (?) to learn the New decimal coinage as was the rest of the staff
 
cookie it took me ages to get used to the decimal coinage...actually i still have problems now.....lol


lyn
 
Lyn

A photo of the finished store.

Phil

CityHighStLittlewoods.jpg
 
Thanks for posting the photos Lyn and Phil. Is the Littlewoods chain still going. I know they closed the Erdington High Street branch some time ago.
 
spiffin pic.my wife worked there in 1970.i too wonder if any of the littlewood stores exist.
pete
 
A few years ago our company re-roofed Littlewoods and did you know there is a car park on the roof? To get to it one had to put their car in a lift. That was an experience, hoping the lift would'nt break down.I am not sure if it is used now, but if you look on google earth you can see the parking bays made out.

Terry
 
Hi Hanco:

I didn't know about the car park on the top of Littlewoods. As you say you would definitely hope that the left wouldn't break down!

I had a bit of a look around the Internet re Littlewoods. It looks as though they are strictly a catalogue and online service now. Their Head Office is in Liverpool area and they have service centres (7) around the country for returns, etc. I would imagine.
 
I worked at Littlewoods in 1956, the shop was then near the Odeon New Street - I think. We were saving all our pennies, we were getting married in March '57, so I got myself a Saturday job. It was during the run up to Christmas and I was working in the toy department, I have never worked so hard either before or after. I saw my very first £5 note, when they were printed on white paper with black lettering, luckily it wasn't given to me but to the girl I was working with and she knew what it was. They were a good company to work for, they treated us very well. We had a rest room and a subsidised canteen. I think I got something like £1 for the day, not bad when I was getting £2.10 a week from Kynochs, and it bought all the material for my wedding dress and my bridesmaids dresses. Happy days and good memories.
 
Hello there, does anyone remember BMK carpets in Dale End, my brother in law Hoss Turville worked there, he got a gold watch for twenty five
years service and shortly after closed down the whole place.`Some time
after he was a caretaker at St Martins House, anyone remember him, big
man, smart always well turned out as my old CSM used to say.
Books are Silent Companions cheers Bernard67Arnold
 
I found these Littlewoods ads on the back of Midland Red bus tickets in my collection (they might be somewhat earlier than 1958 though).
 
hi guys
i always thought litlewoods was for the posh people as they used to charge posh prices
i think i only ever bought a pair of shoes and that cost me a leg and a arm ;
if my memory serves me correctly all on that block and ajoing it in those old days before demolishion
was henrys whom was bull dosed for making way for littlewoods and when the copper on point duty wearing is white gloves on the middle of the rd directing traffic;
best wishes , Astonian ;;;
 
Hi col
thanks for down loading that pic; a very nice one in deed
have you got a date for that pic; or can you recall when they finaly closed down ;
i hope you do not mind me down loading and copying your brilliant picture ;
for my collection ;i will frame it ; best wishes, astonian ;;;;
 
Maybe someone can correct me but I think that the first photo post #1 and the one on post #16 show some of the last vestages of Martineau Street and the Old Crooked Lane which have completely dissappeared now. If you look at the first one and look at Martineau St leading to the right...at the very right of it you can see the start of the turn in the pavement that was the last of the Crooked Lane that originally went through the Cherry Orchards. Indeed there is a parking lot on top of what was the Littlewoods building and on GE you can see a car up there so it must still be used by someone. Unless it got stuck up there when it stopped being used.
 
Although it's a Liverpool company, you might be interested in this article on the history of Littlewoods:

https://www.answers.com/topic/littlewoods-plc

I remember there was one on the Coventry Road in Small Heath, but I can't, for the life of me, remember the one in Dale End.

The branch up here in Bangor closed several years ago.
 
Rupert

You are quite correct about Crooked Lane, it ended at the rear of Henry's original site in Martineau St as can be seen on this plan.

Seabird,

You are also partly correct, Littlewoods new store was on the corner of High St and Union St as can be seen on this photo. I seem to remember they also had one on New St by the Odeon, or was that another company? But I don't remember a Littlewoods in Dale End.

Phil

CityHighStPlan.jpg
 
Aaaah - thanks Phil, I've got it now. I could visualise the frontage and the inside of the store but couldn't remember WHERE the 'eck it was! The side windows went up union Street, and then there was a little tobacconist's kiosk, it's all flooding back.
I remember a British Home Stores opposite the Odeon - is that the one you were thinking of?
 
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