I remember “The Parade” of Chandler’s Ford well. It is along Bournemouth Road, coming from Southampton, just past the School Lane lights, down past the advertising hoardings. It’s the row of shops on the left before you get to Hursley Rd.
At that time, the Butchers shop where I worked was the first on the left, L.S. Horn, next was Lowmans the bakers, then I think it was the Lloyds Bank, Jenkins sweet shop, G.H.Baker & Sons, and grocers. I can’t remember the next one or maybe two shops, and at the end it was Mr Perrot’s fishmonger.
On the opposite side coming down at the top of Chalvington Road end, was F. W. Wainwright, chemist, Mr Tupper (another sweet shop) / tobacconist then I think it was the NatWest Bank, the Post office and a little haberdashery shop that sold cotton, silks, and needles etc.
When I was growing up the old original first school was still standing. Selwood were already there. School Lane then was just a dirt track going down to the fields. The only things going down there then was Mr Fortune’s tractors!!
Oh and there were allotments on both sides, and Dad had one down there. Dad also rented the bit behind the advertising boards at the top of the lane. There was a bit of land there, and Dad had chicken and rabbits there during and after WWII, and also grew some vegetables.
There was a garage where he kept his Ford motor car reg, No. BPJ 364. We used to go out for day trips in it during the summer.
School Lane in the 1950s
Growing up in Chandler’s Ford in the late 1940s and 1950s, I remember Station Lane was just cobble stones.
There was a big “Railway” type gate just past the last of the houses which went right across the road and usually locked, but we used to climb over to get to the fields and river at the bottom, where the car park now is that was F.H.Dean’s coal yard.
He had the big shop on Hursley Road. His men would fill and load the sacks of coal onto the lorries for delivery.
I can remember behind the old school at the top of School Lane (Selwood) there was a row of cottages we called Black cottages. They were all black and I believe they were made or covered with corrugated iron.
I remember my girl friend (while we were still at North End school) – her friend lived there and we played in the old brickfield together. I wonder if she is still in Chandler’s Ford? She lived in Bournemouth Road opposite The Hut Hotel. I would go with her on her evening paper round, and I always remember there was a farm (and cottages) up behind Hendy’s.
Remember the Railway Children?
I remember the Railway station and the Station Master’s house.
It was on the Romsey side of the station’s waiting room and ticket office (or UP line if you are a Railwayman!). You could buy a ticket to anywhere in the country from there.
The Station Master was Mr Horton. His son Alan was my age and we played together a lot when young. We would stand on the bridge, which was over the river on the other side (or Down line) watching and waving at the trains. Everybody who has seen the classic film The Railway Children with Jenny Agutter , Alan and I were doing it in the 50s.
The magic of electricity
Of course we had no television in those years, nor telephone or bathroom. We had coal fires, gas cooker and the very old Aga type for hot water. We had a tin bath hung up outside. Bath night was Saturday, and being the youngest of four, I was always last in! And I had to use a candle to go up the stairs to bed. There was an outside toilet – coal hole on the back of the house.
We finally moved halfway into the 20th century in 1956 when we had electricity. It was like magic. I ran round every room switching all the lights on and off, so earning a “thick ear” from Mum for wasting electric (wonder if that’s why I became an electrician in the Navy), and finally the bathroom was put in at about 1964 (while I was in the Navy).
The outside toilet coal hole and an adjoining inside pantry were converted in the indoor bathroom and toilet having to go through the kitchen to it. Our house was rented from a Mr Purkiss, a name very synonymous with various “legends” of Chandler’s Ford.
Some precious family photos
I have a photo of our house taken in the 60s. I have also found a photo of an outing from the Working Men’s Club in a bus, from the 1920s or 1930s.
In this photo below, our house was No 2; No 1 on right of photo. It’s a terrace of 3 , then a gap, and another terrace of 5 called Knightwood View, and they are all still there , but not much of a “ view “ of Knightwood anymore I guess.
Here is a photo of Chandler’s Ford British Legion Band – 1925. My Dad was in the second row, far right with a trumpet.
Here are two photos featuring two outings of Chandler’s Ford Working Men’s Club.
Related post:
Roger White: My Family History in Chandler’s Ford and Hursley
Credit: All family images by Roger White.
Thank you for your article. I remember the Parade well. Especially the sweet shop. Brings back great memories. Lived in Belmont Road, went to Kings Road, Sherborne House and North End Schools.
Left in 1956. Now live in Kelowna B. C. Canada.
Cheers
Joanna Blacklock
In late 2014, there was a new sweet shop on Bournemouth Road, called Kandy Kingdom.
However it didn’t last long (perhaps just about a year).
See more about this sweet shop: Three Things I Love about Chandler’s Ford (by epicduda), and Mike Sedgwick’s Sweets Glorious Sweets.
Thank you for sharing your memories, Roger and Joanna.
The short lived sweet shop (Previously the opticians), is now a gents barbers shop (shop name in white against black background).
One of the shops on The Parade in the 1950s was that owned and run by Mrs Dews. She sold wools, sewing items and similar items, maybe women’s clothing too, I am not sure.
The Dews family lived on the corner of Valley & Park Roads (South West Corner).
Mr Perrot’s fish shop had an open frontage, with a range of products on offer. His daughter, Elizabeth, was in ‘our’ year at school (Kings Road & Merdon Avenue).
Bakers grocery had the shop next to Perrots I think, and Bakers had another shop in Hursley Road, next to MacMahons Newsagents, where the ‘pink & grey accountants’ are now.
Wainwrights chemists had another shop in Eastleigh (in answer to Chippy’s query), but both have long since gone.
Does anyone remember Mrs Rich’s sweet shop?
It was in the single storey buildings on Hursley Road, between the bridge over Monks Brook & Stanley Wheatley’s Builders yard.
Mrs Rich sold a range of sweets etc., & fireworks (Brocks I think!), in the run-up the November 5th! Mrs Rich was quite short if I remember correctly, and already elderly (to our eyes !) in the 1950s.
Heading towards the main road, there was next to Mrs Rich, the bicycle repair shop (now converted into a house) and Smiths grocery shop.
Next was the entrance to Stanley Wheatley’s builders, and then the cycle-speedway hut, where the bikes were stored for use on the track below, accessed from Mead Road, or a steep slope from Hursley Road!
Frank Dean (F.H.Dean & Son) ran green and black delivery lorries (Austin Loadstars?) from his yard south of the railway, while Woods ran coal deliveries from the Hursley Road side, where their siding was between the railway station approach & Hursley Road.
Woods lorries were ‘tattier’ and painted orange, and they were taken over by Corralls eventually. They had a small office near the entrance to the station yard from Hursley Road.
Yes, previously the sweet shop was Rawlings Opticians, which now has moved to the Fryern Arcade. (Similarly the post office on Bournemouth Road also moved to the Fryern Arcade.)
The Chinese medical centre is now at the end (next to the pathway to the railway station) of this row of shops. This Chinese Medical Centre used to be called Dr Yangzhou, located at The Mall, close to the library.
goPhysio, where I receive my physiotherapy treatments, will soon be moving to 11 Bournemouth Road, opposite to the butchers (Charles Baynham).
What we need now is a shoe shop in Chandler’s Ford, and my world will be complete.
I certainly remember Rich’s, I used to spend my 1d there. Earlier Mrs Rich also had a tea room attached to the shop, possibly because it was opposite the station. Next to this, looking toward Winchester Road was a bike repair shop, doubling as a photographer. Then there was a little grocer next to this, run by the Smith’s. Remember old Chandler’s Ford well, having lived here all my life.
Cathy, the cycle repair and photographer’s shop was Latham’s. Old Mr Latham was assisted by his son Bill, or was it Phil? He it was who took the photos of my sister’s wedding at Ampfield church in 1965.
Along from there was Stan Wheatley’s builder’s yard. My father worked for Wheatley for some time in the late 1950s.
By the way, did you live in the Hutments at one time, and attend Hursley primary school? I recall a Catherine Houghton from the mid-fifties who caught the 46 bus to Hursley from the Hook road bus stop
I remember MacMahons newsagents. I recall him being quite grumpy. I delivered the evening echo for him for a time. Terry Paine the Saints legend was on my round. 6 or 8 shillings a week I think I was paid and that included morning daily round as well.
I remember the name Wainwright as a chemist shop. Was the company still operating in Chandler’s Ford and/or Eastleigh in the 1980s/90s?
Started at Kings Road school in 1947, then went to Shakespeare Road school when I was 8 or 9. I think Kings Rd was over crowded.
I then went to North End (now Fire H.Q.) – Mr “Monty” Morrant was maths teacher. He was in the desert during WW 2 with 8th Army. We always side tracked him to tell us his stories, so struggled with maths ever since!!
Before we had the electric in our radio (or wireless as they were called then) we used an “accumulator” (battery) lead acid battery in glass case and we boys in the family took it to Higletts garage for charging for about 6d (2.5 pence new money). It was between Hendy’s and the Hut Hotel. He had a table at the back with lots of these “batteries” on charge, take the dud one in get a charged one back.
I found this interesting photo (in mid 20th century) today of Bournemouth Road:
Great find Janet! Exactly as Bournemouth Road was when I was a boy; there were even a lot of those cars still about. Just past the Hut Hotel is the garage where I used to take our “accumulator” (battery) for the wireless. Believe there may have still been petrol pumps there. You could cross the road without looking then, bit different now!!
Yes, the little garage next to “The Hut” sold BP petrol, while next to that, the large white buildings of Hendys Garage sold Esso!
Opposite The Hut, was Mr Smith’s greengrocery shop, on the end of the terrace.
He had an old Jowett Bradford 2 cylinder van and did a greencrocery round in Chandlers-Ford each Saturday morning.
My first job was as his ‘van-boy’!
The Parade was then (The 1950s), the centre of Chandler’s Ford.
Banks & shops were centered there, and what we called “Half Way” or Fryern Hill (more correctly), was then just an outpost of the main village. Now it is the centre of our area, the focus having moved half a mile up-the-hill in the intervening fifty or sixty years.
Re Roger White’s girlfriend living opp Hut Hotel in C Ford. Do you remember the maiden name, could be one of my sisters.
Yes very well , it was Webster and there were 5 girls in the family , my school day girl friend had a friend named Margaret Young but I am pretty sure she lived in the ” black cottages ” behind the main road terrace
Roger I am pleased to tell you all of my sisters are alive and kicking ,three of us still living locally.I can only just remember the black cottages but the Youngs did live there at the time,not related to the family I married into though .
Or maybe Jean if I remember right there was Yvonne , Jean , Audrey , Daphne , and Janet , lovely family , prettiest girls in the village !!
Well excellent to hear you are all well , so if you married into a family named Young , you must be Janet the youngest and it was Daphne of course that I went with ,ah happy happy days .
I well remember The Parade – in the 50’s it was the heart of Chandlers-Ford, unlike now, when that is at Fryern-Hill.
I remember the fish shop (Mr Perrot, whose daughter Elizabeth was in our class at Merdon Ave.School); Mrs Dews ladies shop; Lloyds Bank; Bakers greengrocery (In addition to their other shop next to McMahons in Hursley Road); And Jenkins shop too.
Mention of the black houses intrigues me.
Can anyone jog my memory as to where they were please ?
Mr Perrot had another daughter Elaine who in later years was working at Rowles or Rolfes garage on the corner of Leigh Road , Merdon Ave school must have come after my time .
The ” black cottages ” backed onto the old Mews off licence and the first row of terrace houses along Bournemouth road facing down towards the old brick field and the allotments behind the old school where Selwoods is .
Cannot remember how many there were about 5 I think they were made of corrugated iron they had corrugated iron roofs and were painted black hence the name
Many thanks for that info !
Merdon Avenue Junior School opened in about 1956, and I was among the first three hundred pupils into a brand new building, but still under Mr.H.Mann as headmaster !
To Audrey Hart:
Hi Audry, please could you get back to me? A few days ago, you asked me a question about Roger and we’ve tried to return your email, but your email is incorrect. Thanks and hope you are well.
janet@chandlersfordtoday.co.uk
I have come rather late to this discussion, but wonder if any of the older generation remember the formidable Miss Travers who worked in the Chandlers Ford post office in the early ‘fifties?
A later addition to the parade and occupying the small premises at the railway end of the parade next to the bridge was C F Commissions, a turf accountants. My mother, despite having no knowledge or interest in betting, helped out on some Saturdays.
Mention of Hendys earlier in the thread, reminded me of walking past their impressive frontage, en route to Vic Poynter the gents’ hairdresser. He originally operated from a bungalow near the corner of Bournemouth road and Shaftesbury avenue, before expanding to a shop (with two chairs) on the corner of those roads. His ‘short back and sides’ were truly short and thus extremely good value for a lad. Before whisking off the gown he would ask, “Do you want spray?” The answer was always, “Yes”!
Later I took my locks to a barber we knew simply as Tony whose shop was near the Fryern Hill end of Brownhill Road. Anyone recall him?
In the ‘sixties, my mother, became a playground assistant, AKA a ‘dinner lady’ at Merdon Avenue school during Mr Mann’s headship. His house was named ‘Little Domain’. On one occasion somebody skillfully amended this to ‘Little man’. Oh how we laughed!
Oh John! How the years roll back when a memory is triggered! I remember your mum, Mrs Wilkinson the playground assistant/ dinner lady at Merdon Avenue school. I was a pupil there from 1961 to 65. She had a reputation for being quite fierce in maintaining order but I recall one boy falling and scraping his knee and she was very caring and kind as she tended to his injury. Mr Mann was very fond of the cane and maintained strict discipline. My teachers were, in order of year, Mrs Russell, Miss Wingate, Miss Turner and Mr Hobbs who got all his 4A1 class (over 40 pupils!) through the 11+ examination. Other teachers at that time were Mrs Treacher, Miss Elton, Miss Brown, Mr Bourton, Mr White (deputy head), Mrs Galloway and Mr Murphy. In my class I recall Nigel Wilkins, Peter Young, Janet Roberts, Alison Clarke, Philip Bignell, Peter Mockford, Linda Sier, John Acres and Linda Gardner amongst others. We each had a third of a pint bottle of milk every morning at break time, and whilst most people have horrible memories of their school lunches ours were always well prepared and tasty. Happy memories of my early school days.
Mr Mann was originally headmaster at Kings Road school where I went from 1947 before the new Merdon school was built , Philip Bignell lived next door to in Station Lane
I was also at King’s Road, from about 1951 until Merdon opened. Mr Mann was a dreadful person, and I still remember being scared stiff of him.
I knew all the Bignells (Raymond, Dennis, Janet, Gillian, and Philip) because we were all in St Boniface choir, and I’m pretty sure Gillian and I were in the same class at King’s Road. She married Richard Maunder (lived on Kingsway).
I have to say this is a most fascinating thread, and brings back so many memories – thank you all!
I was at Kings Road from 1957 joining Mrs Borne’s “baby class” as it was known aged five. The headmistress (cant remember her name) was very frightening frequently threatening all pupils at assembly with “the wooden spoon”. No idea where this weapon was to be applied. But to 5 to 7 year olds it was all very scary. The lady teacher of the older class, Mrs Stilwell, lived at the top of Hursley Road and her husband was the local councillor I think. Or maybe higher in local government in Eastleigh? Anyway she read to us every afternoon and we read to her in turn – and there was a wonderful school library to borrow books from. Another hugely stimulating teacher who changed my life forever to a love of books and learning.
I remember Mr Mann! Fond of corporal punishment, he told a classmate of mine who’d commited some minor misdemeanor “Young, I’ve got a pickaxe handle in my shed at home and if you do that again I’ll bring it in and cane you with it!” We knew he meant it too! Think he terrorised his teaching staff too; I met up with my final year teacher John Hobbs 25 years after leaving Merdon Avenue and over a pint he told me about how strictly Harold Mann treated the teachers too, denying them any use of the school phone, even when a relative was seriously ill in hospital! On the positive side, the strict discipline did allow us an opportunity to learn without any distraction, and with classes of 40+ pupils it probably was the threat of being sent to Mr Mann that kept many of us out of trouble! I was in the same class as Philip Bignell and we had Mrs Russell, Miss Wingate, Miss Turner and of course Mr Hobbs in our final year. I haven’t seen Philip Bignell since 1965 when he went to Peter Symonds and I went to Barton Peveril. Other teachers there were Mrs Treacher, Mrs Russell, Miss Brown, and Mr White, the deputy head, Mr Murphy and Mr Bourton. Like you, I have found this a fascinating thread and look forward to further contributions!
Much the same teachers in my day. I went from Mrs Russell to Miss Wingate to Mrs Treacher to Mr Hobbs (inevitably known as Jack Hobbs although his name was John I think). He was a very keen sportsman and his favourite footballer was Alfredo di Stefano (Argentina and Real Madrid) rather than Pele. Mrs Treacher was very keen on wildlife and encouraged my existing passion and set my life and career on its path which I follow to this day some 60 years later. Miss Brown was an older lady who also taught my father in the late 1920s. Mr Mann was known as Pop Mann. Fond of capital punishment. An unpleasant person who my father had a few words with although he never caned me he did cane many for very trivial misdemeanors.
I made an error in my previous reply. It was Miss Russell who took the youngest class at Merdon Avenue and who also taught my father in the 1920s in Otterbourne. Miss Brown was the music teacher. Small, bespectacled, short brown hair and always in a tweed twin-set. Played the piano while we tried to sing her wide range of traditional songs in the school hall. Memorable.
Martin, delighted to hear your reminiscences of Merdon Avenue school, your recollections of my mum made me chuckle – very much as I remember her too!
Yes, the cane was the standard item of discipline in those days. I well remember Mrs Warr, my headmistress at Hursley school, stalking the playground waving the cane around at the first hint of rebellion. Mercifully i was never the recipient although I recall a lad who brought a small kitten to school under his jumper got a whack for his trouble.
Thank you for your reply John, your mum was the only dinner lady’s name I remember after the passage of nearly 60years! I think I learned a couple of important lessons at that time – often a somewhat fierce reputation conceals a kind heart and the dinner ladies, by maintaining some sort of order and discipline protected us from more exuberant and violent playground activity! I think we nicknamed Mr Mann’s cane Little Willy, but no idea why that was chosen.
Also late, but still relevant I feel …
Where do I start ? …
Latham’s in Hursley Road … it was indeed ‘Bill’, not Phil … Had many a trip round Chandler’s Ford in his old BSA 3-wheeler car … marvellous machine, but not as good as the Morgan
3-wheeler in my opinion.
Latham’s, as well as Bill Eckott (Bicycle Sales & Repairs) on the corner of Keble Road, also did ‘accumulators’, along with Higlett & Hughes at The Hut Filling Station… Bill Latham also did Radio repairs, you know, the old steam ones, with valves and things, on which we all listened to ‘ITMA’. Bill also provided music (gramophone records) for the Saturday Night dances in the Ritchie Hall, and various ‘Fetes’ around the village.
G.(Gordon) H. Baker & Sons (Peter & Derek) on the Parade, were actually grocers, not greengrocers … Harry Perrett next door to Baker’s was Fishmonger and Greengrocer … his kippers, having come from Scotland, I remember he collected about 10 a.m. from the railway station.
I remember Yvonne Webster, Betty Biddlecombe and Muriel Elliott, all from the terrace houses on Bournemouth Road almost opposite The Hut Hotel and the Police House, just up from Mrs Cowley’s shop and Hants & Dorset Parcel Depot, at 84 Bournemouth Road (Later Smith’s from Hursley Road) and Stella Siviour (sorry, maybe incorrect spelling) who lived in one of the houses behind the advertisement hoarding just up from The Parade, almost opposite
F.(Frank) W. Wainwright’s Chemist.
Although I remember the name Vic Poynter, I do not recollect him, or indeed anyone as a Hairdresser in a bungalow on Bournemouth Road near Shaftesbury Avenue … there was (and still is) only one shop in the front of a bungalow and that was E. (Eric) H. Watton, tobacconist and ‘unnofficial grocer’ (unnofficial in as much that he sold lines he legally wasn’t supposed to, particularly on a Sunday, resulting in several fines) … that shop is now Stone Osmond, and next to it is a ‘Pet Doctor’ in what used to be 2 shops.
I used to live in 8, Brownhill Road, and knowingly, between 1939 and 1966, there have never been any shops anywhere in the entire length of Brownhill Road … 6 & 8 Brownhill are now gone, and currently are new buildings housing ‘Tate’ and ‘Eric Robinson’ … On one corner of Brownhill, but in Winchester Road, there was Brown’s the baker (later E. Soothill’s baker and, more recently, ‘Wilton Flooring’) and on the other corner (in Winchester Road) a chemist, now expanded and included ‘Brownhill Surgery’ … the only other ‘non-residential’ building in Brownhill Road is the old Methodist Chapel.
Mrs. Rich’s sweet and tea shop I remember well, also her daughter Sheila, along with Dean’s, and Wood’s Coal Merchants (Lady in the office was Jean Cole) …
Re shoe shops Janet … there were at one time, two in the village … Rex Pragnell in the little (wooden building I think) that sort of ‘hung’ off the footpath over the railway cutting next to the railway bridge opposite Baker’s and Perret’s (not sure if it is still there) and Lex Leathers in the shop that I think was originally Mrs. Dews, and became Jenkins (a little uncertain about the facts there).
The little shop next to the railway bridge next to Perret’s, was also a private library at one point, but I cannot remember what it was originally (I must be getting old) …
Take care all, keep smiling and keep it coming
Doug Clews
Doug,
Vic Poynter’s barber’s shop was on the corner of Keble road, not Shaftesbury avenue; my mistake. I, too, am getting old! Could it be that he took over the shop from Eckotts? But Poynter definitely moved there after conducting his business from a bungalow a few doors down, nearer Chandlers Ford, probably sometime in the late ‘fifties.
As far as ‘Tony’, the Fryern Hill barber is concerned, I thought his shop was roughly where the current Co-op loading bay now stands, ie. between the junction of Winchester road and the chapel that is now the Age Concern Centre. But, if you lived in Brownhill road you would certainly have known of him, so I am now doubting my memory. Perhaps others can shed light on this.
Was there not also a small builders’ merchants in the dip in Brownhill road near the Hursley road junction for a while in the mid 1960s? I think it lasted only a short while.
I certainly remember Rex Pragnell’s little premises near the railway bridge, and going there to buy wellingtons. In the early ‘fifties there was also a shoe menders in Hursley road somewhere near Morrie Hatley’s yard – around where Draper’s now stands. His name was Mr Croad and he had an ancient yellow and black enamel sign outside to advertise his business. It was back in the day when Hursley road was still lit with gas lamps!
My father used to cycle to Latham’s with our accumulator. He carried it in a small metal, open container, something like a miniature milk crate.
We have it easy now!
Hi John …
Gee, this is all excellent for the old grey cells !!!
Re Tony’s … I lived in what was 8, Brownhill Road, the right-hand house of a semi-detached pair built in the late 1800’s, the other half being No. 6 … ‘Pat’ (I can’t remember her married surname … I think she was a war widow) who worked at Baker’s on the parade, lived in 6, with an elderly couple, who may well have been her in-laws, and her brother, Micky Jackson, worked in the shop at Dean’s in Hursley Road.
Our driveway, was right opposite what was then the back entrance to the garage in Winchester Road where the co-op now is (entrance now goes to the back of the co-op), and to my knowledge there has never been a shop there (unless possibly after 1966).
Can’t help you with the builder, unless it was a back entrance to Stephens Builders (Daughter Hazel) in Hursley Road, towards Valley Road, not far from Brownhil, but I didn’t think his yard was there.
Still smiling !
Doug Clews
The builders merchants was called TIMBERMAN it was owned by my dad Rex and mum Gwen Reynolds.
Tony the barbers was just down from Winchester Road towards Merdon School entrance. 6 old pence for my haircut I remember. He retired to the Hebrides I think.
I remember being taken to Tony the hairdresser at him bungalow salon by my mum when I was about five or six. Was his surname Baker? I think he might have had a slight disability and walked with a limp.
Yes, he did have a severe leg disability. I think from a war injury. After he retired (to Skye?) I went to the hairdressers at the bottom of Hursley Road but in 1970 they put up the price of a haircut from 2s/6d to 3s/6d (18.5p). Outrageous! I have not been to a hairdresser since. Relying on girlfriends and then my wife for the last 52 years.
Besides giving ‘trendier’ haircuts for boys, another reason for using Tony rather than other local barbers was that he had better comics to browse while you waited. Since I wasn’t allowed Beano or Dandy (having to make do with the more sensible ‘Knockout’, it was a great opportunity to catch up on some vital reading.
Hi I’m a bit late coming in on this but my father jointly owned the timber shop in the dip in Brownhill Road. It was called Timberman at that time. I lived in Hiltingbury area rather than Hurley Road side of Chandlers Ford. I live in a prefab in Malcolm Road our neighbors lived in a gypsy caravan and several other in Nissan huts and other makeshift buildings. Most were ex servicemen and we were able to live in these for 6 years and by then had to have built a permanent dwelling. I went to Pine Cottage School then Kings Road. Like Martin Napier I moved with first classes to MerdonAve then on to North End. I have so many great memories and some good photos of my time at Oak Cottage which I’d love to share to see if anyone recognizes anyone josie. (Reynolds’s back then )
Tony’s hairdressers was in the bungalow, still there, next to the chapel, now Age concern, as you descend the hill.
The hairdressing entrance was on the side, and the building still looks roughly the same now as it did 60 years ago.
Thanks for that, Martin. In my mind, I had placed Tony’s slightly higher up the hill, on the other side of the chapel and had completely forgotten that he, like Vic Poynter in Chandlers Ford, operated from a bungalow.
On a post-war map there are shown two dwellings on the uphill side of the chapel, marked as numbers 1 and 3 Brownhill road but no clue as to what these were. Uphill from them was the back entrance to the garage.
The most memorable thing about Tony was that we lads thought he gave ‘racier’ haircuts than Poynter. Eventually I changed allegiance to ‘Jays’ hairdressers (trendier still) who opened their shop in the ‘then new’ parade in Hursley road opposite the Railway Hotel. Fortunately such vanities are long past!
Hi Doug,
Yes, my grey cells are working overtime here too! Good to hear from you, and thanks for the clarification about the Fryern Hill end of Brownhill road.
My recollection of this ‘Tony’s’ premises are that it hadn’t a shopfront per se, but you entered by some steps which were sideways on to Brownhill road, and the actual salon (rather a grand term for it) was also at 90 degrees to the road, ie; on entering, you were facing the mirrors and the back of the chairs.
Tony, came to our home on one occasion to cut my brother Grant’s hair, because he’d broken his leg and was unable to move around for some time. This would have been in 1957 or 1958.
The builders merchants may have been called Wendells or somesuch.
I left Chandlers Ford in 1967 and have made only sporadic visits since, so I am relying solely on memory – which may well be imperfect!!
Hi Martin …
Thank you for clearing up the ‘Tony’s’ mystery … Although I lived almost opposite, I was not aware of the existence of the business, only the bungalow … perhaps the business was after 1966 when I moved to Australia, or before 1958 when I moved in to No.8 Brownhill
Thanks again
Doug Clews
I remember TIMBERMAN in Brownhills Road, about 100 yards from Hursley Road. My Kate dad used to visit there quite often, to buy timber and other items.
A very useful little shop I remember.
That was before the coun il seemed to introdu e a policy of trying to keep commercial premises in certain areas, rather that being scattered around residential areas.
The area between Keeble Rd and Shaftesbury Ave on Bournemouth Rd is the only area, outside the established shopping “centres” where commercial premises seem to exist now.
Those where such enterprises have disappeared are..
Park Road, North of Valley Road.
Pine Road, at junc/n with Park Rd.
Hursley Road near Ramalley.
Chalvington rd/Leigh Rd junc/n.
MN.
Good to see there’s still some mileage in this topic.
There was for many years in the ‘fifties and ‘sixties a grocery shop on the corner of Hursley Road and Common Road. The woman who ran it was known in our household as Mrs…Er.. on account of her habit of following up my mother’s requests for items with the words, “Anything else, Mrs…er?” Whether my mum was the only customer whose name she didn’t know we couldn’t tell, but there was always a very friendly atmosphere in the shop which she ran together with her daughter, (Margaret?) and son-in-law, John. There was a cigarette machine outside where I used to covertly buy ten Batchelor when still under-age.
In the early to mid ‘fifties there was also a shop on the opposite side of the road, near the lane leading to Ramally, although I can’t recall the nature of the business. For years after closure it still retained its shop window.
The shop on the corner up to Ramalley was also a general grocery store as the one across the road. I think it later became a hairdressers before closing?
Hi Martin …
There was one other area, namely both corners of Leigh and Bournemouth Roads … on the Southampton side there was Castle Stores and Tea Rooms, who were grocers, with I might add, FREE delivery … the owner was Miss Rice, who later became Mrs. Redding, and whose father used to do the deliveries in his old Armstrong Siddeley Saloon …
On the Winchester side there was Harry Hoskins who owned and ran the Ironmongers and was a coal merchant, with his coal yard between the shop and what was then Candler’s Garage (later Rowles) … he had 2 daughters, Janet and Betty …
And then of course we mustn’t forget Mr and Mrs Merryweather in Shaftesbury Avenue, on the Winchester side, between Chalvington Road and Ford Avenue, who ran a small general store from their house … Mr. Merryweather was also the only (knowingly) village chimney sweep, helped by his son (whose first name escapes me) … his daughter, Margaret, married Bill Latham …
Thank goodness for the grey cells !
Keep smiling and stay safe
DC
The shop on the corner of Common Rd was Harris es. Before the Harris es took o er, it was run by another family, but I forget their name.
the shop opposite, and on the corner of ramalley Lane had been, I think a dairy, before that moved to where the present day dentists are, 100 yards up Hursley Rd.
the shop on the corner of Ramalley Lane, closed for some time in the 50s/60s, opened up as a general store type shop, in competition to Harris es. They sold plants and garden items as well as food, etc.
I wonder can anyone help with any information an address as follow 9 Council houses Chandlers Ford, Southampton for the 1920’s?